After five months of running Amateur’s House, I like to think that I have some idea of what I’m doing. There have been a couple of hiccups in that time, but I remain of...
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Not sure you’d get away with calling a feature that nowadays! Muzik used to have a column in their magazine for calling people out – dubiously titled “Hang The DJ”…
I frequently deride the dance music press on this blog. I believe they steer clear of certain subjects because it clashes with their commercial interests. I believe they’re terrible at holding people to account...
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As Simon Dunmore tells us how great his relationship with Ministry of Sound is these days, a reminder things weren’t always so amicable in the early days…
Let me start this post by emphasising I do have a certain amount of respect for Defected boss Simon Dunmore. Yes, I might well have some fun at his expense on this blog, but...
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Nervous Records branded suntan lotion? I kid you not – US label dished out sachets of the stuff at the Miami Music Conference of 1996…
These days, Nervous Records make much of their range of merchandise. Given that records don’t sell in the way they once used to, this is hardly the surprise of the century. But you might...
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As Ministry of Sound recover after their 30th birthday party last weekend, a reminder that some things have changed – and probably for the better…
It would be churlish of me not to start this post by acknowledging that the Ministry Of Sound nightclub getting to their 30th birthday is an incredible achievement. For them to survive in London...
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Well, that statement didn’t date too well! The curious response given to The Orb’s Alex Paterson when he tried to sign Larry Heard’s publishing in the mid-1980s…
As I might occasionally mention on this blog, I’m utterly intrigued by the history of house music. This is most particularly because there’s a lot of it, but very little of it has been...
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So how DID house music come to the UK? Jazzy M – who was there when it happened – is due to give his valuable insight into the subject later this month for Lenny Fontana’s True House Stories…
There are few things more likely to provoke disagreements, heated debates and fall-outs than dance music history. When you have a bunch of mostly men who have widely differing views over the past and...
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A rare piece of early house history! Shoom flyer from March 1988 hits eBay with the price already in three figures – and it’s all for a very good cause…
Regular readers will no doubt know by now that this blog loves a bit of history. Not a lot of the stuff from the early days of the dance music scene has survived, and...
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Think slagging off the dance music press is a new thing? Nope – the tradition has been going strong for at least 20 years now…
There are people out there – and if you don’t know one, you probably are one yourself – who think everything was better in the past. You know the sort. They’d have you believe...
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As Michael K Williams is tragically found dead at the age of 54, did you know about his roots in the world of 1990s house music?
I was saddened to hear last night of the death of Michael Kenneth Williams, who has passed away at the age of 54. No one knows why – all we know is that his...
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Derrick May claims he was six months into negotiations to sign with ZTT in 1991 – but why did the deal fall apart? The truth is out there, somewhere…
One of the questions that has been asked of Derrick May over the years is why did he stop producing music in the early 1990s. Records like “Strings Of Life”, “The Dance” and so...
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Was Lee “Scratch” Perry a pioneer of house music? This blog certainly thinks so, as the self-proclaimed inventor of dub music dies at the age of 85
When you think of the pioneers of house music, names like Frankie Knuckles, Larry Levan, Ron Hardy and such come to mind pretty quickly. Allow me to suggest another name – Lee “Scratch” Perry,...
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Even the biggest names get rejected sometimes! The story of how David Morales was paid a five-figure sum to remix Simply Red in 1991 – which mysteriously never got an official release
The word “no” is one you must quickly get accustomed to if you’re in the world of music. The same is true in house music, as I learnt more or less from the start....
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The price of signing to Defected? Spiller (of “Groovejet” fame) to appear at label’s Drumsheds Festival next month – but will anyone there even know what else he’s done?
Signing your track to Defected seems to mean that, at some stage, you have to appear at one of their events. Given Defected is now an events company with a record label at the...
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Music, history, art and discussion? No, not a day at school – but what’s in store for those going to Boogaloo Weekender in October…
An admission first of all. I do receive emails from PR companies and other representatives of clubs, festivals and such from time to time. Most of them are ignored due to the fact I...
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Is there a huge vault of unreleased Frankie Knuckles tracks? Er, nope – but one called “I Want The Love Of My Own” has been recently unearthed and it’s coming out soon…
Whenever a singer dies these days. one of the questions which soon raises its ugly head is what’s going to happen to all the music they made which was never released. And what happens...
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