To Underground Resistance’s early fans, it wasn’t surprising when the Detroit outfit released club music with vocals. Mike Banks produced the garage house group Members Of The House, which released a 1987 album and a string of acclaimed vocal EPs. The first release on UR’s main label, Your Time Is Up, featured the singer Yolanda and a take on the sound Kevin Saunderson made popular with Inner City, backed with remixes that hinted at what the determinedly underground techno sound would become.
When they released “Living For The Nite” in 1991, again with Yolanda, it was already clear that vocal house was an integral part of UR’s sound. It worked with their rolling, pumping grooves. But the success of their pure techno overshadowed these moments, especially when the European press portrayed UR as a Detroit techno counterpart to hip-hops‘s Public Enemy, noting the masked personas of Mike Banks and Jeff Mills, and their unmasked political attitude. Different strands of the UR sound were eventually channeled into separate outlets, and thus Happy Records came into being, serving as the label for house productions from 1992 to 1994. (It was followed by the sister label Happy Soul.)
Happy Records soon established itself with positive releases produced with frequent collaborators like Niko Marks, Yolanda and Bridgett Grace, the latter a former vocalist of the 1989 club hit “Take Me Away” by the UR predecessor True Faith. Her “Love To The Limit” was a fine example of how well Banks’s production worked with an anthemic vocal. And yet those accomplished records, even if they were recognisable as UR productions with a distinctive signature sound, could still be placed in the early vocal house canon of 1992, before house music reached the huge crowds of later years.
In 1992, vocal house was not as punchy as it would become. Most garage records paired their sweet melodies with swinging, elegant grooves. Usually, the “main mix” of a track was that tune in all its glory, while the more daring ideas were kept for the dubs and instrumental versions. But then Davina‘s “Don’t You Want It” arrived, produced by Mike Banks. It was a mighty tune that worked within the conventions of vocal house while also shaking its foundations.
First, there was the intro, where dynamic chords were waiting to be teased by the DJ. When I heard the intro for the first time, it reminded me of David Morales’s mix of Black Sheep’s “Strobelite Honey,” albeit on another level. The track unfolds into a hybrid of uplifting, soulful garage and UR’s deeper techno sound (heard in tracks like “Sometimes I Feel Like” and “Jupiter Jazz“), adding layers of bittersweet pads and dramatic starts and stops.
And Davina? Unlike most vocal tracks, she isn’t heard until a heavenly break around three minutes in. The track was already perfect, but the magic really happens when she begins to sing. The lyrics neglect conventional verse-refrain structure, instead choosing a direct, personal conversation with the dancers. At seven minutes, the track certainly isn’t short, but I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s sad when it fades out.
The high point for any producer is to make a track that reaches classic status. It’s even better when that recognition comes from different scenes and styles. “Don’t You Want It” works within almost any context, from small night to a large rave, uniting more crowds in instant happiness than almost any other. As soon as you hear it, you will definitely want it. And more of it, again and again.
I would not claim to be an expert with dub and reggae, but I always liked it. While I was working at Hard Wax we played on the store PA all the time. I was getting good advice from Mark Ernestus, Christoph Grote-Beverborg and of course DJ Hops and bought a lot of records in that field. But I did not really play it in clubs. So when DJ Fett Burger approached me to contribute to his Trushmix series we agreed it would be a good idea to do something with hit, and it became a ten part series that was really popular. I once played at Charlie club in Munich and they were using my mixes for the soundcheck. I thought that was quite a compliment. It was a bit weird that these mixes were more loved than other mixes with music I was more knowledgeable with, but hey.
Jah Shaka Meets Pepper – Fire Dub Commandments Of Dub – Rastafari Dub Milton Henry – Follow Fashion (Version) Jah Shaka – Positive Dub Keith Hudson – Darkest Night Roots Radics Band – Send Another Moses (Version) Jah Shaka – Life Dub Keith Hudson – I Can’t Do Without You Horace Andy – Money Money Soul Syndicate – Bad Minded (Version) Michael Prophet – You Are A No Good (Version) Jah Shaka – Know Dub Jah Dub Creator – Earth Dub Johnny Osbourne – He Can Turn Tide Jah Dub Creator – Very, Very Good Dub Harry Mudie Meets King Tubby’s – Dub With A Difference Heptones & Mudie’s Allstars – Love Without Feeling Harry Mudie Meets King Tubby’s – String Dub In Rema Jah Dub Creator – Jah Light Dub Eek-A-Mouse All Stars – Land Dub Black Roots Players – Jamming Junior Dan – House Is Not A Home Dennis Brown – Changing Times Leroy Smart – Happiness Is My Desire Glen Brown – Melodica International Gregory Isaacs – Cool Down The Pace Johnny Osbourne – Love Is Universal (Version) Jah Warrior – Dub From The Heart Sheila Hylton – House On The Rock Glen Brown – There’s Dub Super Chick – Roach Killer Wayne Smith – Time Is A Moment In Space Niney – Quiet Jah Dub Creator – The Spirit Dub Ras Clifton – Look Over Yonder Michigan & Smiley – Diseases Robert Lee – Dreams Cocoa Tea – War Harry Mudie Meets King Tubby’s – Heavy Duty Dub Horace Andy – Skylarkin Delroy Wilson – Live Good 4th Street Orchestra – Dubber Anthony Red Rose – Tempo The Tamlins – Baltimore Cocoa Tea & J.C. Lodge – Time For Love Clement Irie – Kolo-Ko Barrington Levy – Here I Come Ken Boothe – Memories Keith Hudson – Trust & Believe The Heptones – Mistry Babylon Horace Andy – Quiet Place Junior Reid – One Blood Ricky Melody – What A Act Ackie – Call Me Rambo Foxy Brown – Love Is Where You Find It Suzan Cadogan – Do It, Baby Roman Stewart – Seasons In The Sun Norma White – I Want Your Love Johnny Clarke – Enter His Gates Cutty Ranks – Chop Chop Harry Mudie Meets King Tubby’s – Full Dose Of Dub Prince Buster – Dancing Time Otis Gayle & Sound Dimension – I’ll Be Around Sly & Robbie And The Taxi Gang – Billie Jean Terence Trent D’Arby – Sign Your Name (Lee Perry Dub)
Beim fünften Album der Blaktroniks ist der Titel wahrlich Programm, es geht um Soul. Das Gefühl von Hitsville Detroit, und nicht Hitfabrik Mark Ronson. Es geht um Einkehr, Glaube, Asyl, trotzende Rückzugsgebiete in grimmigen Umgebungen, und nicht um Divenhände, Booty und überkandidelte Vehikel. Den Bogen von ihren verschachtelt störanfälligen Digibeats und -sounds zum Inner City Blues schlägt man anhand von Edward Robinson, ehemals Soul-Crooner in 60’s Motor Town und Vater von Kollektivgründer Edd Dee Pee. Wenn er die intensive Stimme erhebt, geht die Konfrontation der Gegensätze von klassischer Soul-Tradition und den Gesetzmäßigkeiten reduziert-untergrundigen Hip Hops geradezu bestechend klar auf: Aus den Stimmen des Sängers und der MCs klingt unterschiedliches Erleben, aber das gleiche Ziel. Daneben gibt es ein Manifest, das zu Heuchlertum und Minstrelisierung in der Sache Stellung bezieht (hallo, Flavor Flav), Nebenauftritte von Sister Gudrun Gut und Moritz von Oswald, entsprechende Remixe stehen auch noch an. Die Überfälligkeit vom Ganzen ist frappierend, das soll und muss Schule machen.
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