House Hunting #25 – Jungle Wonz

Music

I’ve deviated from a deep dose of diggin’ these last few weeks as I’ve been a proper House Hunting lightweight whether it’s been snappin’ up a record online at Rush Hour (you what?!), doin’ a trade on the devil that is Discogs (are you mental?!) or even venturing in Phonica to cop a new record (that’s it you lost it and gone to the dark side you’ll be burnin’ a WAV next…). So it’s time to redeem myself by ending this virtual vinyl hoodoo and gettin’ back to crate crusading otherwise I’ll be getting proper rack withdrawal…

So I scoped that streetwear sample sale specialists ‘Sampled’ were in town in Shoreditch. Settin’ the record straight I ain’t a J Dilla backpacker after a snapback and some fresh crepes no what caught my eye was that there was gonna be a record fair hosting my fave Hoxton wax haunt Love Vinyl and discernible dealer Nick the Record. Though I already had made plans that Saturday (dinner date and cocktail couture with the Mrs…) as we were in Islington a swift detour on the Northern Line from Angel to Old Street weren’t gonna hurt. I promised she wouldn’t be a wax widow just a quick rifle through the racks – ever the charmer I paid her entrance fee too which was the princely sum of a pound yeah records and hip-hop apparel she’s gonna love that…

Upon entering I jetted straight to the record stalls reassuring Tonya “I’ll only be five minutes” yeah she’s heard that one before… Anyway I clocked a ‘House’ rack so dived in – on delving deep the rack was overflowing with Chitown classics from the likes of Chicago forefathers such as Frankie Knuckles (Rest In Paradise…) Larry Heard, Lil’ Louis and Marshall Jefferson on revered labels like Trax, DJ International and Dance Mania so definitely my flavour… House Holy Grail of the day award goes to the original red vinyl pressing promo of ‘I Am The DJ’ by Z-Factor (aka the guiding fathers of house Jesse Saunders and Vince Lawrence) on Mitchbal Records – an early house prototype this slice of obscure allure gained instant attraction but at 80 quid it was an expensive date so the speed dating was over. Perhaps our paths will cross again in the not too distant future and hopefully in a basement bargain bin…

So with that one ruled out I kept furiously flicking as time was ticking… Amongst the armada of Trax sleeves littered in the rack I pulled out a sought-after Jungle Wonz 12” that I’d been after for time – no not the easier to find ‘Time Marches On’ or the green-labelled Trax classic ‘The Jungle’ but the later, less celebrated ‘Bird In A Guilded Cage’ complete with vice-versa vinyl label colours of red text on white label anoraks anonymous… Though the Trax sleeve was a bit battered I could live with that and the labels clean so with that quota met and a decent £15 price-tag I handed it over to the vendor who was none-other than Nick The Record. Earlier this year I scored a couple of Chitown classics on Walter Paas’ Danica Records from Nick’s ‘DJ Friendly Records’ webstore as featured in the Gherkin-flavoured Gallifre special of House Hunting. As well as being a rare record dealer Nick was also a resident at legendary Japanese party Lifeforce for two decades – check out his account of the legend of Lifeforce on choice blog Test Pressing complete with a mix straight outta ’95 proper TDK pressure… I could have easily rinsed £100+ with Nick’s selection but I promised myself just to cop one record as with dinner, cocktails and Xmas shoppin’ (kill me now…) all taking precedence I needed to cut back on the black crack this month – sometimes less is more…

OK back to the record and which Chicago ones are the Jungle Wonz? Well it’s none-other than hierarchical house figures Marshall Jefferson and Harry Dennis of ‘The It’ fame. So starting with Marshall and you all know his introduction to house, right? Well his baptism to house was listening to the Hot Mix 5 and getting christened by the late Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy in house sanctuaries such as the Music Box and The Warehouse. This initiation proved to be his awakening, and though ridiculed by his Post Office colleagues (yeah a Postman before his producing days!) for rinsing nearly 10k on loads of hardware he didn’t know how to play including a Korg EX8000 module, a Tascam four-track recorder and an armada of Roland gear including the 707, 808, 909 drum machines, TB 303 sequencer plus the JX8P keyboard, this derision fuelled his determination with him laying down his first track after just two days. His initial productions were Ron Hardy favourite ‘I’ve Lost Control’ by Sleezy D and his huge house hit ‘Move Your Body’ featuring THAT infectious piano and catchy Curtis McClain vox – the rest they say is (house) history…

Typically Marshall wasn’t immune to the Wild Mid-West of the Windy City when it came to releasing a record or being ripped-off. Examples include Larry Sherman pressing ‘Move Your Body’ on his own Trax Records imprint instead of Marshall’s ‘Other Side Records’ (Trainspotter alert – you can still get copies of the record where the Other Side OS002 catalogue label was scratched out with the Trax cat number TX117 inserted in the wax by Larry) and Lil’ Louis using Marshall’s original parts of ‘Video Clash’ and releasing via Dance Mania without his consent. Still, though some in the Chicago scene remained bitter with the shady dealings of the era, undeterred Marshall continued his house ascendency. Like fellow Chicago forefather Larry Heard, Marshall has an inimitable yet instantly recognisable production style that I love and remain timeless classics to this day. Whether it’s the lascivious lusting of Kym Mazelle’s ‘Taste My Love’, the mystical masterclass of ‘Open Our Eyes’ under his Truth guise or his early 90’s deep opuses on his ‘Other Side’ imprint including ‘Stay In The Life’ as Underground Repairs – flowing with the signature sounds that are synonymous with classic Marshall Jefferson productions such as THAT bass and piano only he can do typically drenched in synths and strings…

His production nous in house also secured him a deal with Atlantic which gave him commercial exposure working with Ten City – he previously collaborated with Byron Stingily under their ‘Ragtyme’ alias (an earlier incarnation of Ten City) who are best known for ‘I Can’t Stay Away’ which is a typical Marshall production awash with stark synths and strings complete with a powerhouse performance by Byron on vox. He also produced the Ce Ce Rogers classic ‘Someday’ which still sends shivers with that piano and Ce Ce’s delivery. Sheffield industrialists Cabaret Voltaire even hired him to contribute on their ‘Groovy, Laidback And Nasty’ LP which was a departure from their usual electronic sound naturally taking a more house direction with Marshall’s influence… He even along with Ten City features in the video for their lead single ‘Hypnotised’ – he didn’t actually produce this track on the LP but check this out anyway as the video is pure HOUSE.

I could write a monologue on Marshall but I’m sure I’ll pick up another hallowed production of his in the near future so will leave it for another day – in the meantime check brother Miles’ ace interview with him here on the Ransom Note.

So let’s talk about the less celebrated other half of Jungle Wonz – Harry Dennis (aka ‘Harri’). Like Marshall and many other young Chicago club kids of the era, Harry found his spiritual home in house havens such as The Warehouse and the Music Box. These sanctuaries and their deities (Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy) proved to be an influence and catalyst in Harry pursuing a career in house. With his song-writing abilities that he had a penchant for and honed when in college he utilised this when writing a track with his lyrical contributions giving a deeper resonance to the tracks he featured on. His first release was with his kindred spirit Larry Heard as ‘The It’ on the DJ International anthem ‘Donnie’ – the Ron Hardy mix the choice version that is a typical primitive Chicago House rhythm complete with sleazy synths and Robert Owens’ jilted vox yearning “She left me for another man, I can’t quite understand” juxtaposing with Harry and Chip E conversing over the rejection “I gave her diamond rings, expensive furs and everything”. Time to listen to this tale of desertion again – D-D-D-D-D-D-D-Donnie…

Harry’s platonic poetry added another dimension to the productions of the era he featured on – another example being the Fingers Inc. deep classic ‘Distant Planet’. A typically otherworldly opus from Larry Heard which in Harry’s words on the track take you “To a distant planet far, far away” – add to this Robert Owen’s vocal soaring into space and this one really does take you beyond the stars…

Larry’n’Harry returned to their ‘The It’ alias and released the ‘On Top Of The World’ LP in 1990 plus subsequent singles from the album all on Black Market records subsidiary Black Market International. The LP showcases Larry’s versatility and chameleon-like ability in producing lush sonic soundscapes with his inimitable flavour – also being the perfect platform for Harry’s social street commentary complementing the productions perfectly. Hard to pick a favourite though my personal favourite gotta be ‘Endless Flight’ (which frustratingly didn’t feature on the vinyl release). I picked the LP up recently in mint condition for a fiver at ‘The Little Record Shop’ which is my new local record joint (can’t get more local than next door!) – one of Harry’s more obtainable records that I’m sure you can dig out in the house section of the more discernible second-hand record emporiums. Amazingly after a twenty year plus hiatus they’ve resurrected ‘The It’ with a brand new EP touchin’ down via Larry’s Alleviated imprint. As ever timeless productions with the ethereal acid and lucid lyricism of ‘Somebody Somewhere’ my pick of the EP – check it out here along with Endless Flight…

However it’s the timeless mysticism of his Jungle Wonz records with Marshall that personify the term ‘deep’ and are actual precursors to what we know today as ‘Deep House’ – though personally I ain’t a fan of that term strictly House… I can only imagine the scenes when the late Larry Levan dropped ‘The Jungle’ at the Paradise Garage life-affirming… Though this week’s House Hunting find comin’ out considerably later than ‘The Jungle’ and ‘Time Marches On’ it’s still got that Jungle Wonz feel transporting you straight to the Amazon with its tribal drums and tropical bird chants. Time to get lost deep in the Jungle…