Influences: Gerd Janson

Mostly filmed from behind the DJ booth, this one shows a young (dressed in vest and dungarees). DJ Duke deejaying at Club Mars during the post-Paradise-Garage phase in NYC nightlife. Larry Heard, Bobby Konders, Bang The Party, Mr. Lee and 808 State all in the mix. Includes a Depeche Mode DJ request.

Speaking of Bobby Konders…as I have quite an obsession with the guy, I picked the only DJ mix of his that I could find on YouTube. The personified amalgamation of reggae and so called deep house, Konders did his best to unify seemingly disparate styles (let alone attitudes). Perfectly embodied in “The Poem” – his Nu Groove standard that features the dub poet Mutabaruka and a monster bass line.
This is actually a recording from WBLS and not KissFM, comes unfortunately without one of the dancehall breakdowns, but fortunately with his self-made big-up jingles and a selection of the club classics of the day.

Rare live footage from one of the first clubs I ever went to and arguably the first and only one in Germany at the time that played UK hardcore, jungle and all the other mish-mash that translated directly into fun. The club nights there had a soundtrack that wasn’t exclusively breakbeat, but also consisted of the big proto-trance, techno and especially house records of the day. Maybe the best about that clip is that people act and look like they really did, being unaware of how to behave or dance on film.

John “Jellybean” Benitez being interviewed about the craft of deejaying. For anyone not familiar with the name: one of the first DJs to cross over into the pop music market, Funhouse resident DJ, produced Madonna’s Holiday , Whitney Houston’s Love Will Save The Day and New Order’s Confusion (whose video clip is partially filmed at the Funhouse). 5 minutes of great advise for any and every aspiring DJ – and some wish for his future that became true.

Here we go: New Order, Arthur Baker, New York City, The Funhouse, tape machines, pizza, the Paradise Garage ramp, Bernard Sumner in shorts. This was the coolest thing when I saw it as a little kid sitting in front of music TV. Even though. I didn’t have the slightest idea what I was watching, it made an impact on me. I think it’s still the coolest thing in the world and a document of a New York City that we will never see again.

The aforementioned VHS tape also has a feature on the Tonka Sound System at the Zap Club in Brighton. DJ Harvey, Foolish Felix and the likes on tape.An untroubled and free-spirited rave attitude that is similar to the milk! even if musically incomparable.

Although widely associated with the term “electro clash” and its effects, Hell had a life before that. X-Mix5 is the official document to that. The orginal promo blurb say it better than I ever could (maybe without the words funky, sexy, dark, deep and hell ride though):

From classic acid house cuts to the most recent rythms from the world`s leading techno labels, X-Mix 5 offers a wild styled ride trough the last ten years of innovative house music. In this mix and extension of the soundtrack for the X-Mix 5 video, the beats of late `80s Detroit and Chicago meet the sounds of the modern world. Dj Hell, who`s been spinning this stuff since the scene first began, dives into the faults and surfaces with 19 flawless pearls of house music.
Put together with love, perfectionism and attention to minimalist detail, the result is an inferno of groove, an underground hell ride to the heart of the beat. Funky and sexy, dark and deep, a decade of dance in one long, hot mix, Dj Hell`s X-Mix 5 will style you wild.

As a former student of history, obsessive record collector and Tony Humphries fanboy, this mini documentary came heaven sent. Great Footage from Zanzibar, Movin Records, Interviews and a quite good definition of the ambiguous “Jersey Sound” make this thing one of my favourite things to watch over and over and over again. I even got the VHS tape of this…somewhere!