DJ

As we prepare for our move and went through the storage unit in the basement, I was delighted to find several crates of records from my DJ days. I knew they were down there somewhere, but they hadn’t seen the light of day in nearly four years. And now they’re being packed up and prepped for a ride across the country to Tucson.

When I was DJing three or four nights a week I heavily relied on a few of the remix services, including Ultimix, Hot Tracks, and Hi-NRG from Hot Tracks. These “For DJ Use Only” mixes featured custom mixes of popular songs, often with the necessary lead in and break out beats necessary to keep the dance floor moving in constant time as you moved between songs. It’s not nice to make gay men and lesbians trip and fall as you just mash two songs together; you have to beat mix them, and more importantly, do it at the proper time in the track to keep the energy up and the people dancing.

Ultimix, Hot Tracks, and the like certainly helped in that situation.

I remember listening to this on 62 WHEN. From 1978, here’s John Paul Young and “Love Is In The Air.

This was a big, but fairly niche, club track when I was DJing back in the day. I originally heard the song on “Open House Party” hosted by John Garabedian, and since I knew him from my radio connections, I called him up and he told me about the song. I was happy to start playing it right away.

From 1995, here’s “Movin’ Up” by Dreamworld.

I will always be thankful for coming of age in the 80s. This track was popular when I was a baby DJ. From 1989, here’s Will To Power with “Fading Away”.

And, mustache!

Back when I was first DJing in small clubs I picked up this 12-inch single in a record store in Boston. I always enjoyed the vibe of this record, and a newer version became a big dance hit in 1992 or 1993. When I was Program Director of WOWZ/WOWB (Wow-FM, “The Beat of Central New York”) and had just discovered Napster, we yanked this version and mixed it into rotation. Don’t tell anyone. It was always fun to play alternative versions of tracks once in a while, though it’s not a very good practice for Top 40 radio.

From 1990, here’s Robin Stone (later Robin S) and “Show Me Love”. This is one of the reasons I enjoy YouTube; folks share the stuff you can’t find elsewhere.

One of my favorite songs of all time, here’s an amazing “2020” cover of Swing Out Sister and “Breakout”.

This is 2020 in a song.

Last week I posted a video of Friends of Distinction singing “Grazin’ In The Grass”. I’ve always loved their vocals and the way they adapted the instrumental track with their own lyrics to make their own spin on the song.

Youtube suggested another Friends of Distinction track for me this week and it was a song I had not heard in a couple of decades. As soon as I heard the track I was transported into the backseat of my Dad’s muscle car, a 1971 Chevelle Heavy Chevy. It’s one of the songs we’d hear on 62 WHEN.

Here’s Friends of Distinction with “Love Or Let Me Be Lonely”. Gosh, I miss the funky sounds of the late 60s and early 70s.

https://youtu.be/9CXgSOYtmNs

Originally released in June, the message still holds true, even as Americans grow tired of COVID-19 and trying to stay safe during this pandemic.

This is Wang Chung with special guest Valerie Day from Nu Shooz, with a 2020 appropriate reworking of the 80s hit, “Everybody Have Fun Tonight”, with “Everybody Stay Safe Tonight”.