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In the mid 80s I was lucky to listen to a few cassette recordings of some of New York radio mix shows.
I was totally floored by the virtuosity of the programs.
The DJ that impressed me the most was Tony Humphries.
Unlike the others, he wasn’t incorporating many tricks by way of special effects, or rhythm edits. His blends were harmonious, subtle, and flawless. In a word, they were Musical.
In 1986, when I set out to start a radio show - primarily as an outlet to showcase my own re-edit and remix work - Those New York Kiss FM shows were my main inspiration.
My first shows, on Parisian radios Skyrock, then nation wide NRJ, only had some sections that were mixed, due to the mandatory commercial breaks. Also, they featured an MC friend, doing most of the talking.
From 1989, I was given a shorter one hour slot on NRJ, but was on my own, with no commercial breaks, free to present a non-stop mix.
The radio had a very mainstream top 40 format, but as my show was during low audience hours, they let me have my own programming. The content was mostly my personal selection of Dance and House music of the time, with a few older things occasionally thrown in.
The show was eventually cut off the air in 1994, when the station was monitoring its audience 24/7, and didn’t want to venture away their Top 40 play list anymore.
Years later, with the burst of internet, some of my shows, as they were recorded by listeners on cassette tapes, started to surface online.
Some fans I wasn’t aware of during the show’s era, dedicated time and effort to gather more and more recordings, and compile them in a few discussion groups.
I didn’t keep a personal archive myself, but thanks to the passionate work of a few of my original audience, more than 70% of the shows have been recovered, recorded off air, as they were originally heard.
Over time, I got to meet some of those listeners, who mostly were in their teens when the shows aired.
They told me the impact the music I played had on them. Back in the 90s, it was very difficult outside the few largest French cities, to have access to music that wasn’t mainstream.
Being the Parisian I am, I only realized decades later, that those shows had a much further and bigger reach I ever imagined.
31 years later, thanks to the most dedicated fans out there, I’m able to present you with a selection of those shows.
Some of the music there has stood the test of time, some has not.
Take it as a time capsule of where my musical self was in the late 80s early 90s.
It's March 2020, and a large portion of the world has a few weeks of lockdown ahead.
I’ll dedicate to post a new recording every Friday.
A very special thanks to all the fans over the years, and in particular to deemsaar for the quality recordings (https://www.mixcloud.com/deemsaar/) as well as Jerome QPchan for the curating and motivation :)
Comments, stories, memories is what gives the music its flesh and body, so feel free to interact !
Thank you all for reading that far :)
- Genre
- House
Contains tracks
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