After getting my first 12 inch record from my grandparents, I started buying them on a regular basis with my pocket money. Then Pete Tong started his Friday night show on Radio 1 back in 1993, this started a music institution for finding out the latest dance tunes. I would still continue the time honour tradition of taping radio shows by taping the ‘Essential Mix’ on a Friday night and I still have some of these tapes at home. The earlier records that I brought were quite techno rave like Joey Beltram and records from the happy acid house era. Smiley faces and whistles! The Prodigy had just released Charly and Everybody in the Place which was a real jump up and down record and I have fond memories of dancing to this at a nightclub in Southend. This was my first taste of clubbing but stories of clubbing will have to wait for another time. After a while dance music moved direction into house music, with the likes of Rhythm on the Loose (Break of Dawn), De’Lacy (Hideaway) and Robert Owens (I’ll Be Your Friend). I could go on and on with a list of my favourite house records of the early 90s but fear I would bored everyone. With over 300 12in vinyl records the list could go on forever.
Dance music will always be my first love for music but during the 90s there was also the “Britpop” scene. So I also got into music from Happy Mondays, Blur and Oasis. I actually went to see Blur at the Kilburn Ballroom before their huge second album. So I spent most of the nineties listening to Britpop in the car and dancing away at home or in clubs to house music. By the end of the nineties dance music had changed a lot too – The Prodigy was using more ‘real’ instruments in their records and it was so much more commercial. Madonna was making dance records! Dance music was all over the charts, on the radio and used in commercials. There seems to be a lot of remixes of the golden oldie dance records being released now – which makes me think that no one can create new dance music. Or has the dance scene just changed direction and as I don’t go clubbing anymore (I can just about keep awake to midnight nowadays) I haven’t realised. Since 2000 my music tastes have changed even more – is this another sign of getting older…
The Essential Mix – yes! The fact that it was on Radio One clearly means the music wasn’t at all groundbreaking or new – but it FELT like it was to me at the time, and the secret, nocturnal world of clubbing was just really exciting. I don’t remember there ever being any trouble or aggression, and even slowly walking back home through London at 6am on a Sunday morning with a big group of friends was actually a really nice part of it too.
We must swap Essential Mix tapes one day, like it’s still 1993…!
Surely new remixes of old dance records are an improvement on dance covers of rock records? But tbh I have no idea what clubbing music is now. It doesn’t really matter, because my music tastes are going backwards anyway – european (=pretty cheesy) 80s obscure dance stuff. Mmmm.
Thanks for the comment Dan – yes, we must swap tapes except I don’t think I have a tape player anymore! When I get all my vinyl digitalise I will have to make up a CD and give you a copy! Ah, the good old days!