R- &sMooth

Edit The Edit ‘Two Sides Of Sympathy’ (greg wilson edit of pta mash-ups)

112 bpm

Previously limited vinyl only in 2007 & 2009.

Of all the tracks I’ve played since my DJ return at the end of ’03, this has been undoubtedly the most requested. It was very much a signature track for a number of years, and still makes an appearance from time to time nowadays.

It all stems from when I picked up a 12” from Piccadilly Records in Manchester during the summer of 2005. It was by The P.T.A (Paul Martin and Tyrrell) on Throw Away Records, and included two mash-ups, both of which used the vocal from Amerie’s ‘1 Thing’, which had been a big R&B hit earlier that year. On one side of the 12” it had been mashed with Massive Attack’s ‘Unfinished Sympathy’ (this was titled ‘Unfinished Thing’), whilst on the other, ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ by the Rolling Stones (‘One For The Devil’). Not only had each of these combinations melded brilliantly, but both had ‘Sympathy’ in the title. This impressed me no end – some genius juxtaposition going on there.

Listening closer it was clear that there’d been some tampering, but it wasn’t until much later that I realised that, apart from the Amerie acappella, everything had been re-created by Canadian producer / DJ Tyrrell, including Keith Richard’s iconic guitar solo, which sounded better than ever - I’d presumed that the version of ‘Sympathy For The Devil’ he’d used had come from some Andrew Loog Oldham type instrumental (as was the case when The Verve famously sampled Oldham’s orchestral arrangement of the Stones’ ‘The Last Time’, on their 90’s classic ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’), so this only added to my awe at what Tyrrell and Paul had somehow managed to magic up.

Brilliance on vinyl is all good and well, but I’d bought the track with the dancefloor in mind, so it was now a case of how it walked the walk. Straight away I had a problem – which side to play? They were both really strong and I couldn’t make my mind up at first, but then I went between the horns of this dilemma and decided to mix one straight into the other, as though it was a single continuous track. I originally did this live (they appear together this way on a recording from Birmingham’s much lamented Jigsaw night, where I played in August ’05), but then I decided to put together an edit so I could take the combined length down by about three minutes and tighten the idea up. I called this version ‘Two Sides Of Sympathy’ – I utilized the percussion from ‘One For The Devil’ for the intro, before moving into the main body of ‘Unfinished Thing’, which then mixes back into ‘One for The Devil’ during the breakdown, reaching its climax with the guitar solo. To round things off I gave it a customary peppering of samples and spins.

The edit went Big with a capital B for me, and everywhere I went people were asking for it – it was one of those tracks you couldn’t stop playing because you knew that people would be disappointed not to hear it. When I came to put together my Essential Mix for Radio 1 in January ‘09, ‘Two Sides Of Sympathy’ was probably the first track on my list (the mix focusing on the tunes that had served me best since my comeback five years previous).

A limited 12” on the Edit The Edit inprint was made available in 2007 – as the name suggests, this was for my edits of other peoples edits (or mash-ups, as in this case). The original P.T.A release was fully credited on the label – I’d made contact with Tyrrell via email and he’d given his blessing for the 12” to be pressed. We got to meet for the first time when I was in London appearing at Plastic People in April ’07, where he’d hear me play ‘Two Sides’ over that killer system.

In 2009 it would re-appear on vinyl, this time as the second release in the Reactivate series (following on from ‘I Was A Teenage DJ’ / ‘Gotta Keep Workin’ It’), a new wave of DJ demand resulting from its Essential Mix inclusion.

Given that I can’t list the artists as Amerie, Massive Attack & the Rolling Stones (because two thirds of that trio are Tyrrell in disguise), I’ll stick to Edit The Edit ‘Two Sides Of Sympathy', which is how it’s been listed most often, Essential Mix included.

When I asked Tyrrell if he was happy for me to upload it here he told me to ‘go ahead, spread the love’. So here it is, maintaining the bi-yearly sequence – 2005 original P.T.A 12”, 2007 Edit The Edit 12”, 2009 Reactivate 12”, and now 2011 SoundCloud download.

Greg Wilson – August 2011


Edit The Edit 'Two Sides Of Sympathy' (greg wilson edit of pta mash-ups)

Full recording from the Freeze promoted party at The Garage in Liverpool on 05.12.15 to mark the 40th anniversary of my first club appearance on December 6th 1975. For further info: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2015/12/40th-anniversary-weekend-recorded/

Check out my label's music at: https://superweirdsubstance.bandcamp.com

5 HOUR 40TH ANNIVERSARY @ THE GARAGE LIVERPOOL 05.12.15 (greg wilson live mix)

Boz Scaggs ‘Lowdown’ (greg wilson edit)

115 bpm

Previously limited vinyl only 2008.

This is a straightforward, no added elements extension of ‘Lowdown’ that I knocked together back in 2004, and which would later be shared on limited vinyl in 2008 as ‘Blue Eyed Boz’, issued on the same 12” as ‘Adriano Italiano’ to launch the GW Ruff Edits series. It’s popped up in a few of my live mixes down the years, and features in the East Village London mix on here from last December.

'Lowdown' was released in the UK 35 years ago, in September 1976. Between January 2006 and September 2007 I compiled a series called Time Capsule for Samurai FM, where, month by month, I revisited the tracks I used to play in the clubs exactly 30 years earlier. It was a real labour of love, for not only did I have to research and often re-source the music included (I had a load of records stolen in 1985, so there were big holes in my collection), I also wrote an accompanying piece every month looking at the records featured, and how my fledgling DJ career was shaping up. 'Lowdown' was a single I used to play at the time in my New Brighton residencies, the Chelsea Reach and the Penny Farthing. Time Capsule covered the period I was at the Chelsea and the Penny, leading up to when I took over at the Golden Guinea, where I’d spend 3 memorable years before embarking on my Wigan / Manchester adventure in the early 80’s. 

I’d hoped to take Time Capsule all the way through 1977, but the workload became too much and I found myself unable to meet the monthly deadlines, so I reluctantly had to stop at Sept 77, with the intention of getting back to it in the future if I ever have sufficient time on my hands. Even if this turns out to be all I ever manage to do, Time Capsule, as I left it 4 years ago, still stands as a snapshot archive from a key moment in dance culture, as the Disco era gained full momentum and the 12” gradually began to take over from the 7” in the affections of British DJ’s.

All the programmes, plus ‘First Impressions’, which inspired the series, can be accessed here:
https://www.mixcloud.com/gregwilson/playlists/greg-wilson-time-capsule/

Here’s what I wrote about ‘Lowdown’ for the Sept 76 Time Capsule:
“Regarded as one of the classic Blue-Eyed Soul singles, 'Lowdown' by Boz Scaggs, despite its popularity on the UK club scene, peaked at a somewhat disappointing position of number 28 on the British chart. By contrast, the single had reached number 3 stateside, with the album it was taken from, 'Silk Degrees', becoming an American classic, which sold more than 5 million copies and spent over 2 years on the chart! Picking up a Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues song, 'Lowdown' was recorded with a team of session musicians, who would later form the nucleus of the hit band Toto. In the early 60's, Scaggs, who was Ohio born, had left his Texas home to briefly join London's burgeoning R&B scene, returning to record his debut solo album, 'Boz' in 1965. He'd later appear on the first 2 Steve Miller Band LP's, 'Children Of The Future' (1968) and 'Sailor' (1969), before continuing his solo career with a series of albums for Atlantic Records. However, it wasn't until he signed to Columbia that the commercial acclaim, which had previously eluded him, finally came thanks to 'Silk Degrees'.”

Greg Wilson – September 2011

Check out my label's music at: https://superweirdsubstance.bandcamp.com

Boz Scaggs 'Lowdown' (greg wilson edit)

Captain Rapp ‘Bad Times (I Can’t Stand It)’ (greg wilson edit)

120 bpm

Previously limited vinyl only 2009.

With all the talk of recession during late 2008 through 2009, Captain Rapp’s ‘Bad Times’ kept running through my head, prompting the idea to put together this edit, which would be pressed  to limited vinyl as part of the Ruff Edits series, appearing as ‘Ruff Rapp’ on Ruff Edits #3. Now, with the news reporters back to warning us of a rocky road ahead, with all the social problems this might entail, it provides a topical opportunity to share it here.

Taking its lyrical cue from 1982’s seminal recording, ‘The Message’ by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, ‘Bad Times (I Can’t Stand It)’ was a socially conscious rap that explored the issues of the day, topped off with the raw pleas of singer Kimberley Ball. Just as important though was the killer Electro-Funk groove that set the more discerning of dancefloors alight. A proper underground tune that was huge for me during the latter part of ’83 , topping my floorfillers list not long before I called time on my DJ career:
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/lists/no1_floorfillers.html

This was very much a track you’d only hear if you were tuned into what was going on in the black clubs over here. Like the majority of tracks I played, I’d picked it up on import from Spin Inn, the essential shop in the North for Soul, Funk, Disco, Electro-Funk and Jazz (the elements that made up a specialist night circa ‘83). As I've said before, if you didn't buy your records at an import stockist like Spin Inn, you couldn't seriously aspire to be a black music specialist, and Spin Inn was right up there, along with an elite of shops, like Groove and City Sounds in London, shaping the course of UK club culture via the constant stream of dance music, great, good and not so good, they brought into this country.

Whereas New York was the centre of the dance universe at this time, its hybrid groove and technological experimentation pushing the music ever forward, ‘Bad Times’ was a West Coast, not East Coast  track, released on a small label out of Los Angeles called Saturn, with unknowns, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis (along with Rich Cason), credited as arranging and performing (Jam & Lewis would, of course, become the most successful dance / R&B producers of the mid-late 80’s). Captain Rapp himself was Larry Earl Glenn, whose 1981 ‘Gigalo Rapp’ (by Disco Daddy & Captain Rapp) has its place in history as the first West Coast Rap 12”. 

‘Bad Times’ would be issued in the UK on the Becket label, but failed to make any real impact beyond the black scene. As such, it’s always retained its underground credentials, and a place in the hearts of black music enthusiasts with a fond ear for the early 80’s. 

Greg Wilson – October 2011

Check out my label's music at: https://superweirdsubstance.bandcamp.com

Captain Rapp 'Bad Times (I Can't Stand It)' (greg wilson edit)

Raw Silk 'Do It To The Music' (greg wilson edit)

114bpm

Never previously shared

I know there are quite a few edits of ‘Do It To The Music’ knocking about, a couple of which I’ve played out myself (Frico & Kid Color), but here’s the one I put together back in 2006 that’s popped up in a couple of my mixes, just a ruff from the vinyl incorporating both the main vocal mix and the dub, with no added elements. I only ever intended it to be for my own personal use, rather than something I considered pressing up (otherwise I’d have tried to get hold of a slightly cleaner copy to work from). The reason I’d discounted it for inclusion on a limited run 12” was because I’d thought about the track as a potential candidate for the first Credit To The Edit album the previous year, but I’d already used the acappella from the beginning of the dub over DMX Krew’s ‘Who Got The Funk’, the combination becoming Raw DMX ‘Do It To The Funk’ – the first track I played on my DJ comeback at Music Is Better (see: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2011/09/music-is-better-re-edited-highlights), and subsequently a key C2theE track. I figured an additional Raw Silk edit would be overkill, so the idea was shelved. But now we’re at a different point in time and I’m sharing edits here on SoundCloud, so here it is.

Mixed by Nick Martinelli & David Todd and released in the US on Mel Cheren’s West End label, ‘Do It To The Music’ was picked up on import by specialist DJ's in the UK, but following its release here on KR it’d crossover to the more mainstream clubs, and eventually enter the Top 20 of the charts here. West End was the source for so many classic underground cuts during my time at Legend and Wigan Pier (Peech Boys, Brenda Taylor, Stone, Shirley Lites, Barbara Mason, Forrrce, DJ Divine etc), and it was right up there with the likes of Prelude and Tommy Boy and as one of the most essential labels of the era as far as the black scene here in the UK was concerned.

So, without further adieu; no time for criticising, music's hypnotising, everybody's temperature's rising, so get down.

Greg Wilson – October 2011

Check out my label's music at: https://superweirdsubstance.bandcamp.com

Raw Silk 'Do It To The Music' (greg wilson edit)

A&R Edits - Fool (Fingerman's Edit For Folks) Out Now (Vinyl)

Get it here --> https://totalm.bandcamp.com

Be Thankful For What You've Got (Total M's Brothers & Sisters Edit)

Download

Brothers Strawberries

Mannix - Earth Shake (Snippet)

Bye ! (Chuggin Edits) Ft On The Craig Charles Funk & Soul Show 26.1.2018

Hot digits - Year Four

back 4 more

BACK 4 MORE - Re Vamp'd - "ANTTON"

Here’s the second of the reworks I’ve recently put together with Henry Greenwood. This time it’s a brooding Balearic treasure from the late-‘70s, recorded by a group who experienced a fleeting moment of fame with this pop/rock treat and its addictive downtempo dance beat. It’s these qualities we’ve tried to enhance, making the track more contemporary for DJs to play out now, whilst retaining the distinctive essence of the original.

Before we set about the rework, I played it last year as my final track when I appeared at Glitterbox in Hi! Ibiza (I’m back this year for the closing party on Sept 28th). It was after hearing how well this worked as my Glitterbox finale (mix here: https://soundcloud.com/glitterboxibiza/greg-wilson-glitterbox-hi-ibiza-150917) that I approached Henry, who has a wonderful feel for downtempo grooves, to work on an update with me. Anyhow, I think it’s definitely mission accomplished, feedback since I’ve been playing it extremely positive.

Released on EMI’s progressive label, Harvest, in 1978, Marshall Hain’s ‘Dancing In The City’ was a huge UK hit, reaching #3 on the singles chart, as well as scoring big in Europe, Australia and South Africa, and just missing out on the US top 40. 

The duo behind the track, keyboardist Julian Marshall and vocalist/bassist Kit Hain had met as pupils at Dartington Hall School in Totnes, Devon, just a few years beforehand, but their success would be short-lived. A follow-up, ‘Coming Home’, was less memorable, just about scraping into the top 40 before, as with the band itself, completely vanishing from the pop realm, indifference to their album, ‘Free Ride’, the final nail in the coffin.

Marshall would become a member of The Flying Lizards, whose oddball post-punk/avant-garde cover of the R&B classic, ‘Money (That’s What I Want)’, released on Virgin, went top 5 in 1979, before forming Eye To Eye, who released 2 albums for Warner Bros. in the early-‘80s. Hain pursued a solo career, recording the albums ‘Spirits Walking Out’ for Deram (1981) and ‘School For Spies’ for Mercury (1983), before subsequently moving to the US and turning her attention to songwriting.

Available to pre-order on 12" here: https://www.juno.co.uk/products/gw-henry-disco-mondo/739367-01/

Pre-Order

Marshall Hain 'Dancing In The City' (greg wilson & henry greenwood rework)

I know things have been a little quiet of late but I had to share this remix I did of one of my favourite tracks. Love Dennis Edwards vocals but I think Siedah Garrett really kills it. She's amazing!

Don't Look Any Further [LNTG Remix]

The final of my four appearances at Glastonbury in 2019, recorded at Stonebridge on the evening of 30.06.19.

GLASTONBURY STONEBRIDGE 30.06.19 (greg wilson live mix)

Recording from La Discothèque at Printworks in London 13.12.19.

LA DISCOTHÈQUE @ PRINTWORKS LONDON 13.12.19 (greg wilson live mix)

He's Not Into You

2 hours of some of my favourite samples used in Hip Hop and RnB...  Part 1! 
Tracklist available:
https://www.nts.live/shows/alexander-nut/episodes/alexander-nut-21st-april-2020

Sample Special - NTS Radio Show 19/04/20

Overture

Stranger (feat. Saba & Jarreau Vandal)

Back with another episode of my monthly @sohoradio show and this month i'm joined by the incredible @rubyfrancis. I remember first hearing her track 'Paranoid' back in 2017 and it instantly made me think of early Neptune's productions. I then saw her playing at the Great Escape festival later on that year and it's safe to say she's just as great as a live performer.

I was excited to get her on the show to discuss her career to date, her influences and how she manages to juggle being a producer, singer and songwriter all at the same time!

If you're here for the music, don't worry there's loads of new music on the show as well!

Tracklist - https://www.instagram.com/p/CD8eHWwAy33/

Follow El Train :
Soundcloud - @eltrainmusic
Facebook - www.facebook.com/eltrainmusic
Instagram - www.instagram.com/eltrainmusic
Twitter - twitter.com/eltrainmusic

Follow Ruby Francis
Soundcloud - @rubyfrancis
Facebook - facebook.com/RubyFrancisMusic/
Twitter - twitter.com/rubyfrantweets
Instagram - instagram.com/ruby_francis

R- &sMooth

C Fink