Marshall up yer ronson Xmas blow out

up yer ronson

mixes

Old kook anthems

Sasha, Mike Pickering @ Warehouse, Leeds, 1991  -  Pt.1

Sasha, Mike Pickering @ Warehouse, Leeds, 1991  -  Pt.2

Soak Leeds Warehouse 1991

Soak Leeds Warehouse 1991 side 2

History of Rave Anthems Part 2 - (1992 - 1994) Mixed by Sasha Vatoff

History of Rave Anthems Part 2 - (1992 - 1994)

On the decks following Neil Metzner was the one and only Marshall who played a seamless mix of US driven house & garage tracks...the crowd at this point were well and truly getting lost in the music and the DJ's were taking it up a level....check this out for a mixing masterclass...x

Watch out for our next party on Saturday 29th August at the Mint Warehouse, Leeds when we will be recreating the famous Space Ibiza terrace by throwing an all day / all night outdoor Up Yer Ronson Ibiza Reunion Terrace Party. DJ's include Tom Wainwright, Allister Whitehead, Brandon Block & Alex P and original Cafe Mambo & Space resident Jason Bye alongside the Ronson residents Marshall, Paul Murray, Neil Metzner & Andy Ward. Check the Facebook link below for ticket outlets and event details. x

www.facebook.com/events/978703108847331/

12am-1am - Marshall - live @ Up Yer Ronson - The Faversham, Leeds - Saturday 27th December 2014

Following on from the wicked set Marshall played was always going to be a big ask and when you go on after all 3 of the UYR DJ's who all rocked the place the pressure was on to deliver. The Faversham was absolutely jumping by the time I took to the decks so it was just a case of keeping the vibe alive...they were still dancing by the time I came off so I did alright haha....hope you enjoy cos it was certainly fun playing that's for sure! Enjoy..x

Watch out for our next party on Saturday 29th August at the Mint Warehouse, Leeds when we will be recreating the famous Space Ibiza terrace by throwing an all day / all night outdoor Up Yer Ronson Ibiza Reunion Terrace Party. DJ's include Tom Wainwright, Allister Whitehead, Brandon Block & Alex P and original Cafe Mambo & Space resident Jason Bye alongside the Ronson residents Marshall, Paul Murray, Neil Metzner & Andy Ward. Check the Facebook link below for ticket outlets and event details. x

www.facebook.com/events/978703108847331/

1am-2am - Paul Murray - live @ Up Yer Ronson - The Faversham, Leeds - Saturday 27th December 2014

From latest blog post - 'Manchester Vibes In The Area':
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2011/10/manchester-vibes-in-the-area/

The Electric Chair, with its legendary residents, The Unabombers (Luke & Justin), ran from 1995-2008, hosting 151 ‘executions’. A who’s who of guests, from both sides of the Atlantic, appeared during this time, and it was the favourite UK night of so many DJ’s. After 13 years they decided to go out at the top, their beloved ‘dirty basement’ still packed to the rafters for the monthly sessions (the venue, the Music Box, was previously another seminal Manchester club called Rafters, which I first became aware of in the late 70’s when it was at the forefront of the North’s Jazz-Funk scene, with DJ’s John Grant and Colin Curtis at the helm). Luke & Justin now run a successful bar, Electrik, in Chorlton, Manchester, whilst still making DJ appearances – they also host the Electric Elephant Festival in Croatia once a year.

Playing for the first time at the Electric Chair, on February 26th 2005, was a big deal for me, not only because it was the leading night on the scene I was now a part of, but also because it represented a lineage of cutting-edge Manchester clubbing dating right back to the 60’s, including Legend and The Haçienda, 2 landmark clubs I had the good fortune to be personally associated with 2 decades earlier. 

So, as you can appreciate, there was a deeper sense of time and place, almost a sniff of destiny, about that night at the Electric Chair for me. I’d prepared in accordance, putting together some new edits for the occasion. I started off with a mash-up, ‘Soul Squelch’, which coupled a contemporary track, ‘Squelch’, by Manchester’s own Dubble D, a Chair regular, with the classic Rakim rap from ‘I Know You Got Soul’ (Eric B & Rakim), which harked back to my 80’s Hip Hop connections with the city – this would be pressed-up on the first Redux 12” as ‘Soul Squelch’ (by Dubble D & Rakim). 

My final track, again specially edited for the occasion, was Mr Bloe’s harmonica workout, a feelgood favourite from my younger years, 1970’s ‘Groovin’ With Mr Bloe’. This would later be become more widely known as the closing cut on my first ‘Credit To The Edit’ compilation, which was issued the following August. 

The recording features an additional ‘one for the road’ track, which was an extended edit I did of ‘The Word’ by The Beatles. Luke and Justin always played the last spot, but they got me to come up at the end of the night to spin a final tune, and this is what I went with. Also, the recording is presented here for the first time as a whole 2 hour mix. It was originally split into 2 CD length halves, hence the fade out you’ll hear on ‘WFL’ by the Happy Mondays at the end of what was Disc 1.
  
Prior to my initial Reels Of Steel at Band On The Wall, Stretch Disco, who were hosting the night, put a YouTube piece online, where I was interviewed about my career defining ‘Manchester Moments’ - Legend and The Haçienda first time around, and Music Is Better and the Electric Chair more recently. Here’s what I said about my Chair debut:

“I knew about the Electric Chair beforehand, and I’d recognised it as the leading night on the scene, not just in Manchester but nationally. I think Electric Chair is one of these nights that, now, I don’t think people give full credit to - it will need a separation of time, give it 10 years and people will talk about the Electric Chair in real hallowed terms because, you know, the amount of nights up and down the country that I’ve done since that have said that they got their inspiration from the Electric Chair. It was just such a great night! 

What they were doing was mixing all the different styles together and I think that reconnected to the original spirit that went back to my time (at Legend). I can remember when I first went in there, listening to some of the tracks that were being played - I knew that Justin (Unabomber) had come from an Indie side, he was in a band called The New Fast Automatic Daffodils, and I was aware of this, but I didn’t know much about Luke at the time. I thought there’s a connection back to the black scene here, but I couldn’t quite work out what it was, and then I realised what it was, it was that Luke was from Sheffield and he’d been schooled at a night called Jive Turkey, which Winston (Hazel) and Parrot were the DJs at. Now they were kids on the scene who used to come to the All-Dayers that I used to do - no doubt that they came to Legend and stuff. So it’s all within that side of things, and he (Luke) made his connection there, and that made perfect sense to me as to why that black sensibility was there within the music that was being played at the Electric Chair. 

It was an incredible night, I mean they still do one-offs now, but obviously the night was at The Music Box - not the original though, they started in pubs in the 90s. I mean it was going for a long time beforehand but eventually found its home at The Music Box with a real dedicated crowd who were really into the music and everything. So when I came to play there it was like a homecoming in a way, and in a sense it made me feel like I’d arrived as a DJ again - it had gone beyond the stage that here’s somebody from the past and there’s a novelty value aspect to it, to somebody who’s current and doing stuff now, and I felt that very much with playing at the Electric Chair, with the warmth and reception of the crowd.”

The full ‘Manchester Moments’ clip can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXHJQ_mDPiU

Greg Wilson - October 2011


ELECTRIC CHAIR MANCHESTER 26.02.05 (greg wilson live mix)

Was diggin' through some of my favourite tracks I used to play at Up Yer Ronson the other day and hit record whilst having a lil jam at home...all off the cuff with no pre-planned set in mind or any rehearsed mixes...I wasn't going to release it as it's not a polished mix but I kinda like that as it adds to the authenticity of it...especially now we live in the days of sync buttons and beat / key perfect mixing thanks to the DJ software available...hope you dig....feel free to leave a comment and share amongst your friends! x

'The UpYerRonson Years - 1992-1997'

This is the final recording from upstairs...I had come just come off the decks after playing 1am-2am and the plan was for me and Andy Ward to play an hour set downstairs 'for old times sake', as it was the floor we both made our own back when we held our UYR parties there. We started playing back to back and enjoyed it so much we ended up staying on 'til 4am. Which meant upstairs was left in the capable hands of Marshall & Neil Metzner playing back to back for 2 hours from 2am-4am. Marsh said afterwards that it felt so surreal being back up in the DJ box that he played in every Friday night, warming up for some of the biggest DJ names in clubland. But this night was all about the residents and I'm sure you'll agree, they all played unbelievable sets that made it feel like you had gone back in time 21 years to one of the best nights and venues in the country...UpYerRonson every Friday at The Pleasure Rooms, Leeds!! So hit play and check this mix out by two of the finest resident DJs Leeds has ever produced...enjoy! x

We will be doing it all again on 28th May when we recreate the infamous Space Terrace at Mint Warehouse. Check the event page for more details: www.facebook.com/events/168000040241131/

Set 5 - Main Room 2am-4am / Marshall & Neil Metzner Bck2Bck - UYR 'Homecoming Party' 27th Dec 2015

Following on from Marshall is a guy who we've known since the crazy days of UpYerRonson in Ibiza back in 1994. He was the resident DJ at Cafe Mambo at the time and he caught our attention as someone who knows a good tune when he plays one. Since then, Bysie has been a regular DJ at our Ibiza parties we've put on in Mambo's, Es Paradis, Space & Amnesia. 

Jason absolutely rocked the Mint Warehouse Terrace when he made his UK Ronson debut back in August 2015, so we got him back for his second appearance in May 2016 and tore the terrace to pieces with a sublime selection of Ibiza classic terry's from the 90's including a few cheeky productions of his own. So get ready to experience a lesson in how to rock a party...Ibiza style! Give it up for Jason Bye...x

Bysie will playing for us again on Saturday 27th August 2016 when we join forces with Soak to bring you an all day & all night end of summer terrace party. Click on the event link below for more info:

www.facebook.com/events/1619152155077093/

Jason Bye - Live Mix @ UYR Ibiza Reunion Terrace Party - Sat 28th May 2016

This Sunday (New Years Day 2011) the Living To Music selection is the self-titled debut album by The Stone Roses. This reminded me of the one and only time I’ve played the LP’s opening track, ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ in a club. I wrote:

“In Dec 07 I was the final DJ, bar the residents, to play at Manchester’s now fabled Electric Chair – one of the city’s most important club nights in recent memory. I wanted to finish off with a track that truly summoned up the spirit of Manchester, and settled on ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ – an ethereal anthem from an era that placed the city at the forefront of popular culture. Whilst ‘Fools Gold’ is obviously the Roses track most geared to the dancefloor (and the one I'd later feature in my Essential Mix), ‘I Wanna Be Adored’ evoked the unity evident in that E’d up epoch, subsequently echoing through to the Electric Chair and still dearly cherished by those who experienced it first hand, whilst becoming a source of continued fascination for those who didn’t.”

Full blog post here: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2011/12/living-to-music-the-stone-roses-the-stone-roses/ 

I talk about the Electric Chair, and its legacy, in greater detail in the blog post ‘Manchester Vibes In The Area’: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2011/10/manchester-vibes-in-the-area/ 

The aforementioned Electric Chair event, the ‘Last Supper’ as they called it, featured a whole host of previous guests, all playing for half an hour each. As I mentioned, I was the final guest to appear and, given the significance of the occasion, I wanted my selections to be symbolic of the city’s club heritage, linking back to the underground days of the early 80’s, when I was at Legend (and, just prior to my retirement as a DJ, The Haçienda). The 5 tracks I decided on consisted of a trio of classic home-grown tunes from the height of the Madchester era, along with a couple more tracks, one from New York and one from Italy, which had originally been associated with Legend, but would later gain a secondary association as massive oldies played at The Haçienda later in the decade.

Having had to rush across town from a previously arranged booking (as fate would have it, a Haçienda revival night at Sankey’s Soap), in time to make my 4.30am slot, it wasn’t possible for me to set up all my equipment at the Chair, so this was one of the rare occasions when I’ve played from CD. Aware of this ahead of the gig, and knowing that the time frame only enabled me to play a handful of tracks, in preparation I did some editing and overdubbing on the tunes I’d selected, the first of which, 808 State’s ‘Pacific State’, would prove to be particularly inspirational for me a little over 12 months later, as this was where I first used the Jesse Jackson ‘Wattstax’ invocation, which would play such a pivotal role in my Essential Mix , where it features in both the opening track, DFP’s edit of ‘Down To Love Town’ and the concluding one, which is, of course, my ‘Electric Chair Edit’ of ‘Pacific State’.

I uploaded it earlier this year, so you can get the full lowdown / download here
http://soundcloud.com/gregwilson/808-state-pacific-state-greg 
Here’s the link to the Essential Mix:
http://soundcloud.com/gregwilson/essential-mix-greg-wilson-mix-for-bbc-radio-1 

The ‘Last Supper’ selection continues with Hashim’s ‘Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)’, now an acknowledged Electro classic, but originally a tune that had first blown-up big time on my Wednesday nights at Legend, when I started playing it as an import on a brand new NYC label, Cutting Records, which, as the decade unfolded would bridge Electro and House, not least with the cult anthem, ‘Let’s Get Brutal’ / ‘This Brutal House’ by Nitro Deluxe, a clear hybrid of these styles.  I’d later include ‘Al-Naafiysh’ as one of 12 era defining choices on ‘Classic Electro Mastercuts’, which I compiled in 1994:
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/misc/classic_electro.html 

Hearing ‘Al-Naafiysh’ played at The Haçienda’ at the height of the Rave period always brought a smile to my face, as I was the first DJ to play it there, back in 1983 when the clubs regular indie / student type customers, who were pretty hostile to the ‘dance shit’ I was known for, and which was packing the floor at Legend and Wigan Pier, where I worked with a predominantly black audience. The Haçienda was slow off the mark, but when it finally got there a few years down the line, it really got there with a vengeance, so to see this track ecstatically embraced as a classic 5/6 years on was, for me, a respectful nod back to what had gone before. Only problem being that the Acid House / Rave explosion was generally being reported as something new, with way too many writers totally unaware that what was happening at The Haçienda linked directly back to the Electro era, and before. The influence of the underground black scene was, as a consequence, pretty much whitewashed out of the story, whilst the romance of the Ibiza myth was increasingly cited as the inspiration behind what was happening in the rainy city, and neighbouring House music hotbeds, like Sheffield, Nottingham, Birmingham and Leeds, previously Jazz-Funk / Electro-Funk strongholds.

The third track here is a perfect illustration of this. Klein & MBO’s ‘Dirty Talk’ would appear as the opening track on the 1997 compilation ‘Viva Haçienda – 15 Years Of The Haçienda’. Described as a ‘certified Haçienda classic’, the sleevenotes would state “released pre-house, this Italian electro-disco curio only really made sense after the Chicago invasion”. This obviously wound me up something rotten, for, in reality, whilst it might have become a Haçienda classic a few years down the line, it had originally been one the biggest tunes of ‘82 bar none at Legend, featuring in my ‘Best Of ‘82’ mix on Piccadilly Radio. Rather than not really making sense pre-House, this was a track that made perfect sense to the black crowd long before Chicago began to make its impact in the mid-80’s. The reason it took off at The Haçienda in the first place was due to its popularity on the black scene in Manchester.

When The Haçienda ‘s original resident, Hewan Clarke, played it there one night, New Order, who co-owned the club, asked him if they could borrow it as a reference for a track that they were working on in the studio at the time, which turned out to be one of the defining releases of the 80’s – ‘Blue Monday’.

I’ll always be grateful to Harry Taylor at Spin Inn for putting me on to ‘Dirty Talk’ – I wrote about it in my 12x12 Wax Poetics selection: http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/lists/12x12.html 

The version I include here is the one I used to play at Legend and Wigan Pier, the instrumental ‘USA Connection’. The following summer Flexx Records in Belgium approached me to put together an official edit of the track, which they’d licensed. This was issued on 12” in Sept ’08, and this would subsequently appear as one of the selections on my ‘Credit To The Edit Vol 2’ compilation in 2009.

The penultimate inclusion is the Paul Oakenfold mix of ‘WFL’ by the Happy Mondays (in the Essential Mix I went for the Vince Clarke version). Again, from my Wax Poetics 12x12 piece, here’s what I wrote about it:

“Following the introduction of the drug ecstasy to the city (the legend has it that Mondays dancer, Bez, was the catalyst), an ever increasing number of white kids turned on to the dance grooves previously associated with the black scene. The underground was about to go mainstream, and Manchester (or ‘Madchester’ as it would be temporarily re-named) was right at the cusp of things.

The Happy Mondays had anticipated this with the release of their 1988 single “Wrote For Luck”, an addictive downtempo groover and the key track in their memorable live sets of the period, which echoed back to the Punk-Funk ethos of an earlier time. They chose my old club, Legend, to record the video, which had a theme of a children’s party, with a multi-racial audience, which seemed to sum up the cultural melting pot that had been stirring in the city for a number of years.

“WFL” was “Wrote For Luck” remixed…and how! Not one, but two brilliant remixes back to back courtesy of Vince Clarke (then Erasure, formerly Depeche Mode and Yazoo) and Paul Oakenfold (assisted by Terry Farley) working alongside programmer / engineer Steve Osborne. The Oakenfold / Osbourne combination would go on to produce the bands most commercially successful releases.

I’ll never forget the first time I saw the video to “WFL” (which used the Vince Clarke mix). Once again it was shot in Legend, but this time the children had been replaced by a club full of what were now termed ‘ravers’. A brilliant visual representation of those early ‘E’ days, perfectly capturing the time and the vibe, this video obviously made a deep impression on me. Seeing the same dancefloor that had been packed with black kids on my nights earlier in the decade, now full of white kids, was hugely symbolic of the way youth culture in this country was changing.”
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/lists/12x12.html

Then, finally, it’s ‘I Wanna Be Adored’, which, on the night, very much had the desired effect, generating a tingling of emotion throughout the audience, especially, as I mentioned, the old school contingent who, hands aloft on the dancefloor, felt the intensity of those first time around feelings come flooding back for a few precious minutes. 

Highlighting the lineage between past and present, my hope was that this short mix would provide was a fitting personal homage to not only the Electric Chair, but to The Haçienda before it, and Legend before that.

Greg Wilson – December 2011


ELECTRIC CHAIR LAST SUPPER 29.12.07 (greg wilson live selection)

To tie-in with the re-launch of my Electrofunkroots resource I'm going to be uploading some audio content that was either recorded in the early 80's, or looks back on the era.

I hope you check out the To tie-in with the re-launch of my Electrofunkroots resource I'm going to be uploading some audio content that was either recorded in the early 80's, or looks back on the era.

I hope you check out the redesigned revitalized website, we've added loads of new stuff, and will continue to do so on a regular basis - your feedback would be very much appreciated: 
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk website, we've added loads of new stuff, and will continue to do so on a regular basis - your feedback would be very much appreciated: 
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/mixes/the_best_of_82.html 

There's also a blog post, which gives you the full lowdown - Redesigned Revitalized: 
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2012/01/redesigned-revitalized/ 

Greg Wilson - January 2012

THE BEST OF 82: THE YEAR'S BIGGEST UNDERGROUND CLUB TUNES
In May 1982 I began putting together regular mixes for Mike Shaft’s Piccadilly Radio Soul Show, ‘T.C.O.B’ (Taking Care Of Business). The original mixes were as live, but as the year went on I began to utilise edits to a greater extent, using the station’s editing booths to try out some basic ideas. By the end of the year I’d bought my own equipment, so I could make the mixes from home, including two Technics SL1200 turntables and a Revox B77 reel-to-reel. Apart from allowing me to master the mixes and, of course, experiment further with editing, the simple dub effects on the mix were done via the Revox (which, as I’ve previously said elsewhere, was the best piece of equipment I ever bought).

Listening back to ‘The Best Of 82’, the first end of year mix broadcast by the station, I can’t help but cringe at the naivety of it, not to mention the general sloppiness! However, when this went out over the airwaves in December 1982 it would become part of local radio folklore. At the time you’d have thought I’d created a masterpiece judging from all the acclaim it received! It probably took me about 2-3 hours to put together, which, at that point, would have been the longest amount of time I’d ever spent on a mix, and it included 52 different tracks, some of which were just brief snippets. 

All of the tracks, as the title suggests, were major floorfillers at my venues during 1982. Apart from Wigan Pier and Legend in Manchester, which hosted the North’s top black music nights of the period, I also had two other successful weekly sessions during the second half of ’82 – Thursday nights at The Stars Bar in Huddersfield and Fridays at The Exit in Manchester. Apart from this I made guest appearances at the top All-Dayer events in the North and Midlands.

Copied from the original ¼” master, ‘The Best Of ‘82’ was one of the few mixes I managed to salvage from Piccadilly. However, due to damage at the end of the tape I had to fade-out before the final track, which was the US mix of 'Ease Your Mind' by Touchdown.

Also see The Best Of 83: http://soundcloud.com/gregwilson/the-best-of-83-by-greg-wilson

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

THE BEST OF 82 (by greg wilson for piccadilly radio manchester 1982)

Taken from blog post:
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2012/05/it-was-back-in-82/

IT WAS BACK IN ’82:
One of the defining moments of my DJ career took place exactly 30 years ago, on Monday May 10th 1982, when my first radio mix was broadcast on Mike Shaft’s show, ‘T.C.O.B’ (Taking Care Of Business), on Manchester’s hugely influential Piccadilly Radio, which played a major part in bringing black / dance music to wider attention during the 70’s and ‘80’s - from Soul, Funk and Disco, through Jazz-Funk and Electro, and on into Hip Hop, House and Techno. I go into its rich legacy in greater depth here:
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/articles/dont_touch_that_dial.html   

The mix had been recorded a few days earlier, as live, one afternoon at Legend in Manchester (the club closed at the time). Mike Shaft had brought along a Revox B77 reel-to-reel to record onto, the machine being the portable unit of choice throughout the radio industry in this country back then. This was the first time the Revox, which has since played a constant role in my work, entered my life. At the time I had no means to record at home, but by the end of the year, following the runaway success of the mixes, which would subsequently become a regular feature on Piccadilly, I’d purchase a couple of Technics SL1200’s and a Matamp Super Nova mixer (this was at a time when, with the exception of London DJ, Froggy, who used them for his Roadshow, no UK DJ’s had such equipment at home). To top things off I bought my first B77, so I could put together my mixes at home, which would serve to lead me ever-deeper into my obsession with editing. So glory be to Mike Shaft and to Piccadilly Radio for facilitating this life-defining arc of continued discovery.

The reel of ¼ tape onto which that first mix was recorded onto was, as with most of my radio mixes (the final one, ‘The Best Of ‘83’, being aired in December 1983), lost – probably copied over at some point or other, having been stored at the station. I managed to salvage a few of these mastertapes, most importantly ‘The Best Of ’82, but the original mix wasn’t amongst these, and I only had it on an extremely lo-fi cassette recorded from the radio at the time.

As the author / DJ Dave Haslam once said, the mixes “were probably some of the most taped programmes in Manchester radio history”. These tapes would also spread further afield than the Greater Manchester region that Piccadilly broadcasted to, with copies, and copies of copies, finding their way into cassette players and ghetto blasters in all corners of the country, often without people having a clue about their source – this was the ‘mixtape’ in its earliest form from a British perspective. One such recipient of my mixes was Stafford based Pezz, then a 14 year old lad discovering his musical influences, and later of the fabled Nottingham-based soundsystem and DJ collective, DiY, who were amongst the pioneers of the UK free party scene, having formed in 1989.

I’d meet Pezz at the Liverpool offices of 3Beat, the record shop / label he worked for – this was in 2002, 20 years on from when my radio mixes first aired. My DJ comeback was still in the future, and I was very much an obscure name from the past at best, most people of Pezz’s age brought up on a later generation of DJ’s. So his excitement at meeting me was unexpected – he was talking about this tape from back in my Piccadilly days that had made a big impact on him and his friends at the time, as they set off on their own personal dance music odysseys, and asked me if I could identify a couple of the tracks featured (these id’s having eluded them for 2 decades). It turned out that one of his big mates back then was Dean Meredith, later of Bizarre Inc, who enjoyed chart success in the early 90’s, and more recently  Chicken Lips (whose ‘He Not In’ I edited on my first ‘Credit To The Edit’ compilation in 2005), and that this tape had been a major influence on the sound of his latter project, which, along with Bizarre Inc, was produced in collaboration with partner Andy Meecham.

Pezz takes up the story in the sleevenotes of a limited run CD (300 copies only) from 2007, to mark the 25th anniversary, which he called ‘It Was Back In ‘82’:

“As soon as I’d met Greg, an excited call was made to Dean. ‘…. Hey kid, guess what! I just met Greg Wilson – No way – I need you to send me a copy of the tape up as soon as possible….’ Then came the months of waiting more phone call’s hassling to get a copy before eventually with the bribe of digitally remastering it onto CD it finally arrived!

In the meantime I’d had many conversations with Greg and e-mail’s were exchanged, one of which contained a list of essential Electro-Funk releases. This list was full of records I, and anyone I showed it to, had never heard of, apart from some obvious classic’s such as the Peech Boy’s ‘Don’t Make Me Wait’, and Afrika Bambaataa’s ‘Planet Rock’. When I finally sent him a copy of the tape I’d got from Dean he identified mysterious artists and titles like The Gunchback Boogie Band’s ‘Funn’ and Jimmy Spicer’s ‘The Bubble Bunch’. I began hunting down these tracks on the internet, the first to arrive was Larry Graham’s ‘Sooner Or Later’, and the excitement of finally getting my hands on these tunes was unreal, mindblowing! I hadn’t had such a buzz from buying records in years. A goal was then set to collect every track on the tape. Gradually over the coming weeks all but a handful were found. In the meantime, Greg found the old tracklistings for his first ever mixes for Mike Shaft, which just happened to be the two mixes contained on the legendary tape. I was then able to find all but two tracks, or rather two small drum sections he used in the first of the mixes. Not even Greg can recall where these came from!

Before long it seemed obvious that listening to this 20-year-old tape was not enough. After collecting these, and a host of other early 80’s Electro-Funk releases, I decided that the only thing left to do was to re-create the mixes myself! Rather than just re-do them as Greg did back in ‘82 on the decks at Legends. I decided to use the computer to ensure the tightest of mixes and present them in today’s highly polished manner (I also lifted and cleaned the missing drum parts direct from the tape). The whole concept of taking someone else’s work and re-creating it is quite strange, and actually completing it and then re-presenting it to Greg felt even more bizarre. Thankfully he was really into what I’d done, especially as the original ¼” masters have been lost and, like myself, the only copy of these mixes that Greg had was recorded onto cassette from the radio.”

Pezz’s full sleevenotes can be read at:
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/it-was-back-in-82/

So, to mark its 30th anniversary, this reconstructed version of my first ever radio mix, which was painstakingly pieced together by Pezz, has now been uploaded onto my SoundCloud.

The mix would be the first of its type on British radio, and following the fantastic response to mix 1, Mike Shaft decided to make it a regular feature, with new mixes every 3-4 weeks. It would have an instant impact in the clubs, with Legend’s attendance, which was already on the up, going through the roof in a matter of weeks. It was a momentous month, which also saw the release of the seminal Electro track, ‘Planet Rock’ (see: www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/articles/when_the_planet_rocked.html) and the opening of a new Manchester club, which I’d DJ at later down the line, called The Haçienda.

My career was about to go into overdrive, and ‘The Greg Wilson Mix’, as Mike, in his distinctive mid-Atlantic drawl, would introduce it, was a major part of this process.

Greg Wilson May 2012

IT WAS BACK IN '82 (by greg wilson for piccadilly radio manchester 1982 reconstructed by pezz 2004)

Live recording from Connoisseurs Corner at the Southport Weekender in Minehead 12.05.12.

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

SOUTHPORT WEEKENDER MINEHEAD 12.05.12 (greg wilson live mix)

Quadrant Park - Oldskool Classics - John Kelly (76min)

Well, I thought is was not gonna be possible to do as good as this: 
http://soundcloud.com/dfp/dimitri-from-paris-live-slide 

but that was not properly taking into account how amazing the Slide audience is. 

You can big up yourselves Brixton Clubhouse peeps, you did every bit as good if not better ! 
I always say I only do as good as my crowd does, well,  this is the ultimate proof ! 

Thank you Slide people for yet one more amazing night, you rocked, and you can hear it in this 100% live recording


Dimitri From Paris @ Brixton Clubhouse, London for Slide On The Terrace March 31 2013 Part 1

Born & bred in Leeds, Paul Murray was brought up on a healthy diet of acid house parties, illegal raves and the legendary Hacienda in Manchester.

In 1993 Paul was offered an exclusive Friday night residency at 'UpYerRonson' The Music Factory, Leeds where he gained his stripes as a leading House DJ playing alongside and gaining recognition from the likes of Sasha, Graeme Park, Paul Oakenfold, Frankie Knuckles, Tony Humphries, M-People & Sister Sledge to name just a few. He held the residency for 6 fun filled years of madness & wicked parties. Ask him now what was the highlight of his 6 years at 'UpYerRonson' and he'll tell you that every Friday was different and having clubbers actually coming to check his sets out rather than the so called 'big name' DJs was a compliment and testament to the talent & ability he has to create a vibe only that man Muzzcroft could do.

In 1996, his unique style and amazing talent got him his first summer residency at Amnesia, Ibiza where his sets on the terrace alongside Brandon Block were legendary and rocked the crowds week in week out. From his residency at Amnesia came offers to guest DJ at some of the Islands biggest clubs including Pacha, Es Paradis & Manumission and saw him regularly fly out to Majorca to play for Club Cream at their weekly night at BCM. Paul also hosted the pre-club parties at Cafe Mambo playing with some of the industries biggest DJs including Roger Sanchez, DJ Sneak & Erick Morillo. 

At the end of his first full season in Ibiza in 1996, Javi the owner of Cafe Mambos offered him to return next summer and become the new season resident DJ. Paul reluctantly tuned the offer down due to work commitments back in the UK but has continued to grace the magical white Isle and guested at clubs and bars from 1997-2000 where he played at some amazing one off parties.

Paul recently brought the UpYerRonson parties out of retirement for a series of one off parties. 
In August 2014 he put on a special party at The Faversham, Leeds to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of the residency UYR held at The Pleasure Rooms between 1994-1996. 
August 2015 was the 21st Anniversary of UpYerRonson's sold out party they put on at Space, Ibiza in 1995. So to celebrate that amazing day, they put on an all day / all night terrace party and set about recreating the infamous Space Terrace on the outside area of Mint Warehouse, Leeds. The party was such a success that it's been placed up there with one of the best they've ever done. 
UpYerRonson ARE BACK and now throw 2 annual Day & Night Terrace Parties a year (end of May bank holiday Saturday & end of August bank holiday Saturday) from 2pm-2am at Mint Warehouse, Leeds and an annual Christmas Blowout Party on Mad Friday at Mint Club, Leeds.

In December 2016, UpYerronson decided to celebrate the 21st Anniversary of their Pleasure Rooms residency by taking over the original venue (now called Bar Soba)and transformed it back into The Pleasure Rooms for one night only! They even recreated the raised mezzanine floor where the DJs had to climb up a ladder to get to. Paul said "Being up there was quite surreal looking down on the crowd below thinking that we would never of thought that 21 years later, we'd be up here again playing music to the UpYerRonson crowd!"

For bookings and general enquiries contact:
email: djpaulmurray@hotmail.com
www.facebook.com/djpaulmurray