Complete collection of Greg Wilson Remixes 2005-2013.

Accompanying blog post: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2014/03/greg-wilson-versions-2005-2013/

40 tracks in total.

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

Greg Wilson Versions 2005-2013

Super Weird Substance Mixtapes

Unreleased or vinyl only Greg Wilson edits and mash-ups.

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

Edits & Mash-Ups

Live Greg Wilson DJ mixes - in chronological order, the most recently uploaded first.

Live DJ Mixes

Pre-Recorded DJ Mixes

SOUL FOOD – THE BROAD CHURCH OF NORTHERN SOUL
This podcast accompanies a blog piece ‘Northern Renaissance’, which simultaneously went online. Below is an excerpt; you can read the full piece here: 
https://blog.gregwilson.co.uk/2013/11/northern-renaissance/

As I hope this piece will illustrate, Northern Soul back in the 70’s was a much broader church than many might imagine. Whilst the stompers were central to the scene, especially when Wigan Casino was at its peak, not everything ran at breakneck pace as is often suggested, the movement encompassed a whole spectrum of styles and tempos. The scene was notoriously very snobbish about its music, dropping a previously loved record like a hot potato because it had subsequently achieved commercial success, although it was this fervent elitism that played a major part in its success and longevity. It’s also the reason why a track many might consider to be as Northern as they come, like Jackie Wilson’s ‘(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher And Higher’ (a Detroit artist doing an uptempo dance track with Funk Brothers backing) isn’t Northern Soul according to those at the cutting-edge of the scene, despite the fact it was a big favourite in the Soul clubs following its 1967 release. It’s sin was that it became a UK hit in 1969, just before the Northern scene got into its stride, so, along with a whole heap of Tamla Motown tunes that are Northern in everything bar their success in connecting with the masses, it was banished to the realm of pop. This is why another famous Jackie Wilson track, ‘I Get The Sweetest Feeling’, this time a 1968 recording, which, on the surface, given it’s much mellower vibe, is far less stereotypically Northern than ‘Higher And Higher’, is, in contrast, considered a bone fide Northern classic – the reason being that ‘I Get The Sweetest Feeling’ didn’t become a hit until 1972, having broken out of the Northern scene, then in full swing.

So, with the various aspects considered, I’ve put together an epic 3 hour 20 minute podcast selection of records that I hope will reflect Northern Soul in its wider context, from the nailed on classics to those with more nominal status. What can’t be disputed is that each and every track included has been played, at least somewhere at one point or another, under the Northern Soul banner. There are 70 tracks in all, with just 2 artists with more than 1 inclusion, the aforementioned Jackie Wilson and the great, but tragic songstress Linda Jones (3, if you count Frankie Valli, here both solo and with the Four Seasons). The idea to put this together grew out of a CD compilation I made for myself back in the 00’s to listen to whilst I was driving, which I called ‘Soul Food’, and the intention is for it to act as solid introduction for those wanting to hear what Northern Soul was all about, in all its diverse glory, whilst I’d like to think it will also evoke fond memories for those who were there at the time. The fact I wasn’t a part of the scene has hopefully allowed me to approach this selection in a more objective way than someone embroiled within it, who may not be able to resist the inclination to pack it with tracks nobody else, apart from other ultra-obsessives may know, or who might want to brush a few of the inclusions under the ‘you had to be there at the time’, carpet. Consider this, if you will, a beginners guide, of which I love all of the selections, each in its own way - just wonderful wonderful uplifting music.

Greg Wilson – November 2013

SOUL FOOD - THE BROAD CHURCH OF NORTHERN SOUL (greg wilson selection)

I’m going to get some more edits/reworks uploaded in the coming months, starting off with one I did in conjunction with Henry Greenwood, a rework that was getting a major response until the pandemic went and spoilt the party. 

Recorded by Brooklyn’s Linda Clifford for Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label and mixed by Jim Burgess, ‘Runaway Love’ was somewhat overshadowed by her Disco take on ‘If My Friends Could See Me Now’, from the ‘60s Broadway musical/film, ‘Sweet Charity’. Although ‘Runaway Love’ and ‘Gypsy Lady’ were also listed when the album of the same name topped the US Disco chart, ‘If My Friends Could See Me Now’ was very much the lead track. ‘Runaway Love’ however was the choice cut in the R&B realm where, having been issued as a single, it reached #3.

As big as it was in the Stateside clubs I can’t ever remember ever hearing a DJ in this country playing ‘If My Friends Could See Me Now’ – it was all about ‘Runaway Love’ here, which, from the moment the LP came in on import in ’78 the specialist DJs seized upon. It could have been a UK hit, but was only issued on the flip side of ‘If My Friends Could See Me Now’. Besides, it was all about the full-length 12” version, the truncated 7” compromising its wonderful flow and build. The single stalled at #50 – the fact it got as high as that was all to do with the B Side.

To my ears it’s a track that should be as familiar as Rufus & Chaka Khan’s ‘Ain’t Nobody’, but ‘Runaway Love’ is a hidden classic far too rarely heard. This prompted me to team up with Henry Greenwood to put together a DJ friendly rework that retained the song in all its glory, whilst providing a mix in and out and adding contemporary weight to its already infectious groove. I couldn’t have wished for a better outcome, the audience response the proof in the pudding.

The third in a trio of late-‘70s reworks I’ve collaborated on with Henry, following on from Marshall Hain ‘Dancing In The City’ & El Coco ‘Mondo Disco’, which were pressed back to back on limited vinyl as part of the A&R Edits series.

Linda Clifford 'Runaway Love' (greg wilson & henry greenwood rework)

ESSENTIAL MIX - JAN 2009
Uploaded on 17.01.10 and exclusive to SoundCloud. Available for the first time without voiceovers and jingles,12 months on from original Radio 1broadcast on 17.01.09.


EMAILSHOT A FEW DAYS AHEAD OF MIX BEING AIRED:
2009 kicks in for me this weekend with my first gig of the year for Udio (1st birthday) at The Gramaphone Club in Shoreditch, London on Friday night, which coincides with the airing of my only just completed in the nick of time Essential Mix on Radio 1, made up of 43 tracks in just under 2 hours.

Given that the 5th anniversary of my DJ comeback has only just passed, I decided to take the opportunity to make the mix totally representative of this period, with all the selections being amongst the biggest tracks I’ve played since I made my second debut at Music Is Better in Manchester.

Five years represents a significant package of time, a fixed point from where I can reflect on what’s been a continually snowballing sequence of events, set in motion when Danny Webb asked me to appear in Manchester on that December night back in 2003.

There were less than 100 people there that night, but they were the right people, and I was taken aback by the response to my return, both on the night itself and during subsequent days, when people who were there began to post on the forums. I’d never expected all the feedback be so totally positive!

I’d figured that I’d play that night, using the combination of laptop and reel-to-reel for the first time, then go away and think about what worked and what didn’t before I made my next move. I would never have believed that things could come together so immediately, it was as if I’d hit a completely unexpected hole in one, especially when two of the people who were there, Ralph Lawson, DJ from Back To Basics in Leeds, and one of my fellow DJ’s that night, Richard Hardcastle (Solid State) from Society in Sheffield, both asked me to play at their nights no sooner had I finished my spot.

One thing kept leading to another and, in Sheffield, I was approached by Tony Daly to play at the now legendary Tyneside Cinema party in Newcastle, a bespoke event where he took on the substantial risk of presenting me in a city I’d never DJ’d in previously (unless you count the 1983 TV appearance on The Tube, which was filmed in the Tyne Tees studio). Then, of course, there was London, where Steve Kotey and Bill Brewster booked me for their parties, bringing me to the capital within the first few months of my return for Ouch and Low Life.

The bookings kept coming, and I found myself driving up and down the country on an increasingly regular basis. Later in 2004 I was approached by Sav Remzi, from Tirk / Nuphonic, with the idea of putting together an edits album, which would be issued the following year as ‘Credit To The Edit’. This would help bring my name to the attention of people outside the UK. There was soon a need to step things up further, now that I was receiving enquiries from Europe, and so began a fruitful relationship with my agent, Matt Johnson (Matty J), who’s done a wonderful job of representing me during recent years.

The last few months have been, to say the least, manic for me, with 25 flights, including 6 long haul, taking me to gigs in the US, Japan, Australia, Brazil and Europe. From a personal perspective I still find it remarkable the way everything has developed, pretty much organically, since I made the decision that I was going to be a DJ once again – had I concocted some sort of comeback masterplan, it could never have worked out anything like as well as it has. It’s definitely been a case of ‘from small acorns’.

It still never ceases to amaze me that people from another continent are interested in my DJ past. Back in the early 80’s, before I went into retirement for 20 years, the furthest I travelled (with the exception of the appearances I made in the South of England as part of The Hacienda Review in late ’83) was to places like Birmingham and Nottingham, when I played at All-Dayers, so to find myself in clubs on the other side of the world is pretty nuts!

Anyhow, I’d like to wish everyone all the best for 09. Big thanks to all the promoters who booked me and everyone who danced to the tunes I played during ’08 in Adelaide, Barcelona, Belfast, Berlin, Birmingham, Blackburn, Brighton, Bristol, Dublin, Dundee, Edinburgh, Fukuoka, Glasgow, Hamburg, Leeds, Lisbon, Liverpool, London, Los Angeles, Manchester, Melbourne, Milan, New York, Newcastle, Nottingham, Paris, Porto Alegre, San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Sheffield, Sydney, Tokyo and Warsaw. Also the festivals and special events that I appeared at - Bestival (Isle Of Wight), Big Chill (England), Camp Bestival (England), Garden Festival (Croatia), Ibiza, Lovebox (England), Notting Hill Carnival (England), Rockness Festival (Scotland), Sonar (Spain) and the Southport Weekender (England).

Hope to see you soon.

Greg


FORUM POST DURING FOLLOWING DAYS:                                                        
Thanks for all the positive words. The feedback has been pretty phenomenal, far exceeding what I’d hoped for, especially on the BBC page, where I’d expected that some people would criticize the amount of older music included - the Radio 1 audience is used to current stuff ('in new music we trust'), so I’d anticipated a more mixed reaction. What’s particularly pleasing is that they were all made without the people seeing what each other wrote (they all came online at once, having been checked first by whoever moderates the BBC pages, I presume for swearing etc following the Ross / Brand controversy).

You always hope something you've done will be well received, but the response to this has blown me away.

Greg


ANSWER TO POST RE MIXING PROCESS:                                                      
It was quite a laborious process. Before I could start the actual mixing part I had to edit every track to a coherent length of around two and a half minutes average, inclusive of in and out points. I had a pool of about 90 tracks that fitted the criteria I'd set (a representative selection of the biggest tunes I've been playing during the past 5 years). It wasn't as straightforward as just editing the 43 tracks I ended up featuring - in order to have the necessary options once I started to piece the mix together I needed to have all the tracks at my disposal, just as I would have if I was out deejaying in a club, so the only thing to do was edit all 90 to the required length, even though I knew that only half would make the cut .

Once that was finally done they were all taken across into my laptop, enabling me to vari-speed them via PCDJ whilst I recorded across to my home computer into Cool Edit Pro, where I put the mix together track by track, before adding overdubs (fx, samples, textures) in a similar way to what I do live using the Revox (reel to reel).

I could quite easily have spent another day, tweaking bits here and there and adding more overdubs (the older I get the more finicky I become), but I had a deadline to work to, so, as it moved ever nearer, it became a race against time, with me doing as much as I could before the cut off point arrived.

Greg
                       

Greg Wilson - 2009


ESSENTIAL MIX (by greg wilson for bbc radio 1 2009)

Accompanying blog post: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2014/03/greg-wilson-versions-2005-2013/

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/xx-Shelter-Night-Time/release/2821374

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

The XX 'Night Time' (greg wilson version 2010)

Accompanying blog post: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2014/03/greg-wilson-versions-2005-2013/

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/Grace-Jones-Williams-Blood/release/1558656

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

Grace Jones 'Williams Blood' (greg wilson version 2008)

Accompanying blog post: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2014/03/greg-wilson-versions-2005-2013/

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/Escort-Cocaine-Blues/release/2511209

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

Escort 'Cocaine Blues' (greg wilson version 2010)

Accompanying blog post: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2014/03/greg-wilson-versions-2005-2013/

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/Greg-Wilson-Credit-To-The-Edit-Volume-2-Vinyl-2/release/2238238

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

40 Thieves Feat Qzen 'Don't Turn It Off' (greg wilson version 2009)

Accompanying blog post: http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2014/03/greg-wilson-versions-2005-2013/

Discogs: http://www.discogs.com/1Gnition-Secret-Sunday-Lover/release/1014257

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

1gnition 'Secret Sunday Lover' (greg wilson version 2007)

Annual selection from Greg Wilson, returning after two year break due to covid restrictions, listing 20 of the edits and reworks that have featured in his DJ sets during the combined period 2020-2022.


1. The Temptations – Papa Was A Rollin’ Stone (Ian Ossia Rework)
2. Cerrone – Supernature (Dr Packer Rework)
3. Crown Heights Affair – Dreaming A Dream (ID Edit/Crypic Retouch)
4. PDM Vs The Sugarhill Gang - Rappers Delight/Move Or Not (Mikeandtess Rework)
5. Rose Royce - Is It Love You’re After (Redux MST Edit)
6. Maze - Joy and Pain (Dr Packer Rework)
7. The Emotions - I Don’t Wanna Lose Your Love (Derek Kaye Rework)
8. Freeez – Southern Freeez (Dr Packer Rework)
9. Winners - Get Ready For The Future (Chewy Rubs & North Laine Rework)
10. Claudja Barry - Sweet Dynamite (Dr Packer Rework – Retouched) 
11. Gene Chandler – Get Down (Dr Packer Rework)
12. Yazoo - Situation (Greg Wilson Edit of François Kevorkian Dub)
13. Garfield Fleming – Don’t Send Me Away (Mikeandtess Edit)
14. B.B.C.S. & A Band - Rock Shock (Dr Packer Rework – Retouched)
15. Rodney Franklin – The Groove (DJ S Rework)
16. The Fatback Band - (Are You Ready) Do the Bus Stop (Sauco & Manuel Costela Rework)
17. Prince Charles & The City Beat Band – Bush Beat (Alkalino Edit)
18. Don Ray – Got To Have Loving (Mighty Mouse Edit)
19. Tantra – Hills Of Katmandu (Greg Wilson Edit)
20. Gary’s Gang - Makin’ Music (Machine Disco Rework)

Full Choice Edits & Reworks tracklists 2012-2022 here: https://blog.gregwilson.co.uk/choice-edits

GREG WILSON'S 20 CHOICE EDITS & REWORKS 2020-2022

STARRING KERMIT LEVERIDGE, EVM128 & THE REYNOLDS
FEATURING BB. JAMES (LEAD VOCAL 'GIVE IT AWAY')

Uplifting, life-affirming, and perfectly timed for the summer months - cobbled together, Heath Robinson stylee, more by serendipity than design, into a coherent whole by DJ / Producer Greg Wilson. Most of the tracks featured are by Blind Arcade (Kermit Leveridge & EVM128), either existing demos or works in progress, but the mixtape is also peppered with half-a-dozen GW edits, lyrically laced to bubble the Super Weird stew – the constant presence, and main ingredient, being Kermit, for it's his inspirational tale of faith and redemption at the very core of this morphogenetic mixtape. Following on from the Ruthless Rap Assassins and Black Grape, we believe that this is his greatest musical odyssey, drawing from the deep wells of his own mythos and logos. There were 3 frontmen in the Rap Assassins, 2 in Black Grape, but now, for the first time, Kermit steps to the fore – no longer to be described by such a limited term as 'rapper', but as a sabre-skilled vocal chameleon, his shades and depths ranging from wise old soul to lovestruck adolescent, invoking his many I's as a cast of compelling characters, both comic book and close–up personal, whilst, in trickster tradition, keeping us on our toes, not knowing what to expect next.

Let me take you by the hand
So you know what's going on
Let me take you step by step 
On a journey that won't take too long
Come let me show you
Reality is not what it seems
It's all a construct
And what you see might not be real

Kermit Leveridge – The Construct

Accompanying blog post (inclusive of tracklisting):
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2014/06/blind-arcade-meets-super-weird-substance-in-the-morphogenetic-field/

Check out our Super Weird sounds at: https://superweirdsubstance.bandcamp.com

Interview re Super Weird Substance:
http://thepool-london.com/loop/greg-wilson-qa-on-blind-arcade-meets-super-weird-substance-in-the-morphogenetic-field.html

Thanks to all who contributed to the various stages of recording – Blind Arcade’s Kermit Leveridge & EVM128, of course, studio engineer Derek Kaye, singers BB. James, Amy Wilson, Katherine Reynolds, Carmel Reynolds and Tracey Carmen, trumpeter Kevin G. Davey, saxophonist Marc Rockwood, special guest vocalists Howard Marks and MC Tunes, plus Martin Foster, Ollie Miles, Ché Wilson, Sam Heller, Alexis Billington and Asha Billington, who also leant a hand along the way. It’s wonderful what spells we can muster when our magic is combined.

Links:
https://soundcloud.com/super-weird-substance
www.superweirdsubstance.com
https://www.facebook.com/SuperWeirdSubstance
www.kermitleveridge.co.uk 
http://evm128.com
https://www.gregwilson.co.uk

Blind Arcade Meets Super Weird Substance In The Morphogenetic Field (Greg Wilson Mixtape)

Recorded on my debut at Freddie’s in Pikes, Ibiza 26.09.23.

FREDDIE'S @ PIKES IBIZA 26.09.23 (greg wilson live mix)

Recorded at Downtown Disco at Wire in Leeds on 18.11.23.

DOWNTOWN DISCO @ WIRE LEEDS 18.11.23 (greg wilson live mix)

Recorded on 10.02.24 in London’s fabled Ministry Of Sound.

MINISTRY OF SOUND LONDON 10.02.24 (greg wilson live mix)

Recorded on 12.04.24 at Koko in Camden, London.

KOKO CAMDEN 12.04.24 (greg wilson live mix)

The Bassheads ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ (greg wilson edit)

124 bpm

Never previously shared.

‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ was one of the all-time Rave classics. It was particularly interesting for me to witness its runaway success given that I knew its creators, Desa and Nick Murphy, who lived on the Wirral. Desa used to come to some of the local clubs I deejayed at as far back as 1977, before he started out as a club DJ himself (he remembered me switching between the Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes and Thelma Houston versions of ‘Don’t Leave Me This Way’ at the Golden Guinea in New Brighton), whilst I’d done some recording with Nick, who had a home studio, a few years before The Bassheads formed.

The name, The Bassheads, had come from The Bassment, a night Desa started in Birkenhead in 1988 (in a room where I’d deejayed myself 12 years previous, when the club opened as The Deerstalker). Initially pressing up their own white labels, The Bassheads blew up big time with ‘Is There Anybody Out There?’ – exactly the right tune at the right time. They worked on the track with Shaun Imre, who I also knew from my time living in London during the late 80’s, which took its title from the Pink Floyd recording it sampled, whilst other well-known acts sampled included Talking Heads, The Osmonds and Afrika Bambaataa. Having seen me use mine, Desa bought himself a Revox B77 reel-to-reel, utilizing it in fine style to help bring his ideas to life (as fate would have it, I bought this very machine from Desa a few years back, and it’s one of two I currently rotate for my DJ appearances).

Having been huge on white label during 1991, DeConstruction Records signed 'Is There Anybody Out There?' up and scored a top 5 hit before the end of the year. Prior to issuing the single they had to remove the Floyd sample though, and although the overall track still sounded brilliant and was now somewhat cleaner (Bam was still there, and the other key samples had been replayed to great effect), it was a shame the Floyd was missing for all those who knew the original.

Moving forward to 2009 and I thought it’d be the perfect track to kick off with at the Big Chill Festival, opening up with the atmospheric Floyd ambience. I dug around for the white label 12”, but couldn’t find it, so I got in touch with Desa to ask if he could burn me off a copy. His turntable was broken, so he was unable to do this in time, so he sent me a wav of the DeCon mix instead. I decided to see if I could re-create the original intro myself, so I pulled out my CD of ‘The Wall’ and set about reconstructing the beginning of the DeConstruction version. However, unlike the original, I also added the acoustic guitar section, which provides a great mellow prelude before the in-your-face ‘Crazy Horses’ guitar enters. Suffice to say that it worked a treat at the Big Chill and brought the house down.

I subsequently went back to it and did some further tinkering, most notably extending the aforementioned acoustic guitar section, whilst doubling the length of the euphoric piano breakdown, and building the tension before Bambaataa’s rap to add extra impact.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of this bona fide dancefloor anthem, so it presents the perfect moment to make this edit public as we move deeper into the summer months, whilst acknowledging how Desa, Nick and Shaun stamped their indelible mark on Rave culture.

Greg Wilson – June 2011

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

The Bassheads 'Is There Anybody Out There?' (greg wilson edit)

Mighty Clouds Of Joy 'Mighty Cloud Of Joy' (greg wilson & ché wilson rework)

124 bpm

DJ only vinyl 2024.

The Mighty Clouds Of Joy were an LA-based gospel group who’d been releasing records since the early-‘60s, initially as The Mighty, Mighty Clouds Of Joy’. In 1974 they made a departure from their more traditional style when the group went into Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia, the epicentre when it came to the soulful dance music that would soon explode as disco, recording their album, ‘It’s Time’, with producer/songwriter, Dave Crawford. Members of the Philadelphia International group, MFSB, already renowned for backing artists like Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes, The O’Jays and The Three Degrees, were brought aboard for the sessions, including the legendary Baker-Harris-Young rhythm section, who, apart from MFSB, fuelled The Trammps, with Earl Young celebrated for innovating the disco style of rock drumming.

I came across the group via their second single from ‘It’s Time’, ‘Mighty Cloud Of Joy’, released in late-‘74. I figure I must have picked my UK 7” out of a bargain bin when I was 14, maybe 15. There’s nowhere I would have previously heard this – it was before I started DJing, and it’s not something likely to be played on radio. I reckon I bought it on spec – I knew the label, ABC, via singles by Eddie Holman, Four Tops and Rufus, so it was a trusted source, and I would have been fascinated that the artist and title were (almost) the same.

It picked up specialist plays from some soul and funk DJs here, including Colin Curtis at the Blackpool Mecca and Les Spaine at The Timepiece in Liverpool, but largely went under the radar. It remained a personal favourite from the period, which I’d have thought would have done well in the States, but it appears to have been largely slept on there too, the track receiving DJ support, but not igniting as you’d imagine it would have. The following year, again recorded at Sigma Sound, the next Mighty Clouds album, ‘Kickin’’, included ‘Mighty High’, which would blow up big time with US DJs and top the disco chart (it wasn’t a track I can ever recall hearing in a UK club). It surprised me to learn that ‘Mighty High’ had been so big, while ‘Mighty Cloud Of Joy’ is conspicuous by its absence from both the US R&B and Disco charts – the latter sounding far more like a disco classic to my ears.

Having remixed Gabriels ‘Love And Hate In A Different Time’ with Ché, inspired by the mid-‘70s Earl Young disco groove, it brought to mind the gospel-infused ‘Mighty Cloud Of Joy’, and this rework resulted. Having played it out while we fine-tuned, despite its relative obscurity, people responded to it like they’ve known it all their lives, it’s ‘movin’ on up’ refrain infectious, which makes it all the more surprising that it wasn’t huge on release.

Pressed on limited vinyl as part of the GW Edits series, and featuring ‘The Turnaround’, an update of Vicki Sue Robinson’s ’76 disco anthem, ‘Turn The Beat Around’.

Mighty Clouds Of Joy 'Mighty Cloud Of Joy' (greg wilson & ché wilson rework)

808 State ‘Pacific State’ (greg wilson electric chair edit)

130 bpm

Never previously shared.

Madchester anthem from 1989, which, along with ‘WFL’ by the Happy Mondays, ‘Voodoo Ray’ by A Guy Called Gerald and ‘Fools Gold’ by the Stone Roses, encapsulates the time when the rainy city was at the epicentre of the dance universe.

Twenty years later I included it as the closing track on my Essential Mix (http://soundcloud.com/gregwilson/essential-mix-greg-wilson-mix-for-bbc-radio-1), and, as with the opening track, the Dimitri From Paris edit of ‘Down To Love Town’ by The Originals, it features Jesse Jackson’s invocation from the 1972 Wattstax festival (which had previously been used to such great effect by Andrew Weatherall in his remix of ‘Come Together’ by Primal Scream).

However, I originally put this together not for the Essential Mix, but to open my appearance at the Electric Chair Last Supper on December 29th 2007. A number of previous guests had been invited to play for half an hour each, as the decision had been made to close this Manchester institution whilst it was still at the height of its popularity. As things worked out, I was the final guest to deejay at this cherished club night - only the residents played after me. I wanted to pay my respects in a proper manner, evoking the spirit of Manchester past, back through the halcyon late 80’s days of The Haçienda to my own time there in ’83, and at Legend beforehand, via a handful of track selections that reflected the spirit of this great music city, for which the Electric Chair, soon to be no more, had written a further chapter. You can stream / download the mix here: http://soundcloud.com/gregwilson/electric-chair-last-supper-29

The purpose of this edit was purely to extend the intro of the ‘Pacific 707’ version to suitably build into Jesse Jackson's poignant words before the beats kick in, whilst adding some subtle ambience to add to the overall atmospheric of this wonderful track, which always struck me as a ‘Stranger On The Shore’ for the Rave generation (the evocative 1961 single by clarinettist Acker Bilk, the first British recording to reach #1 in the USA).

Greg Wilson – July 2011

808 State 'Pacific State' (greg wilson electric chair edit)

Recording from Beat-Herder festival in Lancashire 21.07.24, where I closed out Smokey Tentacles on the final night.

SMOKY TENTACLES @ BEAT-HERDER FESTIVAL RIBBLE VALLEY 21.07.24 (greg wilson live mix)

Recording from Freddie's @ Pikes in Ibiza 07.10.24.

FREDDIE'S @ PIKES IBIZA 07.10.24 (greg wilson live mix)

Live recording from a special daytime event at The Social in London. 

I never normally record the audience in my mixes, but, for some strange reason, there seems to have been a mic active on my device picking up the crowd. My aversion to this is that, apart from the general ambience of the room, it also picks up people chatting in or around the booth, especially in a small compact space like we were in. I hope this isn’t distracting, but, weighing things up, it was such a good day, and its so long since I’ve uploaded a mix to SoundCloud, that I think it’s only right to share regardless.


AN AFTERNOON AT THE SOCIAL LONDON 01.03.25 (greg wilson live mix)

Freshly uploaded to SoundCloud, the recording from my recent appearance at Pikes, Ibiza on May 19th, when I was one of the secret DJs, along with Graeme Park, for their Monday night session at Freddie’s.

FREDDIE'S @ PIKES IBIZA 19.05.25 (greg wilson live mix)

Recorded at Stonebridge/Glastonbury on June 29th 2025.

GLASTONBURY STONEBRIDGE 29.06.25 (greg wilson live mix)

FREDDIE'S @ PIKES IBIZA 26.07.25 (greg wilson live mix)

Recorded in Freddie’s at Pikes, Ibiza 18.10.25

FREDDIE'S @ PIKES IBIZA 18.10.25 (greg wilson live mix)

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)

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)

Chakachas ‘Jungle Fever’ (greg wilson edit)

99 bpm

Previously limited vinyl only 2010.

Following on from last week’s Crystal Grass upload, here’s the track that appeared on the other side of GW Ruff Edits #4, ‘Jungle Fever’ by Chakachas (aka ‘Belgian Jungle’), a deliciously wicked downtempo groove that’s been described as ‘one of the first Disco records’. Somewhat bizarrely, this was a Latin combo from Belgium, who’d been recording since the 50’s. Chakachas (or The Chakachas, as there name also appeared) were certainly unlikely Disco pioneers, but ‘Jungle Fever’ became a UK Top 30 hit in 1972, and would no doubt have climbed much higher had it not been pulled off the BBC airwaves because the sighs and heavy breathing were deemed too risqué for the British public’s sensibilities (Donna Summer’s ‘Love To Love You Baby’ still more than 3 years away). However, it was in the US where it found its greatest success – a massive hit, it reached #8 on the US Pop chart, and #11 R&B, selling a million copies in the process. 

As with Crystal Grass, the reason I edited it was purely to extend the length, adding over 2 minutes to the original version. The first time I remember playing it out was at Café Mambo in Ibiza in 2009, which was also the first mix I ever uploaded to SoundCloud:
http://soundcloud.com/gregwilson/cafe-mambo-ibiza-27-09-09-greg-wilson-dj-mix/ 

Greg Wilson – November 2011

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

Chakachas 'Jungle Fever' (greg wilson edit)

STARRING KERMIT LEVERIDGE & THE REYNOLDS
ADDITIONAL VOCALS: THE REVEREND CLEVE FRECKLETON & TRACEY CARMEN
 
More about the project: http://www.superweirdsubstance.com/alan-moore-mandrill-meets-super-weird-substance-arts-lab-apocalypse  
 
Obey the Mandrill: www.facebook.com/mandrillifesto

Mandrillifesto words by Alan Moore.

Big thanks to: Josh Ray, Ché Wilson, Derek Kaye, Joe Brown, James Mellor, Dominic Mandrell, Marcus Hislop, The Arts Lab Northampton.
 
Artwork by Pete Fowler
 
2017
 
COMETH THE MOMENT, COMETH THE MANDRILL

In times of national demise, speaking historically,
the mulch of crumpled dream and culture is a laboratory,
that breeds outrageous saviours and monsters without warning; 
Cromwell, Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Jeremy Corbyn – 
emerging from a broken world to find a hole they can fill,
cometh the moment; cometh the Mandrill.

This greed and gore emporium is not how life was meant to be,
with franchises and fads reheated from a previous century,
and nothing new, a neutered future on the retro record deck,
that’s stuck and endlessly repeating in a firebombed discotheque. 
Your TV’s in a coma and you can’t get it to wake up.
What you need is a dictatorial baboon in makeup.

Overstated, aggravated and horrifically mutated,
here to see that you’re berated. What’s the last thing you created?
All those logos on your raiment, brand-name badges of enslavement,
drip-fed passive entertainment. Was this your intended statement?
When you have nowhere left to stand you'll have to take one.
If there’s no culture in the land then you must make one. 
Psychopathic, charismatic, I could go on but don’t need to:
as the higher primate it’s my long-awaited fate to lead you.
You have no choice but me, so please do not suggest so.
Hear now the poetry of my Mandrillifesto!

The light of burning corporations will repaint the sky in grenadine. 
There’ll be billions of banners and Art Nouveau butterfly bombers like this world has never seen before. 
We’ll march on ugliness and stupidity. 
We’ll make loveliness compulsory.

And the roar of our orchestra engines will soar evermore in a glorious annihilating symphony, for the tyranny of beauty is our God-given duty. 
Every child at birth is to be issued with a ukulele, 
given their own flag and granted absolute and utter sovereignty, 
and so long as it’s coloured in nicely and has an old woman on, make their own currency. And we’ll turn every urban address into a dripping Rousseau wilderness, and we’ll keep advancing until there’s nobody not dancing.

We’ll put politics in the pillory,
put the art back in artillery.
We can weaponise wonder
and our voice shall be as thunder.

From times of national demise arise new apes like me, 
with, in our leopard-scaring eyes, manifest destiny. 
I’ll lead you to a fluorescent utopia if you’ll let me: 
love me, worship me, obey me – but never pet me. 
If we can’t build a future then we’ll be its human landfill. So…
Cometh the moment, cometh the Mandrill. 
(Repeat until indoctrinated)

Alan Moore's Mandrill Meets Super Weird Substance At The Arts Lab Apocalypse (Greg Wilson Mixtape)

Here's a rework of a track by a particularly famous band that Peza and I did back in 2014. This is the first time its been uploaded.

Four Lads Who Shook 'The Word' (greg wilson & peza rework)

NO SELL OUT - ELECTRO RETROSPECTIVE
LEGEND / WIGAN PIER MAY 1982 – DEC 1983
MIXED BY GREG WILSON FOR A GUY CALLED GERALD - SAMURAI FM 2005

This is the most involved mix I’ve ever put together, even more so than my Essential Mix in 2009, for which ‘No Sell Out’ very much provided the prototype. I intended it as a definitive document to the period May 82 – Dec 83, when Legend and Wigan Pier were at their most influential, the new Electro-Funk sound turning the black scene on its head as the old gradually gave way to the new.

As I wrote at the time:
“The tracks on this mix represent this now distant time of both musical and cultural change. I’ve selected the records that were regarded as controversial at the time within black music circles, the ones that the traditionalists were up in arms about. I’d originally chosen 50 of the biggest tracks played at Legend and the Pier, but this was upped to 60, all of which needed to be edited down to an average of a minute and a half in length, which was no small task in itself! Realising that there were still other tracks I wanted to include, I decided to keep it to the main 60, but drop in snippets of additional records from the period, not only Electro, but also other big floorfillers from my nights. I never played purely Electro, but mixed it in alongside Soul, Funk and Disco (or as people refer to it nowadays, Boogie), and this is reflected by the numerous ‘references’ sprinkled throughout the mix.

It’s good to be able to place some of these tracks back into their original context. Tracks like ‘The Message’, ‘Rockit’ and ‘Buffalo Gals’ would become big hits in the UK, but they were completely unknown when first played at Legend and the Pier. A perfect example would be ‘White Lines’, which was an underground favourite for many months before the penny finally dropped with the mainstream audience and they came to appreciate it as the wonderful record it is, resulting in a chart stay of over a year! Nowadays, ‘White Lines’ can be played pretty much anywhere to a great response. It’s a sure-fire floorfiller, regarded as a dance standard, but it wasn’t always that way - without the initial specialist support it could quite easily have ended up as just a minor hit.

The title of the mix, ‘No Sell Out’, comes from the opening track. It seemed an appropriate name, given the fact these records were very much regarded by the purists as the selling out of black music, rather than its salvation (something which pretty much everyone can now, with hindsight, clearly see). Listening back to these tracks you can trace the evolution of Hip Hop, Techno and House. This was the point in time when black music fully embraced the available technology and took dance to new dimensions. Hearing these records for the very first time, we knew that the future was upon us and that dance music had entered a whole new phase of its development.”

The ‘No Sell Out – Electro Retrospective’ page at Electrofunkroots gives the full lowdown and complete tracklisting. It includes an introduction by Gerald Simpson (aka A Guy Called Gerald), for whose Samurai FM podcast this mix was originally put together.

http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/mixes/no_sell_out.html 

Greg Wilson – February 2012

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

NO SELL OUT ELECTRO RETROSPECTIVE (by greg wilson for a guy called gerald - samurai fm 2005)

2020 Update: Now available on limited 12" vinyl for the first time. Released 17th January on A&R Edits, coupled with Moplen's edit of Tavares' 'It Only Takes A Minute Girl', which you can check out here: https://hearthis.at/ar-edits/123-the-tavares-it-only-takes-a-minute-girl-moplen-edit

Buy the vinyl here: https://a-and-r-edits.bandcamp.com/

David Joseph’s ‘You Can’t Hide (Your Love From Me)' is a track I’ll forever have a strong personal association with, given that it was with 2 copies of this 12" that I made my claim to fame as the 1st UK DJ to mix live on TV – on February 25th 1983 at Newcastle’s Tyne Tees TV studio, on the classic British music show, ‘The Tube’. Full story and YouTube clip here at Electrofunkroots:
 http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/articles/on_the_tube.html 

Last April I was sent a link to an edit by Italian DJ Moplen™ and was, as you can imagine, intrigued when I saw what it was - David Joseph – ‘You Can't Hide (Your DUB From Me)’. Utilizing the Larry Levan mix (I’d used original UK twelves on The Tube, the Levan mix wouldn’t come until later, when the track went big in the NYC clubs), Moplen had done a fine job, but unfortunately I couldn’t play it. 

I replied to his mail, explaining that because of my connection to the track I would need the vocal in there at some point, otherwise the dancefloor might feel short changed. The whole dub vibe teases things up a treat, but the money shot of the song is a must for my own purposes. Moplen was getting a great reaction to the edit as it was, and rightly so – check it out here:
http://soundcloud.com/moplen/david-joseph-you-cant-hide-moplen-edit  

So, for my own personal use, I edited Moplen’s edit to incorporate the full vocal, and the resulting version became one of my big festival tracks of 2011, and something that’s appeared in a number of my live mixes.

This track has come a long way with me since I was first sent a UK promo by Island Records 29 years ago.  

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

David Joseph 'You Can't Hide (Your Love From Me)' (greg wilson edit of moplen edit of levan mix)

GREG WILSON presents The Chic Organization – 1977-79 Selection Reworked
 
Greg writes about the mix and all things Chic at his blog:
http://blog.gregwilson.co.uk/2018/06/the-chic-organization-1977-79-selection-reworked/
 
Chic had a sound of all their own, the crack rhythm section of Nile Rodgers (guitar), Bernard Edwards (bass) and drummer Tony Thompson providing the highly infectious grooves that characterised their records. They would be massively influential as a consequence, their anthemic tracks still loved all these years later, with a new younger generation embracing their good time vibe in the same way their parents might have.
 
The mix consists of 12 edits / reworks of 9 Rogers & Edwards produced tracks, all of which happened to be originally recorded during 1977-79, the years which saw Disco peak and decline, with Chic at the helm during those halcyon days, their own recordings providing 4 US top 10 singles, including a pair of #1s, whilst Sister Sledge, whose success they mentored, weighed in via the hit-laden ‘We Are Family’ LP. They even found time for a French excursion via Sheila & B Devotion’s ‘Spacer’.

SISTER SLEDGE ‘THINKING OF YOU’
1.‘Things You Do For Me’ - Killer Funk Disco Allstars Edit
2.Sister S ’Living Ecstasy’ – Norington Remix
CHIC ‘CHIC CHEER’
3.Leroc Sportif Edit
SISTER SLEDGE ‘HE’S THE GREATEST DANCER’
4.’Greatest Dancer’ – Daz Digs Disco Re-Edit
5.’One Nite In A Disco’ – Late Nite Tuff Guy Rework / Greg Wilson Edit
CHIC ‘I WANT YOUR LOVE’
6.Todd Terje Edit (incorporates Moodyman ‘I Can’t Kick This Feeling When It Hits)
CHIC ‘STRIKE UP THE BAND’
7.’Feel The Rhythm’ – Deep & Disco Edit
CHIC ‘LE FREAK’
8.Chewy Rubs ‘Future Freak’
SISTER SLEDGE ‘LOST IN MUSIC’
9.DSD Balearic Mix
CHIC ‘DANCE, DANCE, DANCE (YOWSAH, YOWSAH, YOWSAH)’
10.Greg Wilson Rework
11.In Flagranti ‘A Brag Mount’
SHEILA & B. DEVOTION ‘SPACER’
12.Greg Wilson Edit
 
Addition overdubs / editing by Greg Wilson
Recorded June 2018
 
Greg Wilson is set to support Chic in Manchester, Wed 27th June at Castlefied Bowl, alongside a live performance from Crazy P.
 
http://gregwilson.co.uk

GOURANGA MIXTAPE: Greg Wilson - The Chic Organization - 1977-79 Selection Reworked

Henry Greenwood and I have put together a couple of reworks, which I’ve been playing throughout the summer, both ‘70s tracks, one Disco, one Balearic in flavour. The first I’ve uploaded is the former.

The Los Angeles based songwriting and production team Laurin Rinder & W. Michael Lewis forged a distinctive Disco sound during the mid-late 70’s, drawing from their background as Rock and Soul session musicians, whilst playing all the instruments themselves, El Coco and Le Pamplemousse being their initial projects. They’d later record a series of albums under their own names, Rinder & Lewis, including the grandiose Disco concept album, ‘Seven Deadly Sins’. The smooth grooving and somewhat esoteric ‘Mondo Disco’ is one of their early tracks released under the El Coco moniker in 1976.

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

Pre-Order

El Coco 'Mondo Disco' (greg wilson & henry greenwood rework)

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/

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

Taken from blog post ‘Festival Anthems’:
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2012/06/festival-anthems/

Back in March, in the lead up to the Rainbow Disco Club festival in Tokyo (an event that would frustratingly be rained off), I was asked to make a list of my 10 favourite festival tracks. I came up with a dozen, all edits which have served me well during recent years and certainly merit anthemic status. Around the same time I was approached, via the Garden Festival’s PR dept. to supply an exclusive mix for the oki-ni series. As an example, I was linked to Derrick Carter’s contribution, where he referenced the mixes he used to hear on Chicago dance station WBMX in the early 80’s, focusing on Disco & Classics. 

Whilst thinking about a suitable theme for my mix, I had the brainwave of working with the list of festival favourites I’d recently compiled– I thought that putting these 12 tracks together into a single mix would not only provide a solution, but gives me the opportunity to document some of the music that’s served me so well in the festival environment, which I’d never otherwise play all together. So, from there, it was just a case of finding a way to jigsaw them into a coherent whole, which didn’t prove to be difficult, the mix coming together in no time.

It wasn’t until I’d submitted it that I found time to have a look at the oki-ni website and check out some of the mixes already on there, a pretty substantial 75 of them. It was only then that I realised that my approach was somewhat  out of sync with the ethos of the series, which was outlined as follows; ‘the series aims to venture off the dancefloor, allowing the artists involved the freedom to produce unique and personal mixes that speak directly to them. The results are always eclectic, compelling, and unique’. 

Being that this was supposed to be more a personal choice of tunes you wouldn’t play out, rather than the clearly themed mix I’d mistakenly believed it was, I pointed out this anomaly, but was assured that all was fine. Had I not been off to the US that weekend, then onto Japan, I’d have probably insisted on doing something else, which fitted their criteria, but they maintained that they were more than happy with what I’d done, so it became mix #76 in the oki-ni series (and exclusive to their website for the past few months):
http://www.oki-ni.com/scat/mixes 

Half of the tracks are my own edits, half other people’s (big up Psychemagik, Dimitri From Paris, Joey Negro, Bermuda Triangle, Leftside Wobble and Michael Cook). The mix features some iconic names, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Talking Heads, The Clash, Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell, Prince and Fleetwood Mac included. As they say, great music never dies, especially when there’s an edit that helps introduce it to a whole new younger audience, whilst rejuvenating the spirit of an older one in the process. Hopefully this collection of climatic tunes will help bring on the festival spirit – here’s to sun and mud to come!

I’ll be appearing at the following festivals / special events:

23rd June – The Summer Soiree / Blackpool
http://theblackpoolball.com/#/ball-info/4548984235
 
6th / 7th July – The Garden Festival / Croatia 
http://thegardenfestival.eu/ 

15th July – Vintage / Northamptonshire
http://www.vintagefestival.co.uk/about/vintage-festival
 
28th July - Camp Bestival / Dorset 
http://www.campbestival.net/#/home

4th August – Eastern Electrics / London
http://www.efestivals.co.uk/festivals/easternelectrics/2012/

5th August – Standon Calling / Hertfordshire
http://www.standon-calling.com/ 

2nd September – Preston Guild / Preston
http://www.prestonguild2012.com/?OBH=413&ID=583 

8th September – Bestival / Isle Of Wight
http://2012.bestival.net/

Greg Wilson - June 2012

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

GREG WILSON FESTIVAL ANTHEMS (for oki-ni 2012)

Talking Heads ‘Psycho Killer’ (greg wilson edit)

118 bpm

Previously limited DJ only vinyl / CD 2007.

Pressed in 2007 as ‘Gotta Tape I Wanna Play', I originally put this together for my US debut in October 2005, at APT in NYC – recording here:
http://soundcloud.com/gregwilson/first-time-in-nyc-apt-21-10-05 

I was a big fan of ‘Stop Making Sense’, the Talking Heads concert from 1984, which was released as both a film and an album. It starts with David Byrne on an empty stage with just a ghetto blaster and acoustic guitar, performing one of the band’s best-known tracks, ‘Psycho Killer, which was originally released in 1977. The beats, courtesy of a Roland TR-808 drum machine, re-appear in extended form over the closing credits. The idea of an edit was there from the moment I bought ‘Stop Making Sense’ on VHS back in the 80’s, but the sound quality from the video wouldn’t have been up to scratch. However, when it was released on DVD later down the line, this was no longer a problem, and I was able to let the beats run on their own for a couple of minutes before the guitar enters and the track really kicks in.

The edit took off in a big way for me, and later with DJ’s including Andrew Weatherall and Optimo. It subsequently became a major festival tune for me and featured in my Essential Mix in 2009 (http://soundcloud.com/gregwilson/essential-mix-greg-wilson-mix-for-bbc-radio-1). More recently it appeared on my Festival Anthems mix (http://soundcloud.com/gregwilson/greg-wilson-festival-anthems), and given this, I thought it was a good time to share here.

There’s more info about ‘Stop Making Sense’ on the blog, as this was last month’s featured album:
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2012/05/living-to-music-talking-heads-stop-making-sense/ 

Greg Wilson – July 2012

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

Talking Heads 'Psycho Killer' (greg wilson edit)

My mix from The Haçienda's 24 hour live stream on New Years Eve 2020.

All of the tracks I featured were from the opening two years of the ‘90s. I hadn’t set out to do this, but it was very much guided by the opening track I’d chosen, in memory of two irreplaceables we lost that year, DJ icon Andrew Weatherall and Manchester’s own Denise Johnson, both crucial to Primal Scream’s ‘Come Together’, which is followed by Weatherall’s mix of ‘Only Love Can Break Your Heart’ by Saint Etienne, whilst Denise’s vocals feature on the lesser-known gem ‘Dream Beam’ by Hypnotone.

The event, hosted by United We Stream GM, had begun at 10am with Hewan Clarke, the club’s original resident, and concluded at 10am on NYD morning with Peter Hook. I followed on from Norman Jay MBE and DJ Paulette, and seeing all the comments on social media, it was soon clear that a lot of people felt a strong emotional response watching the DJs, some among their all-time favourites, playing much-loved tunes in empty spaces, devoid of the dancers who made that music make sense in the first place – a sad, but poignant parody. Also appearing were Haçienda Classical, Inner City, Phuture, Carl Craig, Danny Tenaglia DJ, Dj David Morales, DJ Woody, Graeme Park, Jon Dasilva, Justin Robertson, K-Klass, Moby, Soul Central, Sub Sub, Todd Terry, Tom Wainwright and Tony Humphries. It was line-up, even including a tribute to Frankie Knuckles by way of a recording of the house legend’s 2013 NYE appearance for The Haçienda at Albert Hall, Manchester.

HAÇIENDA NYE 2020 (greg wilson live mix - streamed during lockdown)

Live recording from the Stonebridge tent at Glastonbury Festival 2013.

Read the accompanying blog post, 'Glastonbury - The Greatest Show On Earth' here:
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2013/07/glastonbury-the-greatest-show-on-earth/

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

GLASTONBURY STONEBRIDGE 27.06.13 (greg wilson live mix)

Bookings: matt@thepool-london.com 
Promos: promo@gregwilson.co.uk 
DJ Dates: https://blog.gregwilson.co.uk/upcoming-dj-dates/
Greg began DJing in 1975 and is regarded as one of the most important figures on the UK dance scene. He enjoyed hugely popular residencies in the early eighties at Wigan Pier and Manchester’s majorly influential Legend, having originally started out in his hometown, New Brighton. A pioneer of mixing in the UK, he became the first ‘dance music’ specialist hired for a regular weekly session at Manchester’s now legendary Haçienda club in 1983. Greg was instrumental in breaking the new electronic, post-disco records coming out of New York, a sound he has dubbed ‘Electro-Funk’.

In 2003 he set up electrofunkroots, a website documenting this crucial era in the evolution of dance culture. After a two decade hiatus from the booth, he returned to DJing and soon welcomed bookings throughout Europe and, subsequently, worldwide.

Greg was the first DJ to mix live on British TV, putting together the first UK radio mixes of their type for Piccadilly 261 in Manchester and showing a certain Norman Cook (later Fatboy Slim) how to scratch.

Nominated by DJ Magazine for outstanding contribution, and also named amongst their top twenty remixers of all-time, Greg’s remix credits include Grace Jones, The XX, Groove Armada, Bryan Ferry, Confidence Man, Gilberto Gil and Simian Mobile Disco, whilst he’s edited tracks by A Guy Called Gerald, Talking Heads, O.M.D., Electronic, Imagination and Missy Elliot.

In January 2009 Greg’s reputation was further enhanced when his Essential Mix on BBC Radio 1 received almost universal acclaim and was selected as one of 10 classics that spanned the show’s near 17 year history.

Greg’s Blog, ‘Being A DJ’, was launched in June 2010 for observations on various aspects of club culture now an online touchstone for an ever-increasing amount of dance enthusiasts and aficionados.

In August 2010 he co-curated areas at the inaugural Vintage Festival at Goodwood, which was named ‘Best New Festival’ at the UK Festival Awards.

He has produced a series of documentary podcasts, Time Capsule, Random Influences and Early 80’s Floorfillers, as well as the long-running blog series, Living To Music.

Greg has given talks on music and DJ culture at a number events at venues The Tate Gallery in Liverpool and London's Southbank and Institute Of Contemporary Arts, whilst in 2013 he was invited onto a panel alongside legendary figures Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder @ ADE in Amsterdam. 

In 2014 he unveiled the multi-media label Super Weird Substance, focusing on recording and live events. In 2015, the label released 8 vinyl singles, brought together in the 2 CD comp, 'Greg Wilson Presents Super Weird Substance'. September 2015 saw a memorable Festival No.6 Happening in Portmeirion and Greg rounded off the year with the Liverpool-based celebration of the 40th anniversary of his first club date in 1975 as well as being presented with DJ Magazine's Industry Icon award.

Greg launched his Credit To The Edit club collective at 2016's Festival No.6 and since then has taken it to Liverpool, Berlin, Brixton, Bethnal Green and finally back to Portmeirion for Festival No.6 2017.

2017 saw his label host the epic 14 Hour Super Weird Happening at Liverpool's Florrie, following a mixtape collaboration with Alan Moore, who also appeared at the Happening, whilst it also saw the digital release of The Super Weird Society's 'Gone With The Vibe', released the following year on the first Substance Select 12" vinyl alongside 'The Ghosts Of Watling Street', 'The Best Is Yet To Come' and 'Summer Came My Way'. 2018 also saw the release of Vol.3 in Greg's long-running Credit To The Edit compilation series.

After a handful of further releases, the label was put into hibernation with the onset of covid. Diversifying, ‘Greg Wilson’s Discotheque Archives’ was issued during 2020 lockdown as a limited run paperback, with more books, both Wilson’s own projects and by other authors, now planned.

gregwilson

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