GREGGGGGGG WILSONNNNNN

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)

A highly eclectic mix for our friends over at Ibiza Sonica.... some of the tunes included came from a folder of music from DJ Eren so it's also a Love letter to him, always and forever 💜

Jimmy K Tel in the mix for Ibiza Sonica

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)

Welcome to Future Disco Radio – your ultimate soundtrack, anytime, anywhere!

This week, we have the legend himself Louie Vega, live on the airwaves, for a special guest mix. 

Catch us live every Friday at 3 PM GMT / 10 AM EST for the freshest house and disco, handpicked by the world’s top DJs and producers. Whether you're kicking off your weekend or need a midday energy boost, we’ve got the perfect vibe for you.

Expect next-level guests, cutting-edge sounds, and nonstop musical bliss.

Future Disco Radio, where the future of music meets the timeless rhythms of house and disco.

Future Disco Radio - 292 - Louie Vega Guest Mix

A balearic sunset mix, featuring pop edits from the 80s and 90s, starting at 120 bpm and closing with an epic seemingly never-ending 103 bpm "I Love You Always Forever" mantra. 

Tracklist:
Fleetwood Mac - Big Love (The Starkiller's Buckingham Palace Remix)
Chris Isaak - Wicked Game (Jo manji's Down @ The Beach Edit)
Bryan Ferry - Don't Stop The Dance (Greg Wilson & Derek Kaye Mix)
Eurythmics - Stranger (Tony Johns Edit)
David Bowie - This Is Not America (mikeandtess edit 4 mix)
Womack & Womack - Life Is Just A Ball Game (Vibes4YourSoul Rework)
Culture Club - Time (Hlynur Solvi Re-Mix)
Simply Red - I'd Give It All for You [V's Edit]
Frankie Goes To Hollywood - When U Wanna Come [LNTG Says Relax]
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls (Lasso's East End Edit)
Erasure - Respect (Tony Johns Edit)
Chris Rea - Loving You Again (Storken & La Mer Baltique Edit)
George Michael - Fastlove Pt.1 (Ben Gomori's Get Down Edit)
Kylie Minogue vs Donna Summer - Slow / Love to Love You Baby (DiscoRocks Extended Mix)
Matt Bianco - Half A Minute (Joey Negro Sunburnt Mix)
Even Funkier - Lay Down The Law (Original Mix)
U2 - I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For (Leo Zero Edit)
Thompson Twins - Come Inside 'Dub Inside' (Robot84 Balearic Rework)
Donna Lewis - I Love You Always Forever (Curtis Vodka Balearic Remix)
Donna Lewis - I Love You Always Forever (Curtis Vodka's Forever Rework Ver. 2)

Balearic Pop

Sunset Sessions 17 recorded live at The Lake House on Friday 27th June 2025. A Glastonbury special with artists who have played the festival across the years! 

Tracklist:
1		Bootsy Collins - I'd Rather Be With You
2		Massive Attack - Weather Storm
3		Parliament - P-Funk (Wants to Get Funked Up)
4		Fun Lovin' Criminals - Scooby Snacks
5		Röyksopp - Sparks
6		Massive Attack - Protection
7		Groove Armada - Little by Little
8		A Tribe Called Quest - Bonita Applebum
9		Funkadelic - Freak of the Week
10		The J.B.'s - Use Me (SLY Edit)			     	
11		The Cure - Lullaby
12		Ben E. King - Supernatural Thing, Pt. 1
13		Eric B. & Rakim - Paid In Full [Mini Madness - The Coldcut Remix]
14		DNA & Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner
15		A Tribe Called Quest - Can I Kick It?
16		Soul II Soul - Back To Life
17		Chuggin Edits - I Love You So (Original Mix)
18		Late Nite Tuff Guy - Too Young To Die (Lntg Capricorn High Remix)
19		Neneh Cherry - Buffalo Stance
20		George Clinton - Atomic Dog
21		Primal Scream - Loaded
22		Leftfield - Melt
23		Air - All I Need
24		Blank & Jones - Love Comes Quickly (With Pet Shop Boys)
25		Massive Attack - Be Thankful for What You've Got
26		The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds
27		Blondie - Rapture [The Reflex Revision]
28		Chuggin Edits - Get Closer (Fingerman Re-Work)
29		Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy (Nellee Hooper 12" Mix)
30		Level 42 - Living It Up (Pete Le Freq Housin' It Up Rework)
31		James - Come Home (Andrew Weatherall Remix)
32		Daft Punk - Around the World
33		Dr Packer - Good Times [Dr Packer Rework]
34		Richie Havens - Going Back to My Roots
35		Orbital - Belfast (Original 12' Mix)

Sunset Sessions 17 - Glastonbury Special

Here we present at last the superb set from the master Greg Wilson on 28th June 2025 from Downtown Disco @ Goodlife Festival, Leeds!
We hope you enjoy it as much as us.

GREG WILSON @ DOWNTOWN DISCO GOODLIFE LEEDS 28.06.25

Get Down Edits - Live at Glastonbury (The Glade Stage) - 24-Jun-2016

Live Recording from our first ever Glastonbury gig,
Definitely one of our highlights of 2016

Glastonbury - Glade Stage

Get Down Edits - Live at Glastonbury (The Glade Stage) - 24-Jun-2016

Edition #9 of Early 80’s Floorfillers takes a look back to September 82. 
You can see the Top 10, complete with label or record sleeve scans and individual track credits, here: 
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/greg-wilsons-top-10-floorfillers-sept-82/ 

Greg Wilson – September 2012

GREG WILSON’S EARLY 80’S FLOORFILLERS: 
A fascinating insight on how the fading Jazz-Funk scene gave way to the emerging Electro-Funk movement in the early 80’s, ‘Greg Wilson’s Early 80’s Floorfillers’, marks the 30th anniversary of when these tracks first appeared. Compiled from his record lists of the time, and unfolding month by month, Greg Wilson counts down the Top 10 Floorfillers played at his venues during the key years of ’82 and ’83. Featured, most notably, on his Tuesday sessions at Wigan Pier and Wednesday gatherings at Legend in Manchester, the most cutting-edge weekly black music nights of the era, these were the clubs most associated with the evolving Electro-Funk sound.

The majority of music played on the black scene in the UK was initially only available on import, mainly out of New York during this period, with the club nights described as ‘upfront’, meaning that the DJ’s were way ahead of the curve – what they played now, others played later, or not at all. Without these DJ’s, many now classic dance tracks would never have become UK hits (many without enjoying similar crossover success in the US) – the reason they were released here in the first place was because these specialist DJ’s were breaking them via the underground.

Things would change in a big way during those 2 years; we were entering the hybrid age for dance music, and the oncoming House and Techno and Hip Hop directions would all owe a huge debt to this era of dance alchemy and groove experimentation.

This podcast is also available on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad via the Radio ditto app, which is downloadable for free from iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id464200632?mt=8

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

GREG WILSON'S EARLY 80's FLOORFILLERS - SEPTEMBER 1982

Full lowdown on the marathon 8 hour ‘A Night With…’ session, outlining a recording disaster, and how the first 4 hours can now be shared here, having been reassembled post-event:
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2012/10/the-reward-for-work-is-more-work/ 

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

A NIGHT WITH...LOFT STUDIOS LONDON 13.10.12 (greg wilson live selection)

Edition #10 of Early 80’s Floorfillers takes a look back to October 82. 
You can see the Top 10, complete with label or record sleeve scans and individual track credits, here: 
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/greg-wilsons-top-10-floorfillers-oct-82/

There’s also a blog piece to accompany this edition:
http://www.gregwilson.co.uk/2012/10/the-edm-from-way-back-when/

Greg Wilson – October 2012

GREG WILSON’S EARLY 80’S FLOORFILLERS: 
A fascinating insight on how the fading Jazz-Funk scene gave way to the emerging Electro-Funk movement in the early 80’s, ‘Greg Wilson’s Early 80’s Floorfillers’, marks the 30th anniversary of when these tracks first appeared. Compiled from his record lists of the time, and unfolding month by month, Greg Wilson counts down the Top 10 Floorfillers played at his venues during the key years of ’82 and ’83. Featured, most notably, on his Tuesday sessions at Wigan Pier and Wednesday gatherings at Legend in Manchester, the most cutting-edge weekly black music nights of the era, these were the clubs most associated with the evolving Electro-Funk sound.

The majority of music played on the black scene in the UK was initially only available on import, mainly out of New York during this period, with the club nights described as ‘upfront’, meaning that the DJ’s were way ahead of the curve – what they played now, others played later, or not at all. Without these DJ’s, many now classic dance tracks would never have become UK hits (many without enjoying similar crossover success in the US) – the reason they were released here in the first place was because these specialist DJ’s were breaking them via the underground.

Things would change in a big way during those 2 years; we were entering the hybrid age for dance music, and the oncoming House and Techno and Hip Hop directions would all owe a huge debt to this era of dance alchemy and groove experimentation.

This podcast is also available on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad via the Radio ditto app, which is downloadable for free from iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id464200632?mt=8

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

GREG WILSON'S EARLY 80'S FLOORFILLERS - OCTOBER 1982

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

GLASTONBURY STONEBRIDGE 30.06.19 (greg wilson live mix)

Edition #11 of Early 80’s Floorfillers takes a look back to November  82. 
You can see the Top 10, complete with label or record sleeve scans and individual track credits, here: 
http://www.electrofunkroots.co.uk/greg-wilsons-top-10-floorfillers-Nov-82/ 

Greg Wilson – November 2012

GREG WILSON’S EARLY 80’S FLOORFILLERS: 
A fascinating insight on how the fading Jazz-Funk scene gave way to the emerging Electro-Funk movement in the early 80’s, ‘Greg Wilson’s Early 80’s Floorfillers’, marks the 30th anniversary of when these tracks first appeared. Compiled from his record lists of the time, and unfolding month by month, Greg Wilson counts down the Top 10 Floorfillers played at his venues during the key years of ’82 and ’83. Featured, most notably, on his Tuesday sessions at Wigan Pier and Wednesday gatherings at Legend in Manchester, the most cutting-edge weekly black music nights of the era, these were the clubs most associated with the evolving Electro-Funk sound.

The majority of music played on the black scene in the UK was initially only available on import, mainly out of New York during this period, with the club nights described as ‘upfront’, meaning that the DJ’s were way ahead of the curve – what they played now, others played later, or not at all. Without these DJ’s, many now classic dance tracks would never have become UK hits (many without enjoying similar crossover success in the US) – the reason they were released here in the first place was because these specialist DJ’s were breaking them via the underground.

Things would change in a big way during those 2 years; we were entering the hybrid age for dance music, and the oncoming House and Techno and Hip Hop directions would all owe a huge debt to this era of dance alchemy and groove experimentation.

This podcast is also available on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad via the Radio ditto app, which is downloadable for free from iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/app/id464200632?mt=8 

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

GREG WILSON'S EARLY 80'S FLOORFILLERS - NOVEMBER 1982

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.

A NIGHT WITH...LOFT STUDIOS LONDON 13.10.12 (greg wilson live selection)

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