82' was another good year for music; up and down, around and around for loveeeee

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

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

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

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

Greg Wilson - January 2012

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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