„B“ stands for Black Vinyl Records. I was always a big fan of the Underground House label from London. During one of our Popkomm parties 1999 in Cologne a tall white guy stepped up to my DJ booth and shouted at me „man, you are crazy, i love what you play!“ After a short conversation i figured out that it was Alan Russell, owner of Black Vinyl. So i played „Craze at Midnight“ by DJ Spen and he liked my DJ skills even more. He said, that i should give him my adress, so that he can send me some vinyl testpressings. I thought it was the usual club-smalltalk, but 2 weeks later a package with vinyls was in my letterbox. Since that time Alan is one of my best friends. He played several times in Cologne and booked me to London several times, where I had the honor to play at his Soul Movement parties at the legendary „Clinic“, Black Vinyl boat parties and we even rocked the „Babybox“ floor at a Defected Party at Ministry of Sound. They forgot to write us on the flyer though, which we, as ambassadors of the Underground, did not care about at all.
„B“ also stands for „Bay Area Sound“. House Music that came from the San Francisco area like Naked Music, Transport and Imperial Dub. But for me it was also labels from San Diego and other parts of California, like Tango and Siesta Music. In 2001 i went to California and met the Siesta guys on a city tour with my friend Chris Galvin. I also went to San Francisco where I met Bruno from Naked Music, Gregory del Piero and DJ MFR who took me to the famous Moulton studios to meet Jay-J and Chris Lum. I even ran into Rasoul in a coffee bar. I also went to L.A. and saw Miguel Migs playing at the Deep Party and met Marques Wyatt. That night I saw for the first time in my life that the whole crowd was facing the DJ, which is now totally normal (?) and has nothing to do with Miguel Migs beauty anymore. I gave him a vinyl promo of a Harley&Muscle remix on Clubstar and said „Hi I am Henri“ and he asked „Henri Kohn from Cologne?“. So that was DEEP 🙂 By the way, the track that was playing when i walked into the club was „Elevation“ by Blaze.
„B“sides that the first club i´ve ever played at also started with „B“. The „Bauhaus“ (later Brix) in Cologne Longerich. My first gig was on the 10th of September in 1993.
„B“ also stands for one of the nicest clubs i´ve ever played at. „Barrage“ on the lovely island of Zakynthos. https://www.facebook.com/barrageclub
Thanks to Alan Russell!
„B“ also has to stand for Blake Baxter aka The Prince of Techno, Basic Channel aka Mark Ernestus, Moritz von Oswald, New Jersey´s finest Blaze and Basement Boys.
The links to the music are below:
A: Armando – Confusion´s Revenge
B:
Black Vinyl Records:
DJ Spen – Craze at Midnight
Paulo Rocha – Dreamwalker
DJ Pope feat. Marty St Michaels – I Need You (Boogie Bruthaz Remix)
Karizma – The Power
Brent Laurence, Clay Acox, Maureen Parker – Spirit
Bay Area Sound:
Miguel Migs – Take Me To Paradise (Mig’s Summer Lover’s Dub)
Blakkat & The Barrio Bros – Understanding
DJ Buck – Make It Hot
Clay Acox- Keep On Dancing(Jay-J Dub)
Blake Baxter – When A Thought Become U
Abe Duque feat. Blake Baxter – What Happened?
Basic Channel – Quadrant Dub II
Blaze – What´cha gonna Do
Blaze – Elevation
Basement Boys / Those Guys – Love Love Love
„C“ is coming up next week!