At what point did DJ's start to "mix" ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter *Saffy*
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*Saffy*

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They certainly didnt mix back in the 70's ... I was just wondering when/who started mixing tracks ... anyone know ?
 
Saffy, the book "Keep On Dancing, My Life and the Paradise Garage" by Mel Cheren tells you all that sort of stuff and why we have 12 inch records - a really good read 8)
 
At The Fringe in Vauxhall on Sat afternoon? At no point! Not in the hours I was there anyway :lol: They were terrible!
 
Actually, mixing DID start in the 70's. Artists like Cool Herc in New York would have two record players at house parties and use them to combine tunes (apparently mixes with Apache by The Shadows were a favourite for some reason). Proper purpose built mixers didn't come along till later, as the only ones available were the ones in studios and were prohibitively expensive. Hip Hop was the first type of music to have a DJ mixing 'on the fly', but it quickly spread to other cities which, to an extent, developed their own styles (such as Chicago House). In the UK it was being practiced at illegal warehouse parties from the mid-80's, but The Hacienda in Manchester is credited with popularising it the most.
 
Actually most of them are fairly gregarious, although some of them become a bit unsociable after too much nosebag. Well, once the initial chatterbox effect has gone anyway!

Er....hang on a minute...sorry Saffy, only answered the title thread there :lol:
 
the first 12 inchers appeared in the early 70's as a response to djs calling for better sound quality on vinyl. i can remember purchasing the very first releases in liverpool's virgin store - george benson and somebody else (my memory these days!). back in those days mixing used to be called segueing (pronounced segwaying).
 
Read ' Last Night a DJ Saved My Life'

"cracking stuff, not my words but the words of Shakin Stevens" AP
 
Andy Daniell said:
wasn't jimmy saville the first guy to actually mix 2 records together??? :?:
Click to expand...

so the story goes. he was often assisted by his 'helper' little Pete Waterman.
 
I thought Frankie Knuckles was the first one who started mixing records in the mid-70s when I just started to sport Pampers for three years :lol: .

Professor Barbie:

I am surprised I did not see your lecture on this topic :lol: .

Cheers,

LagunaBeachCA
 
Oh, I can mind the time when..................

Seriously, I started DJing in Dec 1976 (jeez coming up 28 years!). The first records I ever 'beat mixed' were Donna Summer's - 'Love To Love You Baby' and The Blackbyrds - Do It Fluid. They had the same bassline and tempo. However, as we only had fixed speed record decks back then, it was normally used as a 'one off' trick. Donna Summer's - 'Love To Love You Baby' was around 14 minutes long and took up one full side of an album (more or less a 12" you could say). Didn't start 'beat mixing' properly til the mid 80's with the first house music 12'" singles (still got 'em BTW). They have the bpm's hand written on the label by me (worked out with a stopwatch I seem to remember). Some of the record labels started printing the bpm's on the labels too.

Been racking my brains trying to remember the first specific 12" record I bought for DJing. Likely candidates are (looking thru my catalogue);

La Belle Epoque - Black Is Black
The Emotions - Flowers
The Universal Robot Band - Freak With Me
J.A.L.N. Band - I Got To Sing
The Michael Zager Band - Let's All Chant
Chic - Le Freak
Oddysey - Native New Yorker
Brothers Johnson - Strawberry Letter 23
Undisputed Truth - You+Me=Love

After listing these and looking at it I'm pretty sure it was The Undisputed Truth. Still got all these BTW, haven't recorded them yet. Do you remember these then Saff?

*Note* Another trip down memory lane inspired by Saff :oops: :lol:
 
I remember Love to Love You Baybayh :lol: . My mom used to play Donna Summers and Abba, not to mention the Milli Vanilli of its day (Bonny M) to put me to sleep.

Cheers,

LagunaBeachCA
 
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