The Choice Revoice collections

As I mentioned, Richard Vasquez’s blog The Choice Revoice unfortunately never got past 4 posts. Doubly unfortunate is that 2 of those posts are links to a couple of collections of records that have long since expired. Here’s a few amazing deep NYC house tracks from the 2 lists:

Blaze – If You Should Need A Friend (Stardust mix, starts at 5:40) – Quark 1987

Since 1985 Josh Milan, Kevin Hedge and (originally) Chris Herbert have covered pretty every angle of house music from big soulful singalongs like Brand New Day and jazzy broken stuff like My Beat, to proper dancefloor workouts like Lovelee Dae and Do You Remember House. The Stardust mix of If You Should Need A Friend is a pared back New York Dub, with the most amazing synthy bell-like thing in the middle of it (there’s probably a better name for it…) that comes out of nowhere. I absolutely love this.

28th St Crew – I Need A Rhythm – Vendetta 1989

Otherwise known as Robert Manuel Clivillés & David Bryon Cole, or The C&C Music Factory – this ones a good example of the Todd Terry style sampling of other House tracks that was a big thing in New York and was the title track of an album which boasts this frankly outstanding cover.

Total Capacity – Ambience (Red Head mix) – Strictly Rhythm 1991

As I mentioned in my first post, Strictly Rhythm pretty much defined house music for me when I started hanging around in record shops. To be honest, when I started actually buying records in the mid-90s they weren’t putting out anything I was interested in buying, but I’ve spent the last 6 months hoovering up their early deep house releases. Seeing as they’re selling for about 50p each on Discogs, it’d be rude not to!

Susan Clark – Deeper (Deep Jazziness mix) – 111 East/FFRR 1991

There’s a great story behind this one – it’s 1991 and a certain Danny Tenaglia is scratching around New York trying to make it as a house DJ after 5 years in Miami. It’s basically not going very well, but luckily anyone who’s been near a studio in New York is getting remix gigs. Not sure if it’s his Right Said Fred or Dead or Alive remixes that swayed it, but Pete Tong has obviously heard something he liked and gives him and Peter Daou 3 slots on the UK FFRR release of Susan Clark’s Jersey Garage monster Deeper. They’re all great. Within a few years he’ll be just about the biggest DJ on the planet.