Fat Chewin’ with Mark Oliver

HUMAN RACE DELUSIONAL

words Mark Oliver shutter Tobias Wang

While playing at a massive, multi-room event at the beginning of summer, a single record caused me to reflect on how little the dance music scene has changed in the past couple of decades.

The 2005 version of “Pump Up the Jam” was played at least a half a dozen times at this event by various DJs and I couldn’t help but remember first hearing the original version being played by the godfather of house, Frankie Knuckles, back in 1989. Coincidentally, Knuckles, while spinning at a warehouse jam at The Actor’s Lab on Britain Street, also played the track at least six (some even claimed 12) times over the course of the night.

The aficionados at Starsound record shop on Yonge St. were freaking over the original Technotronic version, a rare Belgian import at the time. Personally, I didn’t really see what the fuss was about but, sure enough, the track became a huge worldwide crossover hit (and I’m sure is still being played alongside “The Bird Dance” at weddings to this day).

The year was 1989 and the house music revolution had hit fever pitch in Europe, even though house remained relatively underground in North America.

For house music revelers, it felt as though the future was upon us. Graham Massey of 808 State warned us not to fear the robot and fear it we did not. Producers, embracing new technology, were coming out of the woodwork at an alarming rate and dance music stars were being born overnight, every night.

From Todd Terry’s acid house stormers to the smoother, more sophisticated sounds of Fingers Inc., house producers were making full use of cutting-edge electronic technology available for music-making.

Perhaps the most significant breakthrough of the house music revolution was the fact that virtually anyone could release a record on a very small budget and major label support was no longer required.

The DIY (and “F*ck You” attitude) spurned by the punk scene of the late ’70s was now being taken to a whole new level.

The dance music scene created a different kind of star: the DJ. The most popular were (and still are) able to command fees on par with rock stars and suddenly youngsters were acquiring turntables rather than guitars in hopes of hitting the big time.

Somewhere along the line, however, the music (and more importantly the message of Peace, Love and Unity in the music) seemed to be pushed more into the background in order to make way for the inflated egos of the new DJ stars.

Now, 14 years later, we have six “superstar” DJs playing two-hour sets as opposed to one DJ playing the entire night. One thing hasn’t changed though: you’ll still be hearing “Pump Up the Jam” six times in a night. In the words of Led Zeppelin, “the song remains the same”.