To mark the release of Copyright In The House Hong Kong '11, the boys have done some serious crate digging and put together an hour's mix, featuring some of the records that have inspired them along the way. Here, we present the mix along with Sam and Gav explaining their choices...
Copyright - Inspirations Mix by Defected Records
The Crusaders & Randy Crawford ‘Street Life’ (Extended Album Version)
Sam - This is the single most important record on my list. This is a tune my dad played round the house when I was a kid. It’s like it’s indelible on my brain and it never ceases to put a big smile on my face when I listen to it. I love the intro and the way the song builds and in latter days I've grown to appreciate the amazing musicianship from Joe Sample on this record. I really think this record is why I've always been into music and writing and creating songs. Nice one Dad!
Gap Band ‘Outstanding’
Gav - This track I remember from my early days of going to Harrow under18's disco back in the mid eighties , days of breakdancing ,soulboy's and casual's .....but also it reminds me a lot of the early days of Copyright .There's an album from the United We Funk All Stars which was a live show made up from some of the members of Gap band , Dazz band , Confunkshun, Zapp and on the album was a live version of this track where Charlie Wilson gets the whole audience singing along , it’s incredible you can feel the atmosphere like you were there taking part , so we'd put it on in the studio and it would give us a great vibe if the session need it .
Chaka Kahn ‘Clouds’
Sam - I got into this one later in life. Once I started collecting Soul and Disco I found out about the legendary Paradise Garage and I would eat up all the books and info about it. I discovered this in a track list at the back of a book and then dug it out. It not the most obvious Chaka Kahn tune but she absolutely smashes it.....Such a tune - Ashford & Simpson wrote it, Larry Levan played it at the Paradise Garage and it still inspires me to this day....even though the actual song is kind of about being down, your left with a really hopeful vibe....a classic.
Earth Wind & Fire ‘I Can't Let Go'
Gav - One of my favourite bands of all time and there's so many songs I could of chosen from them, this one still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up when I hear it . When I was about 10 years old , I went to my Aunties house for dinner, she had just bought a Hifi System and was really into Disco , I remember sitting on the Floor with a pair of big ass headphones and listening to this album over and over ......... I think I loved disco and soul music from that moment onwards.
A Guy Called Gerald ‘Voodoo Ray’
Sam - I was 14 when this came out and it reminds me of everything I love about Manchester. I used to be a huge Basketball fan and me and my dad would go and watch Manchester Giants. The announcer used to play this music when the team were warming up and me and my dad always used to love it and go and ask him the names of the records, then I would go to Eastern Bloc or Piccadilly records and buy them. I remember just staring at this on a train home, willing it to get home so I could play it - LOUD !
Richie Rich – Salsa House
Gav - Richie Rich had a lot going on in the late 1980s. In addition to founding Gee Street recordings (home of PM Dawn, the Jungle Brothers, the Stereo MC’s, Aphrodite, the Gravediggaz, and others), he was also a solid house producer in his own rite. Sampling Micahel Jackson, 'Salsa House' was one of his best bites at the cherry: as the title implies, the Cuba-New York City connection is very much alive across this track’s seven minute duration. An extremely important and hugely undervalued record in house music.
L'il Louis ‘Club Lonely’ (Album Version)
Gav - Some records never age and will sound just as good or perhaps even better the older they get and at almost 20 years old this tune is just as fresh today as it ever was. IMHO this is one of the greatest house records ever made and it brings back so many great memories of the early London House music scene and hot sweaty nights at Garage city, Crazy Club and Rage.
Todd Terry Project ‘A Day In A Life’
Sam - When I first started Djing and buying records properly when I was 18 I had to own everything Todd Terry did. I bought all my stuff in Manchester Underground records, and after a few years gained the ultimate status of having stuff put aside for me, which meant Russ or Craig would put anything Todd did to one side. It was a toss-up between ‘Bounce To The Beat’ and this, but this just shaded it. To me this is such a dope track hooky as hell with an amazing groove and one of the first records that made me think, "damn I want to make records!".
Masters At Work feat India ‘I Can’t Get No Sleep’ (MK Mix)
Sam - I couldn't list some inspirational tracks without a nod to the Masters at Work - Little Louie Vega and Kenny Dope, they are responsible for so many classic tracks that have inspired me over the years, this remix from MK always sticks with me. It was a rare one at the time on cutting records, and the music is so on point and emotive, and I love the way he chopped up the vocals bringing a new dimension to the original song. A proper benchmark of a classic remix.
Incognito – Givin’ It Up (Roger S Ultimate Anthem Mix)
Sam - This anthem is a classic track that inspired me to write ‘Wizeman’, ‘Someday’ ‘We Can Rise’ and so many other tracks. Here Roger Sanchez is on top of his game with a remix that brings out the very finest from the soulful sound of Incognit,o making this a personal classic.
Nu Yorican Soul – The Nervous Track
Gav - What else can be said about Nu Yoricanm Soul that hasn’t been said before? Masters of their craft, they were really on a whole other level with ‘The Nervous Track’ inadvertently (or maybe not) inspiring a whole new sub-genre of music. For me, this is the pinnacle; dance music with real soul and attention to detail…pure class through and through.
Alison Limerick – Where Love Lives
Sam & Gav - To not include this in our list if inspirations would have been a travesty…is there really any track more perfectly suited to closing a set than this one?? This is the true embodiment of the perfect house record with more emotion in its first four bars than entire albums are able to conjure up, and the only way to end our retrospective.
Copyright In The House Hong Kong '11 is out 29th August - listen & pre-order
