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Masters At Work: The Untouchables

Masters At Work inspire the kind of reverence you rarely see in house music. Their productions have touched and inspired countless people around the globe, many of whom forged careers of their own after hearing one of the many timeless records the duo made. As Sandy Rivera appropriately – if somewhat aggressively – put it: “You would need to be properly smacked in the face if you listen to house and have no clue what these two artists have done for the genre”.

Here, we ask some of the DJs and record label bosses who have worked with or been inspired by them to pick out their favourite Masters At Work record.

DJ Sneak

When I think of the best MAW music, I would have to say that from all the tracks they've released I’d have to pick the entire Nuyorican Soul album. It is in my opinion, their masterpiece. This album broke new ground, merged styles, joined musicians to create an amazing ‘Picasso’ of a house record. Every song was a freakin bomb and being Puerto Rican I was very proud to have Latinos in the spotlight for great work. I still remember their Nuyorican Soul Party at WMC in Miami… that was a party: Cuban cigars, Puerto Rican food, partying around a pool with great weather and solid music. Thank you Louie & Kenny, you really are masters at work.

Dimitri From Paris

I was already remixing and producing quite a lot at the time and was totally blown away by the high production values of their remix of The Braxtons ‘The Boss’. MAW stepped out of the all-electronic word of house, hired a bunch of historical musicians and made this version a serious challenger to the disco original. My current remix of Diana Ross's first version does owe a little something to them.

Mark Finkelstein (Strictly Rhythm)

Kenny came to Strictly Rhythm as a 19 year old and quickly made himself one of the hottest producers on the label.  The next year he brought in Louie and together and individually, they helped define the Strictly Rhythm sound both with records by The Untouchables, Hardrive, Sole Fusion, Total Ka-os, etc. and their regular DJ appearances at Strictly Rhythm parties.  The close relationship led to Strictly Rhythm launching their successful MAW label. Kenny and Louie were an integral part of the development and success of Strictly Rhythm.

Radio Slave

I’m such a fan of both Louie and Kenny and probably have well over 100 MAW records in my collection including box sets, 7”, remixes and of course their own productions. It’s impossible to pick just one so here are two that are in my record box right now. The first is a dub mix of the Tony Touch single ‘I Wonder Why’ from 2000. It's a great record for the Panorama Bar and has all the trademark sounds of MAW. It’s got that party vibe but still deep and moody and it kicks every time. The other record is KenLou’s ‘The Bounce’. I love this record and it’s just perfect for me. Super good stripped back house music and this 12” has never left my record box for last 24 years and I love it.

Benji B

There are literally way way way too many favourites to pick one. But I will never forget waiting for the Saturday van delivery at Blackmarket Records in Soho so that I could buy my 12" copy of ‘Moonshine’ on KenLou Records - to this date it is one of my most played records along with ‘The Bounce’.  I remember hearing them play it at Camden Palace in London and Bar Rumba too, and although I wanted to know the name of every single tune they played  that one just went round and round my head. A classic and still sounds so fresh.

Red D (FCL)

A favourite MAW production or remix? Pretty tough question! But there’s one MAW production that I’ve never stopped playing in all those years and that still gives me goosebumps, and that’s ‘Voices’. India, Carol Sylvian & Michael Watford absolutely singing their hearts out on a simple MAW house groove. I don’t exactly know when I bought it, but I’ll never forget the moment when I heard Kai Alce drop it 2003 at Movement (former DEMF) during an absolutely stellar set in the Detroit Beatdown tent. I was standing next to Antal from Rush Hour and we were both completely entranced by it. All around us there were Detroit heads getting down in serious fashion, including the whole crew of Theo Parrish, Rick Wilhite, etc. One of THOSE moments!

Sam Holt (Copyright)

Where do you begin with a favourite MAW production? Kenny and Louie simply wrote the damn book on house music with killer drums, timeless songs and original tracks. For me it has to be my first connection with them, the first record I bought which was ‘I Can’t Get No Sleep’ on Cutting Records. A truly amazing song, the sax, the vocal scat and chord stabs: it’s inspired me and thousands of others I’m sure.  I pretty much bought everything they made from that day on.

Derrick Carter

My top MAW track is definitely their remix of Simply Red ‘Thrill Me’. I managed to grab a promo on a trip to London during the early '90s and it (along with my TTD vs MK) was a secret weapon for the longest time.  I STILL play it out and it STILL works.

Honey Dijon

I can't think of any production duo that has created such a breadth and body of work so prolific and influential as Kenny and Louie. They have touched everything from Latin to Gospel, House to Techno, and Jazz, R&B, and Hip Hop. They have and continue to influence clubbers and music lovers the world over and their contribution to dance music is immeasurable. The Nuyorican Soul album was next level for me. Hearing ‘It's Alright, I Feel It’ at Body and Soul for the first time was just an out of body experience. It was probably the last time I heard the entire club sing to a track. They knew every word verbatim. It really was like church.

The Unabombers

In 1993 I walked into a Sheffield record shop and Winston Hazel said “listen to this”. A wave of deep haunting cords filled the room and I was literally spellbound. I can't begin to tell you how I felt… like the first time I heard Adonis ‘No Way Back’ or Mr. Fingers ‘Can You Feel It’. It was the future… again! It sounded like nothing else I’d ever heard and 21 years later it’s still in my box, love, blood, sweat and tears engrained in its grooves. When I hear it now it still brings a tear to my eye and sends a million, trillion tingles down my spine. ‘The Nervous Track’ is deep, spiritual, black, sonic science for a disenfranchised late night congregation. It changed me. It’s my desert island disc. It has the feeling. It’s timeless. It’s my jam, and music is life.

Michael Weiss (Nervous Records)

I have been with Kenny and Louie at so many gigs through the years and experienced the thrills when crowds would explode when they played MAW classics, but for me the biggest thrill of all came when Louie called me at 4am from Bass Hit studios back on a March morning in 1993 saying he wanted me to hear something he and Kenny had just done. I asked him to play it on the phone and he said no I had to come to the studio to hear it. That track would ultimately be ‘The Nervous Track’.  I never had plans to name a track after the label, but I knew the second I heard the multi-genre energy busting out of the speakers that this would be the release that would turn into our label’s signature tune.

Sandy Rivera

I remember being out one night in the early 90's in NYC (can’t remember the venue or DJ who was playing) but I happened see Louie Vega walk into the club with an acetate and he walked straight to the DJ booth. In those days the DJ was not very easy to see as the booth was pretty high up. Not even 10 minutes later I hear a tune and I know that's the tune Louie just gave the DJ to play. As soon as I hear India's voice, I was 100% sure and it was a MAW tune. If you lived and partied in NYC in those days, you got to be first to hear new upfront music from MAW all the time. River Ocean was amazing at that moment and it still is.

Chocolate Puma

MAW's productions have always been a huge inspiration to our music. Their beats are amongst the greatest ever made in the history of dance music, the gritty hard hitting sound and swing is still a blueprint for pretty much any beats we make till this day.  Hardrive ‘Deep Inside’ and ‘Just Believe’ (I remember buying the clear vinyl at Outland Records Amsterdam), the insane percussions of House Of Gypsies ‘Some Sigh Say’ (MAW Remix), the amazing vibes of ‘The Nervous Track’, ‘The Bounce’, Lil’ Louis - Saved My Life (MAW Dub) or Lou2 ‘Freaky’: these are the rerecords that made us go ‘Oh shit!’ and were a great tool for us as a DJs. But more importantly they got us working harder to become better producers, because they set the bar so high.

Luke Solomon

I have so many to choose from, always in the "wanting to have something they did that no one else had" crew - and with that in mind I’d go with the dub they did of Incognito's ‘Everyday’ that was featured on the Talkin’ Loud promo double pack. Still so hard to find and my copy is battered to bits - this went on to become ’The Bounce’ on MAW and still played to death by me - the original version, obviously.