Terrence Parker is Detroit dance royalty and the red carpet will roll out towards not one, but two Ministry Of Sound DJ booths on 01 November when he plays for Defected In The House.
Parker started mixing with cassette tapes and pause buttons in 1979, aged 11, before progressing to local DJ crew the Hot Mix 10 (headed by cult radio jock Electrifying Mojo) and then, from the Nineties onwards, key international solo appearances. In tandem, came a high-grade house production career. Parker had made a start in the studio in 1988 and upped the ante during the early Nineties on labels including 430 West, !K7 and his own Intangible Records & Soundworks. Today, Parker has successfully pushed more than 100 EPs, remixes and seriously weighty albums (in the process, establishing a new, well respected label Parker MusicWorks). He has also played over 200 cities in 25 countries, captivating audiences with his uniquely skilful ‘turntablist’ approach to the ‘ones and twos’.
Ahead of Parker’s Ministry appearance – which includes a special For The Love Of House set in The Loft as well as his main room appearance – we reflect upon five of the productions that have defined Parker’s 24-carat career to date….
Separate Minds ‘We Need Somebody EP’ [Express Records]
Definitively Parker’s first ever release. Separate Minds was a collective also featuring Lou ‘Track Master’ Robinson and Marc ‘MK’ Kinchen, but this 1988 EP’s titular lead track was specifically Parker’s baby and, as he has previously acknowledged, his first key breakthrough. ‘We Need Somebody’ shows clear promise of what is to come, smart jacking beats propelling infectious spoken word riffs and a b-line groove well ahead of its time. The track puts it so well…. ‘listen up people, so you don’t miss, because it ain’t about that, it’s about this…let’s go, let’s go!’ Parker was ready to fly.
Seven Grand Housing Authority ‘The Question’ [Olympic Records]
A wonderfully uplifting piano soul-house belter recorded by Parker under his Seven Grand Housing Authority alias. ‘The Question’, driven farther and higher by those soaring gospel samples and synths, appealed to Paul Oakenfold (one of his opening staples at Cream) and Tony Humphries alike – house music in its purest, truest, most universally appealing form. It also reflected Parker’s maturing studio sound, a major European club hit in 1993 that encouraged Parker’s transition to acclaimed full-length albums later that decade, including Tragedies Of A Plastic Soul Junkie (1996), No Weapons Formed Against Me Shall Proper (1997, as Seven Grand Housing Authority) and, perhaps most famously, Detroit After Dark (1997).
Seven Grand Housing Authority ‘Love’s Got Me High’ [Intangible Records/Soundworks]
Mid-Nineties solidification of the Terrence Parker legend…. ‘Love’s Got Me High’ bettered, impressively, ‘The Question’’s stunning impact two years’ prior, Parker’s ‘Blunted Street Soul’ mix tucking lush house drums and bass beneath a seriously emotive piano ‘n’ organ, New Jersey-style swing-fest. Parker’s ability to balance edge with accessible emotion ensured ‘Love’s Got Me High’ became another classic, utterly joyous moment in his now significant club career.
Terrence Parker – ‘Tribute To Ken Collier’ [Seventh Sign Recordings]
This was anonymously issued at the time of Detroit DJ legend Collier’s passing in 1996 and, after that, made a couple of brief appearances on Parker’s Intangible label, but it wasn’t until a solid pick-up by Glasgow’s Seventh Sign in the summer of 2009 that this record’s full power was unleashed. The full EP bears a polished new edit of ‘Love’s Got Me High’, as well as off-kilter disco delights ‘Somethin’ Here’ and ‘Why After All This’ but it is ‘Your Love’, the main A-side, that shines particularly brightly - Parker’s sensitive yet track-y re-application of the buoyant disco sound Collier so loved a master-class in everything from looped sampling (First Choice’s funky-as-hell ‘Dr Love’, Chanté Moore’s ambrosial ‘Precious’) to tight drum programming via the shrewd arrangement of hi-hats, moody strings and downward b-line. A kill-aaaaa in 2009, and still regularly rocking nu-house floors today.
Terrence Parker – Open Up Your Spirit [Defected]
One of the undoubted highlights of Parker’s latest album Life On The Back 9. Said long-player was first released on Planet E last year, its rave reviews initially reflected in the positive attention garnered by flagship single ‘Finally’ – an intoxicating brew of sweet vocals, thumping pianos and rough-cut synths. However, Life’s re-release (on Defected) this autumn has ‘Open Up Your Spirit’ as accompanying single; the track bolstered by a sweep of hot new Parker edits.
“After I’ve put a track together and played it out for a while, I start getting new ideas about it. I don’t often remix my stuff but when I do it’s not to make it better…it’s about taking things in a different direction” Parker explains. “I was definitely inspired for the new versions of ‘Open Up Your Spirit’ and the singer, Merachka, is amazing.” The fresh licks of paint here certainly kick-started Defected’s Parker re-issue crusade in the first place and, upon early vinyl release, a tidal wave of eager support from industry heads and revellers alike. In its new ‘Deeep Detroit Heat’ incarnation, ‘Open Up Your Spirit’ pours passionate praise-the-lord fervour into an effective deep soul-house flow without any over-indulgence or lack of cutting edge. It’s the real deal….
Terrence Parker joins Osunlade, FCL, Luke Solomon, Sam Divine and more for Defected In The House at London’s Ministry Of Sound 01 November – buy tickets
Terrence Parker feat. Merachka’s ‘Open Up Your Spirit’ is out now on Defected Records. Parker’s album, Life On The Back 9, is released via CD/digital on Defected 02 November – order from iTunes and Amazon
