Once upon a time ...
... there was a nightclub called The Paradise Garage ... or at least, that's how many variants of the tale begin.
Way back in the 80's, a sophisticated new sound emerged from of a number of clubs and churches spread down a section of the North East US coast - this was a sweet, celebratory, soulful dance scene, centering on NY and New Jersey as its birthplace and spiritual hub.
The Garage itself was the home of the legendary Larry Levan and, emanating from there, this new sound slowly spread its tendrils and influences across the continent and, inevitably, into the underground clubs of London, Lisbon, Canada, Italy and beyond, onwards across the globe.
The hefty majority of this music was made at a time when the best producers on the NY scene had the luxury of easy access to splendid singers and nice big studios, and the lengthy and glowing roster of the sound's champions features many a lofty house dignitary; Humphries, Knuckles, Masters at Work, Basement Boys, Roland Clark, Benji Candelario, Victor Simonelli and, of course, Kerri Chandler.
For much of this era, Strictly Rhythm was THE label of choice, but Easy Street, Nu-Groove, Nervous, Sub-urban, King Street, 4th Floor and countless other independent labels, many long since gone, all left their mark on the genre.
Sometimes providing a stripped down sound, sometimes huge gospel-driven productions, garage came across as a softer, sexier, more soulful sub-branch of house; with disco as an obvious predecessor - and donating it's backbone 4/4 kick - it had a warm, natural vibe, and never strayed too far into the tougher, more accelerated, future-sounding style which came to dominate mainstream dance at the time, though it did occasionally surface from the depths of the underground, with tracks like Hardrive's "Deep Inside" thumping out of every car stereo in London over the summer of '93...
select mixes by genre: |
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Tracklist
| 000:00 | saltmarsh | ozone sun |
| 004:45 | non-zeros | slum hasta |
| 012:10 | urbanised | helpless |
| 015:44 | new girls posse | higher |
| 020:50 | instrum | wine |
| 025:40 | delano smith | a message for the dj |
| 030:38 | smooth touch | house of love |
| 037:15 | aftershock | slave to the vibe |
| 045:01 | roach motel | movin' on |
| 052:02 | sandy b | feel like singing |
| 056:13 | sole fusion | we can make it |
| 061:18 | fire island | in your bones |
| 067:10 | romanthony | falling from grace |
| 072:30 | maydie myles | keep on luvin |
| 079:02 | hidden agenda | story of my life |
| 085:33 | djs rule | get into the music |
| 088:39 | romanthony | ministry of love |
| 090:54 | janet rushmore | joy |
-- Total running time – 94.42 --
