For the past 15 years, New York’s Hot 97 has garnered props around the world for blazing hip hop and R&B. But if you rewound to the earliest years of the station, circa 1987-92, a different story was being told in their studio. Long before Kay Slay, Enuff, and even their first and most prominent selector Funkmaster Flex, Hot 97 used to play entirely house, dance, and freestyle music. However, due to diminished ratings as hip house and freestyle were all but absent from the charts in late ‘92, they transitioned out of the format. Hot 97 gradually embraced hip hop until they were 100 percent the latter genre by 1995. 

Hot 97’s juggling act of hip hop, dancehall, house, freestyle, and R&B between 1992 and 1995 was considered legendary. Probably the best example of multi-format programming on the radio I ever had the opportunity to hear, despite being a rookie jedi at the time. Not only were Flex’s Friday Night Street Jam sets legendary, but many other regulars on the station’s airwaves, including Louie Vega, David Morales, Timmy Regisford, Frankie Knuckles, and Tony Humphries, tested the limits of what was allowed to be played on the radio without alienating casual listeners. 

Although very few Hot 97 sets from the time period were recorded and readily available online, there are a few I have been lucky enough to track down over the years. Thanks to DJ Verdugo, I was able to find one mix yesterday that he archived and uploaded from the station. Recorded in late ‘92, this is a 50-minute freestyle mix that included quite a few popular anthems from around that time period. I pulled the audio and uploaded it to my server if you want to take a trip down memory lane. I was about 12 at the time!

Also, be sure to check out Verdugo’s own freestyle mixes on his YouTube page, there are over 40 mini-mixes posted there (nice example of one posted after the link).

Hot 97 House/Freestyle Mix (Recorded August 1992)
50 mins, 256kbps 

Classic mix set recorded by DJ Overload when he was living in Boston. Regarded as one of the very first drum and bass DJ’s in the area, this tape reaches back even before it’s birth to showcase a nice palette of dancefloor jams, feel-good piano house, and techno.

On side A of this tape we see a small touch of breakbeats in a time when drum and bass music was still several years out and breakbeat hardcore music was slowly starting to migrate it’s way across the Atlantic from the U.K. There are many hands-in-the-air house and techno tracks included here as well which actually blend nicely with the breakbeats. Side B slows the tempo down a bit, pushing the breakbeats aside after a couple of experimental opening rhythms in favor of feel-good house, a few rave anthems (piano included), even some borderline trance towards the end. The squelchy 303 lead and reece basslines make guest appearances throughout.

Special thanks to Hilary for sending this over to me, it’s been in her personal collection for many years! I cannot say when this tape came out, but from the sounds of it, probably 1991-92. If anyone has more mixsets they would like to share from the 1990s, by all means definitely let me know. I can honestly admit that I’ve been struggling to find tapes to add here as many have been lost/discarded, and also there are very few people active in the scene today who were old enough to be involved way back in the early-mid 1990s. 

Soundcloud links below. 

 DJ Overload-Smiling Faces (Side A) by beantownboogiedown

DJ Overload-Smiling Faces (Side B) by beantownboogiedown

This is an interesting tape I obtained by a dj known as Dan Efex. He was apparently fairly well known in both the club and rave circuit in the mid-late 1990s and was well known for his energetic sets that consisted of anything from trance to techno to hardcore. Taking a brief look at the bio on his website it sounds like he is originally from Chicago, although he probably played in NYC and Boston a great deal back then. Looks like he's been inactive since 2001 but his diverse selection and eclectic taste in music lives on through tapes like this.

I highly enjoyed side 1 of this tape- it's pretty much entirely goa trance, which means that this tape was probably recorded during its' heyday in 1996 or 97. Goa trance music eventually evolved and became more complex and experimental in terms of its sound and has been known for the last 8-10 years as psytrance. I think goa trance is more stripped down and less structured (which I actually prefer), and this part of the tape illustrates this.

Side 2 of this tape is ok but I honestly admit I did not enjoy it as much as side 1. The flow was good but some of the songs with vocals weren't my cup of tea. There are still some nice goa tunes in here mixed in during various parts.

Oh yeah, I have a gabber mix by Dan Efex I also recently recorded that I will be uploading soon. It's a little, er, different from the trance mix, to say the least....watch this space. 

And if anyone has any of Dan Efex's ambient tapes that they would like to share, please get in touch with me!

Dan Efex- Protocol (side 1)
Dan Efex- Protocol (side 2) 

Anyone who was around in Boston's drum and bass scene in the 1990s will definitely remember dj Timestretch. Me, on the other hand, am on the new school tip so never got the chance to meet this cat. Regardless, he made his mark back then and was regarded as one of the very first people to promote the sound of jungle around parties and raves in the city during the mid 90s. As this was before the widespread proliferation of the web and even prior to 4front records the only way he would even be able to get dnb/jungle vinyl is to actually travel to the UK to get it! When he was there he was able to network a lot and even get some dubs cut. He took things a step beyond DJ'ing though and ran a record label (Advance Recordings), produced, and threw parties.

This tape is a perfect snapshot of drum and bass music at a time when the sound of techstep was at it's infancy while jump-up and ragga were slowly starting to gravitate away from the spotlight. Almost all of the well known tracks from '97 are here, as well as a few of Timestretch's own tunes and even a couple dubs of tracks that were unreleased at the time (and I'm not even sure if the D'Cruze track even came out at all!) Good mixing and even a little bit of scratching on here too.

DJ Timestretch-Live at the Casualty Ward (side 1) 

John B: Slamfunk Remix (dubplate)
Dillinja: Light Years (prototype)
Ed Rush & Optical: Funktion (v recordings)
Nemesis & DJ Kane: System (optical & fierce remix) (renegade hardware)
Snuggles & 3D: Template (dubplate)
Genoforce: The Germ (hardware)
D'Cruze: ??? (dubplate)
Krust: Warhead (v recordings)
Optical: To Shape the Future (Remix) (metalheadz)
John B: Starburst VIP (dubplate)
Roni Size: Trust Me (talkin loud)


DJ Timestretch-Live at the Casualty Ward (side 2) 

John B: Secrets (dubplate)
3D: Millenial Dawn (dubplate)
Timestretch: Electrobolt VIP (dubplate)
Goldie: Temper Temper (Grooverider Remix) (ffrr)
John B: Sight Beyond (new identity)
SS: Symphonic (new identity)
Decoder: Circuit Breaker (Peshay Remix) (tech itch)
Moby: James Bond Theme (Grooverider Remix) (mute)
Faith No More: Ashes to Ashes (Dillinja Remix) (london)
Doc Scott: Swarm (metalheadz)
Roni Size: Brown Paper Bag remix (talkin loud)
Scorpio: Trouble (v recordings)
Sci Clone: Everywhere I Go (dubplate)
 

Banging mix from Chad Collins, a well known techno dj from upstate NY, from 1999. He had a weekly show on (I believe) WBER in Rochester that I used to tune in to and record on occasion. This is easily one of his most energetic mixes I've heard from the show, hard driving techno pretty much all the way through. Think along the lines of early Umek, Adam Beyer, Gecko, Joel Mull, etc. I wish I recorded more than the last 40 minutes of the set though!

Chad Collins: Hard Techno '99 (WBER)

Crook '98 Dnb: Side 1
Crook '98 Dnb: Side 2 

To commemorate the Elements Crew's 10th Anniversary I've decided to pull an old mix from one of their residents, Crook, from the vaults! Crook is well known for his versatile selection and super tight mixing, and even many years ago when he recorded this tape he still had the skills he's respected for nowadays. There's a lot of late 90s jump-up (with some proper scratching) throughout most of side 1 from the likes of Hype and the True Playaz Crew, Dillinja, etc. The end of side 1 morphs into some of the deeper techstep that was still in it's raw infancy at the time- so yes there's obviously a couple Ed Rush & Optical joints in there =) Side 2 picks up from where side 1 leaves off, starting with Grooverider's classic "Rainbows of Colour" and traveling through other classics such as RAM Trilogy's "Scanners"/"No Reality" and Souljah's "Fade2Black". Unfortunately I'm unable to ID many of the tunes on here but they're all quality!

Prototype 909 Live '93/'95

2 nice live PA sets from a legendary trio from Connecticut. Both of these sets are pretty high energy with lots of build-ups and tempo changes. Glad this tape is still in one piece and didn't fall victim to the shitty cassette eater that I used to run this one through in my Ford Tempo back in the day!

Here's the linear notes of the cassette:

Prototype 909 are:
dietrich schoenmann
jason "bpmf" szostek
taylor 808

side a:
scranton, PA (11.93): Our first live show ever, 1000 crazy college kids out to have a good time. thanks to gail, abe, corbit, dj haze, the gear geeks, and the cop who bought a p909 shirt.

side b:
"mecha", NYC (3.95): short-lived nyc underground mobil party. the sound system kept cutting out, lost the high-end. music was HARD. thanks to alpay, janice and simon. no thanks to the dusted mosh pit.

This is the first in a continuing series of recordings from various P909 live performances across the country. We bring a DAT deck to as many shows as possible to record, though sometimes technical difficulties prevent us from doing so. If there is any show in particular you want a recording of let us know. We'll see if we have it and try to get it out.

Peace.