Two DJs synonymous with the New England rave scene in the early- to mid-nineties were 333 and M Gee. British brothers, Paul and Mark Slater were regulars on the A-list East Coast club/rave circuit and held a residency upstairs at the original Loft on Stanhope Street in Boston. 333 played mostly trance in those days (but has since switched to house), while M Gee played mostly progressive house. Because of their foreign slang and infectious enthusiasm this duo were highly quotable. One of my favorites was Paul’s (333) response when I asked him at an afterhours in Montreal if he was going to play house: “House is for houses!” In other words, “F*ckin’ Goa – c’maown!”
Mark and Paul were not only accomplished and influential DJs but as promoters were in part responsible for some of the largest and most memorable parties in New England’s dance history. Together with Big Fun House, Pandemonium, and Tom Mello, they threw a spectacular series of events under the name Primary Productions; Blue, Yellow, Red, Green, Orange, Purple, Electric Blue, etc.
I helped out a bit at Yellow with set up and then later roaming around during the event doing whatever needed doing. I was moving around a lot, so nothing sticks out from the dj sets on the night but I do remember something about the concrete floor of the upstairs room cracking. Too much bass! The afterhours was crowded and full of classic rave drama. I believe Frankie Bones played and his girlfriend made a huge scene (took her clothes off I think). Lady Miss Kier from Deee-Lite was on the floor and we had a lot of fun dancing; smiles all around. The afterhours venue was carpeted and the crowd ignored the smoking policy (outside only) and ruined the carpet.
I DJ’d at a few of the Primary parties but my experience playing at Green was the best. Two large stages, one in a tent, were set up at the base of a grassy hill. At the top of the hill was a smaller tent showcasing New England local djs. I was scheduled to play in the locals tent at what is usually considered the peak of an event of this kind; around two or three in the morning. But as the hour drew closer some of the more aggressive locals used various tactics to bump the rest of us back and so I was rescheduled for the morning. Though I was upset about it at the time, this proved to be a good thing. I ended up playing at sunrise and while the tent was no longer packed with dancers, the hillside was crowded with people chilling and watching an epic sunrise. I had packed my records for 2am in mind but found when the time came that I had a great selection of deep and uplifting music appropriate for the hour. I remember the first two tracks of the set were Salt Tank “Sargasso Sea” [youtube] and Beat Foundation “Foundations” [youtube]. Playing the set was a moving experience for me, and for many years after the event I met people who told me how meaningful that morning and the music I played had been to them. Alas, no recording.
This mixtape was done by M Gee as a promotional teaser for the Primary event, Yellow (June 5th, 1993). It’s a wonderful, uplifting soundtrack for sunny spring and summer afternoons. The mix is crammed with deadly progressive and trance gems pitched way down for a really sultry, chuggy feel.
Tracklisting
00:00 Roach Motel “The Right Time” (Fire Island Mix)
05:29 unknown
09:52 Lemon Interupt “Big Mouth” Underworld under another name.
12:54 unknown
17:33 unknown
21:47 unknown
27:40 unknown
32:59 Nexus 21 “Can You Feel The Beat”
34:39 Masters of the Monotonal Groove “Keep Pumping”
36:13 The Infinity Project “Feeling Weird” A year later TIP and Dragonfly would become synonymous with a new genre called Goa Trance (since renamed Psy Trance).
40:39 unknown
tape flips
45:49 Creative Thieves “Nasty Rhythm” (Sasha’s MFI Mix) Gives “Talk To Me” a run for the money as Sasha’s best work (assuming he actually did any of the work).
53:39 unknown
58:46 108 Grand “Te Quiero” (Darren Emerson Underworld Mix) Hands down my favorite track by Emerson or Underworld. Ferocious.
1:03:57 unknown
1:06:36 X-Press 2 “Muzik Xpress” (Double D Mix)
1:11:10 Frontline “The Scream” One of my favorite all time tracks.
1:15:38 Roach Motel “The Right Time” (London Disco Dub) I remember playing this when I opened for Orbital at Avalon in 1995. Dark and chuggy.
1:20:30 Deep Piece “Bup Bup Biri Biri” (Gypsy Mix) I always preferred the Dead Calm Mix [youtube] on the flip side; smoother, better bassline, and fantastic breakdown.
1:24:23 Lemon Interupt “Eclipse” So beautiful. So many glorious memories. Love it. Underworld under another name.
[nggallery id=50]
express 2 – muzik – b side at 1.07
oh snap you’re right – i actually have that mix of X-press 2. dope. it’s London Xpress that i don’t have.
actually at 35.14 that is a different track – the one coming in with that crazy lead is a really rare track – dale eventually found it about 2 years after me. It was on a liverpool label, and the name escapes me – i will ask dale.
Thanks for looking out, Mark. Would love to have the full tracklist for this mix.
i think thats on 3beat from scotland, wicked choon! the first half if i remember correctly was epic, the second half not so much
what an era 1992-1993 was – original progressive house – will it ever be repeated or was that just “our time”??
Dude, keep these mixes coming. Love ’em. Is there a way to download this? I only see the play button. 90’s house rules btw. 1992 FTW!
34:39 – MOTMG – Keep Pumpin
http://www.discogs.com/Masters-Of-The-Monotonal-Groove-Masters-Of-The-Monotonal-Groove-Vol-2/release/110214
Shawn – YATZEE!
Masters of the monontonal Groove. it was really hard to find back then. keep the mixes coming – i wanna put a bunch of these on the IPOD.
mark, hook us up with the rest of the tracklist! 🙂
Someone please ID 53:39 !
@ Mark – Whenever I hear that tune, I immediately think of you. If there is ever a song that sticks to a DJ, this one is it for you!
I’m with Shawn on this, that track is all you Mark!
This stuff is great, Shannon. THANK YOU!
i finally got around to downloading this and listening (not using the ipod much now that ski season is over). what a treat. dale is right: that was a special time for house music. so fresh. you listen to a mix like this and you really feel like the current generation of “djs” doesn’t have a clue.
Great site. Keep pumpin’ the NE 90s vibe!
Eon did a sick flyer. Is Eon still around? still drawing? Occassionally, i put on some records and go thru the Primary flyers and relive the great times in my mind.
some recollections of YELLOW:
first rave i remember being in a convention center – managed to keep a warehouse vibe, great crowd, big crowd but manageable – no claustophobia, perfect size space-to-crowd ratio, awesome DJs, 3 booming soundsystems to rotate through.
drove back to Boston for this party. Originally saw the flyer at 99X in NYC on 10th St. Stopped at Roy Rogers off the Mass Pike and met some ravers in there. they gave me a yellow flyer. i left it in the bathroom for any wanderers to discover.
big parking lot, well lit too, felt safe parking there, took a long time to get in, very slow entry line, decent but thorough security. > 1 hr to get in. Felt like everyone just cut in front. once in, recall people sneaking in the rear stairwell doors throughout the nite. at one point, i passed Dmitry in that stairwell. i probably circled that building a 1000 times that night.
a jungle themed main stage – stuffed tiger? a hot, sweaty house tent sharing the main floor. an even hotter, sweatier skybox/cafeteria upstairs. Remember Wink spinning a great funky set up there. Remember dancing a lot, esp near the huge stacked bassbins near a guy in a yellow Penske racing jumpsuit (it was yellow and he must have wanted to come dressed in Yellow). Sort of remember a bathroom beyond the house tent downstairs. pretty crammed upstairs.
Towards the end, the tarp hanging over the bottom floor windows was sagging (letting some early morning rays in) then being pulled down with lots of daylight exposing the emptying space for the final set.
I think a couple club kids were there (Astro Earl) in huge platform sneakers. They were slightly intimidating but were greatly outnumbered by ravers.
Left the parking lot, going too fast on circular highway on-ramp and passed 2 rave hitchhikers desperate for a ride. they looked bumme dwhen my Chevy wagon with NY plates went whipping by. later almost killed myself driving that morning, around 9am-ish, major construction job on I-95 southbound in CT – almost hit middle lane construction cement barrier.
altogether a blast. for me the scene peaked at RED (same location) in March 94. BLUE, YELLOW and RED were all incredible raves. YELLOW was one of my all-time top 10, maybe even top 5.
I love the XXL yellow tee in the photos. Would gladly pay for a re-release in a Large. Any more photos of that night would be great to see.
32:59 sounds like “Nexus 21” – Can You Feel the Beat but played a lot slower >http://vodpod.com/watch/2852319-nexus-21-can-you-feel-the-beat
53:39 I don’t know but that one is an absolute MUST HAVE :^)
Thank you!! Looks like he must have played the Nexus 21 track on 33rpm (pressed on 45rpm).
I'm downloading this now. I miss my House beats from around 98 to 2005. EDM beats in general have changed so much to the point that there's a lot of CHEESY crapola out there. Where's the "underground" feel?? That's what brought me to the scene and hooked on clubs like The Comfort Zone, Life, The Guvernment, System Sound Bar — all in Toronto. And Aria, Redlite, Circus, Gravity, Bal en Blanc, Sona Lounge, Stereo — in Montreal.
Anyways, thanks for the mix. I'm sure it'll be refreshing. 🙂
Max
I'm downloading this now. I miss my House beats from around 98 to 2005. EDM beats in general have changed so much to the point that there's a lot of CHEESY crapola out there. Where's the "underground" feel??
That's what brought me to the scene and hooked on clubs like The Comfort Zone, Life, The Guvernment, System Sound Bar, Turbo — all in Toronto. And Aria, Redlite, Circus, Gravity, Bal en Blanc, Sona Lounge, Stereo — in Montreal.
I would love the promo mixtape from BLUE. Lost it along the way.
Shannon…I totally remember this rave and ended up in the small room upstairs with amazing house spun by Josh Wink. I wasnt a huge fan of it, bc of the NY thugs that showed up and started stealing out of peoples shit. Either way…it wasnt a 2DEEP for me or a REVERSE, which was prb my fav out of all the raves we went to of that era. As I get older, I forget more and more from this time, but I still have so many of the original flyers which I would never throw away!
Hey Shannon and everyone,
Just stumbled across your site. John Hicks and I are talking about this mix and we both always thought its called "Summetime"? Mark?
Anyway- its one of my all time favorite mixes. I even ripped my own copy a few years ago.
Big up Shannon for sharing!
Wow…..been to most of the parties…..Blue was my first party ever….oh the blury memories!!!
Just thinking of you all! Was on a train back from Manchester to London earlier today (on way back to NYC after yesterday’s football) and hearing a group of younger English kids talk about going to see Armand and others we grew up with. Great memories.