TRACKS:
E.M.F. - "Unbelievable" (multiple mixes)
Depeche Mode - "Lie To Me"
Depeche Mode - "Dangerous"
Depeche Mode - "Never Let Me Down Again"
Madonna - "Erotica" (Remix)
Saint Etienne - "Only Love Can Break Your Heart" (Remix)
The Beatles - "Strawberry Fields Forever"
Echo & The Bunnymen - "Bedbugs And Ballyhoo"
Duran Duran - "Notorious"
Movie Dialogue - "War Games"
Koji Kondo - "Super Mario Bros Theme" (aka "Overworld Theme")

DESCRIPTION:
This is a true history lesson...

In 1990, I came into early possession of the UK promo 12" of "Enjoy The Silence" by Depeche Mode. I won't say exactly how this happened, but it did involve lying to Mute Records, and some blatant bribing of Mute employees with five pound bags of Reese's Pieces. :)

As I was a huge KROQ fan, and the station was a convenient nine blocks from my apartment, I hatched a scheme. I would offer Richard Blade the chance to get the first North American play of the new Depeche Mode remixes. In exchange, he had to promise to play my remixes on air. Remember, I am a snot-nosed, 19 year old kid with no previous experience in radio. I am not in an intern program. I'm just a guy who cuts a lot of analog tape up.

He accepted the offer.

Through the following years, Richard played my remixes. I also got to be friends with Swedish Egil and Sluggo, and both of them played my mixes as well. Now, when Egil left to form MARS-FM, I tagged along to do production and imaging work. I still kept in contact with KROQ, though.

One of my more popular mixes I did for KROQ back in the day was "Unbelievable" by E.M.F.. Now, it wasn't a true "remix". It was more of an early form of a mashup, a decade or so before the word existed. Most of the mixes I did at the time were in this style. Growing up on DJ service records, and stuff like Double Dee And Steinski, I tried to emulate what I heard in their mixes, but used more "current" KROQ music. (yes, yes, I know, The Beatles aren't "current"...hush!)

What you are currently playing is "version two" of the mix. Version one was an extreme tape cut-up fest.

When I got my first Mac (IIsi) in late 1991, I moved to all digital, using Sound Designer 2.82. Sound Designer was a two-track digital editor, but you could "overdub" (or "layer") sound again and again, and do clever editing via the playlist editor. I exploited the hell out of the overdub feature, getting sample accurate placement. This was years before Pro Tools came into the picture.

A few years after I got into the digital editing, I went back and made this "version two" of the "Unbelievable" mix. Both of the versions aired on KROQ, but "version two" has much better sound quality.

For a true flashback, check out this vintage aircheck (mid-1994?) of Sluggo playing "version one" of the mix, with me announcing the mix on air at KROQ.

Enjoy one of my oldest mixes!

File uploaded: February 17th, 2021