You bring light in

You're the sun and the sky and the blue that runs through it

If there is one name that can be associated with the start of house music as we know it, then that would be Frankie Knuckles. Born in South Bronx, New York in 1955, Frankie grew up listening to the jazz music his sister used to play. In school, he studied costume design and commercial art, but that wouldn't be the career path that he would follow. Instead, in 1971, he was offered a job by (the late) legendary DJ Tee Scott who was the resident DJ at Better Days, a club in New York. and every monday and tuesday night, Frankie got to take control of the dance floor from the DJ booth. Having been a long time childhood friend of the also legendary DJ Larry Levan, they first worked together back in 1972 at a club called "The Gallery" in upstate new york. A year later, Frankie joined Larry as the alternate DJ at "Continental Baths". When Larry Left in 1974 to open his own club, the prototype for "Paradise Garage", well Frankie took over as the head DJ at Continental Baths until its end in 1976.

In 1976, while Larry was involved in setting up "the Garage", he was approached by a group of investors and asked to become the resident DJ of a new club they were opening up in Chicago. Larry didn't want to leave, and since "the Baths" had just shut down, Frankie was asked to make the move to Chicago and become the resident DJ of the legendary club "The Warehouse". You have to remember that back then they were only calling it house music in Chicago, the word used to denote something that was "cool, hip, fresh, or bad". And the Warehouse was the place to be for many years. Designed to hold only about 600 people, but on any given night, nearly 2000 people would cram themselves into this 3 story factory building to hear the magic of Frankie Knuckles. The crowd was mostly gay and nearly all black, but one thing that bound this group of people together was their love for house music.

Frankie continued to reel in the masses for years until the Warehouse finally closed in 1982 at which time Frankie opened up his own club just a few miles up the road called "The Power Plant". By this time, house music was in full swing in Chicago so it was deemed to be the birthplace of a genre of music that continues to draw the masses on a regular basis. The whole genre of house music can be traced back to Frankie Knuckles and his influence on the city.....hence the term "house music".

Years later, Frankie would take to production in the studio and churn out such classics as "The Whistle Song" which even today can be heard by many a DJ. He has remixed songs by Luther Vandross, Janet Jackson, Diana Ross, and even Michael Jackson. In fact, his remixography contains more than 200 tracks, so many that even Frankie cannot even remember them all. In 1997, he was the first DJ turned producer to receive a Grammy Award for his mixing skills. He has released several compilations and makes guest DJ appearances at clubs across the world. He is highly respected by his peers and the music industry.

If you are in town this weekend, make sure you go hear Frankie, as he is part of Liquified's lineup at WetBar on Saturday night. It should be a very interesting and mixed crowd, which means it will be people there to hear some really great music.

shooters, shooters, guys git ur shooters.....

it's no secret that i spent a lot of time at backstreet. we all did. we are all guilty trashing the place, and frequently on any given weekend night saying "oh, i won't be going to backstreet tonight, that's for sure" (only to walk in later that evening/early morning and run into the very same people that you said this to). the truth is, you knew what you were going to get at backstreet, it was consistent. much like the heretic is/was today. and now with the gay atlanta nightlife as lame as it is, we find ourselves longing to have this dive of a club back.

i have had my eye on a zip up jacket with the above slogan on the front. i should have purchased it when backstreet closed several years ago, and they sold off everything in the place. recently, i saw Juan, the oddly hot and very friendly server at Quattro wearing this very same jacket. knowing that he used to work there, i have dropped several hints to him over the last few months about my desire to have my own. and he has promised to look in his closet for a jacket or shirt for me. then i remembered that a girl i work with is a roommate of the Vara's daughter. turns out it wasn't very hard. the Vara's love to hear that people loved the gay institution known as backstreet. so this week, i scored a t shirt, some magnets, and my very own piece of the dance floor. RIP backstreet.

Carry Me Away

Chris Lake has to be one of the hardest working DJs in the world. The 24 year old Scottish DJ, producer, and remixer has made a big name for himself in the UK house scene. In fact, he has accomplished more in the last few years than many DJs will in a lifetime.

Born wayyyy back in 1982 (geez) in Norwich (UK), Chris was raised for the first twelve years of his life in a small village before moving to Scotland where he is currently based. But it was during his time at the Mintlaw Academy where he was first introduced "to all this keyboard stuff" by a friend and was immediately hooked. After dropping some cash on a keyboard, they were soon creating their own tunes.

But it wasn't until 1999 when Chris was introduced to "Underground Music", that of the UK house scene and he was hooked again. He spent several months landing guest spots at various clubs in Scotland, and then just six months later, he was offered a residency at Passion in Aberdeen. For the next two years, Chris concentrated on his DJ'ing, unleashing driving and energetic house music to the masses that would come to hear him at Passion.

In 2001, he once again returned to the studio to start producing and remixing. He created a cheeky little bootleg of Danny Tenaglia's track "Elements of Der Shieber", and somehow it found its way into the hands of Seb Fontaine who dropped it on his Radio 1 show four weeks running. It even made the live broadcast from Radio 1's Ibiza opening party that very year.

His next production was called "Phatter Planet" which was a re-rub of Leftfield's "Phat Planet". The success of this track has been amazing, receiving the props and respect from some of the biggest progressive house DJs in the world such as Tiesto, Timo Maas, and even Desyn Masiello.

For the last several years, his name has become synonymous with quality house music. His monster Track "Changes" took the country and world by storm, and was even named by Pete Tong as the essential new tune in December of 2005. He has even formed his very own record label called Rising music. Not bad for a guy who hasn't even made it to 25.

This week, Chris returns with a track that I have been anxiously waiting for. The track, called "Carry me Away", features the vocals of Emma Hewitt, is nothing short of beautiful. It really reminds me of something by Reflekt, or even the track released earlier this year by Atrium - called "In love with you". It builds and builds with a nice bass line and piano riff only to be complemented by Emma's gorgeous vocal. pure class. Check it on Chris's website.

Buzzin' Fly Vol 4

Ben Watt, house DJ and former member of the group Everything but the Girl, returns with the fourth installment of his very popular CD compilations called Buzzin' Fly. Set to be released on his very own record label, Buzzin' Fly Records, this time Ben moves away from his signature house sound. I was able to get my hands on a promotional copy, and I was a bit disappointed. And probably because I was expecting something along the lines of the first in this series or even the Lazy Dog CDs. Though it does warrant a further, more detailed listen.

Apparently, the Buzzin' Fly is moving a away from its house origins,and dabbling in deep techno, electro, and even progressive house music. I noticed upon first listen that there are very few if any vocals on the CD, and the first few songs are very techy and bleepy. along the lines of tiefschwarz, which I have found some of their work interesting, but again not what one would expect to hear on a ben watt CD. In addition, the CD comes bookended by spoken word extracts from his long running Out-spoken project.

Paul Van Dyk - Another Way

in honor of the #1 DJ in the world coming to the Tabernacle in Atlanta tomorrow night, I wanted to post a video taken from his 2003 album Titled "Paul Van Dyk: Global". I found the CD in the back of one of my cabinets while cleaning on Sunday, and I forgot how good this mix really is. It brings me back to the Winter Music Conferfence of 2003....And since NO ONE has expressed any interest in going to hear this beautiful man tomorrow night, i guess I will settle for something recorded.....

tonight should be fun though. I am spinning atop the rooftop bar of the Glenn Hotel downtown for the Assistant's cocktail party for the Coca-Cola company. This life sure is hard....

tell me why

my weekend was fairly quiet, as i as on call saturday and sunday. but upon leaving the gym on friday evening, i was offered a last minute ticket to Chastain to hear Corinne Bailey Rae and John Legend. Naturally, I was very excited as they are both very talented artists that I would like to know more about. you see, my interest in music is much deeper and developed than some 4 x 4 beat.... and the company pictured above could not have been better.

we jumped into Thomas's Denali and headed down in style, only to find that the traffic was terrible. it must have taken us nearly an hour to travel 2 miles up to the Blue parking lot. so we uncorked a bottle of wine and put the gwen stefani dvd in and relaxed. it was like a super mom mobile, those yukons....

unfortunately, we arrived at our table just as Corinne was finishing her last song, which was a big disappointment to me. John Legend came on and was phemonemal. He put on a fantastic show, we dined on chips and dips and some really tasty red wine, and the weather turned out to be perfect, despite the "predictions" of rain in the forecast.

on sunday, i finally took the time to set up my external hard drive, a christmas gift from my parents nearly 6 months ago. my library of music has become so large that my hard drive was full, even to the point that it was slowing down. and didn't even have enough room to defragment.... it turned out to be a very easy task, and soon i had expunged nearly 30 gigs of music and transferred it all over to my new 160 gig external hard drive.

and as i got in bed sunday night, i was thinking about some of the anger and disappointment that I have been holding in over the past few months about a certain someone in my life. and it has bothered me to no end. my friends know that i am someone who is pretty forgiving, and i just finally came to a realization that all things aside, life is way to short to hold grudges. and with that, just like my hard drive on my computer, i forgave that person and erased all bitterness and anger out of my life. and lemme tell ya, i feel much better because of it

dj john thompson - halloween 2006

here is a live mix recorded at a halloween party i spun back in october.

The infamous John Brown cartwheel

Spin - out & about

I thought i would provide the tracklisting from the promo cd we gave to the first 50 people at Sunday's event. If you didn't make it early enough to receive one, you can stream this mix below.

Spin - out & about 2007
dj john thompson

1.miguel migs - mesmerized (alix alvarez sole channel vox mix)
2.carl kennedy - ride the storm
3.samantha james - rise (eric kupper remix)
4.hott 22 feat angie zee - just friends (hott 22 remix)
5.freemasons - nothing but a heartache
6.booty luv - shine (moto blanco club mix)
7.supafly - moving too fast (northwest remix)
8.goldbumpers - change (extended vocal club mix)
9.noir pres the soul flava - hot (club mix)
10.rockefeller vs alibi - sexual healing (freemasons vocal mix)
11.beyonce & shakira - beautiful liar (freemasons club vox mix)
12.sophie ellis bextor - catch you (moto blanco club mix)

It might just be good for you

If you are a fan of the group Way Out West, then you may be familiar with Jody Wisternoff. As part of this ubiquitous progressive house act know for such tracks as "Stealth" and "Mind Circus", the 26 year old european DJ, remixer, and producer has definitely made a name for himself in the last few years. His production work is nothing short of perfect, having released several tracks in 2006 that progressive house DJs all over the world are rocking at the moment. This includes "Cold Drink, Hot Girl" as well as "Nostalgia", released just a few months ago. Both of the aforementioned track are available for digital download at Beatport. Each month, Jody releases a new house mix titled "Way out There", usually on Proton Radio. They contain a collection of released and upcoming house tracks that are sure to be big in the coming months. On April 26th, Jody released his newest Way Out There mix in two parts, containing new tracks such as "Armed" by Pryda (Eric Prydz alias), and legendary vocalist Billie Ray Martin called "Undisco Me".

But what really caught my attention is the first track on Part 2 by a group called Relation. The song titled "Your Tiny Mind" as remixed by Lifelike is stunning. It sort of reminds me of something by Tiga or the Killers, with a male vocal over an uplifting synthesized and melodic harmony. It is by far the classic sound of Lifelike, better know for his remix of "Discopolis" early last year. Check out a clip of "your tiny mind" below. Enjoy!

your tiny mind

yesterday's out & about 2007 kick-off event at Loca Luna was a great success. we were all a little nervous going into sunday, as we were at a totally different location, and one that lacks its own surface lot now that ANOTHER condo building is going up on the site formerly known as Backstreet....

Surprisingly, the gays showed up in gaggles, even arriving as early as 4:30pm, which was unheard of when we hosted at Shout. The weather could not have been more beautiful, and i think that people really liked the space. though i can see how it would probably get too hot in the middle of summer.

the total in donations collected at the door is just shy of $1800! We estimate that somewhere around 200 people were in attendance. big thanks to johnny sinclair for all of his hard work at the door. who knew that people would donate an extra $5 for a hug?

I think everyone enjoyed the music. I did have several compliments. and i can clearly remember two trainwrecks.....the most unflawless of trangressions....all while flirting with Scott Davis. even three years later, he still melts me....

our next event takes us back to Shout in june to benefit ChrisKids Rainbow program.

come with me

here's the official advertisement for next week's Out & About. It will be a guaranteed good time.

we have everything we need

I think i have finally found a way to post new music and mixes to my blog. so here goes my first attempt. let me know if this works..... click link below to download.

JT's spring mix 2007

me and my imagination

It's that time again. you know, spring in Atlanta, one of my favorite times of the year. and it's time to kick off this years Out & About events. I expressed an interest to become more involved this year, aside from simply spinning at the events, which i love so much. our meeting last week was very productive; it's amazing what kind of ideas can come about in a one hour brainstorming session over salads. it seems like we have finalized the details for our first event, to take place in less than two weeks at Loca Luna. sure i have some work to do, but trust me, it will be a fantastic event. stay tuned for details.

If you are a fan of Chicane, then you will be happy to know that new material from this group is due out this year. It's funny, I was at a party recently and we were talking about music, and I was really surprised to find out how many people have never heard of Chicane. I can remember first listening to Chicane back in 2001, after a long night at Backstreet. It was perfect morning music....

The mastermind behind the group 'Chicane' is Nick Bracegirdle. Back in 1996, after finding himself really bored with bad dance records that seemed to be churned out one after the other, Chicane was formed and the first single "Offshore" was released that very same year. Numerous very popular singles soon followed, including 1998's "Strong in Love" which is one of my favorites. Then, in 1999, Nick teamed up with long time friend Bryan Adams to produce "Don't give up" which eventually surpassed Madonna on its way to #1.

The last we heard from Chicane was last year when the track "Stoned in Love" was released, featuring the vocals of Tom Jones. This was a big track for me last year, though I am not sure that it caught on in the USA.

Back in February of this year, Chicane announced their split from Universal Records. Instead, they are going back to their very own in independent record label, Modena Records, on which the track Offshore was originally released. Their forthcoming album, titled "Somersault" is set to be released on the aforementioned record label in mid June. Chicane just finished shooting the video for the first single from Somersault called "Come Tomorrow" which is scheduled to be released in May.

give a lil love

For years, when you thought of global dance music, you often thought of New York, London, and Chicago - the birthplace of House Music. But it wasn't until the late 1990's that a new wavy of funky and cool tracks began emerging from Paris. This new sound, which was appropriately called "Le French Touch" by the UK music press, was inspired by soul and disco as well as early New York and Chicago house music. First came Dimitri from Paris, better known for his compilations "A night at the Playboy Mansion". Then Daft Punk came on the scene, and has been on the forefront of electronic dance music even today.

But in 1998, the smash hit "Gym Tonic" emerged, featuring vocals sampled from a Jane Fonda workout tape and credited to Bob Sinclar. Of course at that time, no one knew who Bob Sinclar was, though it was rumored that he was a spy, sunglass model, and even a hardcore pornstar. Turns out, his name was just an assumed identity of one Chris Lefriant. In fact, Chris wasn't new to the club music scene. Raised in La Marais, a bohemian and gay neighborhood of central Paris, Chris initially wanted to be a tennis pro. But when he heard DJs spinning hip hop, funk, and soul music, his interest quickly shifted to electronic music. For years, his focus was mainly jazz and R&B, but it wasn't until the late 90's after hearing the likes of Arman van Helden and Kenny "Dope" that Chris found the 4x4 beat of true house music. And that his when he realized what power a track can have on a dancefloor.

The last few years have been huge for Bob Sinclar. And again, his style has now changed into a catch, pop, feel good sound, with soaring melodies and uplifting lyrics. His release of the album "Western Dream" in the Spring of 2006 featured the very popular track "Love Generation" with the vocals coming from Gary Pines of the reggae group the Wailers. In fact, Love Generation sold over 120,000 copies with its first two weeks of release, and is featured as the them song from french TV's Pop Idol (the french version of American Idol). Other tracks from western Dream that have been big include Tennessee, World, Hold on, and Rock this party.

This week, another track from Western Dream is released, called "Give a Lil Love". Featuring the vocals once again of Gary "Nesta" Pine of the Wailers, this track for the changing season. The Harlem hustlers vs. bob sinclar whistle remix is nice, yet it sounds too much like previous productions, ei: world, hold on. Go straight to the "Electro Blues remix" and you will be happy. It has the perfect sound of spring and summer: uplifting vocals, heavy piano riffs, and synthesized strings. And if you listen closely, the sound of children singing in the background? It works.

Look for Bob Sinclar's next relsease, "Soundz of Freedom", due out in May of 2007. It features 14 exclusive remixes and 6 edits of his previous work.

For years, Paul Van Dyk has been named in the top 5 DJs in the world. But in October 2006, for the second year in a row, DJ Magazine named him the top dj in the world. DJ Magazine is known as a prestigious reference point for DJs around the world, and this vote drew over 250,000 votes from over 235 countries. Not only is this DJ a grammy nominated remixer and composer, but he is also a political activist, when he became involved with the "Rock the Vote" campaign in 1994 to encourage America's youth to exercise their right to vote. This marked the first time that an electronic artist was involved with the campaign as he joined other artists such as Mary J Blige, Bono, and Lenny Kravitz.

Growing up in communist Berlin, it wasn't until after the wall came down in 1989 that a growing culture of electronic and techno music emerged. But Paul found himself looking for another sound. The debut of his unique style of dance music wasn't until 1991 at the Berlin club "Tresor". From there, Paul focused on composition of new music, and his first production called "Perfect Day" was released in 1992. In the late 90's, Paul released his first album called "45 RPM" was released, and soon he was gaining popularity with the American house scene. In fact, he even held a residency at the infamous New York dance club Twilo. In 1999, Paul created his own record label called Vandit Records, and since then has released numerous remixes and compilation CDs on this very label.

Now that Eleven50 has closed its doors for renovations (yet again), my enthusiasm for the house music in Atlanta began to fade. Until I found that Liquified has totally revamped their website and has an exciting spring line up. And this time, he won't be here on a Tuesday night, as in previous appearances in Atlanta. And not only that, but he will be playing at the Tabernacle.

Having been described as a "trance" DJ, I have personally read posts and listened to some of his live sets, and can say he really runs the line of progressive house. And from what I have heard, he consistently puts on a fantastic show.

bang the box

This summer, Lovebox Weekender 2007 returns for a two day musical celebration in London's Victoria Park. Now heading into its fifth year, this annual festival organized by none other than Groove Armada, features cutting edge musical acts. It is a far cry from corporate saturated music events. Instead, this event is put on and run by people who live and breathe music. Although the headlining acts have yet to be announced, as you can see above, there is quite an eclectic collection of bands, electronic musical acts, and talented DJs. Even more interesting is that the B-52's will be appearing on Sunday, playing their first UK show in over ten years.

more info is available at www.loveboxweekender.com