As residents at Leeds and Newcastle’s massively popular Wax:On events, Simon Lister and Peter Wilson – better known as People Get Real – have probably played to the majority of clubbers in the north of England over the last few years. Taking time out from launching their new label, Join Our Club, they picked their all-time favourite tracks for Attack.
The first time you heard electronic music?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVFsW18obWc
OK, not strictly the first time we’d heard electronic music, but the first time we’d heard it on a big sound system in surroundings made for it, would be going to see The Prodigy live in 1997 (that makes us sound ancient). It was the tour for their Fat Of The Land album and we remember being right at the front in the thick of it. From that moment we fell hook, line and sinker for dance music. Although over the years our tastes have evolved and changed, we’re still big fans of the way Liam Howlett cuts his samples.
Your favourite ever record?
We don’t remember how we ‘discovered’ this track – possibly via a gig and subsequent record shopping morning with Bill Brewster – but suffice to say we’ve been playing this for years and still haven’t got tired of it. Depeche Mode were (and still are) a fantastic electronic band and enlisting Shep Pettibone, the quintessential mid 80s remix master, on the track makes this a timeless dance floor bomb.
The guaranteed floor-filler?
In our early days we learnt a lot from buying compilations and studying track-lists, then further investigating the artists, labels, remixers, etc. One compilation that had a lasting effect was a Larry Levan mix on Strut Records which featured T-Connection ‘At Midnight’. As soon as we heard it we knew we had to seek it out. The track is all about building percussion and a tight groove for what seems like forever until BANG it drops with lush, almost Philadelphia-style strings for the pay-off. It always works – no matter the setting or the context. It’s just a fantastic disco track that is totally functional when dropped in a modern day house or techno set.
The guilty pleasure?
We are only human and therefore have a multitude of sins. Two guilty pleasures that spring to mind would be Robin S ‘Show Me Love’ and Whitney Houston ‘Million Dollar Bill’. Robin S features one of the best basslines in house music. It’s been remixed and remixed and remixed to death but the original (or Stonebridge remix if we’re being technical) is just a fantastic track.
Next up, Whitney. I guess in the closet we’ve always had a bit of a soft spot for Whitney, the Def Mix versions of her tracks really captured the spirit of the New York house sound in the late 90’s but she went completely off the boil for a good few years. The main sample on ‘Million Dollar Bill’ is from Loleatta Holloway’s ‘We’re Getting Stronger’. Another great female vocalist. All diva no fever!