Play that beat, Mr DJ! Yet another classic unearthed from the Solid Steel vaults/crates/someplace dark. Strictly Kev and DK take you on a lesson (1,2,3, etc etc etc) in hip hop history as they get together with Double Dee and Steinski for a memorable interview that, even if you think you know your lessons, are sure to be even more clued up by listening in. Rather than stick with a dry format, Kev has patched in all the classic beats, cuts and samples to keep everything flowing nicely. It’s not so much like listening to an interview, more like snatching pieces of a conversation between like-minded types in the back room of the record store where every anecdote will prick your ears up. Part 1 is streamable now from Ninja Tune on the 11/04/2008 show, part 2 downloadable below (in 2 parts, see below for the details). Let’s hand it over to Kev!

‘Now We Come To The Payoff’ - Double Dee & Steinski Special TX: 26/08/02

Back in the spring of 2002 I visited New York for ten days on a kind of research meets shopping meets work trip. My main reason was to go through the archives and gather material at Sesame Street for a (now shelved) compilation of old material for possible release on Ninja Tune. The other reason was to hang out with Steinski and make a tune for his forthcoming record. Unfortunately his work rate is about the same as mine - neither of our ‘forthcoming records’ is actually here yet and all we managed to create was a 16 bar chorus for a song while I was there (woohoo!).

The first two days of the visit coincided with DK being in the city on business as well and we had wanted to pin down Steinski for an interview so that we could do a special on him prior to the ‘release’ of his forthcoming Nothing To Fear mix. This had originally been made for Solid Steel and had become the monster that we now know, taking nearly 18 months to complete all told. Even better news came in the form of Stein persuading Douglas ‘Double Dee’ DiFranco to be present at the interview, something they hadn’t done since the 80’s. We intended to cover their career, from the Tommy Boy contest win and the Lessons through Steve’s solo years and their rediscovery and return in the late 90’s to a new generation of heads.

All four of us met for sushi beforehand near Douglas’ studio and broke the ice, I had known Stein for about 4 years but had never met Douglas. He graciously let us record the session in the studio where he worked on various jobs for ads and film and we settled in for a two hour history lesson. We covered virtually everything including the aborted ‘Lesson 4′ sessions that Stein had casually mentioned a few days before (unknown to virtually everyone until then). Douglas miraculously produced his tape of Led Zeppelin’s ‘The Crunge’, cut into 4/4 time - which he’d done to make the beat for the opening of ‘Lesson 3′ - except this was the whole song, he hadn’t stopped when the vocal came in.

After the interview Stein dug up old cassette tapes he had made as party invites back in the 80’s, largely unheard music from his time back in ‘adland’ in the 90’s and various artefacts like the original Tommy Boy competition letter that started them on their way. Back in the UK I assembled all this alongside the tracks we talked about, the original breaks they had sampled and the various other Lesson homages into a two hour show that I am proud to call one of my finest moments on radio. The total material went over the two hour radio slot so we streamed the longer version of the mix over the net. Part 2 of this upload has all the extra material in it, over 12 minutes.

A few things that happened around this mix:

During the interview we mentioned the duo’s remix of Dimitri From Paris’ ‘Une Very Stylish Fille’ which they were both very dismissive of. Back home I tried in vain to find my copy and eventually had to leave the section out because I had no sound to sync it with. Later on, after the show had aired, I found my copy.

I took the various takes of the uncompleted ‘Lesson 4′ that Steve gave to me and comped them into a ‘what could have been’ version specially for the show. This was later bootlegged on the second ‘Ultimate Lessons’ compilation from the Real Audio stream that the show was broadcast on at the time. It was credited to Solid Steele…

This was the first time most people heard excerpts from Stein’s ‘Nothing To Fear’ mix - originally scheduled to be the third Solid Steel mix in the series on Ninja Tune. Due to licensing problems (some things never change, huh?) not all the tracks could be licensed and Steve was unwilling to pull it apart and redo sections (understandably, given the time it had taken). It appeared anyway when someone stole the master tape and bootlegged it, we like to think of it as Solid Steel two and a half.

The beginning of Part 2 here features a 45 second radio ad I put together that played on BBC London Live in the week before the show, including ‘professional voice overs’. As we recorded the interview there were numerous fluffs and outtakes which I comped together afterwards for the four of us to hear. These can be heard, for the first time publicly, after a short pause at the end of Part 2.

There were around 10 special CDs made, complete with artwork, some with the short Radio version and some with the Extended version + outtakes. The artwork is featured here, again for the first time.

Steve and I never finished our track which was intended to be, I believe, a kind of psychedelic funk gospel thing with a preacher shouting out old time dances in the chorus…

For more info on the dynamic duo head over to Steinski’s blog, a mixture of music, politics, copyright commentary and other such ephemera. Forthcoming is a 2 CD retrospective of their work on Illegal Art and a live CD of their opening set in NYC on the Hard Sell tour.

Strictly Kev

Download: Strictly Kev - ‘The Return, Stein’s Solo Years and ‘Nothing To Fear’ - Double Dee & Steinski (1hr 16min)

[PART 1][PART 2] *use winrar to expand the files*

Tracklisting

  1. Afrika Bambaataa + Jazzy 5 - Jazzy Sensation (The Jazz Mix) (Tommy Boy)
  2. The Kryptic Krew - Jazzy Sensation (Manhattan Version) (Tommy Boy)
  3. Double Dee & Steinski - Voicemail (Sugarhill Suite) (Sugarhill)
  4. Tony Touch - He’s the Greatest DJ (Double Dee & Steinski remix) (Tommy Boy)
  5. Steinski & Mass Media/DJ ET - The Motorcade Sped On (Tommy Boy)
  6. Steinski & Mass Media - We’ll Be Right Back (Main/Dub) (4th & B’Way)
  7. Steinski & Mass Media/DJ ‘Sugar’ Kane - Let’s Play It Cool (Club Mix) (4th & B’Way)
  8. Steinski & Mass Media - It’s Up To You (D.O.V/Ninja Tune)
  9. Producers For Bob - Everything’s Disappeared (Warehouse Mix) (Ninja Tune)
  10. Coldcut - I’m Wild About That Thing (The Lost Sex Tapes: Position 1) (Ninja Tune)
  11. Various - The Xen To One Ratio (Ninja Tune)
  12. Marvin Gaye - Let’s Get It On (CDR)
  13. Foxy Brown - Hot Spot (Terrible Love) (CDR)
  14. Nelly - Country Grammar (Hydro) (CDR)
  15. Marvin Gaye - Let’s Get It On (Reprise) (CDR)
  16. Diana Ross - Muscles (CDR)
  17. Martin Brew/MC Enuff - Hit The Disco (CDR)
  18. De La Soul - The Art of Getting Jumped (CDR)
  19. The JB’s Express - I Like it Like That (CDR)
  20. Jon Martyn - Solid Air (The Junk Mood) (CDR)
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