Fresh from the decks to your ears, I've got some tasty treats for you today. These two gems come from one of the finest compilations in my collection: "98.7 Kiss FM Presents Shep Pettibone's Mastermixes," circa 1982 on Prelude Records. The back of the 12" jacket reads:
Dear Kiss Listener:
Mastermixes helped make Kiss-FM New York's MORE MUSIC LEADER and your response to them over the past 12 months has been overwhelming.
Everyday, we hear from more and more of you requesting copies for your own record collections. Now, for the first time, we're making them available to you as a way of saying thanks for your support.
Kiss-FM and Prelude Records are proud to present a collection of the best mastermixes, produced exclusively for Kiss-FM by Shep Pettibone, including some you've never heard before! You've asked for them and now you've got them in one fantastic package-enjoy!
For the latest in commercial-free mastermixes and much, much more, keep listening to 98.7 Kiss-FM--NOBODY GIVES MORE MUSIC!
Good Listening,
THE KISS JOCKS
For those of you who don't know, Kiss has been holding it down for decades as a mainstream FM radio pioneer of underground dance and urban music. Over the years, its on-air staff has included the likes of Kool DJ Red Alert, Chuck Chillout, The Latin Rascals, Isaac Hayes, Grandmaster Flash, and Timmy Regisford. Guest DJ's such as Kerri Chandler and Lil' Louie Vega have graced the airwaves, while Darryl James and Ruben Toro are still doin' their thing with the Midnight Mix and Kiss Club Classics, respectively, to this very day. Say what you will about commercial radio, but New Yorkers are certainly blessed with the finest selection of underground heavyweights mixing the late-night soundtrack of the weekend.
As for the tracks from the Mastermix compilation, the first is Canadian vocalist France Joli's classic, "Gonna Get Over You." The bassline, breaks, and dreamy piano solo are simply untouchable. It may be common practice today, but Shep Pettibone was one of the first dudes to include multiple remixes of the same tune on one single. He mastered the art of tape splicing, and the creation of flange and dub effects, as heard on his mastermix of "Gonna Get Over You." What starts out as a normal vocal track gets flipped into a dub for the last few minutes of the record. It almost sounds to me as if Pettibone simply made a recording of himself DJing with two copies of the original vinyl. At some points it seems as if you can hear two records phasing with each other playing in unison, and beats doubling up and echoing in others--CHUNKY! How exactly this mix was produced back in the days before Protools, I don't know, but I do know that it's awesome.
The second joint is called "Come Let Me Love You," by Jeanette "Lady" Day. As I took a closer look at the 12", I noticed an *asterisk* next to the title. Turns out that means this one wasn't mixed by Pettibone, but by the legendary Francois Kevorkian! Damn...vintage Francois K from 1982 and it still sounds so fresh. The whistles and drum breaks on this track are crazy and obviously I'm not the only one who thinks so. The astute listener should recognize some cowbell samples from "Hey Ladies" by the Beastie Boys, off of their 1989 masterpiece, Paul's Boutique.
Anyway, enjoy these jams and pay homage to classic NY radio at its best.
DOWNLOAD FRANCE JOLI--"GONNA GET OVER YOU" (SHEP PETTIBONE MIX)
DOWNLOAD JEANETTE "LADY" DAY--"COME LET ME LOVE YOU" (FRANCOIS K MIX)
2 comments:
Hey there...stumbled accross this blog post looking for more of these KISS Mastermixes.
I love Shep's production work on 90s dance and R&B tracks, traced him back to his early radio days, got a shitty and incomplete 45 min. mp3 of a Christmas 1980 WRKS Mastermix (w. Tony Humphries), and then randomly scored a mint copy of this exact double-LP a few months back, and it's changed my musical life.
I can't seem to find more, though...any clue?
Same here!
I actually have both sets of the Prelude Kiss FM Mastermixes. What I'd really like is some of the Mastermixes that Shep Pettibone did for Kiss-FM that was not released commercially, particularly the following:
Out of Touch - Hall & Oates
Baby Talk - Alisha (Pettibone also did the 12" of this, but the Kiss-FM Mastermix was something else)
Like a Virgin - Madonna (not too different from Jellybean's 12" mix, but still, Shep put in his little twists)
If anyone knows how to get a hold of some clean copies of those, I'd appreciate it.
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