I don’t know what the story is with Maurice Joshua’s huge hit “This Is Acid”. It originally appeared on Trax Records as this droning, dark acid track with distorted vocals. Then it was remixed until almost nothing was left of the original (including the acid) for the smash hit on Vendetta Records. Was Maurice involved in that remix? Or did Vendetta license the track and then remix it until it sounded nothing like the original? Very strange.

Either way, it seemed like Maurice tried to replicate that Vendetta remix sound for Get Into The Dance and Opening Melody by using some similar samples.

I really like Get Into The Dance. Opening Melody is ok. What really stands out on Opening Melody is the absolutely atrocious lyrics. It’s like the rap was freestyled and the only words he could think of that rhymed are “back” and “track”.

I wonder if some people new to the 80s Chicago house scene think some people overexaggerate the low quality of Trax Records. Believe me, it’s no joke. When you would open up a new sealed copy of a Trax Record – the record would be intact, but there would be little bits and pieces of broken records in the record sleeve. Supposedly, they would take old records and print new ones on top of them (which I didn’t know was possible). So sometimes the record quality was good – other times it was crap. This is a crap quality record. I edited out a few pops but completely cleaning up these tracks would take hours.

And as a final insult to the artist, they spelled his name wrong on the record! Under the song title is listed “M. Joshiwa” when his name is listed as Maurice Joshua on every other record he released.

Maurice
Get Into The Dance / Opening Melody

Trax Records TX184
Produced by B.D.
Written by Maurice Joshua and Lamar ‘Hot Hands’ Hula Mahone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i9ueJFEcSM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2Rm-uzQLFk

So here’s a song I missed the first time around. This is the second single released on Trax Records and I had just started DJing around this time and wasn’t making trips yet to Grammaphone and Importes Etc for cool local music. I found it in a bargain bin years later and didn’t like it then but now I think it’s great. I love finding ‘new’ music right in my own record crates.
So since I have never seen his name again, I did some Googling. The story goes that he committed suicide just before this song became a club hit. Well, that’s a buzzkill. But instead, let’s remember the good times and dance to his early latin-house classic.

Jesse Velez
Girls Out On The Floor

Trax Records TX102

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL3U5zFSBeo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIUMeckgwbU

Robert Howard and The Blow Monkeys were more of a British pop/dance band (according to Wikipedia – I’m not familiar with them). But he put out this single with Kym Mazelle and once he had it remixed by Detroit legend Kevin Saunderson – you’ve got a seriously cool techno vibe.

Robert Howard & Kym Mazelle
Wait (Short)

RCA PT 42598
Produced by Dr Robert
Engineered by Andy Mason
Mixed by Kevin Saunderson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqEqswRTsa0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdMwdt1GNbU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XS-dkempuik

Here’s a strange but cool one from the dawn of house music.
Some beats and samples with a lot of other songs mixed and scratched in give it more of a early 80s New York hip hop vibe.
No names are listed on the record except for ‘Fresh’ but I’d guess that Jesse Saunders had something to do with it since a few of his songs are mixed in.

Fresh
Dum-Dum

Precision Records PR 102

Produced by Fresh

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnUSWPlz_mk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLAxQjPgyhs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMxRJ-lhNL0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-RmB9yqQmg