Founding Fathers(Legendary Dj's from Brooklyn and Queens during the 60's/70's).

[Mike Barnes]

Much respect to my man Troy from Uptown/Harlem, In regards to the Founding Father's documentary clip on U-tube, Cats are building about the very early dj's on the dance music circuit from Brooklyn, During the late 60's/early 70's, Cats Like Pete Dj Jones(1967),Grandmaster Flowers

(1968),Maboya(1970),The Smith Brothers(1970),Plummer(1972),Qj(Mid/late 60's),King Charles(1968),Infinity Machine(1977),Disco Twins(mid 70's),Cipher Sounds(Mid 70's), Etc, Also, There's footage of my man Devine from Infinity Machine(Rockin at the Fantasia on Merrick Blvd off of Linden Blvd, During the late 70's/LOL, Also, Much respect to my man Understanding(Former Dj for

Cipher Sounds from the Southside, During the mid 70's to early 80's), On the low, Alot of cats from the Bronx, Have always stated that Hiphop started in the Bronx with Kool Herc(No debate there/LOL), But, Years before Kool Herc

Rocked his first throwdown at Cider Park Projects in the West Bronx, During the early/mid 70's, Cats like Pete Dj Jones(Who is originally from the Bronx, Though, Pete Dj Jones worked in Brooklyn during the day),Grandmaster

Flowers,Plummer(Who is originally from the Bronx, Though, Plummer moved to Queens during the mid/late 60's, Then, Plummer moved to Brooklyn during the early70's),The Smith Brothers(Brooklyn crew from 1970),King Charles(Queens cat, Who was on the Dj circuit in 1972), Were already on the Dj circuit, Rockin in the parks/Beaches(Riis Beach and Rockaway beach in Queens),

Allover New York during the late 60's/early 70's, Also, It's very important to always mention the very early cats(Dj's), Who help lay the foundation for hiphop to start in the Bronx with Herc, Via the park throwdowns In the late 60's/early 70's, So cats/young ladies, Will know, That Herc did not start the hiphop movement by himself.
Much Respect
Mike Barnes
http://www.utubevideoclip.net/

[kjwalden]

there was buch lawrence from bushwick , dj josif clark from sumner , nate and dave from marcy . bruce and frank from carnarcie and bruce and frank from tompkins and djs from cooper houses. oscar from crown heights near empire.

[The White Shadow]

Good lookin' out Mike. I guess this is a full movie that's either out or coming soon? The music in this one oh man!..lol..Double Exposure, Peter Brown, Babe Ruth...Can't wait to see it! Let me help out a little on the clips..

[darshan]

thanks a lot for this, as always. really cool to be able to hear these accounts and piece together a picture of how the various scenes came to be. peace, D

[Fletch]

there was buch lawrence from bushwick , dj josif clark from sumner , nate and dave from marcy . bruce and frank from carnarcie and bruce and frank from tompkins and djs from cooper houses. oscar from crown heights near empire.

Why I don't know Bruce and Frank escapes me!

I do know Calvin B and Vzak

I'm from Tompkins, y'all!

[Mike Barnes]

WhiteShadow, It's always very nice to see familiar faces on this clip of, 'The Founding Fathers', Video Clip(Whiteshadow, Good lookin in regards to your help with the clips of, 'The Founding Fathers', Video clips my man),

WhiteShadow, The cat who was mixing in the spot(With the light blue short sleeve shirt on), Mixing over the crowd, Is Devine from Infinity Machine, My man/LOL, Also, The cat who was building about Queens sound systems, In

The park, With the red warm-up on with a gold chain, Is Devine from Infinity too/LOL, Now, A few of the cats i recognize, But, I cannot recall there names(Though, I most definitely remember Pete Dj Jones/LOL), Whiteshadow, I

Cannot wait until, 'The Founding Fathers', Documentary, Comes out too, My man(Maybe, I can place the faces with the names, My man/LOL), Also, Whiteshadow, Cats were running ,'The Beat goes on', By Ripple(Mad park throwdown classic, During the late 70's/LOL), Along with, 'Scratchin', By The

Magic Disco Band, Etc, Whiteshadow, 'My Love is free', Used to tear shit up in the parks during the mid to late 70's, Along with,'Everyman has to carry his own weight', By Double Exposure, And, 'Just as long as i got you, By Love Committtee, And, 'Cheaters never win', By Love Committee too.
Much Respect
Mike Barnes

[rplummer]

Hi Mike,

Apologies for the long time away... Been very busy and sort of lost track of deephouse. While attempting some spring cleaning I came across the attached photos of a party I DJ'd for at Queensboro College in NY in either 74 or 75... Don't remember exactly... I'm sure I'll find some notes somewhere though to pin it down more precisely.


Later
Ron

[Mike Barnes]

Ron, It's always very nice to hear from you my man(I hope you and your family are doing well too), Ron, Good lookin with the pictures of the throwdown at Queensboro College in 1974/75(Queensboro College is right by Cardoza Highschool, Close to Springfield Blvd in Bayside,Queens), Ron, My man Troy has been trying to contact you in regards to an much anticipated interview on Jayquan's site(Thafoundation.com), Ron, There's not to

Many cats who go way back to the early 70's, Around nowdays(With the exception of Deephousepage.com's, Very own, David Mancuso), Who will build in truth, About the early days on the Dj circuit in New York during the late 60's to mid 70's), Ron, That's why i have the utmost of respect for cats like yourself and David Mancuso, In regards to taking the time to build with cats on the Dj circuit in New York during the late 60's to mid 70's,

Because, Alot of cats don't know or respect the history that cats like yourself and David Mancuso were apart of, And, Greatly impacted, Ron, I'll contact Troy, Along with sending you Troy's contact information, In regards to setting up an interview with you(If you have the time my man), Ron, It's very hard to connect with alot of cats who go

Way back on the Dj circuit in New York, during the early/mid 70's, To build with cats on the deephousepage board, Because, Of the nonsense that most of the time, Takes over the board(Alot cats over 55, Don't want to deal with any nonsense on a message board my man/LOL), But, To have cats like youself,David Mancuso,Francios K(Who used to run with Grandmaster Flowers during the mid/late 70's), Etc, Taking the time to build with cats on

The Board is very nice to see, Ron, Troy mentioned to me last week, That A young lady from around Troy's way(Grant projects on 123rd and Moringside Drive in Harlem), Well, The young lady from around Troy's way, Is having a throwdown in Harlem(I forgot the venue, But, The Spot is on St.Nicholas Ave in Harlem), And, One of the featured guests is KC The Prince of Soul(Pete Dj Jones crew from the early 70's).
Much Respect
Mike Barnes

[rplummer]

I forgot to mention in the last post to notice in the photos the early GLI prototype mixer and pre-amp/cross-over in the board.

The turntables were Thorens MkII 125 and Technics SL-1200's.

Also I remember instead of using horns, we built our own mid-range arrays with six 4.5" CTS cone and 6" coaxial cone speakers. We also built our own folded horn enclosures with some guidance from Richard Long and outfitted them with Cerwin-Vega 18" (don't remember the model number) bass speakers. In the ceiling we had arrays (4 in @) of JBL Ring Radiators.

The amplifiers were Phase-Linear 700B's (with a big fan to dissipate the heat) for the bass and mids and Crown DC-75s for the JBLs.

Regarding the interview(s), I may have a little down-time in the next month or so. As an alternative, we can trade questions/answers via email, which gives me time to research what I can't remember.

BTW - In the third photo (Ron-9.jpg) the person standing (or partially sitting) next to me with the mike, is Sedley B (counterpart to KC). He had a voice that reminded you of Hank Spann and his own rapping style - Yes we were doing that back in 72, 3, 4, ...


Peace!
Ron

[DaBownca]

WhiteShadow, It's always very nice to see familiar faces on this clip of, 'The Founding Fathers', Video Clip(Whiteshadow, Good lookin in regards to your help with the clips of, 'The Founding Fathers', Video clips my man),

WhiteShadow, The cat who was mixing in the spot(With the light blue short sleeve shirt on), Mixing over the crowd, Is Devine from Infinity Machine, My man/LOL, Also, The cat who was building about Queens sound systems, In

The park, With the red warm-up on with a gold chain, Is Devine from Infinity too/LOL, Now, A few of the cats i recognize, But, I cannot recall there names(Though, I most definitely remember Pete Dj Jones/LOL), Whiteshadow, I

Cannot wait until, 'The Founding Fathers', Documentary, Comes out too, My man(Maybe, I can place the faces with the names, My man/LOL), Also, Whiteshadow, Cats were running ,'The Beat goes on', By Ripple(Mad park throwdown classic, During the late 70's/LOL), Along with, 'Scratchin', By The

Magic Disco Band, Etc, Whiteshadow, 'My Love is free', Used to tear shit up in the parks during the mid to late 70's, Along with,'Everyman has to carry his own weight', By Double Exposure, And, 'Just as long as i got you, By Love Committtee, And, 'Cheaters never win', By Love Committee too.
Much Respect
Mike Barnes

Don't forget Dance to the Drummers Beat-Herman Kelly, Soul Makoosa - Manu Dibango and others

[DaBownca]

Hi Mike,

Apologies for the long time away... Been very busy and sort of lost track of deephouse. While attempting some spring cleaning I came across the attached photos of a party I DJ'd for at Queensboro College in NY in either 74 or 75... Don't remember exactly... I'm sure I'll find some notes somewhere though to pin it down more precisely.


Later
Ron

GTFOH Plummer?! THE Plummer?! Fam you were one of the people that got me in the game listening to you and Maboya! First time I heard you was at Prospect park during the Labor Day Parade wayyyy back when man. Did you know Don Welch (Underground Network) was trying to locate you (at least as of last year)

[trento]

is this the doc that has the brooklyn cats in their late 40s to early 50s talking about how 'herc' was after the fact? did it also show pix and footage from 'fantasia' in brooklyn? if so it was supposed to have been released in jan. '09.....nice doc.

[Mike Barnes]

Plummer, Good lookin with the information on your setup at the throwdown at Queensboro College in 1974/75, Plummer, Who promoted the throwdown at Queensboro College that you were mixing at in 1974/75 my man(WBLS, The Dow Twins,Etc), Plummer, Norman Dow(Of the Dow Twins fame during the 70's,80's, In New York), Passed away 2 years ago(Harold Dow is still on the dance music circuit promoting throwdowns around New York,

And, In other cities across the country too, Plummer, Did you ever get to mix at any throwdowns for the Dow twins during the early/mid 70's, Plummer, Did you ever get to mix at any throwdowns for Mike Stone/Rip(Legendary Dance music promoter during the

70's,80's,90's), Or Elmo the Magic Christian, Chuck, Don Welch used to mix at Leviticus during the mid to late 70's, Along with Carolos Sanchez(Who used to mix at Leviticus during the early to mid 80's), Plummer, When was the first time that you can remember hearing Dj Hollywood rock the mic live at a spot my man.
Much Respect
Mike Barnes

[Fletch]

Don Welch from Savage? That Don Welch?

[DaBownca]

Don Welch from Savage? That Don Welch?

Yes sirrrr Savage was where we started UN fam!

[Mike Barnes]

Trento, Yes, That's the same documentary that showed cats from Brooklyn, Building about how they used to rock in the parks, Long before Herc started rockin in the parks in the Bronx in 1974(Cider Park), Trento, The Fantasia was in Jamaica,Queens my man(The Fantasia was located on Merrick Blvd off of Linden blvd in Jamaica,Queens, During the late 70's to early 80's), Trento, Infinity Machine was the resident cats at the Fantasia, During

The late 70's to early 80's, Also, Cipher Sounds used to rock at the Fantasia too, During the sametime frame(Sometimes Understanding from Cipher sounds would open up for Devine of Infinity Machine at the Fantasia), Trento, The Fantasia was the premier Hiphop spot in Queens(Along with IS8,Le'Chelet),48 Park,Jamaica Park(Hollis,Queens), 127 Park

(Astoria,Queens),Etc, During the mid 70's to mid 80's, Cats like Hollywood,Eddie Cheeba,Love-bug Starski,Mel and Flash(Of the Furious 5),Kurtis Blow,Woody Wood/Rip,Pete Dj Jones,King Charles,Etc, Used to rock at The Fantasia during the late 70's to early 80's,

Infact, Hollywood,Eddie Chebba,Lovebug Starski, Were the first cats from the Bronx and Manhattan, to rock at the Fantasia in 1978, Also, Whenever Flash would rock at the Fantasia, Flash would always use Infinity's power(Infinity had the most power in the

City during the late 70's to mid 80's, The only cats that could step to Infinity in regards to power was the Disco Twins from Queensbridge Projects and maybe, Breakout(Funky 4)
From the Bronx, Trento, Flash,Disco Bee,Easy Mike, Stated in an interview with my man Troy from Uptown/Harlem, That Infinty had the most power in New York, During the 70's/80's, Trento, On the low, The Fantasia closed because of Infinity pushing so much

Power into the spot(Infinity's power sounded like a 747 taking off from Kennedy Airport my man/LOL), Also, Stickup kids played a very big part in regards to Fantasia closing it's doors so early too(Around 1981 or so), Trento, Stickup kids from the Southside used to sting cats for their jewels, Right on Linden Blvd and Merrick blvd, A few feet from the Fantasia(Along with stickup kids stinging cats at the Q-4 bus top on Linden blvd, Trento, I

Remember so many memorable nights at The Fantasia my man, Like the night when Mel(Mele Mel), Was rockin with Flash, And, The music shut-off, While cats/young ladies were getting physical on the dance floor/LOL, Wel, Mel proceeded to continue to rhyme non-stop, For what seemed like 10 minutes with NO MUSIC(Cats continued rockin even

Harder/LOL), Trento, That's when i knew that Mel was the best MC in Hiphop my man(Hollywood in his prime from 1974 to 1979, Could rock a spot better than anyone that i've ever seen in my lifetime, While, Moe(Kool Moe Dee), Is the best at creative,Thought-

Provoking,Cerebral rhymes, Along with battling cats too, While, Caz(Grandmaster Caz), Is the best at going at cats in the crowd at the drop of a dime, Along with Caz having mad,mad, Creative rhymes, But, Mel has all of what Hollywood,Moe and Caz has, In regards

To rockin a spot,Delivery,Cadence,Diction,Etc, Trento, Battling is not Mel's thing(Mel has lost his fair share of battles through the years/LOL), But, Put in mic in Mel's fronts, And, Mel will rock your party, Allnight to the morning lite my man/LOL.
Much Respect
Mike Barnes

[Fletch]

Seems like the origins of hip hop are hotly contested.

Just like among bass players, there was a debate as to who started slappin, Larry Graham or Louis Johnson. The conclusion is that both of them did, but when they developed their technique, they didn't know about each other!

[DaBownca]

Trento, Yes, That's the same documentary that showed cats from Brooklyn, Building about how they used to rock in the parks, Long before Herc started rockin in the parks in the Bronx in 1974(Cider Park), Trento, The Fantasia was in Jamaica,Queens my man(The Fantasia was located on Merrick Blvd off of Linden blvd in Jamaica,Queens, During the late 70's to early 80's), Trento, Infinity Machine was the resident cats at the Fantasia, During

The late 70's to early 80's, Also, Cipher Sounds used to rock at the Fantasia too, During the sametime frame(Sometimes Understanding from Cipher sounds would open up for Devine of Infinity Machine at the Fantasia), Trento, The Fantasia was the premier Hiphop spot in Queens(Along with IS8,Le'Chelet),48 Park,Jamaica Park(Hollis,Queens), 127 Park

(Astoria,Queens),Etc, During the mid 70's to mid 80's, Cats like Hollywood,Eddie Cheeba,Love-bug Starski,Mel and Flash(Of the Furious 5),Kurtis Blow,Woody Wood/Rip,Pete Dj Jones,King Charles,Etc, Used to rock at The Fantasia during the late 70's to early 80's,

Infact, Hollywood,Eddie Chebba,Lovebug Starski, Were the first cats from the Bronx and Manhattan, to rock at the Fantasia in 1978, Also, Whenever Flash would rock at the Fantasia, Flash would always use Infinity's power(Infinity had the most power in the

City during the late 70's to mid 80's, The only cats that could step to Infinity in regards to power was the Disco Twins from Queensbridge Projects and maybe, Breakout(Funky 4)
From the Bronx, Trento, Flash,Disco Bee,Easy Mike, Stated in an interview with my man Troy from Uptown/Harlem, That Infinty had the most power in New York, During the 70's/80's, Trento, On the low, The Fantasia closed because of Infinity pushing so much

Power into the spot(Infinity's power sounded like a 747 taking off from Kennedy Airport my man/LOL), Also, Stickup kids played a very big part in regards to Fantasia closing it's doors so early too(Around 1981 or so), Trento, Stickup kids from the Southside used to sting cats for their jewels, Right on Linden Blvd and Merrick blvd, A few feet from the Fantasia(Along with stickup kids stinging cats at the Q-4 bus top on Linden blvd, Trento, I

Remember so many memorable nights at The Fantasia my man, Like the night when Mel(Mele Mel), Was rockin with Flash, And, The music shut-off, While cats/young ladies were getting physical on the dance floor/LOL, Wel, Mel proceeded to continue to rhyme non-stop, For what seemed like 10 minutes with NO MUSIC(Cats continued rockin even

Harder/LOL), Trento, That's when i knew that Mel was the best MC in Hiphop my man(Hollywood in his prime from 1974 to 1979, Could rock a spot better than anyone that i've ever seen in my lifetime, While, Moe(Kool Moe Dee), Is the best at creative,Thought-

Provoking,Cerebral rhymes, Along with battling cats too, While, Caz(Grandmaster Caz), Is the best at going at cats in the crowd at the drop of a dime, Along with Caz having mad,mad, Creative rhymes, But, Mel has all of what Hollywood,Moe and Caz has, In regards

To rockin a spot,Delivery,Cadence,Diction,Etc, Trento, Battling is not Mel's thing(Mel has lost his fair share of battles through the years/LOL), But, Put in mic in Mel's fronts, And, Mel will rock your party, Allnight to the morning lite my man/LOL.
Much Respect
Mike Barnes

Whaqt Mike no love for Dance to the Drummers beat! Mike do you remember the DJ Crew Fantasia ( I think the front man was named Larry)

[Mike Barnes]

Chuck, I have much respect for, 'Dance to the Drummers Beat', My man, I just have alot more respect for plates like, 'SuperSperm', by Captain Skyy, 'Worksong', By Pat Lundy, 'Get into Something', By the Isley Brothers, 'Hum Along and Dance', By the Jackson 5, 'Love the

Life you live', by Black Heat, 'I can't stop', By John Davis and the Monster Orchestra, 'Wings of Fire', By Dennis Coffey, Etc, Chuck, I don't remember the Fantasia crew(Were they from Brooklyn or Queens), Chuck, Cats/Young ladies, Used to do the Patty Duke off of, 'Dance to the Drummer's beat', During the late 70's/early 80's, My man/LOL.
Much Respect
Mike Barnes

[Jamie 3:26]

Chuck, I have much respect for, 'Dance to the Drummers Beat', My man, I just have alot more respect for plates like, 'SuperSperm', by Captain Skyy, 'Worksong', By Pat Lundy, 'Get into Something', By the Isley Brothers, 'Hum Along and Dance', By the Jackson 5, 'Love the

Life you live', by Black Heat, 'I can't stop', By John Davis and the Monster Orchestra, 'Wings of Fire', By Dennis Coffey, Etc, Chuck, I don't remember the Fantasia crew(Were they from Brooklyn or Queens), Chuck, Cats/Young ladies, Used to do the Patty Duke off of, 'Dance to the Drummer's beat', During the late 70's/early 80's, My man/LOL.
Much Respect
Mike Barnes

Mike, I know you'd get a kick outta this.Captain Sky works in my building.Lots of folks don't know that he's from Chicago.A co-worker is cool with him and is going to introduce us.

I gotta find my super sperm lp and have him sign it.Maybe ya mans may want to do an interview with him.

[wiz247]

Mike, I know you'd get a kick outta this.Captain Sky works in my building.Lots of folks don't know that he's from Chicago.A co-worker is cool with him and is going to introduce us.

I gotta find my super sperm lp and have him sign it.Maybe ya mans may want to do an interview with him.

Funny you mentioned Captain Sky , as I played his "Pop Goes Captain" album today. I like the "Moonchild" "Cream and Sugar"track.
Super Sperm! That was a break!!

[The White Shadow]

I forgot to mention in the last post to notice in the photos the early GLI prototype mixer and pre-amp/cross-over in the board.

The turntables were Thorens MkII 125 and Technics SL-1200's.

Also I remember instead of using horns, we built our own mid-range arrays with six 4.5" CTS cone and 6" coaxial cone speakers. We also built our own folded horn enclosures with some guidance from Richard Long and outfitted them with Cerwin-Vega 18" (don't remember the model number) bass speakers. In the ceiling we had arrays (4 in @) of JBL Ring Radiators.

The amplifiers were Phase-Linear 700B's (with a big fan to dissipate the heat) for the bass and mids and Crown DC-75s for the JBLs.

Regarding the interview(s), I may have a little down-time in the next month or so. As an alternative, we can trade questions/answers via email, which gives me time to research what I can't remember.

BTW - In the third photo (Ron-9.jpg) the person standing (or partially sitting) next to me with the mike, is Sedley B (counterpart to KC). He had a voice that reminded you of Hank Spann and his own rapping style - Yes we were doing that back in 72, 3, 4, ...


Peace!
Ron

Damn...THE DJ Plummer?..That's you?

I have a couple of questions for you then if you don't mind.

Would you say, regarding the Hiphop style of DJ'ing, that Brooklyn did it earlier than The Bronx when it came to rockin' the breaks with two copies of records?

What were some of the Breaks you used to rock like that back in the days?..Some of your favorites?

Thanks for posting the pics, and I'm lookin' fwd to seeing the Founding Fathers documentary, and no matter who was first..The Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, or all the boroughs at about the same time...much respect to you for the work you put in as a DJ pioneer back then.

[donna edwards]

Much respect to my man Troy from Uptown/Harlem, In regards to the Founding Father's documentary clip on U-tube, Cats are building about the very early dj's on the dance music circuit from Brooklyn, During the late 60's/early 70's, Cats Like Pete Dj Jones(1967),Grandmaster Flowers

(1968),Maboya(1970),The Smith Brothers(1970),Plummer(1972),Qj(Mid/late 60's),King Charles(1972),Infinity Machine(1977),Disco Twins(mid 70's),Cipher Sounds(Mid 70's), Etc, Also, There's footage of my man Devine from Infinity Machine(Rockin at the Fantasia on Merrick Blvd off of Linden Blvd, During the late 70's/LOL, Also, Much respect to my man Understanding(Former Dj for

Cipher Sounds from the Southside, During the mid 70's to early 80's), On the low, Alot of cats from the Bronx, Have always stated that Hiphop started in the Bronx with Kool Herc(No debate there/LOL), But, Years before Kool Herc

Rocked his first throwdown at Cider Park Projects in the West Bronx, During the early/mid 70's, Cats like Pete Dj Jones(Who is originally from the Bronx, Though, Pete Dj Jones worked in Brooklyn during the day),Grandmaster

Flowers,Plummer(Who is originally from the Bronx, Though, Plummer moved to Queens during the mid/late 60's, Then, Plummer moved to Brooklyn during the early70's),The Smith Brothers(Brooklyn crew from 1970),King Charles(Queens cat, Who was on the Dj circuit in 1972), Were already on the Dj circuit, Rockin in the parks/Beaches(Riis Beach and Rockaway beach in Queens),

Allover New York during the late 60's/early 70's, Also, It's very important to always mention the very early cats(Dj's), Who help lay the foundation for hiphop to start in the Bronx with Herc, Via the park throwdowns In the late 60's/early 70's, So cats/young ladies, Will know, That Herc did not start the hiphop movement by himself.
Much Respect
Mike Barnes
http://www.utubevideoclip.net/

Thanks Mike for the info would love to see the film. I can recall hanging out in Queens with my brother...in the park on Hollis & 205th I think is the st. in the late 70's & Disco Twins, Dj Furlough & Alan Graham would have setups on Saturdays during the summer..also @ Jamaica Park & O'Connor park on 198th & Murdock ave!!

In Bklyn..Flowers always jammed in the parks..especially the park on Woodbine st. & Bushwick Ave.

[rplummer]

I wrote the following a few years ago in response to a Mike Barnes question regarding mobile jocks having opportunities to check each other out.

I worked so much there weren't many opportunities to check out other clubs, but I did whenever I could. When those opportunities presented themselve we checked each other out because getting in was free (promoters loved the marketing opportunity). There were the little kid games like Flowers darkening his record labels, but we pretty well knew or could with a little research find out what he was playing and he knew we would. All in all the competition was pretty friendly and cooperative. There was more than enough work for those of us who were fortunate to have our names splashed all over the radio (WWRL and WBLS) and plastered on flyers found all over the city.

The other jocks I remember from that era 1972-1976 and had great relations with were most notably Peter DJ Jones, Flowers, Maboya, the Smith Brothers and QJ.

The clubs I remember playing at regularly (with my own equipment) were Jimmys on West 52nd. Street (formerly Toot Shors), Downbeat, Kings Palace (formerly My Way), Walterios, The Raspberry Freeze, and others I can't remember the names. Lot's of colleges (NJ, PA, NY).

The first gay clubs I visited (other than the jocks I met at Richard Longs loft) were Hollywood (a bar on forty something street in mid-town - Francios K) and 99 Prince Street (where I met David Mancuso). I knew Dave Brockington from Baruch College (took a couple of courses there to keep fresh) and that he was getting into the scene. Later I met Tee at Better Days, Larry Levan and Walter at Galaxy (dont know if they remember me it was really representative of two different worlds). The music was very different as well; very high-spirited the entire night and with much better sound and light systems. I believed that most of the top jocks at the gay clubs were much more experienced mixers who staged something akin to Broadway productions (sound effects and all), although they didnt have any rap or stepping. We mobile jocks came primarily from the African-American, Caribbean and Latino communities and as such played a lot more Caribbean (Ska, Reggae, Calyso, etc.) and Latino (Cuban, Puerto Rican - Salsa, Dominican, etc.) music. We also played a wider range of R&B and kept one of the house party days traditions; pepper the night with slow ballards (Teddy Pendergrass, Barry White, Whispers, Blue Magic, Manhattans, etc.).

The best thing that happened I think in 74 or 75 was the establishment of the record pools. The record companies were getting tired of the increasing number of jocks looking for free records and didn't hadn't developed a good model to gauge the potential of emerging artists and songs nor how to effectively find target markets for this ever expanding music (please no payola references). David Mancuso's Record Pool was the most successful and was the one that I joined. I was one of the lucky one's along with Peter DJ Jones, Flowers and Maboya who had developed good relations with the record companies and recieved alot of demo records, but it was alot of work.

I had retired to become the road sound engineer for the Trammps (76-78) by the time DJs like Flash began showing up on the radio. Thats another conversation though.

I found during my cleanup a copy of a magazine, Discotekin' from 1976 that featured a series of articles about the Brooklyn DJ's. This board compresses the image so much so that I don't think the content is readable. Will look for an alternative route, possibly email for those interested.

Peace,
Ron


Ron

[rplummer]

GTFOH Plummer?! THE Plummer?! Fam you were one of the people that got me in the game listening to you and Maboya! First time I heard you was at Prospect park during the Labor Day Parade wayyyy back when man. Did you know Don Welch (Underground Network) was trying to locate you (at least as of last year)

I was always elated and grateful to be able to make people happy through music, although I'm not a trained musician. I don't think I know Don Welch and I didn't know he was looking for me, although I can always be reached via rplummer@ieee.org


Ron