Late night beats surrounded by one of the best record collections on the planet
Derek Kaye married his schoolboy passions of music and electronics in 1973 when he constructed his first disco sound system, aged just 13. Prior to this, with DJ equipment something of a rarity in those days, he created a custom setup that by passed the need for a mixer by rewiring his turntables in such a way that he could flip the sound from one deck to another, and installed a switch that would dip the music so a microphone from a portable cassette player could be used to announce the song on rotation. His work soon grew in sophistication and a new console was built, with his schoolmate, Greg Wilson, buying Derek’s old rig, thus beginning his own well-documented DJ career.
Over the past 40 years, Derek has continued to DJ in and around the North West, both in residencies and guest spots, and his passion for music and electronics are still just as strong. His enviable studio has gone through the transitions of working with Notator (the forerunner to Logic) on the studio essential Atari 1040 STE with a collection of keyboards and Akai samplers, to just about “working out of the box” as is the case with a lot of studios now.
Today, a lifetime of experience is being teased out of the connoisseur by life long friend and A&R curator Greg Wilson, beginning with the double header of ‘Nobody’ and ‘Music Up’: both reworks have caused dance floor rapture for Greg over recent months and, as festival season fast approaches, they are now being shared amongst the wider DJ community for the very first time (Derek and Greg have also recently joined forces to remix Bryan Ferry’s ‘Don’t Stop The Dance’.
“After gigs it’s wind down time for me, bringing other musos back to my lounge, set up with a piano, drums and guitars for a live, after-hours jam. At some point, the vinyl comes out and these selections are sure to get a spin.”
Marvin Gaye – Got To Give It Up
Not yet wound down and need a classic piece of electronic funk, this is original crossover original EDM from before EDM meant anything. What a great tune.
William De Vaughan – Be Thankful for What You Got
Lyrically beautiful and a smile on your face vibe.
Orbital – Belfast
I can play this song forever and never get tired of it.
The Beloved – The Sun Rising
Still reminds me of the early Ibiza days
Goldie – Inner City Life
Still makes me go ‘Yeah!’ even now: the chords, the breaks and the voice are just incredible chemistry.
Frankie Beverly and Maze – Joy and Pain
Just a thoroughbred classic really.
Sven Vath – L’Esperanza
Sven at his most chilled.
Crusaders – Street Life
It has to be the full-length album version, what an intro, with the Crusaders on great form, this came out at a time when Gloria Gaynor (I Will Survive) was in full force, but for me it was about the jazz and Randy Crawford.
America – Horse With No Name
Plenty of speculation about what this may or may not be about, personally I don’t give a damn. Just a great song.
Ludovico Einaudi – I Giorni
This would be my closer: Einaudi has an amazing way of writing the most simplistic sounding emotive stuff.
Derek’s reworks of Rufus And Chaka Khan ‘Ain’t Nobody’ and The Players Association ‘Turn The Music Up’ are released on Monday 27th May on vinyl-only imprint, A&R Edits.
