Who Mixed First?

[markydefad]

"Georgy Girl" was released in 1966.

[Fiorenzo]

Originally Posted by markydefad

"Georgy Girl" was released in 1966.

... which would support the assumption that dj's were already blending records in the mid-60's...

[ladyboygrimsby]

Originally Posted by djsonic

it was in a movie called "Georgy Girl" from i think 1968?
theres a scene in the movie where everyones in a discotek
and therre are 2 GIRL DJ"S MIXING RECORDS!! i could not belive my eyes....check the movie for yourself,youll be amazed
truly sonc.

You're thinking of the Killing Of Sister George. There were scenes shot in a lesbian club in London. Can't remember the name offhand.

[markydefad]

OK, "The Killing of Sister George" was released in 1968.

This is the one about lesbians--

"Georgy Girl" was about a chubby Lynn Redgrave attempting to find love in swingin' London.

[Greg Wilson]

Originally Posted by ladyboygrimsby

You're thinking of the Killing Of Sister George. There were scenes shot in a lesbian club in London. Can't remember the name offhand.

It was The Gateways in 'Sister George', but that can't be what djsonic meant as there wasn't a DJ / DJ's in the club scene, but an all girl band.

[Greg Wilson]

Originally Posted by QUINNY

MixMachine: But as others and myself have written before, there were thousands of well established discos in Europe, especially around the Mediterranean in holiday locations, that made good money and played non stop music (because of language limitations; hey, if you had English, French, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, Norwegian, German etc in your audience, which language would make any sense to all of 'em?), albeit mostly segued or blended.

There were loads of UK DJ's working out in Europe during the 70's and, in most clubs, they used the microphone. English was the accepted language of the DJ (hence the reason why UK DJ's were so popular). I myself worked in Denmark, Norway and Germany, using the microphone in each of these countries. Even in Sweden, where British DJ's couldn't get a work permit, many DJ's would introduce the records in English (whilst making announcements in Swedish). I suppose that this was down to the fact that the popular music tradition came out of the US and young Europeans were used to the English language via the lyrics of the records they loved (many people learning basic English via song lyrics).

I'm aware that there were clubs in Spain and France (probably Italy also) were they prefered the DJ's to play music continuously, rather than talk between tracks. Maybe it was this type of club where Quinny worked (BTW Quinny, which agency were you with?).

What must be said is that it was the norm for even British DJ's (both at home and abroad) to play records continuously in the early part of the night, as the club was filling up, before going on the mic to kick the night off. There were also some Northern Soul DJ's who didn't use the mic at all. Another thing that used to happen was that UK DJ's in the pre-mixing era would often do continuous Motown or 60's Soul spots as part of the night, chopping from one record to the next in order to make their own 'medley' (something they also might do with a run of records by the same artist).

I think that there's a difference between what can be described as a mixing DJ, in the full sense of the term, and a DJ who doesn't use a microphone. With regards to the evolution of mixing as we know it, all the evidence, obviously, points to New York as the source.

[Mixmachine]

Originally Posted by Fiorenzo

... which would support the assumption that dj's were already blending records in the mid-60's...

anyone with two ears can 'blend', you don't even need to cue for that, just fade in and out, Radio was doing it back in the 60's, local neighborhood kids in the early/mid 70's were blending in street corner block parties using primitive 'Mickey Mouse' mixers the size of a cigarette pack.

Originally Posted by Fiorenzo

I was too young to go clubs in the 60's and early 70's. Anyway, I was told by people like Nicky Siano that Francis was the first to beat mix in New York.

In my previous post other NYC DJ pioneers (a small group at first)recount how and who started beat mixing in the early 70's, so, who's story to believe?

Originally Posted by Quinny

I got a feeling that South American DJs were beat mixing before that! Can't prove it though.

NYC was the club capital of the world (more money for gear), and where all the music (R&B= early Disco) was produced and/or marketed to the rest of the USA and the world, so you must excuse my skepticism when I hear claims that 'Beatmixing' began in Europe or South America in the late 60's, especially without a single LP or tape to prove it.

[originalbigm]

According to Frank Brewster & Bill Broughton in their book "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life"

"Energized by the twist,New York's society darlings championed a series of fantastical,theatrical clubs,each more chic than the last.One in particular became the talk of America.It was called,simply,Arthur and was the Stucio 54 of the sixties jet set.It's disc jockey was a flamboyant cherub called Terry Noel


He was the first DJ to mix records

On a primitive setup-he just had a volume dial for each deck-he would take elements from a track and tease and taunt the crowd with them:a Jimi Hendrix guitar lick here or a Chamber Brothers acapella there-allusive whispers,barely heard fragments.Then he would slam the whole song through the mincer."People would come up to me and say,"I was listening to the Mamas and Papas and now I'm listening to the Stones and I didn't even know." I used to try some of the wildest changes without losing a beat.

Of Francis Grasso they write

" Whether he really had this ability right away,Francis was certainly the DJ who made beat-mixing a required skill.He was not the very first to mix, but he certainly took it to a whole new level, and could hold a blend-two songs playing simultaneously with the beats synchronized-for two minutes or more"

[QUINNY]

Greg: I went out to Marbella with the former manager of my first UK club. His intention was to buy the club with his share of the UK club that had folded. However, this never happened and after about 6 months he eventually ended up back in the UK and I was left there working for a pair of ex-Belgian Congo mercenaries, one of whom was a hard nosed, pro-apartheid South African, the other a much softer, Belgian, gentle man. They had literally fled the war in the Congo with their lives, a hefty wad of cash and enough fuel in their plane to get them to southern Spain, where they crash landed. They'd headed straight for the high life in Marbella, blown too much dosh and with their last few hundred thousand pesetas thought a night club was the way to go.

There weren't many Brits DJing in Spain at the time, simply because work permits were very difficult to fix up and the local Police were very unforgiving. However, every Disco/club played non-stop music, all night.

After about a year in Marbella, I answered an advert in Melody Maker for a job in Mallorca, which I got. I did that for 2 further long seasons and could have done a 4th, but declined. So, no agency was involved.

[QUINNY]

Originally Posted by originalbigm

According to Frank Brewster & Bill Broughton in their book "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life"


He was the first DJ to mix records

Then he would slam the whole song through the mincer."People would come up to me and say,"I was listening to the Mamas and Papas and now I'm listening to the Stones and I didn't even know."

Of Francis Grasso they write

" Whether he really had this ability right away.......could hold a blend-two songs playing simultaneously with the beats synchronized-for two minutes or more"

All I can say is, that the Jet Setters of the '60s must have been total philistines (or outta their collective heads ) Weird record couplings would have been the norm back then, because no two were the same, so virtually every DJ would have been doing that.

Didn't every mixing DJ do 2 minute beat mixes at some point? I remember doing such things, feeling kinda smug and then quickly coming to the conclusion, so what?

Trouble for me is that Americans have a reputation of being natural born braggers, so the reality can get somewhat pushed aside. Ya know? The USA has the biggest, fastest, longest, shortest, oldest, flashiest or has the first, the very best, the most amazing etc etc. :lol:

[Fiorenzo]

Quinny, I'm not denying that your South American guys invented beat mixing and that clubbing in Spain sometime in 1974 was a great experience. However, we're talking mid-60's to late 60's here and how beat mixing came about. It is common knowledege (or at least recognized by many authors like Albert Goldman, Bill Brewster & Frank Brougthon, Tim Lawrence, Baroni & Ticozzi, etc.) that people like Terry Noel, Francis Grasso, Nicky Siano and so on had a central role in developing and spreding beat mixing all over the world.

:o Maybe providing some names and places would support your statements. e.g. DJ Jaime Fernandez Herrera from Caracas was mixing records as early as 1963 at Disco Pajaro Loco located in Calle Alfredo Gutierrez 43. :D :D 8)

[originalbigm]

Trouble for me is that Americans have a reputation of being natural born braggers, so the reality can get somewhat pushed aside. Ya know? The USA has the biggest, fastest, longest, shortest, oldest, flashiest or has the first, the very best, the most amazing

Well you don't become the world's largest economy or superpower by being the smallest,slowest,dullest,the very worst or the most ho hum at what you do.

[QUINNY]

Originally Posted by originalbigm

Well you don't become the world's largest economy or superpower by being the smallest,slowest,dullest,the very worst or the most ho hum at what you do.

More precisely, you do it by running up a huge national debt.

[DoctorDisco]

....

[djsonic]

It was the movie Georgy girl. rent it and see for yourself.
its truly amazing to see mixing in that era of the mid 60s...
it freaked me out. its in a club and georgy girl is dancing with a guy,and then it shows 2 female dj's mixing with 2 turntables.
sonic. :)