Todd the God', they called him. In the late 80s, Todd Terry was New York house music. Arguably he invented it, certainly he defined it. In truth, the moniker was probably coined by a deadline-surfing journalist searching for a quick headline. However, it stuck, because Todd Terry bestrode the scene like a colossus. New York had long been considered the world's clubbing and dance music capital. However, in the mid-80s that position was under threat. The soulful disco records that were the staple diet of the NY club scene seemed pedestrian in comparison to the other-worldly sounds coming out of Chicago and Detroit, sounds that the world outside America had needed no second invitation to take to their hearts. Sure there were stirrings in the boroughs. New Jersey was home of the garage sound, so named in homage to Larry Levan's hugely influential dj sets at the Paradise Garage club. Hispanic producers were developing what was dubbed as the freestyle sound. And of course New York had hip hop which, whilst an ever-growing force on the international stage, still had the air of the snarling underdog. Pro-active NYC-based independent labels like Sleeping Bag, Profile and Cutting Records provided a ready outlet for all these sounds, but the shadow of house music loomed ever larger, as it stormed the UK and European pop charts. Enter stage left from Brooklyn one Todd Terry, a young kid steeped in hip hop attitude, but with an ear that was also finely attuned to the city's other dominant urban sound, Latin….and Chicago house music. Terry's formula was simple. He mashed the whole lot together. The sampler was the must-have gizmo for the new generation of bedroom producers, and Tee put his through its paces with missionary zeal. 1987 saw Terry debut on Fourth Floor Records with two notable club hits in 'Alright Alright' and 'Dum Dum Cry', as NYC's freestyle take on the house sound began to find its feet. The man who was to become king of the production aliases caused confusion from day one, borrowing a name for these releases from a friend who had been running hugely successful street parties under the guise 'Masters At Work'. He was later to repay the favour to the friend, Kenny Gonzalez, by introducing him to one Louie Vega. For Todd Terry 1988 was a classic tale of 'right time, right place'. Acid House, the so-called summer of love, and the UK's biggest youth cult since punk. The soundtrack to the revolution came in equal parts from Chicago, Detroit, New Jersey, and proto-UK and euro house. The undisputed king, however, was New York's Todd Terry. Edited highlights of Terry's incredible 1988 output? Well, there was a trio of tracks which reworked recent New York classics from different ends of the clubbing spectrum: the nouveau disco of Class Action's 'Weekend' was reworked, still as 'Weekend', under the name Todd Terry Project; also under this moniker Dinosaur L (aka Arthur Russell)'s quirky leftfielder 'Go Bang' mutated into the sampladelic stormer 'Bango (to the Batmobile'); whilst b-boy block party favourite 'The Mexican' by Babe Ruth formed the basis of 'Dreams of Santa Anna', released as Orange Lemon. That little lot should have been more than enough for even the most workaholic of producers.
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