Hooked Returns to Philly - September 12th!

After a hiatus of almost four months, Hooked is back at Franky Bradley's. This is a night of disco classics and the music they inspired - truly one of the best parties I have the honor of playing. I did a big interview before the last Hooked with the Philly Weekly - check it out if you wanna learn more about the things that inspired Del, Shawn and I to get down like this - in part it has to do with the parties that some of our DBJ homies have had me guest at over the years, including Beam Me Up in Tornonto and Go Bang in SF.

///HOOKED Vol. 3
///DO IT ANYWAY YOU WANNA

DJs

MICHAEL THE LION (Soul Clap Records, Razor-N-Tape)

DEL (Do You Wanna Boogie, 5 Magazine)

SHAWN RYAN (Universal Cave, Superprince)

Playing the classic sound – from past to present.

Saturday, May 30th

at Franky Bradley’s
1320 Chancellor St.
10PM-2AM
$5

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A Disco Edit Collaboration

"A Disco Edit Collaboration" consists of two jams I worked on with my Parisian friends Venice Beach. 

These guys have been tearing up the disco charts for the last few years, and while we toured together in the US and Europe last year we put some tunes together. Philly's DJ Bruce has a cameo on there as well. 

"Socket" should sound familiar and it's pretty dark and aggressive, "Money" is slower and more slinky. Both tunes are available exclusively at junodownload.com.
 

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Young Robots Presents Philadelphia Maneto

Philadelphia Maneto, a 13-song, 11 artist compilation I have curated for Young Robots, is out today. This compilation has the best that Philly and Jersey have to offer - we have post-punk, nu disco, indie pop, deep house. Shawn Ryan is on there. DJ Bruce is on there. Billy W is on there. Pink Skull is on there. Hell, even Todd Edwards is on there, repping Jersey to the fullest.

This record has been in the works for the better part of a year, and it's really the fruit of a lot of creativity and hard work by a lot of good people. If you wanna read more about how it came together, and the philosophy behind the record, I did a long Q&A with the Philadelphia Weekly about it for this week's issue.

The compilation is available for free, but it's also available for sale. If you like a tune (or the whole record), I'd encourage you to buy a copy at any major digital sales outlet (iTunes, Amazon, Beatport or Juno) and support independent musicians and labels.

I want to thank Philly's WXPN FM for co-sponsoring the record and previewing a lot of the material on their site and over their broad airwaves, which reach from Baltimore to the NYC area.

Many thanks as well to Travis from Downtown Club, Paul Zyla and Peter Dragontail for lots of behind the scenes work.
 

Nicos Gun, Pink Skull and I will be playing an outdoor release party on the Race Street Pier in Philly this Thursday at 6PM. Philly.com did a nice little preview of it.  After the show we will be partying at Johnny Brenda's with Shawn Ryan at Universal Cave!
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Nicos Gun f/ Sammy Bananas - Dirty Girl (DJ Apt One Remix)

For the last 8 months or so I have been assembling a compilation of some of Philly and New Jersey’s best dance music talent for a Young Robots Compilation called Philadelphia Maneto. Local FM station WXPN  has been putting out a few of the jams in advance of our July 16th release date and July 18th  release party.

I'm extremely proud of this remix of  Nicos Gun's Dirty Girl - big time Loft burner, with a cathartic sax solo from Fool's Gold's Sammy Bananas to seal the deal!  I have been running this track for months now and it never fails me.


I've also posted the first advance leak - Dance by The Downtown Club, an awesome ESG-styled outfit that has a dark, post-punk aesthetic.

On the 16th the entire record will be available for free. Others on the record include Superprince (Shawn Ryan and Peter Dragontail), Pink Skull, aupl, Billy W (Robotique) Lux & Edwards (Robert Lux and house legend Todd Edwards), NITEWAX (DJ Bruce), Instamatic, SAUR and more.

I'll be sure to post it here!


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First Choice

So after listening to Del drop like nine zillion sampled-to-death Philly studio a capellas at the CaveCast live podcast, Shawn Ryan and I got to emailing our favorite flips of First Choice's "Let No Man Put Asunder" back and forth.  This isn't the canon of First Choice flips, just our favorites.

To start, here's the seminal Shep Pettibone version at the root of this "tree" so to speak -



Keeping it close to Philly, Shawn brought up this jam by Vaggio (yeah, Vaggio, I know) on Josh Wink's Ovum



This Ja Ru version is something I came across on Juno the other day - really top shelf mellow ambiance.



Of course, there's the amazing Butch flip which keeps a lot of the vogue energy of the Shep Pettibone and Frankie Knuckles mixes.



Speaking of 80s vogue, there's this Nicholas track, which basically flips half of Larry Levan's playlist at once - from MFSB to the the house preacher.



Boom!

Related - check out my Best of Philly Disco mixes - Volume 1 and Volume 2 or my official re-edit for the Philly International 40th Anniversary Compilation.

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The Sound of Steve1der

One of my main man Angelinos Steve1der hit me up this week with a track he knew that I, as a Philly cat, would enjoy.  Steve doesn't tend to talk sideways so I knew he wasn't lying.

This is a graceful, break-beat laced version of the MFSB classic that most will remember as the theme to Soul Train (RIP Don Cornelius).  Whereas the OG version is a lush, string-driven track that evokes the sensibilities of the era, this one adds funky percussion giving it a sort of 1990s breakbeat feeling.

Any way you call it, it's a fuckin jam and you bet it will work on the dancefloor.



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The Ball

DJ Bruce and I have a monthly disco jam in Philly called the Ball. Over the past year, it has played host to some amazing and diverse guests - live acts like Big Freedia, Gang, Telephoned, Sgt Sass, Sweatheart and Instamatic as well as DJs Cosmo Baker, Billy W, Vjuan Allure, Pauly Paul, Sparber, Lee Jones, Elvis Suarez and Walt Luke.

We're getting into a hectic spring for the Ball - with Nicos Gun, Prowler, Dragon King, Tunde Olaniran, Miz Korona and Peter Dragontail. Tons of live dance music and carefully selected jams from your resident DJs.

We're kicking off our spring with a residents' night this Friday, and if you're in hollering distance, holler!!!

___________________________________________

This month:

Residents DJ Apt One & DJ Bruce ALL NIGHT LONG……!!!!!

Doors 10:30pm
$5, $3 with RSVP to theballphilly at gmail dot com
Dancing required.

Kung Fu Necktie
1248 N Front Street (Front & Thompson Streets, Philadelphia)
Philadelphia, PA

40 Years of Philly Intl with JSki

I'm really honored to be a part of a new compilation that commemorates the 40th Anniversary of one of the most influential labels of all time, Philly International Records. I have an official remix of "Wake Up Everybody" by Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes (f/ Teddy Pendergrass) on there. Todd Terje and other great editors on there as well. There are tons of new Tom Moulton mixes, a 10 CD retrospective, numerous re-edits and a 60-page booklet. Huge undertaking! Thanks to Kenny Gamble, PIR and Sony/Harmless/BBC records for the opportunity! So humbling to be associated with this great label.

I especially wanted to thank Juan Jay Negron, aka JSki (not to be confused with the Philly J-Ski), who was responsible for lots of the logistics with this project. If you frequent the DBJ soundcloud group, you'll notice that Jay is a super-prolific edit maker. He's been in the game for decades now, and he's got great taste! I wanted to shout Jay out and encourage all y'all to check out his work!

Check out the details on the Philly International project here:
Juno - Harmless Ready Deluxe Philly Intl 40th Anniversary Series

Now make sure you listen to some of Jay's edits!

Voices Of East Harlem - Can You Feel It (Jski Extended-Pts. 1+2) 1974 by Jay Negron

REVELATION - FEEL IT (Jski Extended) 1980 by Jay Negron

Telex - Brainwash (J*ski & Bklynite Extended) 1981 by Jay Negron

George McCrae - I Ain't Lyin (Jski Extended) by Jay Negron

Peter Cushing

Pink Skull "Peter Cushing (Instamatic Remix)" 320 mp3 by instamatic

Pink Skull - Peter Cushing (Instamatic Remix)
Mediafire | YSI | 320 kbps

DJ Apt One - Best of Philly Disco Volume 2

Happy Valentine's Day from the City of Brotherly Love! I've got some gifts for you!

About 10 minutes into creating my "Best of Philly Disco" mix in 2009, I immediately realized that at least one, if not two sequels were necessary. In trying to represent so many facets of this prolific time in Philly's music history (and make a tasteful mix), I realized that one mix couldn't cover it all.

Here again are the criteria I used to select the tunes:

1. Made by a Philly-born/bred artist
2. Made by an artist on a Philly record label
3. Written/Arranged/Composed someone strongly associated with the Philly sound
4. Played by a Philly label’s house band

This volume is dedicated to the memory of the great Teddy Pendergrass, who passed away in 2010.

As an added bonus (and this week's "Year of the Edit" contribution), you can download my edit of The Spinners - I'll Be Around which appears on the mix!

The tracklist appears in the comments section of the post.

Best of Philly Disco Vol. 2 by DJ Apt One



I'll Be Around (DJ Apt One Edit) by DJ Apt One

Related:

DJ Apt One - Best of Philly Disco Volume 1 on Soundcloud

For previous "Year of the Edit" entries, look HERE.

New Instamatic Cut!

Fresh off the mixing board, here's a new Instamatic cut for "friends, family, famous people, frank thomas, blogs, bingo parlors, shopping malls, anybody..." This is pure indie - electro fire.

Instamatic "Architecture" by instamaticband

Instamatic - Police Us Remixes

Grab remixes by Pink Skull and by yours truly over at Discobelle.net.

Edit - the download links at Discobelle are being really wonky - just grab it here:

Instamatic - Police Us (DJ Apt One Remix) by DJ Apt One

On Saturday, I'll be playing a late set at the Ox warehouse at 2nd and Turner along with Shawn Ryan, Ed Blammo, Chang Chang, and you guessed it - Instamatic.

RIP Teddy Pendergrass

I was planning on putting up about a half dozen rips to honor the man, the legend, Teddy Pendergrass, who passed away tonight at Bryn Mawr Hospital not five miles from where I sit, but instead I'll just put up two favorites and leave it to you to go and cop Love TKO, Close the Door and others to help pay for the flowers at the man's funeral.

It wasn't long ago that I was standing outside a bar on Baltimore Avenue with a man in his seventies who was telling me about his short-lived doo-wop career in the early 60s in Philly. Somehow the subject came to Mister Teddy P, and the man said something to the effect of "he used to be a drummer, but once Harold Melvin found out he could sing, the man turned into the hugest asshole you ever did see."


Teddy Pendergrass - Only You
Zshare | YSI | 320 kbps

Teddy Pendergrass - You Can't Hide From Yourself
Zshare | YSI | 320 kbps

Let me rub you down with some burnin hot oils baby, YEAH
You know I would do the same to youuuuuuuuuu
TURN EM OFF!!!

RIP Teddy P

Related on DBJ: Teddy Pendergrass - Only You

Ain't No Stoppin, 2009

In light of the Phillies SECOND CONSECUTIVE NATIONAL LEAGUE PENNANT, a re-up of one of the most popular tracks ever posted on DBJ:



McFadden and Whitehead
Ain't No Stoppin Us Now (Phillies Version)
Divshare | YSI | 320 kbps

If you want the b-side to this, the Eagles version, go to the original post.

It's The Motherfucking Remix Vol. 3

DJ Ayres, DJ Eleven and Cosmo Baker - AKA The Rub - are putting all the tracks from their new joint It's The Motherfucking Remix Vol. 3 up as single track DLs before the CD hits stores.

Go to The Rub's site and grab track number one - Archie Bell's Any Time is Right (DJ Apt One Remix) if you don't have it already.

This Saturday - Philadelphyinz Gets Dressed Up f. Sammy Bananas

This weekend we've got a real hot mess of an event going on at Medusa Lounge. Our friends Marko and Lexie are helping us throw a fancy/classy/crazy/slutty/nasty dress up party. Basically just dress up as wild as you please (or not) and prepare to get grimy to the sounds of yours truly, DJ Apt One, and our very special guest Sammy Bananas (Fool's Gold Records).

Alison Shildt will be there to take portraits, and our buddy Didier Clain prepared this amazingly bugged out video for your viewing pleasure:



The video features two tracks that are available for free DL:

Telephoned (Sammy Bananas & Maggie Horn) - Pop Champagne
(available from RCRDLBL)
DJ Apt One - Sweatin
(available at philadelphyinz.com)

The More I Get The More I Want

Motherfuckin Teddy Pendergrass. Loverman with a bit of a creepy "screaming angrily at bitches to rub him with burning hot oils" persona going on.

This is a PHENOMENAL JAM from his first post-Harold Melvin solo joint. The self titled one pictured above with the SCARF like whoa.

Teddy Pendergrass - The More I Get The More I Want
Zshare | YSI | 320 kbps

Do It Anyway You Wanna

Here's a super sweet jam that I ripped but it didn't make it onto that Best of Philly Disco mix I dropped earlier this week. (If you haven't checked it out yet you're doing yourself a disservice.)

I wanted to start the mix with People's Choice Do It Anyway You Wanna and end with the Cashmere version. Alas William DeVaughn has no equal as a closer, so this track missed the cut.

I have a couple edits I made specifically for the mix that didn't make it either just because they didn't fit with the flow. Those will be posted later rest assured.

Cashmere - Do It Anyway You Wanna
Zshare | YSI | 320 kbps

And for those who do it anyway they damn well please, whaddya know - Philadelphyinz is this Saturday.

DJ Apt One - Best of Philly Disco

I just did a mix for Emynd and Bo Bliz's "1st and 15th" mixseries on Crossfadedbacon.com. It's the "Best of Philly Disco." Every song meets one of the following qualifications-

1. Made by a Philly-born/bred artist
2. Made by an artist on a Philly record label
3. Written/Arranged/Composed someone strongly associated with the Philly sound
4. Played by a Philly label’s house band

Tracklist:

1. People’s Choice – Do It Any Way You Wanna (7”) – TSOP, 1975
2. Sister Sledge – Lost In Music (12” Remix) – Atlantic, 1984
3. Bell & James – Livin It Up (Friday Night) (FitForUse Edit) – A&M, 1979 / White
4. McFadden & Whitehead – Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now – Phila Int’l, 1978
5. McFadden & Whitehead – Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now (Phillies Version) – Phila Int’l, 1981
6. McFadden & Whitehead f/ The Liberty Bells – Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now (Eagles Version) – Phila Int’l, 1981
7. Montana Sextet - Heavy Vibes (Club Mix) – Virgin, 1982
8. MFSB – Love Is The Message (Mr K. Special Edit) – TD, 198?
9. First Choice – Let No Man Put Asunder (Shep Pettibone Mix) – Salsoul,1983
10. Loleatta Halloway – Love Sensation (Shep Pettibone Mix) – Salsoul, 1983
11. Evelyn King – I Can’t Take It – RCA Victor, 1981
12. Dexter Wansel – It’s Been Cool (12” Version) – Phila. Int’l, 1979
13. Direct Current – Everybody Here Must Party – TEC, 1979
14. Q- The Voice of Q – Philly World, 1982
15. Pieces of A Dream – Mt. Airy Groove (Instrumental) – Elektra, 1982
16. Frankie Smith – Double Dutch Bus – WMOT, 1980
17. Broad Street Band f/ Bruce Grey – Work Your Body – Tempre, 1984
18. Archie Bell – Any Time Is Right (DJ Apt One Edit) – Beckett, 1981 / White
19. William DeVaughn – Be Thankful For What You’ve Got (Disco Version) – WMOT, 1980

Obviously, there are some records that didn't make the cut, and for some artists I deliberately used more obscure cuts (see: Dexter Wansel) to keep things interesting. All in all though, a fun listen and a great opportunity to dig out a few sleeper cuts in my record collection that I don't use much.

DOWNLOAD THE MIX HERE

Hot Date

Quality 80s funk/soul jam from hyper-talented West Philly Music School grad Billy Paul, best known for his early 70s hit Me And Mrs. Jones. This is the only uptempo cut from Paul's first album after the end of his relationship with Philly International Records- this is from Total Experience.

Sorry about the dirty-sounding record.

Billy Paul - Hot Date
Zshare | YSI | 320 kbps

Holler at Billy Paul's myspace while you're at it!