BGC aims to showcase the art of DJing/turntablism and some of the classic mix tapes and mega-mix records (mixed plates) that inspired me, MarsRadio, as an aspiring trick-mix DJ during the late 80s and through the 90s to push the limits of the craft.

 

The art of DJing and turntablism is rife with history, culture, and unbound creative possibilities. In terms of the artform's early pioneers we have many to thank. 

 

Mobile DJs, aka Selectors, in Jamaica gave birth to the roots of hip hop via their practice of competing for loudest sound system as well as having MCs busting out crowd motivating words on the mic, termed as toasting, which later became the early seed of we here in the states know today as rapping.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Terry Noel back in the 60s at the Westbeth Gallery in NYC is credited as the first DJ to have played two records at the same time. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Francis Grasso was the first DJ to introduce slip cueing---the seamless and continuous blend of music throughout the night at clubs and discoteques during the 70s in NYC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kool Herc, a young Jamaican native kid who migrated to The Bronx in New York in the mid to late 70s, brought that loud mobile soundsystem flavor from Jamaica to American soil and presented a new approach to playing records--the merry-go-round technique. By taking the break part of songs and looping that section for extended minutes by alternating between two copies of the same song on a couple of turntables, he could keep that break playing on and on for as long as he desired while brining the crowd to a frenzy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Grandmaster Flash, not only a pioneering DJ, but also an electronics tinkerer, introduced his peekaboo system which today we know as a cueing system via the use of headphones to hear the music before playing it back through speakers for audience to hear. He also introduced theatric possibilities and live cut and paste creativity as showcased in his relase The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels of Steel.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afrika Bambaataa, in the late 70s/early 80s, presented the significant power of digging deep for records that go far beyond the obvious choices. He showed that a highly eclectic approach to record digging posed a much wider plain of creative possibilities in DJ mixing--one that challenges people's preconceptions about music by thinking outside the box through the re-contextualization of that music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A very young Grandwizard Theodore discovered and unleashed the concept of scratching records once he began using that technique at local parties in New York.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Larry Levan at New York's The Paradise Garage continued Afrika Bambaataa's eclectic approach to record selecting and contributed a milestone lesson: The importance of vibe and theatrical approaches to a venue's atmosphere and exacting a command over the crowd's emotions by captivating them through the music.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many more DJs out there that contributed immensely to the craft, people like Q-Bert, Mix Master Mike, DJ Shadow, Cameron Paul, Cash Money, Cut Chemist, Mixmasters Julio G & Tony G, Kid Koala, Dr Dre, Joe Cooley, Tony Vegas, the Hot Mix 5 in Chicago, and the list continues.