JOHNICK-YOU KNOW HOW WE DEW.

dereksmusicblog ♦ August 7, 2012 ♦ Leave a comment

JOHNICK-YOU KNOW HOW WE DEW.

Earlier this year, BBE Music released Johnny D Presents Disco Jamms Volume 1, compiled by legendary ‘Brooklyn’ DJ Johnny De Mairo. Johnny D Presents Disco Jamms Volume 1 featured some of the best edits I’ve heard this year. Along with Al Kent’s edits on The Best of Disco Demands, nothing else has come close. Believe me, I’ve heard many, many edits. Now Johnny D is back with a new compilation of deep house classic, You Know How We Dew featuring twenty-two tracks from JohNick, Johnny’s collaboration with Nicky P.  These tracks were released during the nineties, with many of them released on Johhny D’s Henry Street Records’ label. However, Johnny D and Nicky P’s were much more than musical collaborators, but lifelong friends who embarked upon their musical adventure back in Brooklyn. Their friendship would result in Johnny D and Nicky P releasing some of the most innovative and successful house music of the nineties. This they did as JohNick, with You Know How We Dew, which will be released by BBE Music on 27th August 2012, featuring some of the many highlights of JohNick’s career.

Johnny De Mairo and Nicky Palermo Jr. first met in Brooklyn, through their love of music. Both Johnny D and Nicky P lived in the same neighborhood, and both were aspiring mobile DJs in the early teens. They DJ-ed at parties throughout the borough of Brooklyn. By then, Johnny D was something of a veteran DJ, having started his career aged just twelve. Since then, music came naturally, with Johnny D just knowing which records worked well together. The pair met at block parties, started talking and quickly, became friends. Living just two blocks apart, they spent time at each others houses, listening to and talking about music. Another of their favorite haunts was Phil’s Country Store, where they hung out together. By 1982, Johnny D and Nicky P decided to start DJ-ing together.

Having nearly ten years DJ-ing throughout Brooklyn and further afield, the next step for Johnny D and Nicky P was production. Luckily, a fellow DJ and friend would give them their first break. This was Kenny “Dope” Gonzales, one half of Masters At Work. Johnny had been spending time with Kenny, watching him produce music at home. Johnny liked the rawness and energy of the music Kenny was producing.  Soon, Kenny was encouraging Johnny to buy a drum machine and sampler. Kenny showed Johnny the basics of how the drum machine and sampler worked. Having learnt how to use his new equipment, Johnny taught Nicky. It was then that the pair’s contrasting personalities proved an asset

In some ways, Johnny D and Nicky P seemed opposites. Nicky is quieter and studious, while Johnny is bubbly and enthusiastic. This would work well when they started producing music. Nicky had made copious notes about how the drum machine and sampler worked. Soon, he could program the drums from scratch. Johnny admits he wasn’t as patient, so would seek out a loop to speed things up. Johnny worked quickly, faster than many of the engineers he met. Mind you, given Johnny was working for Atlantic Records during the day, time was precious. So, what Nicky had programmed during the day, Johnny added his parts to in the evening. Now that Johnny and Nicky were producing music, they needed a label. Luckily, Johnny and Kenny “Dope” Gonzales had founded their own label, Henry Street Records.

Although most of Johnny and Nicky’s tracks were released on Henry Street, one of their early releases Everything I Got was released in Vibe Music as The Faces. Everything I Got was an example of what JohNick would go on to release. It was a fusion of disco samples, SP-1200 synths sounds and the rawness of Chicago house. Soon, disco become the inspiration for their music. Rather than program their tracks like other producers, tracks were recorded live, with live mutes used. This was akin to the analogue days of disco. If a mistake occurred, then it meant starting from scratch. Either that, or just leave it in, adding to the rawness of the music.

Soon JohNick’s music was seen as some of the most innovative and influential house music. Throughout the nineties, JohNick were releasing tracks on Henry Street Music. By 1995, JohNick released their biggest single, Play the World, based on First Choice’s Salsoul classic The Player. From there on, JohNick continued to release innovative and influential music, using disco as part of their inspiration. 

JohNick’s music would ensure that disco was at the heart of house music’s history. Their music inspired a new genre, French Touch. French Touch is sometimes referred to as New Disco or Disco House, would go on to be popularized by artists like Daft Punk, Dimitri From Paris, Stardust, AIR and St. Germain. WIth its use of disco samples, heavy, funky bass lines, filters and soulful vocals, often with a vocoder added, this new genre was inspired by Johnick. They’d secured their place in the history of house music. Since then, the music of Henry Street and JohNick is seen as some of the best house music of the nineties Twenty-two tracks from JohNick feature on You Know How We Dew and I’ll now pick some of highlights from You Know How We Dew.

DISC ONE.

Disc One of You Know How We Dew features eleven tracks from Johnick. Most of the tracks were released on Henry Street, the label that Johnny D and Kenny “Dope” Gonzales own. They were released from the early nineties onwards and many of the tracks pay homage to JohNick’s love of disco. Not only does disco influence the sound of the music, but feature many samples from old disco tracks. As you listen to Disc One of You Know How We Dew, you’ll be able to play that old game, “spot the sample.” There’s quite a few on Disc One of You Know How We Dew, some are obvious,  some not, with some have been sampled several times since JohNick sampled them back in the nineties. However, there’s much more to JohNick’s music than a few samples, as you’ll realize when I tell you about the highlights of Disc One of You Know How We Dew.

The track that opens Disc One City Rhythm shows how disco has inspired Johnny and Nicky. This is one of their tracks that gave birth to French Touche. It’s best described as the best elements of disco and house fused seamlessly. The track literally bursts into life, with the soaring vocal, pounding drums, percussion and synths combining. Filters are used really effectively throughout the track. Low pass, phaser and cutoff add to the track’s drama, while delay is added to the vocal. Then it explodes back into life. Johnick then build the drama back up. They use filters to tease and tantalize the listeners. From the opening bars to the closing beats, there’s no let up. Disco and house unite, creating a classic French Touch track, that although recorded in the nineties, has a timeless sound.

As someone who loves First Choice’s music, I just had to mention the Play The World. Here, JohNick sample First Choice’s The Player, released on Philly Groove Records. Thundering drums and hissing hi-hats open the track, before percussion and synths enter. Then JohNick take the samples from The Player. They add subtle filters then unleashes swathes of lush, swirling sweeping strings. By now, JohNick have your attention. You’re spellbound, wondering where the track is heading? The vocal soars above the arrangement, before the strings are unleashed again, Dancin’ and Prancin’ their way across the arrangement, with pounding drums and percussion for company. For eight minutes, JohNick’s biggest single unfolds, but it only takes one listen to realize why this was such a successful track. It’s shows how innovative and inventive JohNick were, and why they’d play such an important part in the history of house music.

As you listen isten to You Know How We Dew, you can play spot the sample. Throughout the two discs, you hear snippets of disco tracks and The Captain, a track from their 1997 album Non Stop is no different. Here, JohNick sample Carrie Lucas’ Dance With Me. You’ll know the track when you hear it. That sample opens the track, before thundering drums are unleashed. Then comes the punchy vocal, with the sample drifting in and out as the drums pound. It’s a glorious combination. Maybe that’s why this is such a popular sample. Although Armand Van Helden, A Small Phat One and Bob Sinclair among others, used this sample, listen to each track and you’ll realize that JohNick’s use of Dance With Me on The Captain is by far, the best.

Major Sea is a track from JohNick’s The Bay Ridge EP 2, released in 1992. When I started listening to the track, I recognized the sample JohNick used straight away. It’s from Cerrone Love In C Minor. Finding the right sample and using properly are two very different things, and JohNick put the sample to good use. Only fifteen-seconds of reverberating drums have elapsed before the sensuous sample is introduced. Cerrone’s growling horns, cascading strings, layers of keyboards and percussion are added to the drums that dramatically drive the track along. Having found the perfect sample, JohNick use it brilliantly. It’s at the heart of the track, as they unleash wave upon wave of dramatic, hypnotic pounding music, music that’s guaranteed to liven up any dance-floor.

The track that closes Disc One of You Know How We Dew is Johnick Planet, released in 1998. A sample of Dexter Wansel’s Life On Mars is used throughout the track. It first appears after fifty-five seconds, but before that, crunchy drums, crashing hi-hats and percussion combine. JohNick throw a series of curveballs, seemingly pausing the track, only to start it all over. Then the sample of Dexter’s Life On Mars meanders in, providing a contrast, with its space-age sound. Swathes of synths and keyboards courtesy of Dexter accompany pounding drums. Just as you’re enjoying the sample, it drifts out, while JohNick tease you with just drums. You anticipate and welcome the reintroduction of sample, as it floats beautifully above the drums, playing its part in JohNick’s homage to a musical pioneer, Dexter Wansel.

Although I’ve only mentioned five of the eleven tracks on Disc One of You Know How We Dew, there’s nothing whatsoever wrong with the other tracks. So good is the music on Disc One, that I could’ve picked any of the eleven tracks. That shows how consistent the quality of music is. Anyone who enjoys either disco, French Touch or house music, will enjoy these tracks. These tracks demonstrate just how inventive and innovative JohNick were. Not only were they inventive and innovative, but their music would prove influential. Indeed so influential was JohNick’s music, that it gave birth to a new genre of music French Touch. Several of the tracks on Disc One feature this French Touch sound, where disco and house unite. Although some these tracks are nearly twenty years old, they’re blessed with a timeless sound. So, the music on Disc One of You Know How We Dew is imaginative, inventive and innovative, and has a timeless sound, will that be the case on Disc One of You Know How We Dew?

DISC TWO

Like Disc One of You Know How We Dew, Disc Two features another eleven tracks. These eleven tracks were released on Henry Street during the nineties, with several featuring on JohNick’s only album, 1997s Non Stop. Will Disc Two of You Know How We Dew prove to be a Non Stop journey of quality music, just like Disc One?

Opening Disc Two of JohNick’s You Know How We Do, is The Blow. Not only is this the perfect track to open Disc Two, but it’s one of the highlights of the compilation. Pounding beats and percussion drive the track along, while bursts of synths and effects are added. Subtle filters are used, playing their part in building up the drama. A pounding bass line adding to the bold, dramatic sound, while short bursts of rasping horns punctuate the arrangement. Truly, it’s like a musical roller coaster ride, albeit one with French Touch as your glorious soundtrack.

Open Your Eyes, another track from JohNick’s 1997 album Non Stop, doesn’t just feature one sample, but listen carefully and you’ll hear two. Unless I’m mistaken, a short burst of the Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up, gives way to drums and percussion. Before you know it, another sample arrives. This time it’s Saint Tropez’s One More Minute, from their album Belle De Jour. Filters are added to the sample, increasing the warmth of its sound. Key to the sample is the vocal, with lush, cascading strings, growling horns and keyboards sitting in the background. When the sample drops out, it’s just the percussion and drums left and you find yourself missing the sample. Before too long, the sample is reintroduced, and all is well with the world. JohNick’s use of the sample is key to the track’s sound and success. Finding the right sample isn’t ever easy, but having the imagination and inventiveness to using it like this, sets JohNick apart from other producers.

There’s a dark, foreboding sound to Heat as the track opens. Drums have filter added, before synths and percussion add to the track. Then JohNick reveal the track’s secrets and subtleties. They unleash wave upon wave of French Touch, using filters effectively. Drums pound, as flourishes of keyboards drift in, before suddenly, filters are dropped in, teasing and tantalizing you. Synths reverberate above the arrangement as JohNick build and build the drama for six magical minutes.

Light is one of the most uplifting and joyous tracks on You Know How We Dew. After the opening bars when the synths sweep in, creating a moody sound, out of nowhere you hear this sweet vocal. The same phrase is constantly repeated, accompanied by drums, synths and percussion. Then JohNick unleash their filters, dropping the vocal out, before rebuilding the track and the drama. This continues throughout the rest of the track. This is an effective way of building up drama and heightening tension and anticipation, in a similar way as DJs uses a mixer’s EQ in a club. Talking of clubs, Light is one of these joyous, uplifting French Touch tracks that will sound great in any club.

My final choice from You Know How We Dew is Don’t Stop, another track with one of these false starts that Johnick seem fond of. It gives way to a combination of thunderous drums, percussion and synths. It seems as if JohNick are determined to end the compilation on a high. Again, filters are used, but sparingly and subtly. Keyboards and brief snippets of a sampled vocal play their part in the track, before bursts of a vocal are unleashed. It sounds as if the vocal’a had an effect added. As the drums that drive the track along, the vocal makes another brief appearance. Then after six minutes, all that’s left is the drums, before percussion and keyboards rejoin the track as JohNick close the album on a dramatically and memorably high.

Disc Two of JohNick’s You Know How We Dew picks up where Disc One left of, with eleven slices of quality house music unfolding. During these eleven tracks, JohNick’s love and knowledge of disco shines through. After all, how many other producers would know Saint Tropez’s One More Minute, a track from their album Belle De Jour, which features on Open Your Eyes? This is just the latest sample that JohNick put to good use on You Know How We Dew. Dance With Me joins First Choice’s The Player, Carrie Lucas’ Dance With Me, Cerrone’s Love In C Minor and Dexter Wansel’s Life On Mars in the samples that can be heard during You Know How We Dew. Other samples feature during the twenty-two tracks, but I won’t spoil your fun by naming them. Sourcing a sample is one thing, but using it successfully is a different matter. Knowing where to place it in a track and what to add to the track is another thing. You only need to listen to tracks like The Captain, Major Sea and Johnick Planet demonstrate that it more than the perfect sample to create a successful track. Listen to the way the track’s built up, the way instruments are added and filters used. That’s what sets successful producers like JohNick apart from the also rans. JohNick’s music wasn’t just inventive and innovative, but would prove influential. Indeed so influential was JohNick’s music, that it gave birth to a new genre of music French Touch. It was fusion of disco samples, heavy, funky bass lines, filters and soulful vocals, often with a vocoder added. This new musical genre put disco at the heart of house music’s history. Now just as people have been rediscovering disco, people are rediscovering house music and discovering the important role JohNick played in the development of house music. Twenty-two of JohNick’s inventive, innovative and influential tracks feature on the two discs of You Know How We Dew, which will be released on 27th August 2012 by BBE Music. For anyone who loves disco, house music or French Touch, then JohNick’s forthcoming album will be a welcome treasure trove of timeless classics, bringing back memories of the nineties, when house music was King. Standout Tracks: The Captain, Major Sea, The Blow and Open Your Eyes.

JOHNICK-YOU KNOW HOW WE DEW.