Greg Wilson possibly stands as one of the UK’s most prolific DJs, record label owners, and dance music historians, now celebrating his 50th year behind the decks. Possibly known as a leading figure in disco, electro-funk, and soul, he showcases his sound at festivals and clubs across the world. He has now remixed ‘Damn Straight’, a slice of authentic disco from Irvine Welsh & The Sci Fi Soul Orchestra’s album.
After living above his family’s pub as a kid, whose function rooms frequently hosted music events, and being influenced by his older siblings’ soul records, Greg started DJing at the age of 15 after obtaining his own set of decks. It was 1975, and he was placed to start playing and collecting a succession of black music records.
Over subsequent years, he helped pioneer disco, jazz-funk and electro, and in 1983 was the first DJ to mix live on British TV when he appeared on Channel Four youth music programme The Tube. He was an early resident at the Hacienda in Manchester, and taught Norman Cook, aka Fatboy Slim, how to cut and scratch — again, over 40 years ago. After a spell doing music production, he came back to DJ soon after the millennium, and has ploughed a disco re-edit furrow ever since, reworking disco and house songs for contemporary floors while also writing about assorted underground dance music heroes.
Greg is now 50 years deep in disco and remixes ‘Damn Straight’, one of the standout cuts from the album. One of Irvine’s personal favourites from the LP and written about his wife Emma, Greg enlists his son Che, and between them they utilise the “Baby you’re the one for me” refrain as an uplifting exaltation amidst this low-slung interpretation, complete with a gurgly electro-funk undertow.
Flipping the script, Serge Santiago, under his Sound Klash moniker, chirps up the bpm for a transcendent synth-house groover, throwing in an Ultramagnetic MCs-style vocal line for good measure.
© justaweemusicblog.com
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