So here we are with round 2 concerning the legendary vinyl kings of our modern times. These carefully hand selected gentlemen made the cut in the second edition of this discussion, without a doubt in my mind. And to clarify things, when the first article was published, it went completely over my head that this was a digital site. ( Thats how much im into what im doing these days ) It does seem quite contradictory to discuss individuals that have paid there dues in record shops on a digital site. I'll be the first to admit it. I contemplated heavily if I would even continue writing.

So why am I continuing on regarding this series, and writing about it on a digital site ? Im sure in the near future, ill be much more careful about these things, but for now, the unique and ironic nature of it was the opportunity and place for me to voice this, and write about it. So now I must finish what I have started, and I thank what people play for this ironic opportunity. Weird huh?

The music industry is such a strange business and industry these days. Format changes, New World Order embracement in hip hop, subliminal messages, and occulted symbolism embedded within the music, and far much more. Blank cd's continue to out sell recorded music, and now the mp3 out sells both, while some artist sell more ring tones than full length LP's. So the big question at the end of the day is just one thing. How does one stay a float in this business? Grounding yourself in principle, and paying your dues is the key. It doesnt always pay off when you want it to, but it does happen. 

Chez Damier said something that struck a chord in me while we were on the phone about a week ago. He said to me, So Mike, in a perfect world, what does the music industry look like to you? I didn't even bother conjuring up a scenario that could be deemed suitable as a response. At this point, it is what it is. 

Any other response would be comparable to trying to shut down the internet, in order to keep the libraries open. If you've been grounded in this business, and have been paying your dues, you can still have a go at it.

So lets begin with a discussion about the selected individuals in this article that deserve some respect.

First up on the list is Adam X, from Sonic Groove Records, NYC.






















Although his personal musical taste maybe a bit too eclectic for most, dont be deceived by that. Dont judge a book by its cover. Adam is a walking gold mine.  He knows the roots of B Boy culture, legendary techno parties in NYC , House and techno classics, and industrial music like no other.  He does not make petty distinctions regarding the differences within genres  of music.  Adam did to NYC, exactly as this picture suggest.  He stomped a mud hole in the NYC electronic music community, and left his mark for many years to come. 

Adam, better known as Ven, during the B - Boy tagging era in NYC, is relentless with his knowledge and information about titles.  I would see him often in Watts Music Distribution.  He would hand pick titles for the shop every week.  The personal amount of detail he gave towards ordering records for Sonic Groove is unparalleled.  He knew everything about what releases were out, or what releases were coming out.  He would often hunt down titles that he couldn't find.  Regis, Surgeon, Mills, Drumcode, or UR ?  Those labels and artists are just one of many labels he's familiar with.  He has personally contributed to the success of each of these artists and labels  by personally pushing their music.    He, as well as  other Sonic Groove staff members such as Heather Heart, Reade Truth, and Frankie Bones, did a lot for the techno sound of the 90's in the New York area.

Sonic Groove was his livelihood, and from 1990, till the end of 2004,  he played the game in a way that reflected that.  Adam X is based abroad in Europe these days with many regular trips back to NYC.  He leaves a Legendary collection of 10.000 records behind at home, while nearly memorizing all of them by his incredible memory and experiences connected to each record.  Adam X is also celebrating 20 years of djing this year.

A relatively unknown fact  to many about Sonic Groove is that it was originally called "Groove Records" and  operated in Brooklyn for about 5 years. The Store then changed its name to "Sonic Groove" in January 1995, when the store moved to Manhattan. 

Sonic Groove tried their best to stay alive but rising landlord costs,  gentrification, and the explosion of the MP3 era brought a sudden death to their operation as a record shop. Sonic groove shut down within less than 12 months in the following year. Sonic Groove's label is still alive and kicking, and is still releasing vinyl !  Adam X is the sole owner of the label .


Some Big time Sellers at Sonic Groove were :

Dave Clarke-Red 1-3
Joey Beltram-Energy Flash
Jeff Mills-Kata Moda
Neil Landstrumm-Index Man EP
Surgeon-Magneze
Basic Channel-Phylyps Trak 2
Underground Resistance-Knights Of The Jaguar
Aphex Twin-Selected Ambient Works Vol 2
Liaisons Dangereuses-LP
Cristian Vogel-Absolute Time
DBX-Losing Control




























Some of Adam X's personal classics are :

Edwards & Armani-Acid Drill(MG Records Belgium 1989)
DJ Mink-Can U Relate(Sunshine Dub)(Warp Records 1990)
Reese-The Heavens (KMS, 1989)
Eon-Spice (Vinyl Solution, UK 1990)
2Body's-Astoria (Antler Subway, Belgium 1989)
The Mover-Frontal Sickness (R&S. PCP 1992)
Technical Onslaught (Joey Beltram)-The Calling (Allabi, US1990)
Frankie Bones-Call It Techno (Fourth Floor, US 1989)
Ego Trip (Roger S)-Dreamworld (Ego Trip US 1990)
Forgemasters-Track With No Name (Warp, 1989)
Kraftwerk-Metal On Metal (The Mix Remix) (EMI, 1990)
Teste-The Wipe (Probe 1992)

Adam X is a Collector, Librarian, Historian, Dj, and unique individual that knows more than most. One can only imagine the amount of promo's and contacts that  he has established over the years as a dj. His Knowledge of imports is a worthy conversation to strike up with him, the next time you may run into him.


Second on the list worthy of mentioning is Lee Grainge from Fat Cat Records,  UK




















Fat Cat records had quite an amazing cult following.  They were known for stocking the store with what their customers wanted. They pushed the boundaries even further than that by offering most of their customers with a selection of music that they didn't even know they wanted.  A trip to Fat Cat records would do wonders for a techno set. 

You could always rest assured that you would walk away from there with something that was impossible to find in another shop in the UK, and as well as the rest of the world. Fat Cat was up and running when The Ministry of Sound wasn't such a mega club either.  Fat Cat records was in full swing when the real music heads and party goers from the UK scene still went there.  Fat Cat had the best of the best, and thats for sure.  And if you were privileged enough to have Lee Grainge pull you some records, or to recommend you some things, you were all set. 

 Fat Cat also employed some of the finest UK techno jocks there was, such as Alex Knight.  ( I wonder what ever happened to him ? )























( Photo by Mike Huckaby )


Think of any given Friday or Saturday in the Uk, During the early - Mid 90's, and Fat Cat Records was sure to be pack with crawling djs trying to pursue vinyl that just couldn't be found anywhere else.  Imagine finding impossible records on labels you didn't even know existed.  White Labels, limited Pressings, and the best electronic music that could be found in Europe.  This was the caliber of this shop.

Every Record on the wall in the photo below turned out to be a heavy hitter on Ebay, or Discogs.  Fat Cat Records was a timeless shop that was making history right before your very own eyes.  If you got there too late, you could probably save yourself a trip until next week, or a few days later.  It was like the stock market trading floor on Wall Street.  Competitive dj's  would call out and name off the tracks that they were interested in by the drop of the needle.  It only took 3-4 bars of the record to play before it was sold out.  You had to be that quick to score a record you were after, because the environment was extremely competitive.

 I was djing heavily in England during the reign of Fat Cat Records, and personally experienced this.  One record that stands out to me that i bought from Fat Cat records is a white label on green vinyl.  After more than 10 years of playing it, i still have no clue as to who produced the record.  There is no information on the record anywhere.  It works for me everytime i play it.  People ask me what it is all the time, and i literally have no clue.  if you shoped at Fat Cat records on a regular basis, you'd have tons of stories, and records like this.

As a buyer, and manager of a record store in Detroit, these were the very connections that I made abroad that kept a constant source of fresh music coming in to Detroit.  You couldn't rely on what was simply  being provided for you.  You had to be very aggressive with your  sources and connections pertaining to the music.  I would pull records on a weekly basis for Kevin Saunderson, Ken Collier, D. Wynn, Richie Hawtin, Stacey Pullen, and countless other Detroit Dj's. Many of those Dj's we're traveling in Europe quite often so they were up on the music that was coming out from abroad.  But as always, you couldn't find everything, and there was always something you were missing, or didn't know about.

Richie Hawtin, and Kevin Saunderson were fanatical about buying records, and keeping current with new releases back then. They were buying 100-200 records a week.  They would buy records where ever they could find a shop that carried house and techno music.  But the key was knowing their musical tastes, and style.  If your trust was earned by them, they wouldn't second guess what records you pulled for them. Both,  Kevin and Richie would often buy every record that I would pull for them. 





















( Photo by Mike Huckaby )



Some classics Fat Cat records were known for were :

Slam - Positive Education
Schatrax - Restless Nights - Schat 06
Ron Trent - Altered States
69 - 4 jazz Funk Classics - Planet E
The Black Dog - Age Of Slack - Black Dog Productions
Stasis - Point of No Return - B 12 Records
Psyche / BFC - Applied Rhythmic Technology 3 -  ART 3
Final Exposure - Vortex - Plus 8 Records
Armando - 151 - Hi Fashion Digital

( List compiled by Mike Huckaby )


The 3rd person worthy of mentioning is Dwight Johnson From Trc Distribution, Nemesis Distribution, and Ear X-tacy records in Louisville, Kentucky.

It is quite possible that you may not have heard of him.  Dwight's role was behind the scenes.  His job was to keep the record stores on top of their game.  He worked as a buyer for Trc Distribution, Nemesis Distribution, and Ear X-tacy records  in Louisville for over 13 years.  And he did just that.  I would place orders with him on a weekly basis.  So did many other influential shops through out the USA. It was a great thing to see key individuals, and active dj's in roles and positions more influential than the jocks within the record stores themselves. 

With this in tact, you could rely on the skills of your sales rep, in the same way a customer could rely on Josh Werner, Phil Duke, or the other individuals I paid respect to in the first article.  If he wasn't in on the day you ordered records for your shop, you would simply hang up, or call another distributer.  Plain and simple.  If he turned you on to a record that was proven to work not only well in your shop, but also well in your area, then your trust and relationship grew with this type of person.

Dwight proved himself everytime i ordered records from him.  It literally go to the point of just telling him how much your budget was for the week, and telling him to take it from there.  He single handedly gave Madlib, and Stones Throw their careers.  He knew about the Stones Throw movement when it was still relatively young and unheard of outside the bay area.  He would tell you every week, dont sleep on this record, dont sleep on this record. You simply trusted him, and ordered more than you would normally have done so.




Some favorite house tracks by Dwight Johnson include :

Mateo & Matos "Joy 2 My Life" (After Midnite EP) - Large
Presence (Charles Webster) "Future Love"
Fresh & Low "Party Stomp"
Moodymann "I Can't Kick This Feeling When It Hits"
Mike Huckaby "The Jazz Republic"
Moodymann "Mahogany Brown "


























I cant stress enough, how important this type of human interaction is regarding music. It is everything within this business. 
Technology may create a relationship with the past where everything is deemed as insignificant, but that assuption is often false, and untrue.

 
Mike Huckaby