By Albert Freeman – Halcyon
While the global view on Detroit within the dance music community retains its emphasis on Techno, Detroit has been one of the most important historical cradles for development of all genres of black urban American music that have enjoyed deep interest and popularity in the city. The city’s influence on Blues, Jazz, Soul, Funk, Disco, House, Hip-Hop, Electro, and Techno stands unchallenged but the global focus on the most avant garde of the city’s electronic artists has always come at some cost to those working in areas that place more emphasis on the continuity of the city’s music culture. House has also been central to the city’s music and been present here almost since its original rise in Chicago, and the transition that led from Disco to House was played out here in nearly equal measure to the nearby Illinois metropolis. Thus figures like Norm Talley and his Beatdown Brotherscrew should be looked upon not as outliers, but as a truly central and essential part of a diverse musical culture. Since the mid 1980s, he and friends Mike “Agent X” Clark and Delano Smith have been pushing a brand of DJing and production that fluidly integrates the Disco, House, and Techno cultures of Motown and has been far too often ignored by the music press at large. In spite of respect earned from people like Eddie Fowlkes, for a long time their profile remained relatively low as the word on Detroit’s unique and diverse House sound was slow to leak out.[Read More]
Click HERE for the Mix by Norm Talley