Le Grain de Sable

d'abord France,then London in the 80's running the Badge Shop (remember those Sex Pistols,Depeche Mode and Culture Club buttons?) alongside micro-label Soho records w/ my homie goth/punk legend Frenchy of Flicknife records releaser of: Nico, Alien Sex Fiend, Specimen. A milestone in electronic music was one of the first electro records "Planet Rock", this was a groundbreaking LOUD bass drum KICK in the arse drum machines had appeared with the 808 then the 909! Electro and Hiphop were born ! The word HYBRIDATION resumes it best. .Around 86-87 we discovered via US vinyl imports from Def Jam and DJ International that new artists were breaking all musical rules, SAMPLING was a sudden technological breakthrough,so were CD's !! Adding to the bubbling sonic creativity Graffiti, Keith Haring, Basquiat and the Designers Republic in Sheffield were shaking up the visual arts and every Merc in London had lost it's car insignia . The first house single to reach the Uk charts, was Farley Jackmaster Funk's "Love Can't Turn Around" in mid-1986, acid house was then strictly a Chicago phenomenon until stacks of singles began to cross the Atlantic. The sound jelled in small warehouse parties held in London in 1986-87, and then went overground during 1988's infamous Summer of Love, when thousands of clubgoers traveled to massive events later known as raves. Acid hit the British pop charts quite quickly, with Bomb the Bass, M/A/R/R/S, S'Express, Snap and Technotronic."Pump Up The Volume" was much more than just a hit single, though - it was a key event in music which wholly reconfigured the way that pop would subsequently be made. Perhaps more than any other track, it ushered the hip-hop and sampling era firmly into the mainstream. The Akai S900 (1986) was the first truly affordable digital sampler. Bedroom studios sprung up everywhere, musical self-expression became available to all, it was not the sole prerogative of professional musicians any more. Creative and exciting times, lay ahead with the mapping of uncharted territories, the discovering of unheard electronic bleeps and beats was like finding a new musical continent. New musical genres emerged using these tools : Drum n Bass/ Acid/ Trance/ Dub/ Techno/ Ambiant/ TripHop/ would be created with them. This wasn't "Entertainment" or "Artistic posture" it was a new DIY/Punk statement: Mantronix/ Run Dmc / the Beasties license to ill, Big Audio Dynamite/ S.S.Sputnik / Age of Chance/ P.W.E.Itself / Eric b and Rakim / Neneh Cherry/ the KLF were making electronic music history. On SOHO records we released one of the first UK House 12": "Jack Me some crack". And probably the first Electroclash tune "Identity" (on play above) by electro-punk cabaret band Diskord Datkord (on stage gig props such as a Wendy house,a dog, bondage and striptease were common), the threesome would later evolve into Adamski/now Adam Sky* of "Killer" planetary hit fame with Seal, Atomizer* for Johnny Slut. Third man Mark Tinley*went on to produce Duran duran. (*all present on myspace) Then i was artistic director for several labels(tam-tam/savage/hedd/virgin/) see catalogue: http://www.discogs.com/label/Tam+Tam+%2F+Savage+Records/Arti sts signed were : Bowie (the black tie lp) , british hip hop artist Silver Bullet (Bring forth the guillotine, (on play above) the very first Uk rap cd and a chart hit : 180 000 singles sold/country wide) , a very laid-back Maxi Jazz (pre-Faithless), Cut2kill (liam howlett before Porridgy fame !) Westworld (derwood ex-Gen-X), A Homeboy a hippie+a funki dredd (casper r.i.p) of to-be ambiant Rising High Collective), and still criminally underrated of amazing tessiture and range, gospel singer Precious Wilson of Eruption 'i can't stand the rain" disco fame. Mismanaged "whingy" pop band Soho of Hippychick fame (gold, in the US) ,on play above, thru 2 albums on virgin and Atco.Then in the early 90's,globalization, pension funds and accountants took control of the "record industry", cost-cutting became the rule of thumb: no more signing of bands on artistic criteria, risk taking was out, industry mergers were in. If your first single did'nt get radio airplay you were dropped by the company within weeks and your album not released . Many independant labels went under at that time. so....f...k that. exit the music biz .... re-France now involved in ARTFACTORIES/SQUARTS (artist squats) see at http://www.artfactories.net/article.php3?id_article=62 http://picasaweb.google.fr/zacloud.actelier/VracPhotosDesDia blesBleus/ my dailymotion page of videos http://www.dailymotion.com/lolorebel "I don't advocate insanity; but it's always worked for me." .. "La musique est un choix de vie profond, une aventure interieure, humaine, bienveillante, une exploration creative, empathique et desinteressee..pas un marche-pied rapide vers la celebrite, pas une promesse d’argent facile, pas un miroir narcissique et complaisant, pas un ticket V.I.P avec les avantages de la fonction..le but etant d’etre..et non pas d’avoir ou de paraitre..avant de vouloir que les autres vous aiment..commencez d’abord par apprendre a vous aimer vous meme.." Peace..