Detroit techno godfather Kevin Saunderson unleashes compilation History Elevates

Respected as one of the Detroit Techno innovators, Kevin Saunderson helped to reshape the future of dance music as we know it.

To celebrate his mammoth 20 years of musical genius, KMS & Fabric Recordings join forces and unleash a retrospective of Kevin’s work with compilation ‘History Elevate’ featuring a heavyweight selection of classics.

This hefty package includes remixes with tracks from Cerrone, Pet Shop Boys and Octave One and his first ever remix for Wee Papa Girl Rappers ‘Heat It Up’ (1988).

This journey through Kevin’s incredible musical history features some of his own penned hits, including some Inner City gems, remixed by Luciano, Carl Craig, Simian Mobile Disco and Claude VonStroke.

Kevin said: “My first remix for Wee Papa Girl Rappers ‘Heat It Up’ was the first remix of its kind anywhere.

“At that time, I listened to the original track and really wasn’t feeling it, but I did like some of the vocals, but thought that it wasn’t going to work doing a traditional edit/remix.

“It wouldn’t fit in with what I was doing production wise, so I decided to make a new track and make the vocals work on top of what I’m doing. I sampled some of the vocals, re-triggered them and laid them out into my format, this was radical in 1988!

“Consequently I went on to produce many more, some of my favourites are featured on CD1 of this album. The remix is still such an important part of our music and it’s been fascinating to work with the great producers featured on CD2 who have remixed some of my classic material in their own unique styles.

“We believe this project ties the past to the future, creating a launch pad for techno to spread our message far beyond … into deep space.”

Kevin was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1964, but moved aged nine to the home of techno, the ‘Motor City’, Detroit.

At school he befriended two other like-minded students Juan Atkins and Derrick May. After a two-year affair with playing football, Kevin quit in order to focus on music, and reunited with his high school pals, the move that would help Kevin’s career escalate.

Starting out as a DJ, Kevin developed skills that led him into producing records, which he released on his own label, KMS Records.

The demand for Kevin as a producer and DJ was overwhelming overseas, as well as in the States. He introduced acts like ‘Kreem’, ‘Reese’, ‘Inter-City’ (later to become Inner City) and ‘Reese & Santonio’.

Kevin has many other aliases too, such as; ‘Tronik House’, ‘The Reese Project’, ‘EssRay’, ‘Kaos’ and more recently, ‘E-Dancer’, which he uses to show his versatility at being able
to create different facets of dance music.

Kevin’s biggest achievement and his most commercially recognised project has been INNER CITY with Paris Grey, who have come full circle after 13 years, as one of the world’s most influential
dance acts and prime time movers in the house and techno revolution of 1988.

With a new dazzling renaissance spanning early pioneering hits like “Big Fun” and “Good Life”, “Ain’t Nobody Better”, through to “Hallelujah”, “Pennies From Heaven”, “Till We Meet Again”, “Do Ya”, “Your Love.”

The 1999 Spanish re-recording of “Good Life (Buena Vida)” became a Number 1 club hit in Europe and entered the Top 10 on the UK Pop Charts, and “Good Love” which was also an instant smash.

To date, Inner City have had 12 Top 40 hits in the UK, two Top 20 albums, with sales of more than 6million. Inner City have also received 4 Gold singles, 1 Gold Album and 1 Platinum Album.

In 2005 Kevin became the producer of Fuse-In, the newest reincarnation of Detroit’s 6th electronic festival at Hart Plaza, with an outstanding line-up including Mos Def, Ken Ishii, Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson, Green Velvet, Ritchie Hawtin, Underground Resistance and Alexander Robotnick.

Kevin said: “What we’ve done in our history in Detroit with techno is a result of a love for all kinds of music.

“I don’t want this just to be a techno event, I want techno to be the foundation and for people to realize how powerful Detroit has been and still is, I want to put on a good show with good artists so people can be inspired by the music.”

Kevin continues to tour the world and has been busy remixing dancefloor hits, penning reworks of Simian Mobile Disco ‘Hustler’, Claude Vonstroke ‘Who’s Afraid Of Detroit?’, Hercules And Love Affair ‘You Belong’ and The Presets ‘This Boy’s In Love.’

‘History Elevate’ is out now on KMS Records & Fabric Recordings

Tracklisting:
CD1 Remixed by Kevin Saunderson
01 The Christians – The Bottle – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Universal
02 Wee Papa Girl Rappers – Heat It Up – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Sony
03 Ann Consuelo – Do It For Love – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Kevin Saunderson
04 Cerrone – Supernature – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Malligator/TLP
05 Pet Shop Boys – Go West – Kevin Saunderson Remix – EMI
06 Lighthouse Family – High – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Universal
07 Hercules And Love Affair – You Belong – Kevin Saunderson Remix – EMI
08 The Presets – This Boy’s In Love – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Modular
09 Octave One – Blackwater Ft Ann Saunderson – Kevin Saunderson Remix – 430 West
10 Simian Mobile Disco – Hustler – Kevin Saunderson Remix- Wichita
11 Cameo – Money – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Warners

CD2 Kevin Saunderson Remixed
01 Intro
02 Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Good Love’ Luciano’s Good Love Remix – KMS
03 Kevin Saunderson ‘Bounce Your Body To The Box’ Mike Shannon’s Flashback Mix – KMS
04 Kevin Saunderson ‘Just Want Another Chance’ John Tejada Remix – KMS
05 Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Big Fun’ Simian Mobile Disco Remix – KMS
06 Kevin Saunderson ‘Till We Meet Again’ Carl Craig Remix – KMS
07 Kevin Saunderson ‘The Human Bond’ Claude Vonstroke Rave Recognize Rave Mix – KMS
08 Kevin Saunderson ‘Rock To The Beat’ Ben Sims Remix – KMS
09 Kevin Saunderson ‘Rock To The Beat’ Christian Smith & John Selway Remix – KMS
10 Kevin Saunderson ‘Pump The Move’ Samuel L Session Remix – KMS
11 Kevin Saunderson ‘World Of Deep’ – Jesse’s Respect To Detroit Mix – KMS
12 Kevin Saunderson ‘Bassline’ Joris Voorn 07 Remix – KMS
13 End Peace
Mini mash bonus mix:
Kevin Saunderson ‘Bassline’ Loco Dice Remix
Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Good Love’ Jay Haze edit – KMS
Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Good Life’ Mathew Jonson’s Acid Mix – KMS

Kevin Saunderson plays Matter, London on Saturday 12 September

www.kevinsaunderson.com/