dj.WYSIWYG

I listened to the Friday Night Dance Party religiously back in the 90s, and it was a huge influence on my music tastes as they are now. There were no other stations playing New Wave/Synthpop (or 80s Synth Pop Hits), Hi-Energy/Electronic, Eurodance, Techno and similar dance genres consistently on FM radio. Broadcasting from the city, I felt very fortunate to get reception. You see, I was 20 miles north. Without a digital tuner, it was difficult to get any kind of reception; I became used to static on some days. After discovering Anything Box’s Living in Oblivion, I was hooked.

Their mix segments on those Fridays stood out, and something I gravitated towards naturally. I left on my Sony boombox cassette recorder in hopes that I would get good mixes, some of which I’ve kept and many of which were done by JamminDownJD.

I just discovered this recording, JD’s debut. And I have other mixes of his in my cue. Listen carefully, and you will hear similar techniques to my own.

Notes from JD Himself

Wow. A live mix from probably 22 years ago. I cannot remember that particular Friday night… Awesome times, and I was fortunate to work with great DJs back then.

I notice that I left The Rocketman Rob Austin on the board in tiny Studio B to run the mic and sweepers while I spun some old school new wave/synthpop live on the air on a pair of Technics turntables in Studio A. (I think the turntables belonged to DJ Riff-Raff, aka Rafael Jr. Ruiz.) We had finally figured out how to patch them into the studio– the radio station gear was quite antiquated. Great to hear the old Mark Driscoll imaging again, even though it should not have been applied to me (I never placed myself into the Power Pack).

Shout outs to all of you at the old Energy 88.7, the Power Pack, and Guest DJs. Names I remember include DJ Markski, Brian Clarke, L-Jilla, DJ Mouse and The Rocketman Rob Austin. Big thanks for those outstanding broadcasts, you guys rule!

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