Year In Dance 2001 Volume 5 | Top Dance Songs of 2001 - a podcast by Keith a.k.a. K j A M

I know I said I wasn't sure whether or not I was going to get this mix complete, but I sat down yesterday and knocked it out in about an hour.  The problem I knew I was going to have was the Janet Jackson and the Mary J. Blige tunes.  The HQ2 mix for Janet's "Someone To Call My Lover" is not very DJ friendly by any aspect.  No intro and the outro begins to slow down making it useless for beatmixing, much less keying the song with another.  "Family Affair" by MJB is more user-friendly but requires a very specific song to key into, which I knew I didn't have.  So, I just did the easiest thing possible and performed a start/stop on the Janet and managed to beatmix the MJB.  Nothing special, but it works.  From that point on, this thing just flowed flawlessly!  Overall, I'm not only surprised by how well this set came out by I am very pleased as well.  What you have in this final mix is a 2001 house lovers dream come true.  As previously stated, it contains several songs that I couldn't work in the rest of the mixes and several alternative versions from those previously used.

For me, one of the sweet points is "In These Shoes" by Bette Midler.  It's been a while since I listened to these mixes, but it dawned on me that the "Mark" in the "Mark's Heel to Platforms Vocal Mix" is actually Mark Picchiotti.  Probably one his earlier mixes that I never appreciated as much as I do now.  It's a perfect t-dance alternative to Jonathan Peter's big room Sound Factory remix featured earlier.  The other surprise was Warren Clarke's sweet and funky take on J-Lo's "I'm Real".  Obviously, I didn't pay much attention to these back in the day, but they sure are nice additions this go 'round.  In fact, the same can be said for Friburn and Urik's "High Pass Mix" of PSB and Peter Rauhofer's "Break 4 Love".  However, I was disappointed in Crystal Waters' "Come On Down".  I'm not familiar with this version, which is sort of an Alex Gaudino Ibiza structured mix.  I was hoping for the original or the Tamperer mixes which use the "Price is Right" theme for the groove.  Though I'm not familiar with this version, it's decent enough to be included and I thank Eric for that.  I'm still waiting for the used maxi to show up, but couldn't wait any longer to make the mix.  You might also be wondering why I didn't go with the Ralphi Rosario Classic House mix of "And I'm Telling You I'm Not Going".  For one, typical of Rosabel and Ralphi, they used a lot of what I call "dirty beats" back then.  They were uneven and had way too much percussion, resulting in my having to painstakingly go through each beat to ensure they match up.  Frankly, I always thought that the Junior Vasquez mix was way underappreciated anyway, so I went ahead used that take instead.  The end result of that decision is outstanding.  Another song I fondly remember is Junior's bootleg take on the massive Blu Cantrell song "Hit'em Up Style" from that year.  It was never an official release but it was hot!  I want to thank Klaus for that long lost gem.  After checking it out, it was much slower than I remember, so I had to speed it up to fit in with the rest of the mix.  I don't think anyone will mind.

So there you have it.  My take on 2001, the year that was.  I think the next Chrome Edition will go back and focus on some heavy hitters from the 90s before getting on to 2002.  Regardless, that will still be several months away.  For now, I think I'll start working on the next BPM Edition before getting into the Spring Edition.  I'm holding out for a few hopefuls for that mix, but I should be able to get it out by Easter.  I've got a busy week this week and have to make up for lost time from the last.  Thankfully, the rain finally stopped yesterday afternoon and it's shaping up to be a gorgeous Sunday before the rain comes back on Wednesday.  I hope everyone liked this throwback as much as I enjoy...

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