A lot can happen in 15 years. In 1991 we knew nothing about Blair, we only had one Bush to contend with, we’d had only one Gulf War, Brucie’s ‘Generation Game’ was as close as it got to ‘Reality TV’, 911 was little more than a twinkle in the neo-conservative eye, Brit-Pop hadn’t arrived and Freddie Mercury (until October at least) could still be found curling and waxing his moustache astride the torso of a young boy. Weird, eh? 1991. That was the year ‘Everything I Do I Do It For You’ was at number one forever. The year the Dead Sea Scrolls were made public for the first time. The year Rod Steiger resigned as president of the Soviet Union. A time when Vic and Bob were still amusing. It was also the year that a new building on Gaunt Street in South London opened its doors for the first time that September – a night that featured a set from former pirate radio jock Jazzy, Paul Oakenfold and a young man called Justin Berkman. Having had enough of the Ministry Of Defence, the British Public embraced a whole new kind of Ministry: not ‘Silly Walks’ this time, but ‘Sound’.
Anyway, enough of the hoo-ha, you know the score. It’s been the most successful musical brand this side of Music For Pleasure and Gatecrasher and it shows no sign of abating. This new release celebrates 15 years of piss-ups, crap dancing, girls talk and practical posing with a whopping 3 discs of user-friendly club tracks that include M People’s ‘Moving On Up’ (Roger S. Gospel Revival Mix), Everything But The Girl’s ‘Driving’ (Masters At Work Dub), S.O.U.L. S.Y.S.T.E.M.’s ‘It’s Gonna Be A Lovely Day’ (Palladium House Anthem I), P.M Dawn’s ‘A Watchers Point Of View (Don’t Cha Think)’ (Todd Terry’s Melody Mix), Armand Van Helden Presents Old School Junkies 2 – The Funk Phenomena (Original Mix), Gus Gus’s ‘David’ (Tim Deluxe Remix), Eric Prydz’s ‘Slammin’, X-Press 2’s ‘AC/DC’ and M.A.N.D.Y. Feat. Booka.
What were you doing at 15? Me? I had one hand in a box of tissues and the other hand clutching a can of Tennants Super that I’d paid someone else to buy. I certainly had nothing to celebrate.