I was 13 years old when I first saw it. 2 turntables and that "beautiful" mixer. It just seemed like the whole world to me at the time: 1980, in Detroit Mich. A factory driven town that produced a style all its own. Especially when it came to music.

In the "D" we did it like no other! "Progressive" was the music of choice, it consisted of any type of music that was dance floor friendly, from Was Not Was' "Wheel me Out" to Roy Ayers "Runnin Away" to The Skatt Bros. "Walk the Night" to D-Train's "You're The One for Me."

Throughout the early 80's being a DJ gained you more "props" than being the Quaterback on the local high school football team. This was still before the term "House Music" was being used. The "D" was the place to be with its backyard parties and local social clubs: Ciabattino, Gables, Bratts, Hardware, Snobbs, Twinz and Comrades to name a few.

To hear this music on a regular basis you had to know or have access to a "Hot DJ" who could make you a tape. The radio had nothing to do with this movement, which to me was part of the appeal.

Out of this era birthed legendary DJ's: The late, Ken Collier, Charles Hicks, Delano Smith, Kevin Dysard, Ray Berry, Alen Easter, and Ron Scott who was one of my mentors.

I was a kid in a candy store playing records with these guys and co-founding Comrades with my boy Marv.

I put down the turntables for a while in college, a move that I will always regret. I didn't get back into it 'till 2000. A visit to the Detroit Electronic Music Festival and checking out Theo Parrish (He "crushed it!") spurred my interest again.

These playlists are mostly from that 2000-2004 time period...

Please enjoy as I share one of my true loves: "M-U-S-I-C deep inside of me, Music!" (D-Train)