Simon Harris (musician)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Simon Harris is a British music producer, DJ, remixer and electronic musician from London predominantly known for his 1988 hit song "Bass (How Low Can You Go?)".[1] He is also the founder of the hip hop label Music of Life and the producer of most of its catalogue of songs.[2]

Harris[3] started as a mobile DJ in the Chigwell, Essex area in 1977 and became known for his mixing. In 1979, he became a DJ at Radio Forest Hospital Radio and promoted disco events featuring Capital Radio DJs. In 1981, Harris met Froggy[4] at one of these events and the two then formed a mixing team which resulted in a succession of releases including the 1987 "Decade Remix" of "You to Me Are Everything" by the Real Thing which became a top 10 UK hit.

Froggy[5] and Harris then decided to launch their own label,[6] Music of Life which was initially distributed by StreetSounds. Then, in 1986, Froggy left and Harris took the direction of Music of Life into hip hop and the label released several early British hip hop tracks by artists including Derek B, the Demon Boyz, Asher D and Daddy Freddy and Einstein but it was the series of breakbeat albums Beats, Breaks and Scratches[7] which included sampled scratches[8] that were released in territories such as Germany and the US. Harris was signed to UK label FFRR[9] by Pete Tong in 1987 with the initial release being Bad on the Mic[10] and remixes for Joyce Sims, Steve "Silk" Hurley, D-Mob feat. Gary Haisman, Sinitta[11] for Simon Cowell's Fanfare label and then also featured in music production magazines describing the sampling technique[12] included on the 1988 FFRR Records album, Bass[13] and numerous radio mixes including Dave Pearce's 'Fresh start to the week' in 1988[14] and covered in UK magazine Hip Hop Connection.[15] In 1992, Harris produced the Ambassadors of Funk[16] with a UK top 10 hit. Harris's association with sampling evolved from vinyl onto the sampling CD[17] in the 1990s and then more recently to digital releases on the Mastermix DJ label,[18] Plus Soda Music in Greece.[19] "Bass (How Low Can You Go?)" was remixed in 2016 by German production team Milk & Sugar.[20] Harris has been involved in many remix projects including the songs "Boogie Nights"[21] and "Gangsters of the Groove" for Heatwave,[22] the first ever official Elvis Presley remix for BMG Rights Management "Bossa Nova Baby",[23] Grace Jones,[24] Prince's No. 1 hit "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" and more recent DJ productions on Traxsource[25] and the ELROW Music release "This Is Serious" with Morrison which was remixed by Dennis Ferrer[26] and featured on the BBC Radio 1 Friday night dance shows.

Discography[edit]

Singles[edit]

Year Single Peak positions Album
UK
[27] 		GER
[28] 		US Dance
[29]
1987 "Bad on the Mike" (featuring 3 Boom MC's)[10] – – – Single only
1988 "Bass (How Low Can You Go)"[30] 12 47 3 Bass![1]
"Here Comes That Sound"[31] 38 – 14
1989 "(I've Got Your) Pleasure Control" (featuring Lonnie Gordon)[32] 60 – 23
"Another Monsterjam" (featuring Einstein)[33] 65 –
1990 "Ragga House (All Night Long)" (featuring Daddy Freddy) 56 – – Disturbing the Peace
"Don't Stop the Music" (featuring Dina Carroll & Monte Luv) 84 – –
"Time" (featuring Leslie Lyrics) – – –
1991 "Louder Than a Shotgun" – – – Back to the Bass[34]
"Summertime" – – –
1992 "Rollin' with the Punches" – – –
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Marshall, Vie (August 1989). "Bass production". Micro Music (Aug/Sep 1989). Music Magazine Archive: 67–69. Retrieved 23 August 2023.
  2. ^ "Simon Harris". MySpace. Retrieved 26 September 2010.[better source needed]
  3. ^ "Simon Harris". metason.net. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Froggy got Britain mixing - DJ History". djhistory.com. 15 September 2022. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  5. ^ "Interview: UK Mixing Pioneer DJ Froggy". daily.redbullmusicacademy.com. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  6. ^ "Simon Harris | Discover music on NTS". NTS Radio. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Simon Harris discography - RYM/Sonemic". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  8. ^ "Mixcloud". www.mixcloud.com. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  9. ^ "FFRR - Music label - RYM/Sonemic". Rate Your Music. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  10. ^ a b A, Mike (10 October 1987). "October 10, 1987: Simon Harris featuring 3 Boom MC's, Heavy D & The Boyz, Bananarama, Glen Goldsmith, Cameo". James Hamilton's Disco Page. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Sinitta – TOTP Rewind – the 80s". TOTP Rewind - the 80s. 17 June 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  12. ^ Marshall, Vie (August 1989). "Mr Bass Man (MIC Aug/Sep 1989)". Micro Music (Aug/Sep 1989): 67–69.
  13. ^ Dam, Nostra (16 December 2020). "Simon Harris". BestMusic80. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Dave Pearce Fresh Start to the Week Feat Simon Harris in Conversation/ In the Mix [Plus a Silver Bullet session] – 11 April 1988 [REMASTERED]". Random Rap Radio. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  15. ^ "Hip Hop Connection #219 (Jan/Feb 2008) – Britcore". Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  16. ^ "Revisiting Nintendo's novelty pop hit". Eurogamer.net. 12 November 2017. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  17. ^ Goodyer, Tim (March 1992). "Criminal Record? (MT Mar 1992)". Music Technology (Mar 1992): 54–59.
  18. ^ "Simon Harris Producer Page". Mastermix. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  19. ^ "Simon Harris - Remixer Producer - Plus Soda Music". plussodamusic.com. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  20. ^ Murray, Robin (9 February 2015). "Premiere: Milk & Sugar vs. Simon Harris - 'Bass (How Low Can You Go)'". Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & Interviews. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  21. ^ "Chilfest". Chilfest. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  22. ^ The Best of Heatwave [Griffin] - Heatwave | Album | AllMusic, retrieved 8 March 2024
  23. ^ "ElvisNews.com - Elvis Presley news magazine - By Fans For Fans". ElvisNews.com. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  24. ^ DjPaulT (14 July 2022). "Foggy". Burning The Ground: DjPaulT's 80's and 90's Remixes. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  25. ^ "Simon Harris - Never B Another -The Remixes". www.traxsource.com. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  26. ^ Farmer, Grahame (23 July 2019). "Dennis Ferrer remixes Simon Harris 'This Is Serious'". Data Transmission. Retrieved 8 March 2024.
  27. ^ "Official Charts Company: Simon Harris". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  28. ^ "Simon Harris – German Chart". charts.de. Retrieved 1 April 2014.[dead link]
  29. ^ "Simon Harris – US Dance Club Songs Chart". Billboard. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  30. ^ "Simon Harris, 'Bass (How Low Can You Go?)'". Washington Post. 24 December 2021. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  31. ^ "A review". www.repeatfanzine.co.uk. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  32. ^ "Lonnie Gordon". StockAitkenWaterman. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  33. ^ "swedishcharts.com - Simon Harris - Another Monsterjam". swedishcharts.com. Retrieved 9 March 2024.
  34. ^ "spanishcharts.com - Discography Simon Harris". spanishcharts.com. Retrieved 9 March 2024.

External links[edit]

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Simon_Harris_(musician)&oldid=1219015202"