Starting his musical career as a London club DJ at the age of 15 (playing disco/soul/funk/electro until a transition to house music in 1986), Summers became a UK recording artist and studio engineer in 1989 with his involvement on the underground rave track "Meltdown" by Quartz. Following a dispute over ownership and royalties of "Meltdown" between Summers and the other two Quartz members, Summers decided to release his own first solo work "Melt Your Body" - which was moderately based upon "Meltdown", made in retaliation by Summers after the dispute. By January 1990, "Melt Your Body" had outsold "Meltdown" by 3:1, it entered the UK top 100 sales chart, and in recognition of this, Summers was firmly established as a promising new UK dance music producer.
Due to big responses from playing his own tracks whilst DJing, Summers signed a two-single deal with Island Records' offshoot urban dance label 4th & Broadway, in May 1990. The first single "Party Children" just missed the UK top 75,[1] whereas the second single "Summers Magic" climbed up the UK chart to peak at number 27, in January 1991.[1] "Summers Magic" gained instant recognition as the first ever dance track to heavily feature a sample of music from a children's TV theme tune, in this case the BBC's The Magic Roundabout.
The hardcore/breakbeat/techno-driven kids' TV sampling phenomenon of "Summers Magic" seemingly provided inspiration for many other artists, including the Prodigy (also from East London/Essex), with their first single "Charly". Before entering the UK national charts, some rave followers believed "Charly" was possibly the work of Mark Summers and his follow-up to "Summers Magic". The Prodigy's track eventually charted in July 1991, almost 7 months following the ground-breaking "Summers Magic". This style of breakbeat hardcore came to be known as "toytown techno". "Summers Magic" was later to appear in the opening of the 2013 comedy film The World's End (starring Simon Pegg), although it does not appear on the soundtrack album. During 1991–93, Summers produced and remixed tracks mainly in the musical styles first labelled as "hardcore" and "jungle", which later morphed itself into the breakbeat-driven music genre now commonly known as "drum and bass".
Artist productions
Moving on from "rave" and revisiting his preferred style of house music, Summers released six singles on the Hoochie Coochie label (1993–96) with fellow DJs Ben Howard and Dave Malone. During this time, he was hired as a sound engineer to work in the studios of Air Lyndhurst/Chrysalis Music (now Air Studios), co-owned by Beatles producer Sir George Martin. Summers became the head studio producer within less than 3 months. He went on to produce and remix Chrysalis Music artists, and also for the offshoot dance label Tuch Wood/Tuchwood Records, co-owned by DJ-producer Dave Lee (a.k.a. Joey Negro). By the end of 1995, Summers had gained an immense sound production status to add to his post-DJ and dance artist qualifications, including recording and production work with notable artists such as Malcolm McLaren, Mica Paris, Jocelyn Brown, Aphex Twin, Ashley Beedle, X-Press 2, Gabrielle and Kylie Minogue, amongst many others. Summers worked within various (mainly dance) music styles and genres, from R&B to house, trance to drum and bass and even pop and rock, using his extensive DJ experience as the basis for his knowledge and technical skills acquired from Air Studios in different types of music production.
Scorccio Records
Fully inspired by 1970s disco, '80s hip hop and '90s house music, in 1996 Mark Summers launched his own label, Scorccio Records (pronounced "scor-chee-oh"), with releases that combined elements of those three music genres from the past three decades. The first release was the disco rapped "Inferno" - under Mark's pseudonym Souvlaki. "Inferno" reached top 20 in the UK national chart via the PolyGram offshoot label Wonderboy (coincidentally, it was also their first single release), and "Inferno" also appeared on the 1.5 million-selling Ministry of SoundAnnual 2 album mixed by Boy George, becoming a worldwide hit via international licensing. Using the label credit of "Scorccio Remix", the mixing skills and popularity of the "fired-up sound" Mark Summers produced instantly pushed JT Playaz to a UK number 1 dance chart position with "Just Playin", and the follow-up "Let's Get Down". Major label remix work followed, including remixes for Perfecto, Warner Brothers, EMI, Telstar and Universal. Success from the release of over 40 Scorccio tracks and remixes on various dance compilations and singles created a huge fan base for Scorccio, most notably in Japan. Key to success was Mark Summers using up to 10 different pseudonyms for his artist name, one of the most popular and often used being Ultimate Heights. Sony PlayStation 2 and Konami have tracks and remixes by Scorccio featured on their popular Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) console and arcade series of music video games. Dance Dance Revolution Extreme featuring "Highs Off U" by 4 REEEL (produced and mixed by Summers), was the winner of the Video Music Awards in 2005 on MTV for * Best Video Game Soundtrack.[2]
Scorccio Sample Replay Productions
The Scorccio release of "Inferno" in July 1996 originally featured a sample of Dan Hartman's "Relight My Fire", which Summers was told by PolyGram (prior to their release) that the sample either had to be replayed, or that he should pay for the master sample clearance (US$15,000). Avoiding financial loss, Summers decided to replay the sample, the first time he had ever undertaken such a challenge. Summers was determined to make the sample replay as close sounding as possible, and upon first hearing the replayed version PolyGram/Wonderboy believed Summers had simply re-EQ'd the original sample, until he played them all the separate stem parts to prove it had been fully recreated (including a 4 piece string section overdubbed numerous times). Since then, every Scorccio-related release has had replayed and/or revocalled samples.
Quickly establishing the world's first ever 'sample replay' service, in 1996 Mark Summers took his venture into the next stage by working for a large number of major and independent music labels, DJs, producers and recording artists. Ministry of Sound, Defected, Positiva, Universal, Virgin, Sony-BMG (amongst others), soon became regular clients of Scorccio sample replays. In 2004, Positiva released "Lola's Theme" by the Shapeshifters, which featured a Scorccio replay of Johnnie Taylor's "What About My Love". The song went from being hugely popular in clubs to gaining a No. 1 national chart position in the UK, Italy and Germany, followed by a No. 1 spot on the U.S. Hot Airplay Charts. The following year (2005) saw Michael Gray's "The Weekend" reach No. 7 in the UK and No. 1 in Italy, featuring distinctive keyboard riffs played by Summers (initially based upon a re-edited 1980s electro track). Other notable replays have included: "People Hold On", "Blue Monday", "Love to Love You Baby", "Love Sensation", and "One More Time".
In 2009, Summers replayed "Street Player" (originally by Chicago) for the U.S. Billboard No. 2 hit "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)" by Pitbull. The Scorccio replay of "Street Player" has since become the most successful usage of any sample replay in history, due to the number of sales and media plays of the Pitbull song worldwide. With over 400 million hits to date on YouTube, the song is now ranked as the third most viewed electronic dance music video in history.[citation needed] Another successful sample recreation in September 2010 was produced by Summers for the U.S. Hot Dance 100 No. 1 artist Duck Sauce, with "Barbra Streisand" featuring a Scorccio sample replay of the 1979 Boney M song "Gotta Go Home". The song reached No. 1 in dance charts worldwide.
Summers replayed four samples on the album The Day Is My Enemy by English electronic music group the Prodigy, two decades after both Summers and the Prodigy had first appeared on the UK rave scene. The album was released on 30 March 2015 and immediately charted at number one in the UK, officially certified by the BPI with a gold disc for sales in excess of 200,000 copies. It was released by Three Six Zero Music/Warner Bros. Records in the United States.
"One Last Song" from the album The Thrill of It All by English singer Sam Smith features Mark Summers' recreation of "Be a Lion" on the intro and throughout "One Last Song". The original recording is a track from The Wiz (1978), produced by Quincy Jones and featuring the vocals of both Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.
Summers was guest speaker on panel discussions at the New Music Seminar in New York, June 2015.
By October 2022, Summers had produced over 4,000 sample replays for Scorccio. During the previous years, 4 tracks featuring his production works had reached number 1 on Beatport's Top 100 chart; Fatboy Slim's "Praise You" (Purple Disco Machine Remix), Roberto Surace's "Joys", Matt Sassari's "Put a Record On" and Martin Ikin's "Hooked".
His replay production of vocals and instrumentation from Rick James's 1981 single "Super Freak" featured on Nicki Minaj's "Super Freaky Girl" debuted at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, number 1 on US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and number 1 on UK Hip Hop/R&B (OCC) during August/September, 2022.
Due to his vast number of successful productions spanning over 25 years, Mark Summers is now widely recognised by the music industry as one of the most prolific and most important contributors to dance music throughout the world.[3][4]
2001: "It Only Takes a Minute" - Tavares: (Toshiba-EMI, Japan)
2002: "As Long As I Got U" - Unknown: (Z Records)
2002: "Living on a Love" - WTP: (Scorccio)
2003: "Rhythm Is a Dancer" - Snap: (Ministry of Sound, Germany)
Video games
Scorccio has two songs which appear in the Dance Dance Revolution arcade series. In addition, the song "Total Recall" was to be included in Dance Dance Revolution 3rdMix Plus, but the song never appeared in the series. It is available in beatmania 5thMix and newer, and in beatmania III, but not in beatmania IIDX.
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric piano, synthesizers, and electric rhythm guitars.
The Trammps are an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands.
Telstar Records was a British record label that operated from 1982 to 2004.
Disco Inferno were an English experimental rock band active in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Initially a trio of guitar, bass, and drums performing in an identifiable post-punk style, the band soon pioneered a dynamic use of digital sampling in addition to standard rock instruments. While commercially unsuccessful during their existence, the band is considered to be a key post-rock act.
The Sylvers were an American R&B family vocal group from Watts, Los Angeles, California. The Sylvers were a popular act during the 1970s, recording the hit singles "Fool's Paradise", "Boogie Fever", and "Hot Line". Prior to becoming the Sylvers, the four eldest members recorded as the Little Angels, appearing on shows such as You Bet Your Life and Make Room for Daddy, and opening for such acts as Johnny Mathis and Ray Charles. During this time, they released two singles: "Santa Claus Parade" b/w "I'll Be a Little Angel" on Warwick Records and "Says You" b/w "Olympia" on Capitol Records.
Loleatta Holloway was an American singer known for disco songs such as "Hit and Run" and "Love Sensation". In December 2016, Billboard named her the 95th-most successful dance artist of all time. According to the Independent, Holloway is the most sampled female singer in popular music, used in house and dance tracks such as the 1989 Black Box single "Ride on Time".
Klubbheads is a team of dance music producers and DJs from the Netherlands. They have more than 40 aliases for their recordings, including Hi_Tack, DJ Disco and Drunkenmunky.
Euphoria is a series of dance music compilations that debuted on the Telstar Records label in early 1999. During the first year, Euphoria focused primarily on trance music until mid-2000 when Euphoria released the first chill-out album in the series and the first hard house album in late 2000. Euphoria was later spun off into a number of associated club nights around the UK, Ibiza and Cyprus. Over the course of three years, in excess of 500 tour dates were chalked up with tour DJs such as Adam White, Robert Van Ryn, Simon Webdale and Darren James. The compilations included box sets usually priced at around £20.00. The Euphoria albums were of high quality and still are highly collectible and the earlier versions are somewhat rare.
Interface is an electronic music group based on Long Island, New York. It was founded in 1993 by Eric Eldredge. Its career has been lined with a steady output of songs and dance remixes for other artists and several lineup shifts. Each of its three albums to date display a blend of various styles of electronic music, most notably trance, synthpop, electro-industrial and aggrotech, with a strong sense of melody and songwriting.
"Borderline" is a song by British producer Michael Gray featuring Shelly Poole of Alisha's Attic. It was released in August 2006 as Gray's second single. While "Borderline" failed to match the success of its predecessor, "The Weekend", it entered the top 50 on various record charts, including those of Australia, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
"Disco Inferno" is a song by American disco band the Trammps from their 1976 fourth studio album of the same name. With two other cuts by the group, it reached No. 1 on the US Billboard Dance Club Songs chart in early 1977, but had limited mainstream success until 1978, after being included on the soundtrack to the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever, when a re-release hit number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
"Love Sensation" is a 1980 song performed by American R&B singer Loleatta Holloway, taken from her album of the same name. The song was produced and written by Dan Hartman, arranged by Norman Harris, and mixed by Tom Moulton. It was a hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play chart, where the song spent a week at No. 1 in September 1980. It was widely sampled, particularly in house music, such as in the 1989 Black Box song "Ride on Time".
"Hoochie Coochie Man" is a blues standard written by Willie Dixon and first recorded by Muddy Waters in 1954. The song makes reference to hoodoo folk magic elements and makes novel use of a stop-time musical arrangement. It became one of Waters' most popular and identifiable songs and helped secure Dixon's role as Chess Records' chief songwriter.
Minimalistix was a progressive trance music project from Belgium, consisting of members Dave Lambrechts, Janus De Decker, Johan Casters, Peter Bellaert and Steve Sidewinder Poison Ivy voice and performance on stage and existing from 2000 to 2010.
Nu-disco is a 21st-century dance music genre associated with a renewed interest in the late 1970s disco, synthesizer-heavy 1980s European dance music styles, and early 1990s electronic dance music. The genre was popular in the early 2000s, and experienced a mild resurgence in the 2010s.
The Last Dance is the fourth EP and seventh overall release by English post-rock and experimental rock band Disco Inferno. The EP was the band's third release to develop their innovative production and sample-based approach. After initially recording sessions for the EP with their original producer Charlie McIntosh, the band's label Rough Trade Records were unsatisfied with the sessions and instead the band worked with a new producer, Michael Johnson, famous for his work with New Order. His production ethic included a period of pre-production, the first time the band had used this process.
Big beat is an electronic music genre that usually uses heavy breakbeats and synthesizer-generated loops and patterns – common to acid house/techno. The term has been used by the British music industry to describe music by artists such as The Prodigy, the Chemical Brothers, Fatboy Slim, the Crystal Method, Propellerheads, Basement Jaxx and Groove Armada.
Number One is the first full-length studio album released by the British singer Billie Godfrey, in 2001. Godfrey sings entirely in Japanese despite not being a native Japanese speaker - something no other western artist has so far achieved. It was released in Japan but also sold in the UK and US as an import. The concept for the album was conceived and produced by Mark Summers for his music label Scorccio Records. His vision was to produce Pop and R&B songs for the Japanese market, to be sung in Japanese - but sung by a native English vocalist. The English written songs were all translated into Japanese by musician Emiko Kawakami, following this Summers and Godfrey booked 5 days at a West London studio to record all the vocals for the album. Within the first hour of recording, it soon became apparent how difficult it was for anyone non-Japanese to read the translated text and sing it fluently. Mark Summers then quickly devised a phonetic technique for Billie Godfrey - to be able to sing as if she was fluent in Japanese, which most listeners in Japan believed she truly was.
Pushing On is a dance single from German record producer Oliver $ and Swiss record producer Jimi Jules. It contains a sample of "Pushin' On" by the Quantic Soul Orchestra and originally contained a sample of "Williams' Blood " by Grace Jones, which was subsequently replayed by Mark Summers at Scorccio Sample Replays, recreating all instrumental elements of the sample. It peaked at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was credited as the second most Shazamed track in Ibiza for 2014, having been frequently dropped by DJs in festival season. It also featured on the Xbox 360/One game Forza Horizon 2 on the in-game radio station "Horizon Bass Arena".
The Day Is My Enemy is the sixth studio album by English electronic music group the Prodigy. It was released on 30 March 2015 by record labels Take Me to the Hospital/Cooking Vinyl in the UK and Three Six Zero Music/Warner Bros. Records in the United States.
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