Biography
Eddie Fowlkes was born on December 24, 1962, in Detroit, Michigan. [2] [3] After attending a 1978 Charivari party with his older sisters where he saw DJ Darryl Shannon mixing records, Fowlkes requested a mixer for Christmas and then made his DJ debut in the late 70s. [4] He was part of Juan Atkins's Deep Space DJ collective which included Art Payne, Keith Martin, and Derrick May who was also Fowlkes's roommate. [5] [6] [7] In the 1980s, Fowlkes performed with three turntables, a mixer, wah-wah pedal and the 808 & 909 drum machines.
Kevin Saunderson said that seeing Fowlkes DJ at a fraternity party inspired him to get involved in the Deep Space Crew and become a better DJ.
After hearing a Cybotron performance, Fowlkes moved from being interested solely in DJing to creating his own records. Borrowing equipment from Atkins, he trained his ear and taught himself to play the keyboard over a couple of months. [5] While Fowlkes and May were roommates, Fowlkes built his studio in his bedroom and started working on his first record. [9] His first release under his own name was issued in 1986. That release on Metroplex Records, "Goodbye Kiss", [10] helped establish what would come to be known as Detroit techno. [5]
With the 1991 M.I.D release of Detroit techno soul, Fowlkes introduced the concept of Techno soul because "Detroit ... is both house heads and techno heads." [6] Then followed the 1993 Tresor release The Birth of Technosoul, with 3MB (Moritz von Oswald and Thomas Fehlmann). [2]
Eddie Fowlkes's handprints are cemented on the Detroit Historical Museum's Legends Plaza as a techno music pioneer. [11]
Jeff Mills is an American DJ, record producer, and composer. Thanks to his technical abilities as a DJ, Mills became known as The Wizard in the early to mid 1980s. In the late 1980s Mills founded the techno collective Underground Resistance with fellow Detroit techno producers 'Mad' Mike Banks and Robert Hood but left the group to pursue a career as a solo artist in the early 90s. Mills founded Axis Records in 1992. The label is based in Chicago, Illinois and is responsible for the release of much of his solo work.
Tresor is an underground techno nightclub in Berlin and a record label.
Joey Beltram is an American DJ and music producer, best known for his pioneering singles "Energy Flash" and "Mentasm" and for remixing Human Resource's "Dominator".
Detroit techno is a type of techno music that generally includes the first techno productions by Detroit-based artists during the 1980s and early 1990s. Prominent Detroit techno artists include Juan Atkins, Eddie Fowlkes, Derrick May, Jeff Mills, Kevin Saunderson, Blake Baxter, Drexciya, Mike Banks, and Robert Hood.
Juan Atkins, also known as Model 500 and Infiniti, is an American record producer and DJ from Detroit, Michigan. Mixmag has described him as "the original pioneer of Detroit techno." He has been a member of The Belleville Three, Cybotron, and Borderland.
Derrick May, also known as Mayday and Rhythim Is Rhythim, is an electronic musician from Belleville, Michigan, United States. May is credited with pioneering techno music in the 1980s along with collaborators Juan Atkins and Kevin Saunderson, commonly known as the Belleville Three.
Dave Angel is an English techno musician. Angel was born in Chelsea, London, England. He is the son of a London-based jazz musician, and the elder brother of rapper Monie Love. He had an unorthodox musical education; his father influenced him deeply, as did his friends and his environment, including the radio. He listened not only to Miles Davis and Charlie Parker, but also to soul music and funk. Even though he was playing instruments at 14 years old, including percussion, his musical development was not easy or straightforward.
Moritz von Oswald is a German record producer and percussionist from Hamburg. He is based in Berlin. He is a co-founder of the production duo and record label Basic Channel. He has collaborated with Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, and Nils Petter Molvær. The Stranger called him "one of the master architects of dub techno".
Metroplex is an American techno record label in Detroit, Michigan, United States, founded in 1985 by techno pioneer Juan Atkins. Juan Atkins did most of his work for the label under the pseudonyms Model 500 and Infiniti, and will occasionally use such names for live acts.
Robert Hood is an American electronic music producer and DJ. He is a founding member of group Underground Resistance as a 'Minister of Information' with Mad Mike Banks and Jeff Mills. He is often considered to be one of the founders of minimal techno. In 1994, Hood founded the minimal techno label M-Plant in Detroit.
"All That I Need Is to Be Loved" is a song by American multi-genre musician Moby. It was first featured on the 1993 EP Move as "All That I Need Is to Be Loved (MV)" and was later released as a 12" vinyl single. The song "Where You End" from Hotel (2005) contains a sample from this.
The Belleville Three are musicians – Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson – credited with inventing the musical style known as Detroit techno.
Blake Baxter is an American techno musician, associated with the first wave of Detroit techno. AllMusic called him "perhaps the most underrated figure" of the early Detroit techno scene.
430 West Records is an independent record label based in Detroit, Michigan, United States, formed in 1990 by Lawrence Burden, Lenny Burden, and Lynell Burden, just months after recording their debut record for Derrick Mays' Transmat label. 430 West was formed as an outlet for the Burden Brothers' own productions. Later it was expanded to be the home for releases by electronic music artists Jay Denham, Terrence Parker, Eddie Fowlkes, Aux 88, Wild Planet, and Gerald Mitchell, among others. In 1998, 430 West also became the musical home for the trio's youngest brothers, Lance Burden and Lorne Burden.
Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time (4/4) and often characterized by a repetitive four on the floor beat. Artists may use electronic instruments such as drum machines, sequencers, and synthesizers, as well as digital audio workstations. Drum machines from the 1980s such as Roland's TR-808 and TR-909 are highly prized, and software emulations of such retro instruments are popular.
Deep Heat 5 – Feed The Fever is a continuation of Telstar Records' Deep Heat compilation series released in February 1990. Containing 32 dance tracks, it continued the series' success, reaching #1 on the Compilations Chart and being awarded a UK Gold Disc for album sales in excess of 100,000 copies. As with the rest of the series, the album features dance music styles of the time including techno, acid house and hip house.
Kelley Hand, known professionally as Kelli Hand and K-HAND, was a musician and DJ from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Hand was widely credited with opening the door for Black women's participation in the previously male-dominated techno and electronic music communities during the 1990s and was known as the "First Lady of Detroit techno". A prolific DJ with an "impossibly deep catalogue", Hand continued to produce and perform music up until her death in 2021.
Alan D. Oldham sometimes performing as DJ T-1000, is an American techno DJ, producer, label owner, graphic artist, and painter.
Techno! The New Dance Sound of Detroit is a 1988 compilation of early Detroit techno tracks released on the Virgin Records UK imprint 10 Records. The compilation's title helped establish the term "techno" as the name for electronic dance music emerging out of Detroit in the 1980s.
"No UFO's" is a 1985 techno song by Juan Atkins under the alias of Model 500. It was released on Atkins own label Metroplex. The song was the first track released after the split of Atkins' previous group Cybotron. The music followed similar themes of the previous group with science fiction and alienation but featured less of a song structure than Cybotron's music leading the track to be often identified as one of the earliest techno songs.
