Very sad to hear of the passing this week of one of NYC's legendary DJ's and producers Mark Kamins.
In the early 80s, Mark was a resident at the Danceteria, one of the most important New York clubs of the era and a huge influence stylistically and musically on the development of Manchester's Haçienda.
The Big Apple at the time was exploding with creativity, not only in music (Hip Hop, Mutant Disco, No Wave etc) but also in art and dance both down and uptown. Mark tapped into this with his daring DJ sets combining effects, scratching and dubs over a wildly eclectic selection of genres and styles.
Kamins' was a master of the 'NYC style' Dub mix which had such a powerful effect on early to mid 80s dancefloors but remains relatively undiscovered (Dimitri From Paris fantastic Nightdubbin' comp aside). His dub mix of Madonna's first single Everybody was instrumental in breaking the record and indeed it was Mark who first championed Ms Ciccone, handing her demo to Sire Records' supremo Seymour Stein. The rest is history...
Mark is interviewed behind the decks at the Danceteria in this fantastic 1983 documentary for UK music TV show the Tube alongside other NY luminaries including Arthur Baker, Peech Boys and Nona Hendryx. It also includes great footage of the Paradise Garage and the Roxy and a very young Mike Pickering (a Haçienda legend himself) with his band Quando Quango who Mark remixed on several occasions. Both MK and Jellybean remixed Factory Records artists with Mike and Mark being bridges between the Danceteria and the Haç.
And here are a few of those fantastic Kamins productions...
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