Herbie Laidley, better known as Mastermind Herbie, is a DJ and

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

who has worked under a variety of

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s, including The Rapologists and Mastermind. He was also a founder of Mastermind Roadshow - a sound system also featuring

Kiss FM Kiss FM, Kiss Radio or variants may refer to: Asia-Oceania * Various Kiss FM-branded stations in the Philippines ** 95.1 Kiss FM, Lucena, Quezon ** 102.3 Kiss FM, Tagbilaran, Bohol * Kiss92 FM, Singapore * KISS 969, Sri Lanka * Kiss Radio Taiwan ...

DJ's Dave VJ and Max LX and others which formed in

Harlesden Harlesden is a district in the London Borough of Brent, North West London. Located north of the Grand Union Canal and Wormwood Scrubs, the Harrow Road flows through the centre of the area which goes eastwards to Central London and west towards ...

. He is most famous for mixing the '' Street Sounds'' collections of early electro, as well as for a variety of remixes over the years. In 1983, Herbie was mixing the seminal ''

Street Sounds Electro 1 ''Street Sounds Electro 1'' is the first compilation album in a series released 1983 on the StreetSounds label. The album was released on LP and cassette and contains eight electro and old school hip hop Old-school hip hop (also spelled old ...

'' (Street Sounds, 1983), for label owner

Morgan Khan StreetSounds is a British compilation record label, that specialised in urban and electronic club/dance music during the mid-1980s. StreetSounds was an offshoot of producer and promoter Morgan Khan's StreetWave label. The first StreetSounds re ...

. It was one of the first releases to bring this new style of music to British ears, and spawned a successful series - ten volumes were released by the time of the final volume ''Street Sounds 10'' (Street Sounds, 1985) - and several similarly styled associated collections (Street Sounds Hip Hop Electro, Street Sounds Hip Hop, Street Sounds Crucial Electro). Khan was brought a track produced by Greg Wilson, "Style of the Street" by Broken Glass, which Khan appreciated so much he decided to put out an album called ''

Street Sounds UK Electro ''Street Sounds UK Electro'' is the one and only release of UK based artists from the StreetSounds label. The album was released on LP and cassette in 1984 and contains seven electro and old school hip hop tracks mixed by DJ Mastermind. Althoug ...

'' (Street Sounds, 1984). In order to create the impression of a thriving UK electro scene, Khan asked Greg and his group to come up with six tracks under a variety of pseudonyms for the album, whilst Herbie also created a track for the album - "Hip Hop Beat (Street Mix)", under the pseudonym of The Rapologists. The album reached number 60 on the UK charts, and Herbie's tune was also released as a single - "Hip Hop Beat" (Billy Boy Records, 1984) - featuring scratches from Whiz Kid. Herbie went on to produce a remix of "White Lines" for

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were an American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1978. The group's members were Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel, Kidd Creole (not to be confused with Kid Creole), Keef Cowboy, Sc ...

which was released as a single and on the album ''Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five'' (

Sugar Hill Records Sugar Hill Records is an American bluegrass and Americana record label. It was founded in Durham, North Carolina in 1978 by Barry Poss and David Freeman, the owner of County Records and Rebel Records. Poss acquired full control of Sugar Hil ...

, 1984), as well as remixes/production for artists including Loose Ends, Harlequin 4, Numarx,

DJ Jazzy Jeff Jeffrey Allen Townes (born January 22, 1965), known professionally as DJ Jazzy Jeff (or simply Jazz), is an American disc jockey (DJ) and music producer. He was a member of DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince with Will Smith. He is credited, alon ...

and the Fresh Prince,

Cookie Crew Cookie Crew were a rap music duo formed in Clapham, South London in 1983. Career Their career took off after winning a national rap championship and recording two sessions for the John Peel BBC Radio 1 show. They gained a recording contract f ...

and

Neneh Cherry Neneh Mariann Karlsson (born 10 March 1964), better known as Neneh Cherry, is a Swedish singer-songwriter, rapper, occasional DJ and broadcaster. Her musical career started in London in the early 1980s, where she performed in a number of punk roc ...

. Following his co-production of the Neneh Cherry single "

Buddy X "Buddy X" is a song by Swedish musician Neneh Cherry, released as the third and final single from her second album, '' Homebrew'' (1992). It was a top 40 hit in both the Netherlands and the United Kingdom in 1993, peaking at numbers 23 and 35, r ...

" (Circa Records, 1993), Herbie resides in London.

References

External links

Mastermind Herbie
at

Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbie The Mastermind English DJs English electronic musicians English record producers British hip hop DJs English electro musicians Living people Electronic dance music DJs Year of birth missing (living people)