Simon Harris (born 28 November 1962) is a DJ, producer, remixer and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means (electroac ...

ian predominantly known as the founder of the hip hop record label

Music of Life Music of Life is a British independent hip hop and dance music label formed in 1986 by two influential DJ remixers Froggy and Simon Harris, managed by Chris France. Following several successful productions, one of which reached No. 3 in the ...

and producer of most of its catalogue of songs. Originally from London, Harris is a producer of

sample-based Sample-based synthesis is a form of audio synthesis that can be contrasted to either subtractive synthesis or additive synthesis. The principal difference with sample-based synthesis is that the seed waveforms are sampled sounds or instruments ...

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that tends to use drum breaks sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as hip hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat hardcore, and UK g ...

and

house music House is a music genre characterized by a repetitive Four on the floor (music), four-on-the-floor beat and a typical tempo of 120 beats per minute. It was created by Disc jockey, DJs and music producers from Chicago metropolitan area, Chicago' ...

. As a remixer,

music label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produc ...

owner, and producer, Harris has worked with

Pete Tong Peter Michael Tong, (born 30 July 1960) is an English disc jockey who works for BBC Radio 1. He is the host of programmes such as ''Essential Mix'' and '' Essential Selection'' on the radio service, which can be heard through Internet radio str ...

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

, James Brown, Prince,

Joyce Sims Joyce Elizabeth Sims-Sandiford (August 6, 1959 – October 13, 2022) was an American singer and songwriter, whose biggest hit single, " Come into My Life", reached the top 10 in both the US ''Billboard'' R&B Chart and the UK Singles Chart in 19 ...

, Fatboy Slim, Paul Oakenfold, Tony! Toni! Toné!, War, Arthur Baker,

Boyz II Men Boyz II Men (pronounced ''boys to men''), also known as B2M, is an American vocal harmony group from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, best known for emotional ballads and a cappella harmonies. They are currently a trio composed of baritone Nathan ...

Heatwave A heat wave, or heatwave, is a period of excessively hot weather, which may be accompanied by high humidity, especially in oceanic climate countries. While definitions vary, a heat wave is usually measured relative to the usual climate in the ...

, as well as Steve "Silk" Hurley. Originally a DJ, Harris started selling professional audio equipment in London's

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road tu ...

, then became a club promoter. In 1983, Harris was invited to become one of the original remixers for Tony Prince's DMC (now the world's largest DJ association). Harris then joined forces with the late

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

DJ Froggy Steven Howlett (8 November 1950 – 28 March 2008), aka DJ Froggy, was an English DJ who worked as a 'beatmixer DJ' on the British club music scene in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He was a member of the ''Soul Mafia'' group of DJs which included ...

(1949–2008) and produced remixes for major labels including Polydor (James Brown,

Roy Ayers Roy Ayers (born September 10, 1940) is an American funk, soul, and jazz composer, vibraphone player, and music producer. Ayers began his career as a post-bop jazz artist, releasing several albums with Atlantic Records, before his tenure at ...

Chrysalis A pupa ( la, pupa, "doll"; plural: ''pupae'') is the life stage of some insects undergoing transformation between immature and mature stages. Insects that go through a pupal stage are holometabolous: they go through four distinct stages in their ...

(

Doug E. Fresh Doug E. Fresh (born September 17, 1966) is a Barbados-born American rapper, record producer, and beatboxer, also known as the "Human Beat Box". The pioneer of 20th-century American beatboxing, Fresh is able to accurately imitate drum machines an ...

), A&M (

Jeffrey Osborne Jeffrey Linton Osborne (born March 9, 1948) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and lyricist. He is the former drummer and lead singer of the American R&B/soul group L.T.D., with whom he began his musical career in 1970. Biography Earl ...

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...

, BMG,

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region i ...

, Island, London and eventually PRT for The Real Thing's "

You to Me Are Everything In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

" remix (UK number three pop hit). In 1986, Harris and Froggy started their own independent label 'Music of Life'. The label was initially distributed by Morgan Khan's 'Streetwave' group and the first releases were from

Cerrone Marc Cerrone Daryl Easlea, "Supernature Boy", ''Record Collector'', #502, February 2020, pp.60-63 (, ; born 24 May 1952) is a French disco drummer, composer, record producer and creator of concert shows. Cerrone is a producer of 1970s and 1980 ...

(" Supernature") and La Toya Jackson. Within a short time, Froggy left to pursue other projects and Music of Life became one of the UK's first rap/hip-hop labels, initially licensing US products, and then with Harris producing many British rap artists including

Derek B Derek Boland (15 January 1965 – 15 November 2009), better known by his stage name Derek B, was a British rapper. His most commercially successful releases were "Goodgroove" and "Bad Young Brother" in 1988. Biography Born in Hammersmith, Lond ...

(the label's A&R executive), followed by

Daddy Freddy S. Frederick Small (born 1965), better known as Daddy Freddy, is a Jamaican ragga vocalist. Early life Small was born in Kingston, Jamaica, and grew up in the city's Trenchtown district.Huey, SteveDaddy Freddy Biography", Allmusic, retrieved ...

MC Duke MC Duke (later just Duke) was a British hip hop, British rapper from the East End of London, who recorded with DJ Leader 1. He was one of the pioneers of the early British hardcore sound and later went on to record as IC3. Biography Duke began hi ...

, Tenor Fly, Hijack,

Demon Boyz The Demon Boyz were an English hip hop group formed in London by Demon D, Mike J and DJ Devastate. They began rapping whilst in their early teens, performing at the Rebel MC’s Beat Freak gigs. Their big break came when they won a competition on ...

(Million Dan), and Einstein. Sister label 'Living Beat' releases include

Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from East London. She rose to public attention aged 16, when her mother entered her photographs in an amateur modelling contest run by ''The Sunday Peopl ...

(''

A Song for Europe A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes'' ...

''), Rolf Harris (

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 193 ...

Dina Carroll Geraldine Carroll (born 21 August 1968) is an English singer. She had a string of hits during the 1990s, including the UK top ten singles, " It's Too Late" (1991), " Don't Be a Stranger" (1993), " The Perfect Year", (1993), and " Escaping" (19 ...

Jocelyn Brown Jocelyn Lorette Brown (born November 25, 1950), sometimes credited as Jocelyn Shaw, is an American R&B and dance singer. Although she has only one ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart entry solely in her name, she has an extensive background in the musi ...

and

. Also, via Germany's Edel Group, Harris remixed " The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Prince. Harris has produced many breakbeat albums designed for DJs and producers, including ''Beats, Breaks and Scratches'' in 12 volumes. Other artists who produced similar albums for Music of Life include Paul Oakenfold, George Clinton and

Norman Cook Norman Quentin Cook (born Quentin Leo Cook, 31 July 1963), also known by his stage name Fatboy Slim, is an English musician, DJ, and record producer who helped to popularise the big beat genre in the 1990s. In the 1980s, Cook was the bassist ...

. Harris continued to remix and produce for many artists. Simon Cowell commissioned him to remix

Sinitta Sinitta Malone (born 19 October 1963), known mononymously as Sinitta, is an American-born British singer, actress and television personality. She initially found commercial success in the mid-1980s with the single "So Macho" and had several ot ...

's "Window Shopping" for his Fanfare label, and shortly thereafter,

(BBC Radio 1) signed Harris as an artist to his Polygram

FFRR FFRR Records (sometimes credited as Full Frequency Range Recordings) is a dance music label previously run and founded by English DJ Pete Tong. Originally the dance music label of London Records, FFRR is currently a sublabel of Parlophone, ...

label. The first release was a rap version of

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the " King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over ...

's " Bad" ("Bad on the Mike"). This was followed by "Bass (How Low Can You Go?)", which achieved U.S. ''Billboard'' Dance number one status. FFRR released Harris's ''Bass'' album next followed by more singles including

Marshall Jefferson Marshall Julius Jefferson (born September 19, 1959) is an American musician, working in the house music subgenres of Chicago house and deep house. Biography Sometimes known as the father of house music, Jefferson was originally a record produce ...

's "(I've Got Your) Pleasure Control" (with

Lonnie Gordon Lonnie Gordon (born November 8, 1965, Philadelphia) is an American female dance, pop and R&B singer and songwriter. She scored several chart hits during the 1990s, most notably for her 1990 UK top 10 single '' Happenin' All Over Again''. Ear ...

) and "Here Comes That Sound". In 2022 Harris is involved in a benefit single project (a cover version of 'War' - What is it good for?) to raise money for refugees affected by the war in Ukraine.

Summary

* Producer and performer of ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' number one hit "Bass (How Low Can You Go?)". * Founder of British hip hop label

with hundreds of productions involving new British, US and Jamaican rap and reggae artists, released in over 70 countries. Music of Life was founded in 1986 with vinyl single and album releases followed by CD releases. *

Remixer A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

for many artists and music companies and commissioned by

for

remix, projects with Norman Cook ( Fatboy Slim), Arthur Baker, War, James Brown, George Clinton, the first Elvis Presley dance mix ("Bossa Nova Baby" on RCA), Tony! Toni! Toné! and for Prince's "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World". * Produced fusion of reggae and hip hop with Asher D and

, "Ragamuffin Hip Hop" in 1987 with the initial release on US label

Profile Profile or profiles may refer to: Art, entertainment and media Music * ''Profile'' (Jan Akkerman album), 1973 * ''Profile'' (Githead album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Pat Donohue album), 2005 * ''Profile'' (Duke Pearson album), 1959 * '' ''Profi ...

(

Run DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history ...

) followed by

. * Guest speaker and judge at dance music seminars and conventions including DMC world DJ championships. * Producer of ''Beats Breaks and Scratches'' series of albums –

and sample album series. * DJ/demonstrator of

JBL JBL is an American audio equipment manufacturer headquartered in Los Angeles, California, United States. JBL serves the customer home and professional market. The professional market includes studios, installed/tour/portable sound, cars, music ...

speaker systems at London's APRS (association of professional recording studios). * Work featured by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

and other British broadcasters.

Recent career

Harris has sustained a 30+-year production career. His work is varied and has included music video (Daddy Freddy, Joyce Sims), radio and TV commercial production (

KISS-FM KISS-FM (99.5 MHz) is a commercial radio station in San Antonio, Texas. It airs an mainstream rock format and is owned by Cox Media Group. The studios and offices are located on Datapoint Drive in Northwest San Antonio near the South Texas ...

CD WOW! WOW HD is an online store that mainly sells physical copies of pre-recorded music and videos. History Under its previous name, CD WOW!, the retailer began operating in the UK in 2000, offering CDs and DVDs at lower prices than the high street. ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlan ...

) and several TV documentaries including Run-D.M.C. (''Kings of Rap'', broadcast on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

in the US) and ''REM!X'' (featuring Frankie Knuckles,

David Morales David Morales (; born August 21, 1962) is an American disc jockey (DJ) and record producer. In addition to his production and DJ work, Morales is also a remixer. David Morales has remixed and produced over 500 releases for artists including ...

Jason Nevins Jason Nevins (born December 15, 1972) is an American songwriter, record producer and remixer, who is most widely known for his pop and dance productions, including his multi-platinum, multi-million selling production of " It's Like That" by Ameri ...

, Arthur Baker, Norman Cook, Paul Oakenfold and more).

Discography

Singles

References

External links

Simon Harris website

Simon Harris at Discogs

Simon Harris new blog site 2010
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Simon 1962 births Living people English DJs English record producers English electronic musicians British hip hop record producers Breakbeat musicians Musicians from London Remixers DJs from London Electronic dance music DJs FFRR Records artists