Tony Humphries is an American electronic musician and DJ. He was one of the earliest proponents of house music and has been instrumental in spreading the genre on both sides of the Atlantic.
Humphries' work encompasses studio production and remixes, radio slots on WRKS 98.7 Kiss FM and
Hot 97
WQHT (97.1 FM, ''Hot 97'') is a commercial radio station, licensed to New York, New York, which broadcasts an urban contemporary music format. The station is owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared ser ...
, and DJ residencies at clubs including Club Zanzibar (
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Ministry of Sound in London, UK.
Early life
Born in Brooklyn in 1957, Tony Humphries began collecting records at age ten. Humphries' passion for music was encouraged from a very early age. His father, Rene, had emigrated from Colombia some years earlier, before going on to lead the New York Combo. Rene "El Grande Combo" Humphries, as he was known, performed alongside salsa performers including
Tito Puente
Ernest Anthony Puente Jr. (April 20, 1923 – June 1, 2000), commonly known as Tito Puente, was an American musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer of Puerto Rican descent. He is best known for dance-oriented mambo and Latin jazz ...
.
The
Zanzibar
Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islan ...
years
Humphries began DJing at college and got his first professional gig in 1981 at the then-new New York station KISS-FM following a chance encounter with Shep Pettibone. His big break was in 1982, when he was asked by Shep Pettibone to fill in for a mix show on WRKS 98.7 Kiss-FM] in New York. Soon afterward, he was a regular contributor of the station's mastermixes—extended and remixed versions of popular songs—a process that had been pioneered on the station earlier by Pettibone. During most of the 1980s until 1994, Humphries had a mix show that aired on Kiss-FM every Friday and Saturday night.
In 1982, Humphries got a residency at the Club Zanzibar, in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Larry Levan, are considered to be the main driving forces behind the creation of garage house music.
Europe
By the late 1980s, bootleg tapes of Humphries's Kiss-FM radio shows had begun to make their way across the Atlantic.
Alex Patterson
Alex Paterson (also known as Dr Alex Paterson, born Duncan Alexander Robert Paterson; 15 October 1959 in Battersea, London) is an English musician and co-founder of ambient house group The Orb, in which he has worked since its inception.
Lif ...
from ambienthouse group The Orb was one such early disciple; "hearing proper DJs like Tony Humphries, that's what really got me into house music."
Humphries's earliest UK appearances were at club nights in London, such as
Danny Rampling
Danny Rampling (born 15 July 1961) is an English house music DJ and is widely credited as one of the original founders of the UK's rave/club scene.
His long career began in the early 1980s playing hip-hop, soul and funk around numerous bars an ...
Dingwalls
Dingwalls was a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden, London, England. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, ...
.
In the 1990s, as
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...
grew in popularity in the UK and throughout Europe, Humphries was given a residency at the London superclub Ministry of Sound. He also recorded for the Ministry of Sound label and launched the Ministry of Sound Sessions series.
Humphries plays regularly at Ibiza clubs such as Pacha. He also appears regularly on Kings of House tours alongside David Morales and "Little" Louie Vega.
Studio work
Humphries has a large back catalogue of studio production work;
remixes
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 ...
spanning a broad number of styles from artists make up the bulk of this output.
Humphries has produced many DJ mixes and compilations. These include his work for Ministry of Sound, London's Fabric, Strictly Rhythm, DMC, and, returning to his roots, his Zanzibar Classics compilations. A notable compilation titled ''Tony Humphries Choice: A Collection Of Club Zanzibar Classics'' was released on Azuli Records in 2003, and includes classics like "Take Me Home" by Cher and " Are You For Real" by Deodato featuring Camille.
Selected mix compilations
* 1993 '' Ministry Of Sound (The Sessions Vol. One)''
* 1993 '' Strictly Rhythm Mix''
* 1994 ''Strictly Tribal''
* 1994 ''The Tony Humphries Strictly Rhythm Mix Vol. 2''
* 1995 ''This is the Sound of Tribal United Kingdom Vol 2''
* 1996 '' King Street Sounds - Mix the Vibe''
* 1996 ''Club Nervous - First Five Years of House Classics''
* 1999 ''
Basement Boys The Basement Boys is an American house music production team that was formed in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The founding members are Jay Steinhour, Teddy Douglas and Thommy Davis.
Biography
The Basement Boys had all previous experience as ...
present Melting Pot''
* 2001 "Little" Louie Vega*, Tony Humphries & Tedd Patterson - ''Sessions Twelve (The Magic Sessions)''
* 2002 '' Fabric 04''
* 2002 ''United DJs of America - Vol. 18''
* 2003 '' Azuli presents Tony Humphries - Choice - A Collection of Club Zanzibar Classics''
* 2005 ''Southport Weekender Vol. 4''
* 2008 ''Moments in House'' - Ministry Of Sound
* 2013 ''Quintessentials''
* 2015 Mangiami - ''La Compilation''
* 2015 ''West End Master Mix 2015''
Selected productions and remixes
* 1982
Indeep
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Career
The group was led by its songwriter-musician Michael Cleveland, and it was known for employing a strong disco-esque bass line a ...
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
Warner Bros.
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Atlantic
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)
* 1989 Cultural Vibe - "Ma Foom Bey" (Easy Street)
* 1989 Longsy D. - "This Is Ska" (
Warlock
A warlock is a male practitioner of witchcraft.
Etymology and terminology
The most commonly accepted etymology derives '' warlock'' from the Old English '' wǣrloga'', which meant "breaker of oaths" or "deceiver" and was given special applicati ...
)
* 1989 Chaka Khan - "I Know You I Live You" (Warner Bros.)
* 1989 Adeva - "Warning" (
Cooltempo
Cooltempo, the dance music imprint of Chrysalis Records, was revived in May 2018. The label released albums by artists such as Kenny Thomas, Milli Vanilli, Adeva, Shara Nelson, Mica Paris and Innocence.
History
Cooltempo emerged at the end ...
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 corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...
)
* 1989
Ultra Naté
Ultra Naté Wyche (born March 20, 1968) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ and promoter who has achieved success on the pop charts with songs such as "Free", " If You Could Read My Mind" (as part of Stars on 54), and "Autom ...
- "It's Over Now" (Warner Bros.)
* 1990 Lil' Louis - "Nyce and Slo" (Epic/CBS)
* 1990 The O'Jays - "Don't Let Me Down" (EMI)
* 1990 The Beloved - "
The Sun Rising The Sun Rising may refer to:
* ''The Sun Rising'' (poem), a poem by John Donne published in 1633
* "The Sun Rising" (song), a 1989 single by The Beloved
See also
* Sunrise (disambiguation)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sun Rising, The ...
" (Atlantic)
* 1990
Deee-Lite
Deee-Lite was an American house and dance music group formed in New York City. The group's best-known single is "Groove Is in the Heart", which was released in 1990 from their debut studio album ''World Clique'' (1990), and was a top-ten hit i ...
Alison Limerick
Alison T. Limerick (born 1959, Stepney) is a British singer who scored success in the 1990s with the club anthem " Where Love Lives", which was her solo debut and a No. 3 hit on the U.S. Hot Dance Club Play in 1991.
Biography
Limerick attended ...
Soul II Soul
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Nina Simone
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- Turn Me On" (Legacy/
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
Inaya Day
Inaya Day (born Inaya Davis, January 17, 1977) is an American singer, best known for her vocal work on house music tracks such as "Horny '98" by Mousse T, and her cover version of " Nasty Girl" by Prince protégées Vanity 6.
Biography Early ca ...
Tony Humphries formed his first record label, Yellorange, in 1998. The label was superseded by Tony Records, which he founded in 2006. He left the label in 2016, and TR Records was founded in its place.
Influence
Todd Terry cites Tony Humphries and Larry Levan as big influences.
MK, whose remix of “ Push the Feeling On” by the Nightcrawlers reached #3 in the UK charts in 1995, also cites Humphries as a major influence. "It helped my production hearing the New York DJs, hearing Tony Humphries, Frankie Knuckles, Masters At Work. I found my missing link."