Classic Pure Closers By Steve Robbins

Pure was my home; every Friday I was there - I can't remember how many nights I missed, but it wasn't many. Did miss the final night at Dream nightclub because I thought nobody would go and it'd be too much of a downer, but Will-E rang me as soon as he got home to let me know what a great night I'd just missed. Apparently the floors were shaking because there were so many people rocking till the last track. Oh well.

It started out in the rear room of St. Kilda's Palace nightclub, I think in May 1991 - but it's all a bit hazy. It was Melbourne's first straight up rave techno night, although Maze @ Commerce had previously championed techno alongside underground house. Run by DJ Mark James, this was the club that made Will-E-Tell a star, yet what I remember 20 odd years later are the end of night sets of DJ Steve Robbins (later of techno group FSOM). He was older than the rest of us, and, shall we say, more learned in the art of getting off your head, but he'd been DJing since the first days of electro and had a fantastic record collection that leant heavily towards the 303 acid end of the spectrum. Steve didn't like to mix his records too much, so you got to hear great tracks in their entirety, and he always brought the night gently down towards close (none of this banging to the end and then tell the punters to fuck off nonsense).

Steve in the box at Pure after it moved to Dream Niteclub in late '91.
(Scotty working the lights)

So, with that I present two of his best closing tracks, both house, and both out of New York: Chapter 1's "Unleash The Groove (E-Funk Mix)" on Strictly Rhythm and The Sound Vandals' "On Your Way (Deep Mix)" off Nu Groove. Really fantastic tracks that deserve to be played in their entirety to the munted at 6am.
And they still sound great two decades later.

Discogs

A1 Unleash The Groove (E-Funk Mix)
A2 Unleash The Groove (Love In Sheffield Mix)
A3 Unleash The Groove (Blips In Heat)
B1 Unleash The Groove (125th & Lenox Mix)
B2 Unleash The Groove (Screamin' Pipes)

Vinyl Rip _ 320kbps MP3 ...mediafire




Discogs

A1 Tonight's The Night (Club Mix)
A2 Tonight's The Night (Bonus Beat)
B1 On Your Way (Deep Mix)
B2 On Your Way (Bonus Beat)

Vinyl Rip _ 320kbps MP3 ...mediafire





1990's "Unleash The Groove" is a particularly strong release; "Blips In Heat" is a piece of blissful beatless bleep, and the b-sides are completely insane organ workouts. "Tonight's The Night" on The Sound Vandals' 1991 release is a quite annoying bit of New York sample house, but the bonus beats are good.

20 years ago this week: Biology Rave, Melbourne 1990.

It's a lifetime ago, yet in part seems only a recent memory.
Here I was, innocent (ignorant?) but keen - I'd been getting deeper into dance music after years spent listening to 'inde'. House music was good, but I was really more into its bastard son, Techno. I'd heard about raves on the other side of the world in the UK, and knew that drugs could improve the experience...
Anyway, June 1990 - one of Melbourne's first fully fledged dance parties (I think there was one at the Old Greek Theatre a few months before, and more underground parties had been going for years...), put on by the guys who would later run the Every Picture Tells A Story raves, Richard and Hydi John plus Mark James who now fronts the Future Entertainment leviathan.
It was advertised as being in a warehouse, but close to party time the venue changed to the Powerhouse on Albert Park Lake. Suited me fine - I lived in a shitty flat around the corner, and I could see the party from my window. A couple of minutes walk and we were inside the party.
I'd planned to get on some E, but funds only allowed to try acid for the first time. Now it all made sense!
Eight or nine hours we stumbled out back to reality, but my life was never the same. I became a dedicated acid lover; any opportunity to drop was a good one - weddings, hair cuts, you name it; but I loved it most because Techno got different on it or because of it. That Biology party is important to me because it showed me for the first time that music should have enough depth to allow independent interpretation. That's why I hope the music you'll find mentioned here will be notable for its quality and thought provoking nature (but it won't be disappearing up its own arse; after all, it is just music to dance to - even if you are losing your mind in the process).