This mix was born out of pub discussion with two differing generations. The question was asked which music was better 80z or 90z, and all hell broke loose lol…

For me 80z and 90z affected me in different aspects of my life:

[80z] As you well know from my previous mix, my teenage years was during the 80z era, where music was focal in one’s life. Yes that 80z era takes me back to a NOSTALGIC time when you felt SAFE, when you had a few cents in your pocket yet the entertainment lasted longer than 100 times its value today, when you experienced your first love and your first break up, when the worst you would get was a blue eye from a fight, and when you heard that song on Radio or the hottest club in town for the very first time; it turned your world upside down. Moreover, the song ‘You gave your love to me’ by Chude that I have mixed on the 80z side has and will always be a favourite of mine. Not many people know that the tune was actually arranged, mixed and produced in Zimbabwe!!! I found this out recently when I interviewed Chude Mondlane the lead singer, who is actually half Mozambiquen, half American, having lived in Zimbabwe during war times in Mozambique. What a wonderful lady she is, modest, intelligent and a real stand up person.

[90z] The 90z reminds me off a time away from home as a young adult in a foreign land. Struggling with no money, a sponge for higher learning, learning life lessons the hard way and making it on your own; lots of drama yet finding solace through music. The first time I went to concerts and had access to those singers that I loved, and then buying the CD (yes it was a milestone that you could afford a CD) afterwards and listening to those tunes on the ‘tube’ in a world of your own, that you even missed your stop.

I guess I haven’t answered the question the way you wanted me to, I don’t think a scientific analysis would give you the answer; it’s really something personal which is influenced by the generational divide.

I have put a mix together and let you be the judge!

On my 80z club mix vol1, MixSensei promised to follow up on his next mix (80z club mix vol 3) with Lesson 2 – Music Appreciation!!!

Well music appreciation simply is the ability to enjoy different types of music: different music is normally classified under certain genres, and to an extent appreciating different genres involves some history lessons to explain why people of a certain era like the music that they do.

It NO secret that i LOVE 80z music! Because i come from an 80z era, where music was focal in ones life. Yes in Africa moreover music is central to ones life, it is pervasive at weddings, births, deaths, and almost every celebration that you can think of, even to the extent that when people ‘strike’, they dance in the street. However 80z music takes me back to a NOSTALGIC time when you felt SAFE, when you had a few cents in your pocket yet the entertainment lasted longer than 100 times its value today, when you experienced your first love and your first break up, when the worst you would get was a blue eye from a fight, and when you heard that song on Radio or the hottest club in town for the very first time; it turned your world upside down. Yes the clothing was really bad, laughable today and even the hairstyles had a lot to be desired, but I still look back with joy!

So now that has set the scene, what genre of music predominantly molded me and so many of my 80z generation? Not so simple to explain ……. but let’s try and understand a few of the genres first: the array of ’80s musical genres and styles (pop, rock, reggae, hip hop etc..) may be exhaustive, but the ones most closely tied to my PERSONAL choices would be:

 Soul: Soul for me was divided into Commercial and British soul: commercial 80z is the hits of the 80z, the tracks that everyone knew from your top 10 radio, tv and billboard magazines. British soul as it name implies is music from Britain; sounds silly yes, but most soul was typically from the USA, and British soul had a different feel to it; built on US soul but with a kinda reggae feel largely influenced by the large British Caribbean / African population;  you knew it immediately to heard it … early groups set the tone such as Style Council and later perfected by groups such as Loose Ends!      

Funk: Funk is a very distinct style of music based on R&B that reached its height in popularity from the late late 1970s, but was available in the early 80z. One of the most distinctive features of funk music is the role played by bass guitar, The strong bassline is primarily what separates Funk from soul and other forms of music;  the basic idea of funk was to create as intense a groove as possible. Click here for a complete defination of Funk.

Rare Groove: The term was coined by British DJ Norman Jay after his “The Original Rare Groove Show” on pirate radio station Kiss 94 FM. Rare groove (‘Boogie’ as its interchangeably known in Europe) is really very hard to source or relatively obscure soul music, typified by a thumping drum beat accompanied by a synthesising bassline, and relatively good (or bad) singing. It’s not everyone’s forte, it is more for the 80z connoisseurs. 

Electro: I’m not defining this one, in essence its easy ….. if you did break dancing, this was the background music that you danced to. 

So to put it together; I did talk about the science of Mixing in the 80z Club Mix, but in order to make it an ART, something that is pleasurable to the ear and the ‘soul’, YOU HAVE TO KNOW YOUR MUSIC ! 

I argue with those that are from the 60z and 70z era; but to me In many ways, the musical genres during the 1980s were a culmination of perfecting 60z and 70z music, and redefining the way many bands and artists made new music and it still continues to influence music today …

Sensei is a Japanese title used to refer to or address martial arts
teachers, professors, professionals such as lawyers and doctors,
politicians, clergymen, and other figures of authority; more commonly
a master of a craft. With attaining the title of sensei, many hours of
instruction, dedication, discipline and long hours of learning is
required.

MixSensei is a black belt in the art of mixing, and over the following
MixSensei releases onMusiqAve.com, MixSensei will take you through the
rigorous curriculum of training that he went through starting from
Lesson 1:

1.      Lesson 1: Mixing
a.      Equipment
b.      Science of Mixing in the 80s

Equipment

•       The mixing curriculum was undoubtedly greatly influenced by the
early use of Techniques SL1210 turntable equipment. The S defined
‘stereo’ and the L ‘Player; in essence a ‘stereo player’. The SL1210
was unique in that it had direct drive technology surpassing the belt
drive technology which allowed a dj to manipulate the turntable easily
when mixing vinyl records. Technology also included:
o       Variable pitch control, allowing the rotational speed to be adjusted
from -8% to +8% (for the purpose of beatmatching).
o       High torque (1.5 kgf•cm or 0.15 N•m), which means the platter would
spin at the desired speed almost immediately (0.7 s to reach 33 ¹⁄₃
RPM from standstill), and would very rapidly reacquire the desired
speed, without “overshooting”, if the platter is dragged or nudged.
This aided in beatmatching.

Science of Mixing in the 80s

Training was characterised by attaining the art of listenening to, and
following the drum beat of a song, and then synchornising two songs or
“tracks” together (the drum beats) into one beat when transioning one
song to the next. The aim was to ensure that each song played would
not distract the listener when transitioning from one song to the next
in the club when they danced.
Sensei Instruction included:
1.      Removal of default rubber mat that comes with your turntable and
replacement with a DJ slipmat. The purpose of slipmats was to let the
vinyl record “slip” over the turntable’s platter, so you could control
the record with your hand and still let the turntable keep spinning
smoothly underneath.
2.      DJ needle and the turntable’s Tone Arm to be adjusted correctly and
ensuring how to Balance a Tonearm. DJ’s sometimes glued or taped coins
on the cartridge shell to ensure that the needle stayed in place..
3.      Lastly, listenening to the song that you want to “cue up” (the song
you want to start playing) through your headphones only. The DJ mixer
volume fader should be in the down position, so that the song was only
playing into your headphones, not through the stereo speakers.
4.      Starting the turntable using your hand and then spinning the record
around until you find the first drum note or “downbeat”.

To attain Basic Sensei level Black Belt 1st Dan; a mix would require a
smooth mix out of a song into the next at both the break or the outro.
A break would usually be somewhere in the middle of the track, where
the drum pattern ceases or changes. MixSensei achieved a 1st Dan, but
levels can go as high as 9th Dan masters which Djs such as Mujay, Swit
T and Mista Cee attained.

Next Episode (MixSensei 80z Club Mix Vol 3):  Lesson 2 – Music Appreciation