Always in my play out box and when I heard it first.By 2 Dam FunkyOne track that has remained in my play out box since I heard it is Maceo & The Macks, ‘Cross The Tracks’. I was at a warehouse party in the mid eighties before the police clamped down on illegal raves… there were at least 3 underground parties a week in disused buildings round London that were taken over for one night by sound systems and promoters and more often than not we would go to all of them… On one particular occasion the warehouse was typically dark and moody… no disco lights and the place was packed. The bass was pumping and we were grooving away to some funky tunes. Then Maceo dropped and the whole dance floor seemed to shift straight from 1st to 3rd gear. Now I don’t pretend to be a good dancer… I’m not… but this track lifted me and got me funkin’ down in a way I’d never got down before. The syncopated cross rhythms and energy around me took over. The dynamic power of the analogue sounds and the subtle nuance of the interweaving instruments took me to a place I’d never been to before. The production as they say ‘reaches parts that other track’s cannot reach’! My usual reserved wallflower persona was transformed and as it was dark and packed all inhibitions dropped away. The track taught me how ‘Raregroove’ [as it was known at the time] has the power to lift you on the dance floor and make you move in a way that no other genre of music can replicate. From that day and once I’d found my own copy of the record it gained the status of ‘Always in my Playout box’ 2 Dam Funky (aka Stephen Rumney) has been responsible for some of the most legendary and influential nights in club history… Sunday Nights at The Africa Centre, Wicked Pulse, Slow Motion, Soul Kitchen and Wag It On A Wednesday (at The Wag Club) to name but a few. He combines his lifetime passion for ‘Diggin Deep’ and discovering new music with his production skills to create exclusive ‘Unshazamable’ remastered and sub-boosted dub-plates that can only be heard when he plays out.Check out 2 Dam Funky’s DJ profile here
