Hot Box Deejaying

[Souljazera]

be very interested to see anyone post a full twenty HOT BOX titles....i guess. i'll start with ..

NEW WORLD WE'RE GONNA MAKE IT

[Souljazera]

nobody up for it then?

[Dave Rimmer]

nobody up for it then?

I think people don't understand your question. I certainly don't, what are HOT BOX titles ?

[michael-j]

'hot box' deejaying was talked about a while back on the funk board in this thread i think: https://domain745625.sites.fasthosts.com/mo...box&start=0

a few pages in.

basically it's the idea that you only own a single box of records and operate a one-in/one-out policy to keep only the best records...

no idea what the thread means tho!

[Simon M]

'hot box' deejaying was talked about a while back on the funk board in this thread i think: https://domain745625.sites.fasthosts.com/mo...box&start=0

a few pages in.

basically it's the idea that you only own a single box of records and operate a one-in/one-out policy to keep only the best records...

no idea what the thread means tho!

I'd say it's a box of say 100 sounds ..(That's like your Premiership squad and you buy and sell em like players ) A dream box really ..

Clarence Mann /You met your match / Gramophone

would certainly be on the bench now for me LOL

Could be a fun thread really .. Your Dream box

Edited February 9, 2007 by Simon M

[Souljazera]

I'd say it's a box of say 100 sounds ..(That's like your Premiership squad and you buy and sell em like players ) A dream box really ..

Clarence Mann /You met your match / Gramophone

would certainly be on the bench now for me LOL

Could be a fun thread really .. Your Dream box

simon thats the idea...its more for fun than anything else or even records you own that might constitute a HOT BOX title.....

heres another from me...

TRACE OF SMOKE TREASURE MIND

[Souljazera]

FLORENCE TRAPP LOVE CAME INTO MY LIFE surely thats a hot boxer

cmon people

[Guest Matt Male]

I think hotboxing is a good idea if you DJ regularly and don't have a huge amount of money and don't care about collecting.

Mind you you'd have to be right on the button as regards latest sounds, you might have to stay away from spots at oldies venues although some months you might get lucky and all the current faves are dead cheap to pick up.

I imagine it would be similar to having a bank roll at poker. A rolling kitty to fund your DJing with less choice and variation if the favourites were suddenly expensive, more variation if they were cheaper.

Are there any DJs on here that hotbox and don't collect? Is it even possible to do one without the other?

[Steve G]

I think hotboxing is a good idea if you DJ regularly and don't have a huge amount of money and don't care about collecting.

Mind you you'd have to be right on the button as regards latest sounds, you might have to stay away from spots at oldies venues although some months you might get lucky and all the current faves are dead cheap to pick up.

I imagine it would be similar to having a bank roll at poker. A rolling kitty to fund your DJing with less choice and variation if the favourites were suddenly expensive, more variation if they were cheaper.

Are there any DJs on here that hotbox and don't collect? Is it even possible to do one without the other?

I think there are quite a few that do this.

my contributiion Stevens & Foster

[Guest dundeedavie]

I think hotboxing is a good idea if you DJ regularly and don't have a huge amount of money and don't care about collecting.

Mind you you'd have to be right on the button as regards latest sounds, you might have to stay away from spots at oldies venues although some months you might get lucky and all the current faves are dead cheap to pick up.

I imagine it would be similar to having a bank roll at poker. A rolling kitty to fund your DJing with less choice and variation if the favourites were suddenly expensive, more variation if they were cheaper.

Are there any DJs on here that hotbox and don't collect? Is it even possible to do one without the other?

i think it is very possible yeah ..... in effect my 200 box is what i play out of , new tunes go in , ones i'm sick of get sold there a certain amount of rotation occurs .....

avoiding oldies do's ? got no interest in them anyway

i haven't collected for a while in that i don't buy records i won't be able to play out , does that make me a bad person in the view of the "collector" ?

Davie

[Simon M]

I think there are quite a few that do this.

my contributiion Stevens & Foster

I had a feeling you'd mention that one Steve ...how about another yellow peril

Pro Fascination, I WANT TO WRAP YOU IN MY ARMS/TRY LOVE AGAIN .. MOT .. outa New Orleans very hard for collectors now ?!

Edited March 25, 2007 by Simon M

[Val (Chunky)]

Harris & Orr - 'Spread Love'

(edited coz I forgot to add the track name :fool: ....such a nice album)

Edited March 26, 2007 by Chunky

[Simon M]

Motherfox " Hot Shot" Shabang, pardon the pun

Edited March 25, 2007 by Simon M

[Russ Vickers]

I think there are quite a few that do this.

my contributiion Stevens & Foster

Me too Steve & they always have..............its not just DJ's either I knew people years ago who always seemed to have the latest top sounds, they just sell them at their peak & buy the next big thing...........bragging rights I spose, but no depth of collection really, still I spose we have all sold records to buy others.

My 'Hot Box' would contain Ellipsiss, Ice, Mello Souls, Soul Bros Inc(Tear Drops), Florence Trapp amongst others........good thread BTW.

rUSS

[Val (Chunky)]

Me too Steve & they always have..............its not just DJ's either I knew people years ago who always seemed to have the latest top sounds, they just sell them at their peak & buy the next big thing...........bragging rights I spose, but no depth of collection really, still I spose we have all sold records to buy others.

My 'Hot Box' would contain Ellipsiss, Ice, Mello Souls, Soul Bros Inc(Tear Drops), Florence Trapp amongst others........good thread BTW.

rUSS

please take Ellipsis out of the box......I'm beggining to get tired of hearing it

[Steve G]

please take Ellipsis out of the box......I'm beggining to get tired of hearing it

Ba ba ba da da da da

Huh!

Der der...der der....der der derrrr....

People...come together now...

ba ba ba da da da da

[Simon M]

Ellipsis is a great record , and very very hot .. How about

The Nicky Newarkers "Women " , this ones got some heat once again .

Simon

[Val (Chunky)]

Ba ba ba da da da da

Huh!

Der der...der der....der der derrrr....

People...come together now...

ba ba ba da da da da

what an awful voice you have Mr Guanori .......now where's that fingers im my ears emoticon

[Mark Bicknell]

As with Mr Rimmer i had no idea what the 'Hot Box' term was but having read the thread fully i now understand this concept, can you not 'Hot Box' from your collection if you have one?? as Russ said with depth of collection can you not do this?? by regular box rotation, adding new additions and so on, i try to do this depending on the gig, music style and personal mood, i guess this can work if you have a reasonable collection, not everyone holds 2 or 3 thousand records but i'm sure with a good base collection you could rotate and be fresh on a regular basis, it's nice to dig a little deeper and maybe sometimes leave the 'big hitters' at home and try something else.

Good thread this by the way.

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Edited March 26, 2007 by Mark Bicknell

[Simon M]

Thats just a normal style of deejaying Mark

[Dave Thorley]

Now, if you want a hot box try this. I have a nice leatherette covered doctors bag type of box for my 45's. Was djing somewhere last year and they had a desk lamp on the table behind the decks, someone had knocked it against my bag, next thing I know smoke is coming off the bag. Burnt my hand patting out the smoldering bag. Now that's what you call a hot box!!!!!!!!!!

[Mark Bicknell]

Thats just a normal style of deejaying Mark

So am i right in thinking that this is only about new additions to the collection then? or are we talking 'I WISH I COULD HAVE THAT RECORD'??? because if it's about a wish list then it makes no sense as it's not a real situation is it? i'm not having a go or a dig Simon just trying to work this one out so i can apply this method...lol

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

[Modernsoulsucks]

Mark, Im pretty sure it means selling whatever is not a new hot title and with the money buying whatever is in demand with the DJs and probably insanely expensive. So classic oldies out the window, popular but played out newies bye-bye and limited shelf-life for anything left. If I may say something like used to happen years ago.

I guess someone like Sam uses this method to a degree. I think he's swapped oldies with John M in the past for something current, or a good unknown.

It's not really going to appeal to someone who likes the music,collects the 45s and wants to keep them IMO

ROD

[Simon M]

Its a case of having a box of the biggest or latest records on the scene to dj with , like Ellipses , Mixed Feelings , Jo Jama , and various Butch spins that I cant remember . Then when another record becomes hot or available , you may sell/trade Ellipses or Mixed Feelings to buy said record . I'd say it was a DJ concept and not much to do with collecting , and probably a good way to DJ on the rare soul scene for a young jock

ps . ROD beat me to the post there !

Simon

Edited March 26, 2007 by Simon M

[Barry]

I'd say it was a DJ concept and not much to do with collecting , and probably a good way to DJ on the rare soul scene for a young DJ

Am I the only one who finds this very odd?

[Dylan]

It's a good way to collect if you need your ego massaging or have a money tree in your back garden.

Can't see the point in it myself.

Now that Rayons Decca release I won on ebay last night would go my hot box if I had one but instead it will have to go next to their other rather dissapoiting Forte title on my "not-so hot shelves".

[Simon M]

Am I the only one who finds this very odd?

Hmm, , I'd say it had some logic to it ..

ps. I do not have a hotbox

Edited March 26, 2007 by Simon M

[Modernsoulsucks]

I don't know about a good method for the younger DJ. First you gotta amass your hot box. Any idea of outlay required?

ROD

[Simon M]

I don't know about a good method for the younger DJ. First you gotta amass your hot box. Any idea of outlay required?

ROD

Right ..... you need a mortagage really . so the old method of going to a big dealer , and buying cheaper unknowns , still holds good ...if thats still possible ?

Edited March 26, 2007 by Simon M

[Mark Bicknell]

Ok i understand this now, thank you.

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

[Mark Bicknell]

Am I the only one who finds this very odd?

No Barry you are not alone on this thought at all.

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

[Guest James Trouble]

It's a good way to collect if you need your ego massaging or have a money tree in your back garden.

Can't see the point in it myself.

Now that Rayons Decca release I won on ebay last night would go my hot box if I had one but instead it will have to go next to their other rather dissapoiting Forte title on my "not-so hot shelves".

I came up with the phrase "hot box DJing" so I'd best say somthing on the theory:

There are only 1 hour sets on the northern scene and more DJs than sets to go around so it seems ideal to use this theory. Maximum impact with your 60 minutes behind the decks.

It's a bit like a football team. You can only ever have 11 players on the pitch. Somtimes a player gets stale, or the other teams figure him out or he just doesn't do the business. So sell the loser on and get in some fresh meat. It's as simple as that.

You have a back bone of quality floor fillers, a couple of good strikers, some flair players a couple of big characters, a captain of the team if you like the metaphor. A keeper to save the day if things go wrong etc etc. You then get to know your team on a very intimate level and manage their play and tactics.

What do you want, a 22 player squad like Chelsea's or the entire 2nd division's team's players? You can only pick 11 a game after all.

It seems given the very high price in both time and money to obtain both tunes and knowledge of rare soul the only way to knock out of the way the inept, the tastless, the washed up and the wallies was to get as strong a DJ set together as physically possible through clever trading, a willingless to let records go in order to get in new and exciting tunes, plenty of determination and aggression, not being afraid to take a few risks and plenty of good taste to build a competative DJ set to make people sit up and take notice.

Is it an ego thing? Of course not, it's about wanting to hear the best sets of the best music in the best venues being danced to by the best people. As a DJ you should be aiming to put together the best, most interesting, freshest, rarest and just plain slap them in the face till they submit sets. There's no point just wanting to put together average sets that many other people in the room can put together. So many poeple have 'ok' collections. But how many of them put a good set together that you can't hear anywhere else? Hardly any of them, so why do they want to DJ? Shouldn't they have the good sense to say "Thanks but no thanks I'd rather hear Butch DJ for an extra hour please than stand up there playing a bunch of dull dross for an hour myself that you've only asked me to play because I'm your mate"

Also, why talk publically about my theory and risk it back firing with public mockery? Because everyone I know into the music of my generation has limited resources but I want to see more people coming through as DJs, fresher taste, fresher approach, more enthusuasm, more energy. And the only way that the next generation are going to do this IMO is if they take my approach or a similar one. Aggressively construct a DJ set that will compete with the best DJs on the scene. That includes going up against the Butch, Mick H, Arthur Fenns of the scene. If you do not have the ambition to do that don't think about DJing at all as you are only taking up space that is better served by better DJs with more ambition, more ability and a better set.

This is not about 'collecting' records. It's about DJing and improving the quality of sounds heard at northern soul events. It's about clubbing, dancing and getting sweaty. It's not about internet forums and geeky meetings in the back rooms of pubs.

There's no excuse for middle of the road sets. From guest DJs especially. Every set should the dogs nuts, dynamite explosive, and only possibly copied by another top DJ or by no one at all.

There is no excuse for DJs not to try to be playing the best sets. No excuse.

Try to be the best DJ or don't bother at all as there are people out there who are the best and should be given more time to give the dancers the best.

Just my humble opinion of course, and I'll get ready to dodge a few tomatoes that are bound to be thrown in my direction... :tomato2:

Edited March 31, 2007 by James Trouble

[Simon M]

Very good James thanks , but you cant be explosive , agressive and sweaty all of the time .

perhaps peak time , then you need a rest ..

Edited March 26, 2007 by Simon M

[Souljazera]

please take Ellipsis out of the box......I'm beggining to get tired of hearing it

chunky good shout got tired of it years ago...however might wellhave to stay in the box!!!! AS IT IS MASSIVE

[Souljazera]

I came up with the phrase "hot box DJing" so I'd best say somthing on the theory:

There are only 1 hour sets on the northern scene and more DJs than sets to go around so it seems ideal to use this theory. Maximum impact with your 60 minutes behind the decks.

It's a bit like a football team. You can only ever have 11 players on the pitch. Somtimes a player gets stale, or the other teams figure him out or he just doesn't do the business. So sell the loser on and get in some fresh meat. It's as simple as that.

You have a back bone of quality floor fillers, a couple of good strikers, some flair players a couple of big characters, a captain of the team if you like the metaphor. A keeper to save the day if things go wrong etc etc. You then get to know your team on a very intimate level and manage their play and tactics.

What do you want, a 22 player squad like Chelsea's or the entire 2nd division's team's players? You can only pick 11 a game after all.

But why do this, why want to DJ at all? In my opinion the vast majority of DJs on the soul scene in the UK are either inept and do not understand what it means to be a dancer getting sweaty for hours on end dancing to near exhaustion. Many have huge collections of middle of the road records displayed in the common practice of carrying huge boxes when they are DJing with hundreds and hundreds of what are basically dull records that they dip into seemingly randomly and play in some bizaar, confusing order. Other DJs are washed up and have forgotten what a good record sounds like and are only up there DJing on reflex, like a chicken with it's head chopped off. Then there are the DJs who are living on past glory and feel they have some right to be up there playing off vinyl carvers of records that people in the room have on OG.

It seems given the very high price in both time and money to obtain both tunes and knowledge of rare soul the only way to knock out of the way the inept, the tastless, the washed up and the wallies was to get as strong a DJ set together as physically possible through clever trading, a willingless to let records go in order to get in new and exciting tunes, plenty of determination and aggression, not being afraid to take a few risks and plenty of good taste to build a competative DJ set to make people sit up and take notice.

Is it an ego thing? Of course not, it's about wanting to hear the best sets of the best music in the best venues being danced to by the best people. As a DJ you should be aiming to put together the best, most interesting, freshest, rarest and just plain slap them in the face till they submit sets. There's no point just wanting to put together average sets that many other people in the room can put together. So many poeple have 'ok' collections. But how many of them put a good set together that you can't hear anywhere else? Hardly any of them, so why do they want to DJ? Shouldn't they have the good sense to say "Thanks but no thanks I'd rather hear Butch DJ for an extra hour please than stand up there playing a bunch of dull dross for an hour myself that you've only asked me to play because I'm your mate"

Also, why talk publically about my theory and risk it back firing with public mockery? Because everyone I know into the music of my generation has limited resources but I want to see more people coming through as DJs, fresher taste, fresher approach, more enthusuasm, more energy. And the only way that the next generation are going to do this IMO is if they take my approach or a similar one. Aggressively construct a DJ set that will compete with the best DJs on the scene. That includes going up against the Butch, Mick H, Arthur Fenns of the scene. If you do not have the ambition to do that don't think about DJing at all as you are only taking up space that is better served by better DJs with more ambition, more ability and a better set.

This is not about 'collecting' records. It's about DJing and improving the quality of sounds heard at northern soul events. It's about clubbing, dancing and getting sweaty. It's not about internet forums and geeky meetings in the back rooms of pubs.

There's no excuse for middle of the road sets. From guest DJs especially. Every set should the dogs nuts, dynamite explosive, and only possibly copied by another top DJ or by no one at all.

There is no excuse for DJs not to try to be playing the best sets. No excuse.

Try to be the best DJ or don't bother at all as there are people out there who are the best and should be given more time to give the dancers the best.

Just my humble opinion of course, and I'll get ready to dodge a few tomatoes that are bound to be thrown in my direction... :tomato2:

james NICELY SAID we all need to rock the joint as they say in hip hop parlance

[Souljazera]

Now, if you want a hot box try this. I have a nice leatherette covered doctors bag type of box for my 45's. Was djing somewhere last year and they had a desk lamp on the table behind the decks, someone had knocked it against my bag, next thing I know smoke is coming off the bag. Burnt my hand patting out the smoldering bag. Now that's what you call a hot box!!!!!!!!!!

DAVE....THATS VERY VERY FUNNY

[Souljazera]

the thread is simple dont worry about theory...

hot box records are for this thread's purpose

records that both rock the floor either physically or metaphorically and may be hard to locate ....they do not need to be super rare they may even be super cheap

when we get enough together i shall post a long list...say at least 100 titles

Edited March 26, 2007 by souljazera

[Simon M]

If you just need a list Tony , get someone to post Butch's sets , be it funk or soul

[Mark Bicknell]

I came up with the phrase "hot box DJing" so I'd best say somthing on the theory:

There are only 1 hour sets on the northern scene and more DJs than sets to go around so it seems ideal to use this theory. Maximum impact with your 60 minutes behind the decks.

It's a bit like a football team. You can only ever have 11 players on the pitch. Somtimes a player gets stale, or the other teams figure him out or he just doesn't do the business. So sell the loser on and get in some fresh meat. It's as simple as that.

You have a back bone of quality floor fillers, a couple of good strikers, some flair players a couple of big characters, a captain of the team if you like the metaphor. A keeper to save the day if things go wrong etc etc. You then get to know your team on a very intimate level and manage their play and tactics.

What do you want, a 22 player squad like Chelsea's or the entire 2nd division's team's players? You can only pick 11 a game after all.

But why do this, why want to DJ at all? In my opinion the vast majority of DJs on the soul scene in the UK are either inept and do not understand what it means to be a dancer getting sweaty for hours on end dancing to near exhaustion. Many have huge collections of middle of the road records displayed in the common practice of carrying huge boxes when they are DJing with hundreds and hundreds of what are basically dull records that they dip into seemingly randomly and play in some bizaar, confusing order. Other DJs are washed up and have forgotten what a good record sounds like and are only up there DJing on reflex, like a chicken with it's head chopped off. Then there are the DJs who are living on past glory and feel they have some right to be up there playing off vinyl carvers of records that people in the room have on OG.

It seems given the very high price in both time and money to obtain both tunes and knowledge of rare soul the only way to knock out of the way the inept, the tastless, the washed up and the wallies was to get as strong a DJ set together as physically possible through clever trading, a willingless to let records go in order to get in new and exciting tunes, plenty of determination and aggression, not being afraid to take a few risks and plenty of good taste to build a competative DJ set to make people sit up and take notice.

Is it an ego thing? Of course not, it's about wanting to hear the best sets of the best music in the best venues being danced to by the best people. As a DJ you should be aiming to put together the best, most interesting, freshest, rarest and just plain slap them in the face till they submit sets. There's no point just wanting to put together average sets that many other people in the room can put together. So many poeple have 'ok' collections. But how many of them put a good set together that you can't hear anywhere else? Hardly any of them, so why do they want to DJ? Shouldn't they have the good sense to say "Thanks but no thanks I'd rather hear Butch DJ for an extra hour please than stand up there playing a bunch of dull dross for an hour myself that you've only asked me to play because I'm your mate"

Also, why talk publically about my theory and risk it back firing with public mockery? Because everyone I know into the music of my generation has limited resources but I want to see more people coming through as DJs, fresher taste, fresher approach, more enthusuasm, more energy. And the only way that the next generation are going to do this IMO is if they take my approach or a similar one. Aggressively construct a DJ set that will compete with the best DJs on the scene. That includes going up against the Butch, Mick H, Arthur Fenns of the scene. If you do not have the ambition to do that don't think about DJing at all as you are only taking up space that is better served by better DJs with more ambition, more ability and a better set.

This is not about 'collecting' records. It's about DJing and improving the quality of sounds heard at northern soul events. It's about clubbing, dancing and getting sweaty. It's not about internet forums and geeky meetings in the back rooms of pubs.

There's no excuse for middle of the road sets. From guest DJs especially. Every set should the dogs nuts, dynamite explosive, and only possibly copied by another top DJ or by no one at all.

There is no excuse for DJs not to try to be playing the best sets. No excuse.

Try to be the best DJ or don't bother at all as there are people out there who are the best and should be given more time to give the dancers the best.

Just my humble opinion of course, and I'll get ready to dodge a few tomatoes that are bound to be thrown in my direction... :tomato2:

James, see you in Sunderland mate, let's bring it on...lol

Mark Bicknell.

[Sean Hampsey]

Whether the term 'hotbox' is recent or not, the theory has been around for ever.

Terry Sampson (ace Nighter Promoter from back in the day) had the legend "If You've Only Got 20 Good Records... Play Your Best 20" stuck to the record decks, and he made a point of referring every DJ to it.

I remember Pat Brady and I having a discussion 25+ years ago, where he believed it was nigh on impossible to be a Top DJ and a Collector also. He believed that you had to continuously sell the 'back of the box' tracks to finance the new 'front boxers!'.

It's a reasonable theory, if you're always aiming to be upfront and keep your set 'fresh'... but as a Soul Lover 1st, a Collector 2nd and a DJ 3rd, I've always found it unattractive... even though I'm always adding new tracks to my box, I just can't bear to part with the ones that drop out of the back!

Personally, I'd rather hear a DJ with a good pair of 'ears' and a decent collection to call upon, over someone with a box of so called 'hot' items that are, in reality, only average. The Elipsis (case in point) is about as 'average' a record I've heard played out in ages and the the Stevens & Foster, Jeri track is, at best, a 4 out of 10 tune (IMO).

Still a reasonable approach though, if the intention is to attempt to raise standards.

Sean Hampsey

[Guest James Trouble]

Whether the term 'hotbox' is recent or not, the theory has been around for ever.

Terry Sampson (ace Nighter Promoter from back in the day) had the legend "If You've Only Got 20 Good Records... Play Your Best 20" stuck to the record decks, and he made a point of referring every DJ to it.

I remember Pat Brady and I having a discussion 25+ years ago, where he believed it was nigh on impossible to be a Top DJ and a Collector also. He believed that you had to continuously sell the 'back of the box' tracks to finance the new 'front boxers!'.

It's a reasonable theory, if you're always aiming to be upfront and keep your set 'fresh'... but as a Soul Lover 1st, a Collector 2nd and a DJ 3rd, I've always found it unattractive... even though I'm always adding new tracks to my box, I just can't bear to part with the ones that drop out of the back!

Personally, I'd rather hear a DJ with a good pair of 'ears' and a decent collection to call upon, over someone with a box of so called 'hot' items that are, in reality, only average. The Elipsis (case in point) is about as 'average' a record I've heard played out in ages and the the Stevens & Foster, Jeri track is, at best, a 4 out of 10 tune (IMO).

Still a reasonable approach though, if the intention is to attempt to raise standards.

Sean Hampsey

Agree it's not a new theory and it's quite obvious it's near impossible to be a top collector and a top DJ. I 'grew up' under Keb's wing at Jo Jo's, and my observations of his methods have alot to do with my atitude towards music, records and dancing today. He has always used the 'hot box' technique as far as I am aware. But it was me who coined the phrase "hot box" so felt I'd best say somthing about it

As you say, it's about raising standards in a scene where standards do not seem to be a priority for most of the DJs. Collecting is a personal thing, but DJing, false modesty aside, should very much be about being or trying to be the best in your field.

Edited March 26, 2007 by James Trouble

[Simon M]

You need more than one outlook and attitude , to make a great night ..IMO

[Guest Rowly]

I came up with the phrase "hot box DJing" so I'd best say somthing on the theory:

There are only 1 hour sets on the northern scene and more DJs than sets to go around so it seems ideal to use this theory. Maximum impact with your 60 minutes behind the decks.

It's a bit like a football team. You can only ever have 11 players on the pitch. Somtimes a player gets stale, or the other teams figure him out or he just doesn't do the business. So sell the loser on and get in some fresh meat. It's as simple as that.

You have a back bone of quality floor fillers, a couple of good strikers, some flair players a couple of big characters, a captain of the team if you like the metaphor. A keeper to save the day if things go wrong etc etc. You then get to know your team on a very intimate level and manage their play and tactics.

What do you want, a 22 player squad like Chelsea's or the entire 2nd division's team's players? You can only pick 11 a game after all.

But why do this, why want to DJ at all? In my opinion the vast majority of DJs on the soul scene in the UK are either inept and do not understand what it means to be a dancer getting sweaty for hours on end dancing to near exhaustion. Many have huge collections of middle of the road records displayed in the common practice of carrying huge boxes when they are DJing with hundreds and hundreds of what are basically dull records that they dip into seemingly randomly and play in some bizaar, confusing order. Other DJs are washed up and have forgotten what a good record sounds like and are only up there DJing on reflex, like a chicken with it's head chopped off. Then there are the DJs who are living on past glory and feel they have some right to be up there playing off vinyl carvers of records that people in the room have on OG.

It seems given the very high price in both time and money to obtain both tunes and knowledge of rare soul the only way to knock out of the way the inept, the tastless, the washed up and the wallies was to get as strong a DJ set together as physically possible through clever trading, a willingless to let records go in order to get in new and exciting tunes, plenty of determination and aggression, not being afraid to take a few risks and plenty of good taste to build a competative DJ set to make people sit up and take notice.

Is it an ego thing? Of course not, it's about wanting to hear the best sets of the best music in the best venues being danced to by the best people. As a DJ you should be aiming to put together the best, most interesting, freshest, rarest and just plain slap them in the face till they submit sets. There's no point just wanting to put together average sets that many other people in the room can put together. So many poeple have 'ok' collections. But how many of them put a good set together that you can't hear anywhere else? Hardly any of them, so why do they want to DJ? Shouldn't they have the good sense to say "Thanks but no thanks I'd rather hear Butch DJ for an extra hour please than stand up there playing a bunch of dull dross for an hour myself that you've only asked me to play because I'm your mate"

Also, why talk publically about my theory and risk it back firing with public mockery? Because everyone I know into the music of my generation has limited resources but I want to see more people coming through as DJs, fresher taste, fresher approach, more enthusuasm, more energy. And the only way that the next generation are going to do this IMO is if they take my approach or a similar one. Aggressively construct a DJ set that will compete with the best DJs on the scene. That includes going up against the Butch, Mick H, Arthur Fenns of the scene. If you do not have the ambition to do that don't think about DJing at all as you are only taking up space that is better served by better DJs with more ambition, more ability and a better set.

This is not about 'collecting' records. It's about DJing and improving the quality of sounds heard at northern soul events. It's about clubbing, dancing and getting sweaty. It's not about internet forums and geeky meetings in the back rooms of pubs.

There's no excuse for middle of the road sets. From guest DJs especially. Every set should the dogs nuts, dynamite explosive, and only possibly copied by another top DJ or by no one at all.

There is no excuse for DJs not to try to be playing the best sets. No excuse.

Try to be the best DJ or don't bother at all as there are people out there who are the best and should be given more time to give the dancers the best.

Just my humble opinion of course, and I'll get ready to dodge a few tomatoes that are bound to be thrown in my direction... :tomato2:

i think it is very possible yeah ..... in effect my 200 box is what i play out of , new tunes go in , ones i'm sick of get sold there a certain amount of rotation occurs .....

avoiding oldies do's ? got no interest in them anyway

i haven't collected for a while in that i don't buy records i won't be able to play out , does that make me a bad person in the view of the "collector" ?

Davie

I see and understand your point James.... but I'm like Davie - my playbox get's rotated on a fairly consistant basis dependant on new tunes bought, and type of club / crowd I'm gonna be playing at / to. Also like Davie i've not bought a 45 that couldn't play out for a long long time.

I rarely sell records - and always regret it when I do... and I've always dj'd to the basic rule that "if someone else was to play this record would I dance to it?" Obviously the answer is always a "yes" or the record wouldn't be in the box to start with!

[Guest dundeedavie]

I came up with the phrase "hot box DJing" so I'd best say somthing on the theory:

There are only 1 hour sets on the northern scene and more DJs than sets to go around so it seems ideal to use this theory. Maximum impact with your 60 minutes behind the decks.

It's a bit like a football team. You can only ever have 11 players on the pitch. Somtimes a player gets stale, or the other teams figure him out or he just doesn't do the business. So sell the loser on and get in some fresh meat. It's as simple as that.

You have a back bone of quality floor fillers, a couple of good strikers, some flair players a couple of big characters, a captain of the team if you like the metaphor. A keeper to save the day if things go wrong etc etc. You then get to know your team on a very intimate level and manage their play and tactics.

What do you want, a 22 player squad like Chelsea's or the entire 2nd division's team's players? You can only pick 11 a game after all.

But why do this, why want to DJ at all? In my opinion the vast majority of DJs on the soul scene in the UK are either inept and do not understand what it means to be a dancer getting sweaty for hours on end dancing to near exhaustion. Many have huge collections of middle of the road records displayed in the common practice of carrying huge boxes when they are DJing with hundreds and hundreds of what are basically dull records that they dip into seemingly randomly and play in some bizaar, confusing order. Other DJs are washed up and have forgotten what a good record sounds like and are only up there DJing on reflex, like a chicken with it's head chopped off. Then there are the DJs who are living on past glory and feel they have some right to be up there playing off vinyl carvers of records that people in the room have on OG.

It seems given the very high price in both time and money to obtain both tunes and knowledge of rare soul the only way to knock out of the way the inept, the tastless, the washed up and the wallies was to get as strong a DJ set together as physically possible through clever trading, a willingless to let records go in order to get in new and exciting tunes, plenty of determination and aggression, not being afraid to take a few risks and plenty of good taste to build a competative DJ set to make people sit up and take notice.

Is it an ego thing? Of course not, it's about wanting to hear the best sets of the best music in the best venues being danced to by the best people. As a DJ you should be aiming to put together the best, most interesting, freshest, rarest and just plain slap them in the face till they submit sets. There's no point just wanting to put together average sets that many other people in the room can put together. So many poeple have 'ok' collections. But how many of them put a good set together that you can't hear anywhere else? Hardly any of them, so why do they want to DJ? Shouldn't they have the good sense to say "Thanks but no thanks I'd rather hear Butch DJ for an extra hour please than stand up there playing a bunch of dull dross for an hour myself that you've only asked me to play because I'm your mate"

Also, why talk publically about my theory and risk it back firing with public mockery? Because everyone I know into the music of my generation has limited resources but I want to see more people coming through as DJs, fresher taste, fresher approach, more enthusuasm, more energy. And the only way that the next generation are going to do this IMO is if they take my approach or a similar one. Aggressively construct a DJ set that will compete with the best DJs on the scene. That includes going up against the Butch, Mick H, Arthur Fenns of the scene. If you do not have the ambition to do that don't think about DJing at all as you are only taking up space that is better served by better DJs with more ambition, more ability and a better set.

This is not about 'collecting' records. It's about DJing and improving the quality of sounds heard at northern soul events. It's about clubbing, dancing and getting sweaty. It's not about internet forums and geeky meetings in the back rooms of pubs.

There's no excuse for middle of the road sets. From guest DJs especially. Every set should the dogs nuts, dynamite explosive, and only possibly copied by another top DJ or by no one at all.

There is no excuse for DJs not to try to be playing the best sets. No excuse.

Try to be the best DJ or don't bother at all as there are people out there who are the best and should be given more time to give the dancers the best.

Just my humble opinion of course, and I'll get ready to dodge a few tomatoes that are bound to be thrown in my direction... :tomato2:

you won't get any thrown from me , i agree with what you've said but then it won't come as any surprise to people that i do lolol

[Dave Rimmer]

I've been doing this for years now. Simply because, as has already been said, I found I couldn't collect and DJ. I just couldn't afford it ! So, to listen to at home, I've still got all my albums and CDs, to DJ with I've got a 200 count box, that means when I buy something new, I have to sell something to get it in the box. What it does do is force you to vary your set. Over the course of a year or so when I compare playlists I find probably 75% of the records I am playing have changed.

I can't say it makes me a good DJ though, and it doesn't make someone who brings a 500 count box a bad DJ. I'd like to think that I am a good DJ and can construct a set that will make people want to dance wherever I'm DJing, be it The 100 Club, or Goodyears in Wolverhampton. But it was financial necessity that forced me down the 'hotbox' route, nothing else.

[Guest James Trouble]

Actually, I'll come clean as well.

I'm trying my best to deflect this thread off from it's original course where Tony Free asks everyone what all the really hot records are, and by dangling the New World carrot he'll attract the sort of posters who know what all the top sounds are.

You'll then see him load up his ebay searches and mycatsubu will start poppingup on records mentioned on this thread had it not been deflected by my hot box ramblings.

It might work Tony, and I like your style. But maybe people should think about what 'hot records' they are posting before they post

[Ged Parker]

James I agree with much of what you say but am interested in why you feel that in order to finance new buys that DJ's should always sell what they have stopped playing? Does that mean that you think the only way to afford good tunes is to sell others? and if so does that imply that the only good tunes are expensive ones? Because if that's so I have to disagree on that point at least. I emptied the dancefloor regularly with 'Mixed Feelings' when I first played it and could equally fill it with the TSU Toronadoes - Gotta Get Through to You. Both quality records one a hundreth of the price of the other and played much much less often over the past 6 months.

[Dylan]

I agree a DJ spot should consist of a lot of prehaps very rare soul afterall the theory is we travel a long way to hear the stuff. But I don't think a night should be confined to just this. So much of the best soul music ever made costs $5 and probably never gets played in venues as a result of it being to easy to find.

And I can't see Butch or Dyson or any of those top DJs signing up to this very blinkered approach.

The can assemble a breathtaking hotbox but that isn't where it ends. Its more about a true passion for the music that keeps them at the top.

So as much as I love the hot box sounds I want to hear something I can go away and buy fairly easily.

I guess Mixed Feelings and Richard Marks "Innocent bystander" would be my choice for a 2006 hotbox I haen't heard my 2007 selection yet........

but i'm looking forward to it.

Cookie Jackson "Find me a lover" could be propelled from 20 quid to 3 figures if a hotbox DJ gave it some hammer. I bet it would sound immense over a large system.

[Guest dundeedavie]

surely there isn't a "hot box" record as such so listing what you would have in a hot box is futile , just another list of records imo..... i would hope that the differences in hot box choices is what would make it interesting

[Guest James Trouble]

James I agree with much of what you say but am interested in why you feel that in order to finance new buys that DJ's should always sell what they have stopped playing? Does that mean that you think the only way to afford good tunes is to sell others? and if so does that imply that the only good tunes are expensive ones? Because if that's so I have to disagree on that point at least. I emptied the dancefloor regularly with 'Mixed Feelings' when I first played it and could equally fill it with the TSU Toronadoes - Gotta Get Through to You. Both quality records one a hundreth of the price of the other and played much much less often over the past 6 months.

No, that's not what I'm saying at all.

I've never said good tunes are expensive ones. I don't know or have ever met anyone who thinks that?

That's like saying the only good footballers are expensive ones, which would be foolish.

Edited March 26, 2007 by James Trouble