Last Friday Peckham's Holdron Arcade was graced by the presence of a true nightlife legend. John Morales, one half of the legendary remixing duo M&M — his longstanding studio collaboration with the sadly departed Sergio Munzibai — stepped into the studio at Balamii, our favourite station beaming straight out of SE15.For the uninitiated, Morales' work as a remixer and producer was instrumental for shaping the sound of club culture to come. Working with everyone from Class Action to Candi Staton, Hall & Oates to Dan Hartman, Odyssey to Billy Ocean, M&M's post-disco flourishes took them up the the proto-house days and beyond. Think of a disco song you love and Morales has probably had a go at bettering it. And succeeded. Here's our personal favourite from the inimitable vaults — and definitely the best record ever made about two bees shagging.Morales also has serious pedigree as a DJ, having played out at the likes of Pippins, Bentleys, 1018, Limelight and the infamous Studio 54, all in New York. In fact, it was his DJing that made him want to explore the art of the remix. "I started to make medleys and remixes because the records in those days were too short, most in the three minute range, and being a DJ I needed to get more out of the records I was spinning," he says. "I first started to do my edits using the pause button on a Teac Cassette Deck. After many hours of self-education I graduated and I purchased a Sony reel-to-reel and learned to edit. It was hard work and long hours editing and putting all the little pieces of tape together and making something creative happen."His Balamii set, which we're bringing you exclusively here on THUMP, is a near two hour blast through beefed up boogie, delirious disco and the kind of hyper extended edits that get us all excited. You're listening to a master at work. Enjoy.
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