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GRANDMIX 88

  1. Intro GrandMix 1988 - Ben Liebrand
  2. In The Air Tonight - Phil Collins
  3. Say A Little Prayer - Bomb The Bass
  4. Don't Rock The Boat - Midnight Star
  5. Come Into My Life - Joyce Sims
  6. Wee Rule - Wee Papa Girl Rappers
  7. Say It Again - Jermaine Stewart
  8. Good Groove - Derek B
  9. Girl You Know It's True - Milli Vanilli
  10. Big Bubbles No Troubles - Ellis, Beggs & Howard
  11. Baby Don't Forget My Number - Milli Vanilli
  12. Back On Holiday - Robbie Neville
  13. Loosey's Rap - Rick James
  14. Simple Simon - Mantronix
  15. Monkey - George Michael
  16. Drop The Deal - Code 61
  17. I Need You - BVSMP
  18. Lovely Day - Bill Withers
  19. Dial My Heart - Boys
  20. Every Shade Of Love - Jesse Johnson
  21. Shake Your Thang - Salt'n Pepa
  22. I Want You Back - Jackson 5
  23. I Know You Got Soul - Eric B & Rakim
  24. Faith - Wee Papa Girl Rappers
  25. He's Got The Look - Vanessa Williams
  26. Get Lucky - Jermaine Stewart
  27. Oh What A Night - Franki Valli & The Four Seasons
  28. I'm Real - James Brown
  29. 1919 Main St - Mark Anthony
  30. I'm Not Scared - Eight Wonder
  31. Alphabet St -Prince
  32. Lovers - Alexander O'Neal
  33. In Your Eyes -James "D-Train" Williams
  34. Boom There She Was - Scritti Politti
  35. Females - Cookie Crew
  36. Stop This Crazy Thing - Cold Cut
  37. Be Gentle - BVSMP
  38. I Don't Want Your Love - Duran Duran
  39. Roses Are Red - Mac Band
  40. Tribute - Pasadenas
  41. Static - James Brown
  42. Stone Fox Chase - Icarus
  43. Jibaro - Electra
  44. The Sound Of C - The Confetti's
  45. Think (about It) - Lyn Collins
  46. Another Part Of Me - Michael Jackson
  47. Riding On Atrain - Pasadenas
  48. Love Is Contagious - Taja Sevelle
  49. It Would Take A Strong Man - Rick Astley
  50. Hold On To What You've Got - Evelyn King
  51. Fishnet - Morris Day
  52. Another Lover - Giant Steps
  53. Respect - The Real Roxanne
  54. Another Weekend - Five Star
  55. The Right Stuff - Vanessa Williams
  56. Put That Record Back On - Cut To Shock
  57. Good Times - Matt Bianco
  58. Children Say - Level 42
  59. Bass (how Low Can You Go) - Simon Harris
  60. Beat Dis - Bomb The Bass
  61. Wam Bam - NT Gang
  62. L.O.V.E. - Tyka Nelson
  63. Life's Just A Ballgame - Womack & Womack
  64. There's A Beat Gong On - London Beat
  65. Love Struck - Jesse Johnson
  66. No Stoppin' - Shanice Wilson
  67. Together Forever - Rick Astley
  68. Coming Back For More - Jellybean
  69. Mercedes Boy - Pebbles
  70. Megablast - Bomb The Bass
  71. What Can I Say - Alexander O'Neal
  72. Don't Say It's Love - Johnny Hates Jazz
  73. Kiss - Art Of Noise & Tom Jones
  74. I'm So Scared - Steven Dante
  75. Burn It Up - The Beatmasters
  76. Check This Out - LA Mix
  77. Love Will Save The Day - Whitney Houston
  78. Simon Simon - Dale
  79. Just Got Paid - Johnny Kemp
  80. Trouble - Nia Peeples
  81. Devine Emotions - Narada
  82. Theme From S- Express-Express
  83. Doctor In The House - Cold Cut
  84. Superfly Guy - S-Express
  85. Get Outta My Dreams, Get Into ... - Billy Ocean
  86. She Wants To Dance With Me - Rick Astley
  87. Sending All My Love - The Jets
  88. You Came - Kim Wilde
  89. Prove Your Love - Taylor Dayne
  90. A Little Love - CeeJay
  91. Smooth Criminal - Michael Jackson
  92. Big Fun - Inner City
  93. Love House - Samantha Fox
  94. Jack To The Sound - Hithouse
  95. Beatin'the Beat - Jack 'n' Chill
  96. The Only Way Is Up - Yazz & The Plastic Population

Equipment
2 x SL1200mkII turntables with Stanton Triple E cartridges
2 x TC Electronics TC2290 sampler delays
1 x Teac Tascam mixer 3A (8 channels)
1 x Master Recorder: Revox PR99 with Studer "Butterfly" recording heads.
Speed: 38 cm/s 2track
Tape: 1/4 inch BASF 911 at 510 nanoweber level

Background info
After gathering all the dance charts of the year, an initial list was made in the month
November. This list was sorted by tempo (BPM beats per minute) and on the 1st of
December, work was started on the mix. It took the full month of December to complete
and perfect the mix, usually working the last 72 hours in one stretch.

Reel to reel tape
These early Grandmixes were all edited on tape. Have a look how it was done.
As the edited tape was the final thing, each edit and crossfade not only had to be
rhythmically correct, but even more important , at the right volume level. The mix
would otherwise become louder and louder, resulting in overload and distortion.
I never liked limiters and compressors on final mixes, so the grandmix was also made
without them.
This mix was transferred from analog tape to the Sony SL-F1 prior to broadcasting.
(See also Reel to Reel on the '84 page)

Sampler delays
The Grandmix 88 was the second mix where 2 TC electronics sampler delays were used.
These sampler delays were 2 seperate delays linked with a synchronisation cable to provide
phase correct stereo sampling. The units each have 32 seconds of memory at a wopping
1 Megahertz sampling rate (By comparison, a CD player has 44.1 KHz sampling rate).
This rate provides a frequency response running up to 32 KHz bandwith and thus provided
state of the art sampling and playback.

So how was it used ? Instead of using 2 turntables, only one was used, and instead of starting-in
the next record by hand, it was first recorded into the sampler. It was then triggered by a reed-relais
which was fitted on the SL1200 along with a small magnet on the turntable of the SL1200. After the right
speed was determined, the next segment (in the sampler/delay) could be triggered exactly at the right
moment by the magnet passing the reed-relais. The turntable and the record were marked by a small
marker. Now the timing of the moment of triggering could exactly be adjusted by off-setting
the record to the turntable-platter slightly forward or back. The turntable would then be reversed
half a rotation , and started...... When the magnet passes the reed-relais, the next section was triggered.
In these way, records could be started exactly in-sync from the very first beat, and a crossover could be
performed over and over again, concentrating on the sound levels, as synchronisation was already taken
care of by "automated" triggering.


The Grandmix 88 Directors Cut

The Grandmix 88 as broadcasted June 1999 was transferred from CD to the Akai DD1000 Optical Disc Recorder.
The original 1/4 tape was transferred to digital Sony F-1 in 1988, it was then mastered by Dick van Schuppen
to a U-matic CD mastertape. From this tape the very first DMC tape CD was pressed (DM-CD1).
This mix was available to members of the UK based DiscoMixClub. It was pressed as a limited edition CD
for members only. The Grandmix 89 was released in the same way, the 90 mix was planned to follow,
but was cancelled (after being pressed) due to changed copyright rules in the UK.
Due to last minute changes in the available radio broadcast time, the version broadcasted by radio veronica
in 1988 is somewhat shorter than this version broadcasted in 1999.

The mix was then leveled to 0 dB in the AKAI DD-1000 and minor imperfections were corrected.
The intro starts of with "Timewarp complete - Ready for transmission" followed by the original
Intro featuring Ben Liebrand on Vocoder. The mix was then recorded on to DAT.

other grandmix playlists

Contact us: ben@liebrand.com