Ben Liebrand "In The Mix"

I managed to contact Michel to compliment him on his work. This is his reply:

Hi Ben,

First of all, thank you for your kind words these mean a lot to me coming from a person of your reputation in the music industry.

Destiny or whatever you may call it works in strange ways. It will send you on a path that you will explore for a number weeks, months or years and suddenly this path ends or you think it ends but 25 years later the path shows up again and you get the recognition of your peers and retribution for all those hours that were spent behind consoles and turntables mixing and spinning for the love and the passion of music.

Now to explain what I just said LOL. My career ended in clubs in 1985, studio work ended in 1986 and radio and tv went on to 1988. Here are
some of the reasons why I ended my career in music. I was now in my thirty's and wanted a family. The music in the mid eighties was very depressing, in the clubs I worked Michael Jackson and Madonna were highly requested and I could not take it anymore. The other factor is that Radio took over the hit making process from us DJ'S and decided pretty much what was going to play in the clubs on the weekend. DJ's were not stars in the eighties but just spinners, in the seventies we were stars and people would come to our clubs to dance on our music selection.

As for Radio, this was the hardest experience I had. In Montreal, there were 2 radio stations playing dance music off and on during the day. Just working in one was a feat but I soon learned that radios were controlled by a group of people that had an agenda and that this could not be changed easily. So I ended up being more frustrated than satisfied after a days work. This brought a conclusion to my career in Radio also.

I thought that this was the end of the path but since I have put for sale my record collection and other record collections from ex DJ's like me on Ebay and opening a store I have been exchanging with people that have the same passion for music that I had in the seventies and want to know everything about my career, my work, my city you name it. I have now friends in Netherlands(Patrick), England, France, Italy, Ex DJ's from New York, San Francisco Etc...

I am totally shocked by what as happened and did not hesitate a second to leave my other job to invest all my time in exchanging with all these people. I must thank Patrick for being an instrumental part of this situation.
I have visited your site and I must tell you that my first impression is that you are the representation of what hard work, passion and commitment can achieve. I for one know how many hours you have invested in order to attain this degree of stardom. I can only say to you
BRAVO!!! BEN

BTW: Love your T-Shirts, especially the Revox and the SL-1200 ones. I have some dating from the seventies. Are you a collector or can we work something out for a number of shirts.

Thanks again for your comments and your time
Take care
Michel from Montreal, Canada

Michel Gendreau

Here is the story behind this mix ! Alto Passion - Let's do it in the 80's Michel Gendreau was one of the main creators of the Famous disco mix-Let's Do it. Here is the story behind it: A guy named Michel Ali brought a tape with a mix one night at the club were Michel was spinning. After listening to it the spices were not that great, the sound was uneven, the records were old and full of noise but Michel saw the potential but it needed to be cleaned up. So the whole medley was redone from scratch with Michel's records and a third guy named Paul Richer who was a great splicer. The medley was created in two parts. The first part that was redone was the original beatles medley that started with Video killed the radio star and then eventualy finished with the Beatles songs. The second part was the intro and finish of the medley. The idea was get the patrons on the dance floor with popular disco hits of the moment and mix in the 10" tape that was used when they started playing it(no bootleg yet). There was no pitch on the reel to reel so Michel ajusted the pitch on his turntable that was playing one of the intro songs(funkytown was a sure bet). So the medley could be introduced smoothly and people would just continue dancing on the old beatles songs. No DJ's in clubs in Montreal were playing old Beatles songs in 1979 so this was a high risk decision to test this medley. As for the ending *The JB's was a big hit in Montreal at that time so if they lost the patrons on the beatles songs they could get them back on ot the dance floor with the JB's. Michel did not want to take any chances, but history as proven that this was a fantastic medley one of the rare bootlegs that was used to create a commercial success(Stars on 45). Some people asked Michel to add more Beatles songs in the medley but he always refused and to this day says that the original mix is still the best one out there. It was simple and fun to dance to. The very first pressing was the one on the Alto passion label.		I managed to contact Michel to compliment him on his work. This is his reply: Hi Ben, First of all, thank you for your kind words these mean a lot to me coming from a person of your reputation in the music industry. Destiny or whatever you may call it works in strange ways. It will send you on a path that you will explore for a number weeks, months or years and suddenly this path ends or you think it ends but 25 years later the path shows up again and you get the recognition of your peers and retribution for all those hours that were spent behind consoles and turntables mixing and spinning for the love and the passion of music. Now to explain what I just said LOL. My career ended in clubs in 1985, studio work ended in 1986 and radio and tv went on to 1988. Here are some of the reasons why I ended my career in music. I was now in my thirty's and wanted a family. The music in the mid eighties was very depressing, in the clubs I worked Michael Jackson and Madonna were highly requested and I could not take it anymore. The other factor is that Radio took over the hit making process from us DJ'S and decided pretty much what was going to play in the clubs on the weekend. DJ's were not stars in the eighties but just spinners, in the seventies we were stars and people would come to our clubs to dance on our music selection. As for Radio, this was the hardest experience I had. In Montreal, there were 2 radio stations playing dance music off and on during the day. Just working in one was a feat but I soon learned that radios were controlled by a group of people that had an agenda and that this could not be changed easily. So I ended up being more frustrated than satisfied after a days work. This brought a conclusion to my career in Radio also. I thought that this was the end of the path but since I have put for sale my record collection and other record collections from ex DJ's like me on Ebay and opening a store I have been exchanging with people that have the same passion for music that I had in the seventies and want to know everything about my career, my work, my city you name it. I have now friends in Netherlands(Patrick), England, France, Italy, Ex DJ's from New York, San Francisco Etc... I am totally shocked by what as happened and did not hesitate a second to leave my other job to invest all my time in exchanging with all these people. I must thank Patrick for being an instrumental part of this situation. I have visited your site and I must tell you that my first impression is that you are the representation of what hard work, passion and commitment can achieve. I for one know how many hours you have invested in order to attain this degree of stardom. I can only say to you BRAVO!!! BEN BTW: Love your T-Shirts, especially the Revox and the SL-1200 ones. I have some dating from the seventies. Are you a collector or can we work something out for a number of shirts. Thanks again for your comments and your time Take care Michel from Montreal, Canada Michel Gendreau
The Pioneer reel-to-reel which was used to make "Let's Do It" and many other mixes.		Michel gendreau together with The Flirts