Nerdy Frames: Circus of the underrated music oddities! Henry .

Robbie Rivera, Davidson Ospina, Ralphi Rosario, Mike Delgado, King Britt, and a smattering of others under various alter egos and nom de plumes.It was a presumption that they were all great records, what was all the more impressive was that they all originated from the same recording home, Henry Street Music. A label conceived and devised by Johnny DeMairo, an Italian-American from Brooklyn who talked the talk, could well have been an extra in The Soprano`s, and was known affectionately as "The Shark". To others he was just plain Johnny "D", and one half of the pro! duction duo JohNick with studio partner Nicky "P" Palermo Jr.By day DeMairo was Senior Director A&R for Atlantic Records. He was the man that paired Todd Terry with Everything But The Girl and transformed `Missing` into a chart topping hit; he helped convert an underground house producer named Armand Van Helden into the hottest property via a remix for Tori Amos; and sign a a sample track from Kenny Dope who took a non-hit from one the biggest groups in pop history to make a book that was literally `The Bomb!`Johnny D started Henry Street back in 1993, with fellow New York producer Tommy Musto. "He and I left Sound Factory Bar on a Wednesday night when Louie Vega used to meet and we discussed it," he reflects. "The reason behind it was very simple: I felt the competing labels at the clock were hitting a fence as far as creativity, and thither were no classics being made. The medicine to me was ! becoming very disposable. My thoughts were, if I have a record! that is 20years old and give it hot, I`d get 20 more years out of it. I knew disco better than most and thinking I could use that knowledge to give old records and grooves new again."Henry Street Music, taking its name from the street that intersected President & Hicks in DeMairo`s Brooklyn neighbourhood, debuted in the form of 1994 with `Whew` by Kenny Dope Presents The Bucketheads_ there`s that phrase again! "Kenny who is, and was one of my nearest friends at the time, agreed to make me my first record to help found the label and put it on the map. In essence it made us an immediate player."It worked. By release number four, `The Bomb! (These Sounds Fall Into My Mind)` also by the Bucketheads, the label had become an external player with a single built about one of the longest introductions since `Relight Light My Fire`, and elements from Chicago`s `S! treet Player`. .Click here to continue reading

Back at the rear end of the live millennium BBE released a comprehensive over view of household music in the latter stages of the 20th century. `Henry Street Music: The Floor So Far - 1993 To 1999` was a piece of superior contemporary club classics featuring all of the key players, architects and music makers of the day. Todd Terry, Armand Van Helden, Kenny Dope, DJ Sneak, 95 North,