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Tell
us how the label started and its early years...
Shaboom was started by Dick Johnson, Ben Davis, Mark Bell and
Paul Birchall as an act and a record label in Blackpool, the Mecca
of the North and The Las Vegas of The British Riviera.
The four met through a mutual appreciation of dance music in 1995
as Dick held down a residency at the Hacienda, Ben ran paperecordings,
Paul was playing keyboards in M-People and Mark was a well known
studio bod involved with Deconstruction and Cream's Olympic Records.
They got together in Marks' studio and emerged with Wildride, a
wild-pitch influenced house track that was snapped up by Rob's Records.
That was followed with Bust-a-Bubble and Bessie (later to come out
on Warner Brothers) on paperecordings to great sales and critical
acclaim and following the success of these tracks…. Shaboom Records
was born.
The label started with some of Mark's sometime collaborators like
Doc Martin and Marshall Jefferson and caused waves from the start,
covering all bases from smooth jazz workouts to deep, deep dance
floor and classic garage.
Shaboom's reputation kept growing, eventually attracting the attention
of Warner Brothers who approached the act to do an album. Taka Boom
was enlisted as their vocalist alongside Mark and what emerged was
Meccafunk, an album that brought Blackpool's Northern Soul legacy
up to date with its storming vocal tracks alongside the deepest
house and 90s funk.
The first single was Bessie and Woman Cry but it wasn't until Sweet
Sensation that Shaboom took off. It was single of the week on two
thirds of Radio 1's daytime shows with Pete Tong claiming to have
nearly crashed his car when he heard it on Danny Rampling's show.
Muzik and Mixmag also gave it maximum support and it reached number
one in DJ's coveted Hype chart, eventually charting in the national
top 40.
Since then the label has gone onto be one of the most respected
in the world with a roster of artists that includes The Barrio Brothers
(Onionz & Joeski), Blakdoktor (Doc Martin & Mark Bell), Tony Hewitt,
The Wam Kidz, Tony Senghore, Blakkat, Troffman, Del 5, DJ Sneak,
Mathew & Leon Records and a whole host of others.
Highlights have included UBU's Pixels EP that was hammered by the
likes of Xpress 2 and Darren Emerson, and then licensed onto Azuli.
Shaboom's "If You Need Me" with a Larry Gold string arrangement
that made number 6 in the buzz chart and Kingsize Funk's "Release
the Pressure" the sound that rocked the Ibizan summer of 1999 demonstrated
both the label as a trendsetter but also an acute business sense.
In 2002 there was such a wealth of material that Blaktrax was started
to release the techier side of house music. Blaktrax is approaching
its 7th release soon!
Will
Stone puts Chris Hunter On
the Spot.
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