A couple of years ago I received a call from JK & Joel who, at that time, were presenting a show on what was then Virgin Radio (now Absolute Radio) having recently moved there from Radio 1.
JK wanted to know if we could create an exclusive mix for use on their radio show…how could we refuse! The brief was to create a mix containing 15 tracks in 15 minutes, for a new feature they were including in their show.
Each track had to be an 80s classic and 3 of the tracks in the mix needed to be the full version and taken from the Virgin Radio playlist. That meant the other 12 tracks could be anything…within reason! (Black Lace was frowned upon…) Also, considering the tight timings that are adhered to in radio, the finished product had to be exactly 15 minutes long, to the second! We set about producing the first ‘Retro Mix’ and gave John Faulkner the task of creating it.
JK & Joel’s show was broadcast on Saturday mornings and I remember tuning in for the first airing of our new creation. Eventually the time arrived for the ‘Retro Mix’ feature and the boys introduced the first one to the nation. I cranked the radio up and listened with interest. The mix sounded fantastic. Within the first 30 seconds it had featured samples from 5 80s anthems before launching into the first of the 3 full tracks. The mix continued to work its way through, with some tracks being prominent and others more subtly tucked away into the background – the challenge for the listeners was to be able to identify as many of the songs as they could out of the 15!
The mix was over and I waited for the reaction from the 2 presenters…it was not what I expected! Knowing the radio industry as I do, I thought we might get a brief mention before moving onto the next feature on the show…but I was wrong! Both JK & Joel were totally blown away by it, they spent the next few moments discussing the brilliance of the mixing and the quality of the tracks used. The ‘Retro Mix’ had arrived!
The following Monday morning, I received a phone call from their producer. He had called to thank me for the first mix and ask if we could supply them with further ‘Retro Mixes’ on a regular basis. That meant that the reaction from everyone had been good then? In fact it was better than good. The switchboard and e-mails had gone crazy. Listeners to the show wanted to know if there would be another mix next week and if they were available to buy! Amazing!!!
We continued to produce the ‘80s Retro Mixes’ for Virgin Radio for several months before JK & Joel left the station to pursue their television career; in that time we produced over 20 mixes for their show.
We started to include the odd Retro Mix on our monthly Mastermix Issue and got such a great response that we compiled the first 80s Retro Mixes album. The demand for this was so great that we went on to produce a further 2 albums and adapted the same format to other decades, adding ‘60s’, ‘70s’, ‘90s’ & ‘00s’ to the collection.
I am constantly amazed at how well the ‘Retro Mixes’ have sold as they employ techniques unlike any of our other mixes. The usual format is smooth links and longer versions of each track to ensure our productions are dancefloor friendly, but the ‘Retro Mixes’ use fast-moving, chop-mixing techniques. I have asked many DJs where they play the mixes and received varied responses from radio shows to mobile discos, but the most popular seems to be the pub DJ who loves playing something different and creative to their audience.
We will continue to add to the ‘Retro Mixes’ range as the demand for us to produce more continues to grow. This technique has even crept into some other issue mixes, under the guise of ‘All Cut Up‘ when the music is too current to be considered ‘retro’. To celebrate the life and career of the late, great Michael Jackson, we have also produced a Retro Mix dedicated entirely to his songs.
I personally think that from the very first mix appearing on Virgin Radio we have created a unique range of products that DJs have fully embraced and long may that continue!
Richard Lee
Mastermix Label Manager
