BOMB THE BASS - BEAT DIS!

Mister Ron/BCM/Rhythm King
(Emilio Pasquez, Tim Simenon)

"The names have been changed to protect the innocent"

Dance folklore regales that Tim Simenon was a 19 year old DJ working at the trendy Wag Club in London when he produced a sample-laden montage of beats and cut up sounds for 150 pounds. Had that money been spent on a Sega Master System and copy of Out Run instead, the course of dance music might have ran along a different trajectory. Perhaps in an alternative dimension, Beat Dis was not released as a disguised "Mister Ron" imprint (to disguise the fact it was a British -and not American- release) and therefore didn't destroy dancefloors the world over, heralding the arrival of the British house movement. Imagine thousands of compilations not including an "extended dis" version. Imagine millions of human ears deprived of the "Keep this frequency clear!"and "Pump That Bass" vocal samples dropped over a frenetic transformed beep-like hook and earth-shattering drum rhythm.

Well, thank God that Mr Simenon did indeed spend that money on producing one of the greatest and most exhilarating dance anthems of all time - which subsequently led to further singles "Don't Make Me Wait" and "Say a Little Prayer" from the "Into The Dragon" album, in addition to production work for Neneh Cherry ("Buffalo Stance"), Depeche Mode and countless others.

In 1988 Acid House would lead a generation into disused warehouses and fields to dance the night away as the "Summer of Love" signalled a revolution in thought, culture and music. In 1987, Bomb the Bass's "Beat Dis" ensured we were fully prepared as we "got down to the funky beat".

Version Control: Crazy Funky Cool?

"Into the Dragon" replaced the chorus line of "Get down to the funky beat" with "Get down to the crazy beat" and labelled it as the "U.S. version". Music press of the day speculated that stringent music censorship standards in the U.S. might have been responsible for removing a word that "sounded similar" to a swear-word. Interestingly, the actual U.S. single versions retained the original U.K. "funky" version so the renaming may have been an attempt by record label Rhythm King (also home to the Beatmasters, Baby Ford and Merlin) to imply an American connection with the release.

The "extended dis" is the 12" version and extends the breaks of the shorter 7" edit. Additional samples are also used including a quick drop of whistled "The Good, The Bad and the Ugly" themetune. Look out also for the "Gangsta boogie" remix.