BCM/A&M Records (UK)/Breakout
(Adams, Freilich)
"Ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch check this out y'all!"
Almost everyone involved in the clubbing or house music scene in the late 1980s would have heard of the name "Les Adams". A regular contributor to the Disco Mix Club (DMC) record pool and remix service, Adams name was listed as the official knob twiddler of numerous re-edits including MARRS' groundbreaking "Pump up the Volume", Inner City's "Big Fun" and Cameo's funk masterpiece "Word Up" (to name but a few). So it came as no surprise when in 1988, Adams was revealed as the producer behind a massive sample-based house hit released under the guise of "L.A. Mix" (alongside wife Emma Freilich - talk about holy dance matrimony!). Despite its American sounding moniker, "Check This Out" was another British house release riding hot on the coat-tails of Bomb the Bass' "Beat Dis" and S-Express's "Theme to S-Express" released beforehand. Although it included similar elements of cut n paste soundbites and vocal grabs, "Check This Out" poked fun at the then excessive use of samples in dance music: The ubiquitous "This is a journey into sound" and "pump up the volume" samples were followed up by a voice yelling "Oh not again" and "Get Off"!
Either ironically, or in some post-modernist reference to art imitating art imitating art (yeah, I'm confused to!), the track then jacked the famous "Whoo Yeah!" hip house beat (see: Rob Base & DJ E-z Rock/ Fast Eddie/ Beatmasters et al) before outroing with a interpolation of the Munsters T.V. theme!
Original in its use of samples? Ummm....Not quite. Original sounding track title then? Definitely not! A monster of a house anthem that any self-respecting DJ should have in his/her music collection and saved eBay search list? You betchya!
Version Control: The Cuban Miss Crisis avoided by Fierce warfare!
The "Fierce vocal" mix is the extended version of the radio edit and clocking in at just under six minutes, it's the one that is the most value for money in terms of sample count! Samples used included "This is a Test", "Burn this house down" and the famous "whistling quote" ("You don't have to say anything, and you don't have to do anything. Not a thing. Oh, maybe just whistle. You know how to whistle, don't you, Steve? You just put your lips together and... blow. ") from 1944's "To Have and Have Not". The Salt Lake City and Sweaty Cuban Mixes are listenable but drop the major elements that make the track what it is.
2 comments:
This track did seem very late to the party and, although quite good, seemed a bit too familiar even the first time I heard it.
I'm really trying to find the name of the track that is sampled at around 2:17 "Destiny, you are my destiny" as I have it on an old TDK D90 cassette !
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