Tony De Vit - The Dawn:
It’s 12pm on Sunday afternoon. For the last six hours you’ve had flat 4/4s driven into your skull at close to 140 BPM...........
......needless to say, most of the people around you - who’ve been out since Saturday night - aren’t looking fit to drive. It’s a sight synonymous with a hard house scene that once was, and a picture perfect (ahem) moment to be savoured at after-hours clubs from Insomniacz to Sundissential.
A sound that emerged from the gay clubs of mid-90s Britain, it wasn’t until close to 2000 that it finally hit big in the mainstream. Ironic, then, that by this point the most lasting icon to ever be produced from this marriage of hoovers and kicks had already been lost.
GU001: Tony De Vit Tel Aviv
GU005: Tony De Vit Tokyo
Dying aged 40 in 1998, HIV positive Tony De Vit never stuck to the plan. That’s why he managed to notch up not one, but two mixes for Global Underground. You’ll probably never get Lisa Lashes, Fergie, or BK contributing to the legendary progressive house series, and not just because the organisation behind it shut up shop earlier this year.
Both Tel Aviv and Tokyo represent required reading for anyone with an interest in a man who’s not name-checked by enough people. Both may be a whole lot more energetic and ravey compared to GU’s token sound. But still neither feels particularly out of place, because with keen technical ability, a no-nonsense attitude to mixing, and an open-minded approach to tunes, it was difficult for people not to get down to him.
Think of residencies at London’s legendary Trade, alongside a slot in the second city next to Sasha at Chuff Chuff, which you can sample on the similarly titled 1994 double album. Then there are dancefloor smashes such as Burning Up and Bring The Beat Back. So throw in a post-humous back catalogue spanning over a decade, with releases like Tidy classic The Dawn, and you’ll start to realise what we’re talking about.
Fergie on why Tony De Vit is his 'Greatest DJ'
