In the 1990s whilst the Goden Era of Hip Hop was in full flow and electronic music was continuing to be experimental from its rise in the 80’s, an independent record label from Manchester emerged, fusing a wide variety of musical genres and acquiring unique artists for its roster. This record label was Grand Central Records from the Northern Quarter of Manchester and was started in 1995 by Mark Rae. Whilst the record label unfortunately is no longer in existence, it has left a legacy of some incredible music and every so often Mark will review some of the label's classic albums on his Youtube Channel in a segment called 'This Is How We Did It.'
In the latest instalment of 'This Is How We Did It,' Mark Rae takes us through the iconic album 'Central Heating' and the making of one of Grand Central Records most important releases from 1996. The album contains tracks from artists such as Tony D, Only Child, Andy Votel, Funky Fresh Few, Aim, Rae and Christian and Mr Scruff and Mark lets us know the background on how the album and its songs were produced.
Mark's passion for music knows no bounds and his narration of the stories behind the tunes is a must listen. He explains how Hip-Hop artist Tony D would come over from America to record and would be mesmerised by British Television Gameshow 'The Crystal Maze.' Mark also talks of topics such as how they shared an office building (Lovenet Studios) with Tony Wilson (co-founder of Factory Records and the founder and manager of the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester), remixing for Texas, an unfortunate miscommunication with Jeru the Damaja and how he missed out on signing Badly Drawn Boy.'
Tracks covered on the album include Aim 'Loopdreams,' an original of 'Spellbound' by Rae & Christian with Veba and 'How Sweet It Is' which was created by Mark and Mr Scruff, using samples from Biz Markie and Marly Marl as well as soul singer Mille Jackson.
These 'blast from the past' music instalments are full of nostalgia, covering some incredible music making from the 90's with each track containing its own interesting tale from one of the best record labels from that era
We miss Grand Central Records!
You can purchase some awesome Grand Central Merchandise on Mark's Bandcamp and you can check out the latest instalment below;
