Simon Harris
Simon Harris (born 1962)[1] is predominantly known as the owner and founder of the record label Music of Life and writer/producer of most of its extensive catalogue of songs, although he is also an influential DJ, award winning producer, remixer of several Grammy Award winning artists and pioneer of electronic music.[2]
Biography
Originally from London, (UK), Harris is a British producer of sample-based breakbeat and house music. As a remixer, music label owner and producer, Harris has worked with Simon Cowell (American Idol), James Brown, Prince, Joyce Sims, Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), Paul Oakenfold, Tony! Toni! Toné!, War, Arthur Baker, Boyz II Men, Heatwave as well as (Steve "Silk" Hurley, Prince, Bass).
Originally a DJ, Harris started selling professional audio equipment in London's Tottenham Court Road, then became a club promoter. In 1983 Harris was invited to become one of the original remixers for Tony Prince's DMC (now the world's largest DJ association). Harris then joined forces with the late BBC Radio 1 DJ Froggy (1949–2008) and produced remixes for major labels including Polydor (James Brown, Roy Ayers), Chrysalis (Doug E. Fresh), A&M (Jeffrey Osborne), EMI, BMG, Columbia, Island, London and eventually PRT for The Real Thing's "You to Me Are Everything" remix (UK number three pop hit). In 1986 Harris and Froggy started their own independent label 'Music of Life'. The label was initially distributed by Morgan Khan's 'Streetwave' group and the first releases were from Cerrone ("Supernature") and Michael Jackson's sister La Toya.
Within a short time Froggy left to pursue other projects and Music of Life became one of the UK's first rap/hip-hop labels, initially licensing US products, and then with Harris producing many British rap artists including Derek B (the label's A&R executive), followed by Daddy Freddy, MC Duke, Tenor Fly, Hijack, Demon Boyz (Million Dan), and Einstein who later rapped on "Supermarioland" for Harris's Ambassadors of Funk project. Sister label 'Living Beat', releases include Samantha Fox (A Song for Europe), Rolf Harris (BBC TV), Dina Carroll, Jocelyn Brown and Joyce Sims. Also, via Germany's Edel Group, Simon remixed "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World" by Prince.
Harris has produced many breakbeat albums designed for DJs and producers, including 'Beats. Breaks and Scratches' in 12 volumes. Other artists who produced similar albums for Music of Life include Paul Oakenfold, George Clinton and Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim).
Harris continued to remix and produce many artists. Simon Cowell commissioned him to remix Sinitta's "Window Shopping" for his Fanfare label, and shortly thereafter Pete Tong (BBC Radio 1) signed Harris as an artist to his Polygram FFRR label. The first release was a rap version of Michael Jackson's "Bad" ("Bad on the Mike"). This was followed by "Bass (How Low Can You Go?)" which achieved US Billboard Dance Number One status. FFRR released Harris's Bass album next followed by more singles including Marshall Jefferson's "(I've Got Your) Pleasure Control" (with Lonnie Gordon) and "Here Comes That Sound".
Summary
- Producer/Performer of Billboard Number 1 hit "Bass (How Low Can You Go?").
- Producer of a 1992 "Supermarioland" dance music release and other Nintendo related releases with the involvement of Mario's creator Shigeru Miyamoto.
- Founder of British Hip Hop label Music of Life with hundreds of productions involving new British, US and Jamaican rap and reggae artists, released in over 70 countries. Music of Life was founded in 1986 with vinyl single and album releases followed by CD releases.
- Remixer for many artists and music companies and commissioned by Simon Cowell (American Idol) for Sinitta remix, projects with Norman Cook (Fatboy Slim), Arthur Baker, War, James Brown, George Clinton, the first Elvis Presley dance mix (Bossa Nova Baby on RCA), Tony! Toni! Toné! and for Prince's ("The Most Beautiful Girl in the World").
- Produced fusion of reggae and hip hop with Asher D and Daddy Freddy, 'Ragamuffin Hip Hop' in 1987 with the initial release on US label Profile (Run DMC) followed by Chrysalis.
- Recipient of gold and silver discs awarded by the British Phonographic Institute in recognition of high sales volumes.
- Guest speaker and judge at dance music seminars and conventions including DMC world DJ championships.
- Producer of 'Beats Breaks and Scratches' series of albums – breakbeat and sample album series.
- DJ/demonstrator of JBL speaker systems at London's APRS (association of professional recording studios).
- Member of British industry organisations BPI, PRS, MCPS, PPL, VPL and AIM.
- Work featured by the BBC and other British broadcasters. Samples and segments from Harris's work appears on many releases including 'Yeah Yeah' vocal sample on "Get Ready for This" by 2 Unlimited and "Take me to the Hospital" featured on The Prodigy album Invaders Must Die (EMI).
Recent career
Harris has sustained a 30-year production career. His work is varied and has included music video (Daddy Freddy, Joyce Sims), Radio and TV commercial production (KISS-FM, CD WOW!, Coca-Cola) and several TV documentaries including Run-D.M.C. (Kings of Rap, broadcast on MTV in the US) and REM!X (featuring Frankie Knuckles, David Morales, Jason Nevins, Arthur Baker, Norman Cook, Paul Oakenfold and more). In addition Harris's productions are found on motion picture and TV soundtracks.
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak positions | Album | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [3] |
GER [4] |
US Dance [5] | ||||||||||||
| 1987 | "Bad on the Mike" (featuring 3 Boom MC's) | – | – | – | single only | |||||||||
| 1988 | "Bass (How Low Can You Go)" | 12 | 47 | 3 | Bass! | |||||||||
| "Here Comes That Sound" | 38 | – | 14 | |||||||||||
| 1989 | "(I've Got Your) Pleasure Control" (featuring Lonnie Gordon) | 60 | – | 23 | ||||||||||
| "Another Monsterjam" (featuring Einstein) | 65 | – | ||||||||||||
| 1990 | "Ragga House (All Night Long)" (featuring Daddy Freddy) | 56 | – | – | Disturbing The Peace | |||||||||
| "Don't Stop The Music" (featuring Dina Carroll & Monte Luv) | 84 | – | – | |||||||||||
| "Time" (featuring Leslie Lyrics) | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1991 | "Louder Than A Shotgun" | – | – | – | Back to the Bass | |||||||||
| "Summertime" | – | – | – | |||||||||||
| 1992 | "Rollin' With The Punches" | – | – | – | ||||||||||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released. | ||||||||||||||
References
- ↑ "About". harrismix.com. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
- ↑ "Simon Harris". MySpace. MySpace. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
- ↑ "Official Charts Company: Simon Harris". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ↑ "Simon Harris – German Chart". charts.de. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
- ↑ "Simon Harris – US Dance Club Songs Chart". billboard.com. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
External links
- Simon Harris New Blog site 2010
- The Simon Harris MySpace Page
- Simon Harris at Discogs
- Simon Harris at Twitter