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Mark Moore

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Mark Moore is a British DJ and producer from London, born in 1965. He began in 1983 as a DJ at The Mud Club and shortly afterwards got a regular night at the nightclub Heaven. Moore played electronic new wave by Yello, Cabaret Voltaire and Soft Cell, but he was also one of the first British DJs to play house from Chicago and techno from Detroit.

Music and breakthrough

In 1988 he started S'Express, together with the co-producer Pascal Gabriel. The first single, Theme from S'Express, was released on the label Rhythm King and went to number one in England. The dance magazine Muzik later wrote that this song kick-started the British house scene. It was built from samples: pieces of other records, stuck together into a new dance track. Superfly Guy followed, which reached number five, and Hey Music Lover with the singer Billie Ray Martin. The album Original Soundtrack (1989) reached number 5 in England; the second album, Intercourse, appeared in 1991.

Influence

Moore kept making remixes, including for Erasure, Seal and Soft Cell, often together with William Orbit. From 2003 to 2007 he ran the club night Electrogogo in Soho, and in 2005 he started the label Umami Records. S'Express shows how acid house came about in England: a DJ who knew other people's records inside out took them apart in the studio and made something new of them.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen in Theme from S'Express to how the song is built from separate fragments: a repeated disco bass line, short snatches of voice and little sounds that keep darting in between. Notice how little is actually played and how much is cut and pasted.

In School of Rock

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Categories: Artists