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Groove Me

Teddy's Jam

Don't Clap… Just Dance

You Can Call Me Crazy

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The first time I heard Groove Me, my reaction was simple.
Don’t I know THIS sound? 🎶

I was already a music lover.
That part wasn’t new.

But this?
Those drums, that bounce, the way everything moved together.
Something different was happening, and my ears were trying to figure it out.

I loved what Quincy Jones, Prince, Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis, L.A. Reid & Babyface, Narada Michael Walden, Kashif, Leon Sylvers III, Louis A. Johnson, Nick Martinelli, Michael J. Powell, Reggie Lucas were bringing to music.
Writers like Diane Warren, Rod Temperton, L.A. Reid, Babyface, Jimmy Jam, Terry Lewis, Smokey Robinson, Ashford & Simpson, Stevie Wonder, Lionel Richie, Prince, Angela Winbush, Siedah Garrett, Brenda Russell were giving us songs that stayed with us, too.

Then here came Teddy Riley with something else for me to fall in love with.
And he brought Guy, too. 🔥

Released in 1988, their debut was credited to producers Teddy Riley and Gene Griffin.
The original trio was Teddy, Aaron Hall and Timmy Gatling, who also helped write much of the album. Damion Hall came in as Timmy’s replacement.
Timmy deserves his flowers in this story, too.

Teddy had already helped develop New Jack Swing with Keith Sweat’s Make It Last Forever in 1987.
But hearing Guy made that sound hit me differently.
Hip-hop rhythm, funk and real R&B singing, all moving with this fresh, restless energy.

And Aaron Hall had the voice to stand right up in the middle of it. 🎤
Now, put yourself behind a mixer with all that.

I’d gotten my first mixer after high school and had already mixed a few house parties.
I was young, learning, and loving the feeling of sharing music with people.
Guy gave me music that was fun to work with.
That Swing!
My New mixer.
I made it DO what it DO baby!

I loved watching people dance and enjoy my mixing.
That was my new drug.

There’s a particular joy in loving a record yourself, then watching that love spread across a room.
People are having a good time, and you’re helping make it happen.
I wanted more of that feeling.
Another song.
Another mix.
Another chance to keep everybody moving.
That’s how much I loved it.
I still do. ❤️

Groove Me (Extended Version), Teddy’s Jam (Extended Version), Don’t Clap…Just Dance (12″ Mix), ’Round and ’Round (Merry Go ’Round of Love) (12″ Extended Version), Spend the Night (Extended Version) had that energy I couldn’t get enough of.

And I I Like (Extended Version).
That groove and those vocals still do exactly what they’re supposed to do.
Try sitting completely still through it.
Good luck with that. 😂

Then Piece of My Love gave me another reason to love this album.
The sensuality, the melodies, the way the singing pulled you in.
Teddy could give it emotion.
Love.

And that damn Goodbye Love.
Aaron sings that one like letting go is going to take everything he’s got.
The slow jam lover in me was just as satisfied as the young DJ. 🌙

I’ve named eight favorites from a ten-song album.
At that point, just hand me the whole damn thing.
This was a no skip album for me. ▶️

It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B album chart and eventually went double platinum.
Well deserved.

But when I play it, I’m thinking about that first mixer.
Those first house parties.🕺
How good it felt to hear something new and figure out how to share it.

Music had already given me so much joy.
DJing let me give some of that joy back.

That’s why Guy belongs in The Soundtrack Of Who I Became.
I can still hear the excitement of a young man discovering just how much he loved being behind that mixer. 🎧

I fell in love with music long before Guy.
But records like this helped me fall in love with what I could do with it.

DJZ7

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