10 Tunes which Sasha Played at Shelley’s nightclub in the 1990’s.

In the early ’90s, the North West of England had many popular dance music nightclubs.

Most will have heard of Manchester’s famous Hacienda. But the region had many other great nights.

One of these clubs was Shelley’s Lazerdome, a club located in Stoke-on-Trent.

During its short history (approx. 89-91) it hosted various dance music events. And many big-name DJs graced its turntables – Carl Cox, Doc Scott, Ellis Dee, and Dave Seaman to name a few.

But sadly, the history of Shelley’s is a short one.

The club was only open a few years before it was eventually shut down by the Police in 1992. And a few months later the club was demolished under the Stoke-on-Trent regeneration scheme.

But during its formative years, around August 1990, a virtually unknown DJ called Sasha took up a weekly residency, playing a blend of Italian Piano House, Hip House, and Techno. Shelley’s helped to propel Sasha’s career. Later he would go on to become one of the most popular DJs of the ’90s.

His residency at Shelley’s ended around May 1991. But years later he became the resident DJ at Mansfield’s famous Renaissance night, where he partnered with his long-time frequent future collaborator John Digweed.

The duo went on to release pioneering mix albums like “The Mix Collection”. Which was one of the first big DJ mix albums which achieved commercial success.

But what records did Sasha play during the Shelley’s era? Let’s take a look.

Sasha Shelly’s Era Tracks

1. L.A.N.D.R.O. & Co. ‎– I’ve Got Your Love

Back in the early ’90s, there was a lot of Italo house coming out – some good some bad. This particular single was hard to find during the ’90s but it’s now easy to acquire a copy today (thanks Discogs).

This is a great uplifting piano tune, a track peppered with random samples, including Kariya – Let Me Love You for Tonight.

2. Creative Thieves ‎– Nasty Rhythm (PKA Mix)

A classic record was written by two of the era’s heavyweight producers, namely Dave Seaman and Steve Anderson.

This pair churned out many great house music hits under various pseudonyms. They made tracks under the names Brothers in Rhythm and the lesser-known Brothers Love Dubs.

Nasty Rhythm was hammered at many of the Northern popular at many clubs. I had many old Angels tapes (a nightclub located in my local town of Burnley) which featured this tune.

The track has dreamy strings, a throbbing baseline, and great piano hook, and a catchy vocal sample that screams “take me to the top”. A mixture that makes this a real hands-in-the-air record.

You can download a DJ which I made that contains this track by clicking here.

3. DJ Herbie ‎– Feel Good / Come on Boy

Some of the mixes of this record are bloody awful and haven’t aged well.

But it’s the Underground and the Larry Levan mix which are the gems of this release.

Those two mixes sound much more minimal, and they shy away from that screaming over-the-top euro mixes which are on this realises A-side.

4. Papillon ‎– Different World/The Bully

Top-quality piano tune featuring Sam Mollison.

Sasha went on to collaborate with Mollison on a couple of tracks that charted a few years later. One was Higher Ground and Magic both of which were released on Deconstruction records.

This tune is not my cup-of-tea but many love it.

5. Sueño Latino ‎– Luxuria

Sueño Latino, the masters of chillout/ambient house. A formidable set of producers who made some great tunes whilst avoiding that over-the-top Italian synth sound.

Many of their tunes still sound good today. And this record from 1989 is no different.

Luxuria has a lovely relaxed feel. It’s a record sprinkled with tropical bird noises, airy strings, lively synths, and a lovely Spanish vocal hook.

6. C-Concept ‎– Why Did You Do It

This is a superb remix by Frank De Wulf. If you’ve never of this producer I suggest you go and look him up. He was a major force in the early Belgian techno scene, releasing classics like The Tape and Magic Orchestra as well as many more.

I feature the tape on one of my mixes which you can download by clicking here.

“Why Did You Do It” is a simple track with an excellent piano riff. This tune isn’t quite Belgian Techno, and not your typical full-on piano tune – it skirts in-between.

But this track still sounds good today, it’s aged well.

7. Love Bass ‎– Something Unreal

It’s a funky breakbeat tune, with an uplifting vocal, and some scratch and guitar samples are thrown in too.

8. S.L.D. ‎– Gettin’ Out

This tune needs no introductions. Even the remixes are great. And the original and remixes still sound good today.

This is one of my favorite piano tunes – I love both the Italian versions and the Justin Robertson versions equally.

The vocal really does help to build this tune into a killer. The vocal samples “Raw Silk ‎– Do It to The Music” and it says: “We’re getting hot, getting ready for the best time in your life”, and it’s this vocal snippet that makes this tune resonate with the dance floor.

From start to finish this tune sounds ace. And it’s a record that still sounds great today.

This is one tune that even people who weren’t into dance music would grow to like. I got a few of my grunge and rock-loving mates into dance music with this tune. Absolute class!

You can download this mix of mine which contains the Justin Robertson version of ‘Getting Out’.

9. Pierre Feroldi Feat Linda Ray ‎– Moving Now

Classic record from the Italian pioneer Pierre Feroldi (also known as DJ Pierre).

A great Italian Piano anthem that contains pumping beats, a lovely vocal sample, and a catchy piano hook.

This is one of my favorite piano tunes and it can be found on this mix by me.

10. Liberation ‎– Liberation 2

A massive piano tune that was popular in the northern dance music clubs of the early 1990s. I remember going out to pubs and bars in my local town and you’d still hear DJ’s dropping this tune several years later after its original release.

I even remember going to some early hard house nights in the early 2000s and DJs like Rob Tissera would drop it. The reason for this is that the tune is fast, and it has hard-pumping sounding beats, which made it compatible with a lot of early hard house.

This tune has a driving beat, a feel-good vocal that says: “smile through your tears, move on and keep on moving”. The vocal alone made is a dancefloor killer. And the piano breakdown is a real crowd-pleasing hand-in-the-air moment.

And this tune features on this DJ mix of mine.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this brief look at some of the tunes which DJ Sasha played at Shelly’s back in the early ’90s. Obviously, he played many more than this, but for me these are some of my favorite tracks which I’d heard on mixtapes from that era.

If you’d like to learn more just check out the interesting links section below where you can find more resources on Sasha and the Shelly’s era.

DJ Sasha Mixes From Shelleys

You can find live DJ mixes of great man during his stint at Shelleys on Youtube. Here’s a few mixes I found:

Further Reading and helpful links

https://www.discogs.com/lists/Sasha-Piano-House-Shelleys-Era/23046 – 100 tunes played by Sasha at Shelley’s.

https://www.mixesdb.com/w/Category:Sasha – A great list of mixtapes from Sasha including Shelley’s mixtapes and many others.

Interviews with Sasha

https://www.skiddle.com/news/all/Sasha-interview-Old-school-manners-new-school-techniques/27212/  – 2018 interview with Sasha.

And if you like Sasha, maybe you might like this…

https://mixes.djkippax.com/oldskool-dance-music-dj-mixes/ – If you like piano tunes like the ones in this article. And you enjoy some good scratching skills. Then why not download my DJ mixes. They’re free, have been fully mastered and there over 10 75 minute mixes for you to enjoy.

Keep on scratching,

DJ Kippax