BURNING THE GROUND EXCLUSIVE 1986
“Octomnipent Zeitgeist” were two medleys released in 1986 by Hot Tracks Remix Service the medley’s appeared on Series 5 issues 1&2.
Making Of… “Octomnipent Zeitgeist” Medley’s
To create the medley, Glenn Cattanach worked with two other DJs – Greg Lee and Jeff McKeehan. Glenn owned all the equipment, and Greg and Jeff were local club DJs in Lexington, Kentucky. The three of them had previously made two other medleys together – the “1984 Top 40 Medley” and the “Best of Hot Tracks 1984.” Both medleys appeared on Hot Tracks during 1985, which was the 4th year for Hot Tracks.
Glenn, Greg & Jeff came up with the idea of a BIG two-part medley for 1985 and started work on it in October of 1985. Greg was really the mastermind behind the medley, being the one with most of the ideas, but the medley was a group effort. Greg reviewed dance charts and came up with a list of songs to include. They named the two-part medley “Octomnipent Zeitgeist” which loosely meant “THE Spirit of ’85.” These guys wisely kept logs on the entire project, noting the settings for the turntable speed, mix board levels, equalizer settings, tape speed, etc. This enabled them to later re-edit any part that needed perfecting.
All the work was done with two turntables, a ¼” track 15 IPS reel to reel recorder, a cassette deck with dbx noise reduction, and a variable speed 7½ IPS reel to reel recorder. Digital recording was uncommon in 1985 and no samplers or effects (delay, reverb, echo, and no CD players!) and no multi-track tape recorders were used.
The key to the entire medley was what was called the Kentucky Multi-Track method (named that because they were living in Lexington, Kentucky at that time). They would record 8 to 16 beats of a percussion piece to use “under” the song being edited. They looped those beats by splicing a length of edited tape together, sometimes several meters long, and playing it repeatedly while recording that rhythm track to a cassette deck (with dbx noise reduction) for 3 minutes. They would then play that cassette back, mixing in the record/song they were adding to the medley with the rhythm track. To transition to another song, they would use the same rhythm track under the next song to make it sound similar to the previous song. Frequently, several rhythm tracks were sampled, layered, and cross-faded. This method was often subtle and always effective. This way the songs did NOT sound like a bunch of turntable mixes that were simply chopped up and edited back together. They used more than 70 or 80 different “loops” or rhythm tracks for the entire medley.
Final preparations for “Octomnipent Zeitgeist” included breaking the 35-minute medley into two parts, adding mix breaks between the two parts, and adding a Wizard of Oz theme (since they were calling the separate parts OZ-I and OZ-II). The medley ends with a trickling ultra-high-speed voice-over describing the origin of OZ. Hot Tracks published the medley in January and February 1986 as Series 5, Issues 1 and 2.
The mix took 600 man-hours and over three months to complete. It was a labor of love for these guys. They figured out what they had spent on tape (remember, back then everything was on ¼” tape, no hard drive recording) and the vinyl records, they each made only about $40 US. They didn’t care. They had created one of the best year-end medleys ever and were known by DJs around the world.
Source -HostDiscoMix
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
OZ-I:
Octomnipent Zeitgeist I (Medley) 17:14
DJ Mix – Glenn Cattanach, Greg Lee (4), Jeff McKeehan
110-124 BPM
Prince — Pop Life
Alison Moyet — Invisible
France Joli — Does He Dance
Tears For Fears — Shout
Mai Tai — History
Alisha — Too Turned On
Scritti Politti — Perfect Way
Jenny Burton — Bad Habits
Belouis Some — Imagination
Skipworth & Turner — Thinking About Your Love
Stevie Wonder — Love Light In Flight
Pointer Sisters — Dare Me
Jeff Lorber — Step By Step
Kaja — Turn Your Back On Me
Murray Head — One Night In Bangkok
Robey — One Night In Bangkok
Billy Ocean — Lover Boy
Simply Red — Money’s Too Tight To Mention
Aretha Franklin — Who’s Zoomin’ Who
Angela Bofill — Can’t Slow Down
Nuance — Love Ride
Chaka Khan — This Is My Night
Shannon — Do You Wanna Get Away
Rene & Angela — Save Your Love (For #1)
Simple Minds — Don’t You (Forget About Me)
Steve Arrington — Feel So Real
Belouis Some — Some People
André Cymone — The Dance Electric
Hall & Oates — Dance On Your Knees
Five Star — All Fall Down
Video Kids — Woodpeckers From Space
Tramaine — Fall Down
Fancy — Come Inside
Madonna — Into The Groove
OZ-II:
Octomnipent Zeitgeist II (Medley) 17:57
DJ Mix – Glenn Cattanach, Greg Lee (4), Jeff McKeehan
118-212 BPM
Colonel Abrams — Trapped
Steve Arrington — Dancing In The Key Of Life
Brenda K. Starr — Pickin’ Up Pieces
Vikki Love with Nuance — Stop Playing On Me
Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force — I Wonder If I Take You Home
Harold Faltermeyer — Axel F.
Kool & The Gang — Fresh
Cheyne — Call Me Mr. Telephone
Paul Hardcastle — 19
Siedah Garrett — Do You Want I Right Now
Goon Squad — Eight Arms To Hold
Time Bandits — I’m Only Shooting Love
Mary Jane Girls — Wild And Crazy Love
Mary Jane Girls — In My House
Exposé — Point Of No Return
Phil Collins — Sussudio
Alexander Robotnick — Problems D’Amour
Klymaxx — The Men All Pause
Book Of Love — Boy
ABC — Be Near Me
El DeBarge with DeBarge — You Wear It Well
Aretha Franklin — Freeway Of Love
Dead Or Alive — Lover Come Back To Me
Eurythmics — Would I Lie To You
New Order — Perfect Kiss
Dead Or Alive — You Spin Me Round (Like A Record)
Ready For The World — Oh Sheila
Madonna — Angel
Madonna — Dress You Up
Natalie Cole — Dangerous
Patti LaBelle — New Attitude
Laid Back — One Life
Pointer Sisters — Neutron Dance
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: Hot Tracks– SA 5-1, SA 5-2
Series: Hot Tracks Series – 5-1, Hot Tracks Series – 5-2
Format: 2 × Vinyl, LP, Compilation, Partially Mixed, Promo
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic
Style: Synth-pop, Funk / Soul, Pop
CREDITS:
Producer – Cameron Paul
NOTES:
For DJ use only
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS Part I
Find the 12″ at DISCOGS Part II
VINYL RESTORATION BY:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
THE GEAR:
Turntable: Pro-Ject Debut Carbon (DC)
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Bronze
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro-Ject Acryl-It platter
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
Password: burningtheground
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Any chance this could be uploaded again? The link doesn’t seem to work anymore. Thanks!
The best medley ever… All songs are almost in its original bpm Pitch increment without notice from slow to fast Not only the pitch its perfect, but harmonic mixing. You can hear the name of All Songs in the lyrics Some Lyrics make a full phrase with different songs Some Effects nowadays are almost impossible to recreate, imagine that but a Reel to Reel cut & Paste. There’s playing more than 4 songs at the same time and you can’t hear any volume variation Anyone who doubts it, can try to recreate the first minutes of the medley with the… Read more »
This looks like loads of fun. Thanks, Paul!
It is good but they clearly took their cues from Ben Liebrand who quite frankly has yet to be surpassed.
Sam Lowry – Ben Liebrand is a genius. Sorry to disappoint you. We took NO cues from Ben’s Grand Mixes. (Italo Remixes – yes)
Our biggest motivation was after having listened to many Disconet year-end medleys: we commented “We can make a medley better than these”. We were successful.
Having you comment here is such an honor!! Your work is phenomenal and it’s so great to personally thank you for all your genius. These megamixes are sonic artworks and you, Jeff and Greg deserve the highest of compliments!!! I so wish that someone, somewhere and someday would produce a documentary about remix services and highlight the great contributions of those individuals, like yourselves and the great legacy that was left behind. You guys are so important to DJ culture!!!
Thank you Glenn for letting me gush about your talents!!! You are stupendous!!!
Jeff
Jeff Thanks for the compliments. (The team: Jeff, Greg and myself were the “talent”) We knew what we had done was good, but had no idea it would still be appreciated 37 years later (yikes- that’s a long time….) 2 happy hour/ dance club college bar DJs and an auto parts salesman: Who would have thought… I speak for Jeff, Greg and myself, creating OZ was a major lifetime achievement for all of us. It happened during the golden age of remix services. OZ stood out among other medleys of that era. During the mid 80’s it was an analog… Read more »
…. world. There were no CD’s, sound files, nothing was digital. All the work was done with two turntables, a ¼” track 15 IPS reel to reel recorder, a cassette deck with dbx noise reduction and a variable speed 7½ IPS reel to reel. It was all vinyl and magnetic tape. The mid 80’s were the golden years of remix services. You had to OWN the music to play it. Club goers were the only people who heard these medleys and mixes. But they didn’t just LISTEN, they EXPERIENCED the music. We were fortunate to be a part of creating… Read more »
…. the experience.
Oh My Goodness!!!! Thank you so much Glenn for your reply and insight into your wonderful work here. You guys blew me away when I first heard this megamix!!! I also loved your work for Hot Tracks and Razormaid! along with your other contributions. This information means the world to me, and you and the great DJs, mixers and remixers need to be celebrated for your impact on dance music and remix culture. That’s why I love Paul’s Burning The Ground site so much because he’s archiving and preserving the legacy of so many talented people involved in the dance… Read more »
What a great story and a great post! I salute your work as a dance music archivist. Future generations will thank you.
Paul, I have to thank you again for this phenomenal mega-mix. Glenn, Greg and Jeff are sonic deities with what they did and they should be really proud of this exhibition of “aural art.” I love that you posting this shows the amount of adoration, awe, respect and love you have for this project and sharing this shows the amount of hard work these guys took to make this all happen. This mix is such an historical event for me because it shows that with a dream, ambition and lots of patience, anything is possible. I bow to these gentlemen… Read more »
Many, many thanks! This is my favourite DJ Mix since a long time, bought all the tracks used in the mix as 12″ or LP. I’m so happy now to get this mix in a digital transfer!
Very cool! It’s is absolutely amazing how much work went into creating mixes like this back in the day. The results are stunning! I have a couple of these Hot Tracks records, but I don’t have this one so it especially cool to hear it for the first time. I tried my hand at this back when I was in college and was taking audio production courses in the mid- to late-’80s. With access to 8- and 2-track tape machines, plus turntables, cassette decks, and a simple drum machine, I spent a lot of time trying to create these sorts… Read more »
Now if only we could get cleaned up copies of the Bits & Pieces medleys I, II, and III…
Maybe if I could get my hands on decent copies. 🙂
You’re welcome to my copies!
I’m
Thanks, Paul! This is one of the greatest mixes ever! Thanks too for all the back story! Best, Jay
You’re welcome, Jay 🙂
Really a masterpiece of analog mixing techniques. Never heard of it before, but fell in love immediately. Thank you very much for your attention to detail doing this transfer. I think without you the analog world would be missing something big … !Thank you DjPaulT! – LAL, Jas
Thank you, Jas I appreciate your comment 🙂
Woow excelente Pault gracias.
De Nada, Carlos 🙂
This is great, Paul! Always nice to see more Hot Tracks and especially welcome on this rainy Monday. Thank you so much!
You’re very welcome, Skiler 🙂
Fantastic, as always!! Thank you so much, Paul!
You’re very welcome, Cory 🙂
BAM!!!! I nearly fell off my chair upon seeing this and I’m also quite emotional too, almost in tears, as I’d never dreamed of hearing this mega-mix in such fine quality again. A long time ago I first heard this colossal work of art and it has affected me all these years later. This has got to be one of the most creative and stunning medleys I have ever heard. Paul, you are awesome for ripping this. We are all so blessed by your generosity and hard work. Thanks a trillion times over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Forever worshipping your talents,
Jeff
This was a pleasure to work on these guys were amazing such talent at work here on both mixes. I hope you enjoy it, Jeff 🙂