I want to start off by saying this is not meant to be a disparaging thread, at all!
I have for the longest time been curious about why exactly is Harvey considered such a legend, and why he’s become basically the king of the underground DJs. I have never seen him play, but it’s always made me curious why for some reason he’s achieved this notoriety which never took him into the “mainstream” like other legends, but has also weirdly been in Mission Impossible and magazine covers and such.
Again, I’m not really doubting he is worth all the hype, I just genuinely would love to understand why.
Can anyone enlighten me?
(Also feel free to make this a Harvey centric post, mixes, tracks etc)
First became aware of him via the DJH forum a long time ago when he was this culty, talismanic figure for the obscure disco enthusiasts (older heads will also remember Tonka and MOS) and the hype was boosted by those years in ‘exile’, which only built the mystique further.
At a time when 99% of DJ culture is unbelievably boring, the charisma comes through whenever he plays (esp in Ibiza). When I play his Sarcastic-era sets in car, I’m still knocked out by that range from house to filmscores, west coast rock, eurodisco and much else.
I still play his San Diego h-track mix loads in car (esp part 2)
That said, in recent years, I think there have been a few grumbles though, the odd cheesy/lazy selection + wholeheartedly embracing the corporate festie circuit. I get that you sometimes have to ‘play the game’ but with the fees at stake, you sometimes wonder if it is still done with a nod & wink..
The H Track mixes are ‘interesting’ - Is it Supermax that keeps sticking
Pre the DJ Nerd fanboy thread
Tonka was v worshipped - My mate who had proper London Balaeric background came back raving & dug out the Can U Feel it accapella
Moist had Levan play at the Gardening Club - not quite the Garage sounsystem
Ministry he was resident on Fridays ( Techno) & Saturdays ( Garage) which is something!
New Hard Left he did all night which was v unusual
Black Cock disco edits were a game changer at the time as are some others he did ( Keep on Trying is amazing)
Then moved to US so created a cult ( I don’t think intentional at the time)
Sarcastic Disco mix was v unusual at the time
Bit like Weatherall - Got cultish by not playing the game. It feels like an event when he plays UK
We love to create totemic figures in this country. The messianic stuff is all a bit silly, he’s just a geezer that plays records and most of the time happens to do it pretty well. But sometimes, when all the right elements are in place too, it can be very very special
He did play some Fridays at Ministry but really he was main resident at Rulin’ their Saturday, alternating weeks with CJ Mackintosh.
I first heard him at one of the Brixton Tonka parties in I think '89, and then at their soundsystem in the travellers field at Glastonbury '90. I had no idea who he was, but came away from both knowing I’d heard something really special, totally different to anything else I was hearing at that time.
Moist definitely had a dubby ‘garage’ feel to the music, but he was just as proficient banging out the US house to the fluffy bras at Ministry peaktime, or dropping leftfield bombs late into the morning. His fantastic Late Night Sessions mix CD from that era really is a great example of how those closing sets sounded,
The first time we put him on he was the first person through the doors. In early to check the sound out. He introduced himself to me by (quite correctly) halving the volume I was ‘warming up’ the room at. Lesson learned
