Dear Fellow Dance Music Lovers,
This blog brings you the best in Dance Music and Club Classics; from early 87 (back in the daze) through to the present day.
For all those who rocked it all night until the early hours, to those that lived for clubbing and couldn't wait for the weekend to arrive. Enjoy and leave any comments on the blog or contact direct by email at pureclubclassics@live.co.uk
Well after nearly 10 years of running the PCC blog, the end is finally here.
To be honest I rarely get the chance to post tracks these days which makes the decision to end the blog feel right.
The PCC blog first started in 2009 as a way to share all the great music and experiences which we all enjoyed through our clubbing days.
Featured on the PCC blog are all the greatest dance tracks that rocked the nations best club dance-floors during the periods 1987 to 2000.
From the early daze of Acid House to the end of clubland as we knew it in 2000.
For all those who contributed to the PCC blog, I salute you all, there were many people who shared tracks, many PCC blog guest contributors and many others who suggested tracks to post and unearthed hidden gems. You all played a great part in allowing people to re-discover their forgotten faves and guilty pleasures from those halcyon days.
This blog has always been about the music and celebrating all the artists and DJ's who contributed to "the scene", many of the heroes like Paul Oakenfold and Graeme Park are still out there, still rocking the joints (no pun intended) and still delighting dance-floors across the globe. Many others moved onto alternative careers, although still reminisce favourably about the "good old days", whilst others like Frankie Knuckles and Tony De Vit sadly passed away but their memories live on through the music.
For me though the DJ's were always the true heroes of the scene, they lead the way discovering the latest tracks, becoming remixers and turning dull pop tracks in dance-floor stompers. Their ability at mixing tracks seamlessly and working a crowd, building the atmosphere and then unleashing endless crescendos was a skill beyond belief and gave us all the memories which we treasure.
However, for all the Paul Oakenfold's who made a fortune from the scene, there were many others who didn't, but they can take great pleasure in knowing that their place in dance music history will never be forgotten.
It's been great to interact with some of those great DJ's and Remixers, especially Chris & James who were always one of my favourite and one of the best very DJ's/Remixers on the scene and both connected very positively with the PCC blog. Everything they touched was pure gold and all their tracks still sound amazing even today. Proper clubbing legends!
The PCC blog of course, goes out to all my fellow clubbers, we had the times of our lives, memories we will always hold, knowing that we were part of something which was truly unique, truly special. Through the 9 years of the PCC blog, we have showcased over 1,000 of the greatest dance tracks ever made, all of which will live on and will always be Pure Club Classics.
I'm proud to look back at the PCC Top 30 listed on the blog and although it is nearly 10 years ago that they were posted on YouTube, that Top 30 still stands up and remains IMHO 30 of the greatest dance tracks ever made.
I've been thinking of a track to use for my final PCC post, which was always going to be a difficult choice and the one I have selected is probably the only track which I overlooked when creating that Top 30. It is one of those hidden gems that passed me by the first time around and whilst I heard it before, I'd no idea of the name of the track or the artist. As always it's a cracker a true PCC, bring on The Shaker. Just listen to those piano break downs - awesome!
The PCC blog may be gone, but the music will never die!
Respect and best wishes to all from PCC!
The Shaker - Star (Bonesy's Original Crazy Diamond Mix)
A piano classic from '96 here, and one that can be attributed to the peerless Pete 'The Shaker' Bones, a man with a severe penchant for tinkling the Ivories. Released on Bones' own Ugly Bug label, the aptly-titled piano frenzy mix did a rather large amount of dancefloor damage, despite never receiving a commercial release.
A big shout out to all those who have followed and contributed to the PCC blog over this last 12 months.
Here's wishing you all a fabulous Christmas and a superb New Year.
It's very hard trying to pick a Christmas dance track as (thank the lord) nobody has every really tried to make a Christmas Club track.
Well I found the next best thing a track which has a Christmas theme in the title, so follow the "Star".
A big shout out to Adam for this suggestion, it is a track which I haven't heard for years and was one that I used to love back in the day.
It is one of the most explosive tracks ever made (yes I mean ever).
It is an absolute monster of a track and one which will appeal to nearly everyone whatever their favourite type of dance music flavour.
It has elements of acid, trance, progressive and it is topped with the most sensational cascading piano, hammering, pounding, driving it just keeps peaking and peaking, then comes back again and peaks some more.
It's so good that I think it really should feature in My All Time Top 30 PCC tracks.
People often ask me after nearly 3 years of running this blog, why I continue to do it and a key reason is unearthing tracks like this and then being able to share them with you which spurs me on.
So after posting nearly 1000 of the greatest dance tracks in dance music history the PCC blog continues.
The other key aspect is the feedback and comments I receive from all of you out there. The feedback makes a huge difference (whether it's good or bad). The blog's always been about sharing the great music we've all enjoyed and sharing those amazing clubbing experiences of hearing the tracks on the dancefloor.
If you don't agree with my take on music selection let me know, negative feedback is better than no feedback. The only thing that pisses me off is people coming along taking tracks and not giving anything back (hence the reason for passwords).
The blog is run solely for the love of the music a lot of time and effort goes into ensuring that only the highest quality tracks are selected for posting. The key has always been about posting the best tracks (not just any tracks), ensuring that the best mix was posted (not just any mix), that being the mix which rocked clubland's dancefloors.
I've never bothered with adverts and have no interest in making money out of it (like a lot of blogs), the only thing that I request is the interaction, the sharing of tracks, the sharing of experiences and trying to ensure that we keep posting the finest tracks ever to hit dancefloors.
I still have hundreds of PCCs lined up to post (and I mean hundreds), but please keep your track suggestions coming. There's nothing better then someone suggesting a fantastic track that I either haven't heard before or haven't heard for ages (and had totally forgotten about) like "Star".
Right, I'm off my soap box now!!
Here's wishing you all a fantastic Christmas once again.
Have fun, enjoy your clubbing experiences over the festive period or if you're a retired clubber (like me), listening to your fave PCCs.
Keep The Faith,
Best Wishes
Pure Club Classics
