High School Days, and Deejay Dreams:

I was fourteen when I entered the world of high school. The Chicago High School for Metropolitan Studies was located at 33 East Congress on the southwest corner of Congress and Wabash, diagonally across the street from Roosevelt University, and two blocks away from Columbia College Chicago and a block north of Jones Commercial high School, a two year college prep public school that required students to wear business attire on campus.  Metro was located just outside of the downtown area of the city, not far from what is now commonly referred to as the South Loop. There were several downtown apartment buildings nearby, but the area was also populated with homeless folk. Pacific Gardens Mission was situated next to Printing House Row, Dearborn Park Apartments and Two East Eighth, a luxury high rise that is now a co-ed student dorm. Being a Metro student meant that you were in the middle of everything socially speaking, from yuppies, to seedy characters who hung out around the corner at a nearby liquor store. Metro was often confused with Double E, a school for dropouts (further north on Wabash Avenue) seeking their GED. Metro was a one floor school with just over three hundred students. Our lunchroom, and Grant Park during the spring, and early fall months served as our gymnasium. Dubbed "The School Without Walls," our courses would be held at 33 East Congress, or the Art Institute of Chicago, the Newberry Library, Lincoln Park Zoo or the Indiana Dunes! I failed miserably during my first semester primarily because my focus was everywhere but class. I spent my days girl watching, window-shopping and hanging out at Importes Etc. the record store on Plymouth & Polk Street which was two blocks away from Metro. Loop Records was not far away but, Importes Etc. was by far my favorite because they were a specialty store that catered to deejays only. Loop was more commercially accessible, and sold everything from Neil Diamond to Skyy but, Importes was strictly dance music. I don't remember a big price disparity between the two stores when it came to the same products, a twelve inch of "Music Is the Answer" by Colonel Abrams would cost you $3.99 at both stores but, when it came to certain poorly distributed records like the imported picture disc version of "Welcome to the Pleasure Dome" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood well, that's a different story, I believe that was a thirty dollar record back then. Loop had decent imported records also. you could find almost any Rams Horn Records import at Loop for anywhere between $6.99 to $10.99 but they had a few pricey records as well. If you were lucky enough to stumble upon one of the many mixes of Klien & MBO's "Dirty Talk" it could cost you around  $15 but Importes Etc. could get downright ridiculous for music at times. The album by Made In the USA that contained the (short) album mix of "Melodies" went for $100 but, the sleeper jam on there that I'm sure Ron Hardy was instrumental for creating a demand for, "I'll Never Let You Go" was surely why that album fetched a pretty penny! The twelve inch version of "Spasticus Autisticus" by Ian Drury, which was only two years old at the time, went for $50. I remember there being two twelve inches of "Two Tribes" by Frankie Goes To Hollywood, and the imported version which contained a different mix than the domestic fetched about $15 or $20 but, you could get the domestic for $3.99. Before I had a grasp on what House Music was, I was hanging out at Importes, and Loop eager for the day when I could be able to execute mixing two records successfully!

Ishmael P. Finn was a high school senior when we met at Metro. His arms were adorned with Indian ink tattoos that displayed his former affiliation but, he was far from your typical gang banger. He was highly intelligent with a brilliant sense of humor.  I couldn't imagine him involved in gang activity because that's not how I experienced him. I'd imagine he underwent a life change before we met. Anyhow, it was through Ishmael that I would finally get the opportunity to touch turntables with the intention of mixing records. One afternoon, he invited me, and another high school friend, Brenton Lyons to his home on Washington and Lotus. Brent owned turntables, a pair of quartz Technics-what most people called "Baby 12's." I don't remember Brent actually playing while we were there but, I remember trying to complete one side of a cassette. I actually completed successfully, blending the beat track 119 with "Music Is the Answer" by Colonel Abrams. It wasn't exactly a challenge being that both tracks had the same handclap pattern but, it took the longest time for me to get out of one record, and into the other. I probably blended four or more tunes but, I listened to that cassette at least one hundred times or more, happy to have finally gotten closer to my goal of being a deejay. I accompanied Ishmael on gigs that he played, carrying crates of records, watching as he hooked up the stereo equipment. Ishmael's equipment consisted of two turntables, one was by Technics, and the other was a Realistic (Radio Shack brand) a Gemini Mixer, a Marantz Amplifier, and about three home speakers, one that was used as a monitor while mixing. The basic goal of mixing records is to provide a seamless, continuous play of music. A skillful approach to mixing is often associated with turntablism: scratching, and tricks that require two copies of the same record to make certain parts and vocals of a song repeat, or swiftly cutting from one part of a tune to another seamlessly. My early interest in mixing involved scratching, and tricks but, as I became intrigued by the music selection of certain House Music deejays, I moved away from concerning myself with the technical aspects of deejaying, and focused on the energy, and feelings certain records contained.