GOGO Music is delighted to present the first single taken from the forthcoming “Ralf GUM – Never Leaves You” album, which will be released later this year. “Fly Free” is featuring “the voice of House Music” Robert Owens over a sleek and simmering track of Ralf GUM, that has a right portion of afro influences. DJ Spinna lends his first-rate remix skills to the project, to complete a choice release worthily GOGO Music’s 50th vinyl single release.
Ralf GUM has consistently built his reputation as a central figure within the soulful dance community during the last two decades. As a DJ who’s playing House Music since 1991 and since his first releases on US underground labels in 1993 (as GUM project), at a time when only a few German producers knew what House Music is about, he earned the unfailing respect from likeminded artists, just as the dedication of his unclassifiable fans around the globe. After releasing countless successful singles and remixes on famous labels as Easy Street Recordings, Peppermint Jam or Defected, Ralf GUM put out his first artist album “Uniting Music” to great critical acclaims in 2008 on his own GOGO Music imprint. The CD which contained the best selling House Track of 2008 “Kissing Strangers” or the outstanding “All This Love For You” was called “simply one of the best albums of the year” by UK’s “M8” magazine and the German 3Sat TV show “Kulturzeit” wrote on its web-site that “no single second of the album bores”. 2012 will see the release of Ralf GUM’s second long player entitled “Never Leaves You”, which should furthermore attest his prominent position in the scene. The first single taken from it “Fly Free” is an exclamation for freedom and against oppression sung by “the greatest male voice in dance music” (Muzik Magazine), Robert Owens, and based on a compelling playback by Ralf GUM.
Robert Owens has not so much embellished House Music as played a large part in defining it. “Tears”, “I’ll Be Your Friend” and “Ordinary People” are just some of the tunes that have borne his black velvet voice and gone on to become truly classic dance records. By the time people like Ron Hardy and Frankie Knuckles were designing House Music’s blueprint, Robert was already DJ-ing at smaller clubs in Chicago. In 1985 he met pioneering producer Larry Heard and formed Fingers Inc with him and Ron Wilson. Thanks to this cooperation the instantly recognisable house standard “Can You Feel It” and one of house music’s first full-length albums “Another Side” saw the day of light. Following the call of Frankie Knuckles, Robert went to New York in 1989 to record with the Def Mix posse. His 1991 single “I’ll Be Your Friend” finally gave Robert the overground success he so obviously deserved, climbing the charts to #1 all over the world! In 1993 he left New York behind and relocated to London where Robert since worked with a remarkable list of influential artists like Sandy Rivera, Photek, Coldcut and with some of contemporary house music’s most respected names on his latest album “Night Time Stories”. Living up to his reputation as the man who breathed life and soul into house music, Robert put real emotions in “Fly Free”, which is driven by pain, but at the same time is life affirming.
Vincent “DJ Spinna” Williams is something of an anomaly in music. A cornerstone of Hip-Hop’s late 90’s indie-uprise, DJ Spinna made much of his first impression on listeners as the musical background of his group The Jigmastas, as well as providing the canvas for an array of that era’s legends like Sadat X & Grand Puba (Brand Nubian) and Guru (Gangstarr) to even The Jungle Brothers. But Spinna’s sonics soon infiltrated numerous genres. Tapped by everyone from Roy Ayers to the Brand New Heavies to Mary J. Blige to Motown Records and always relevant to the current, Spinna’s monumental version of Shawn Escoffery’s “Days Like This” catapulted him into his now stately presence in the dance music scene. GOGO Music already worked with him in 2010 for a remix of “Ralf GUM & Monique Bingham – Little W. 12th St.”, which hit #1 on Traxsource and was selected by Louie Vega for his “10 Years Of Soul Heaven” CD. His exquisite remix of “Fly Free” includes some of Spinna’s early House influences and sounds futuristic nevertheless. We are sure it will be likewise appreciated as his previous works.
Just right after GOGO Music’s 10th anniversary, celebrated with 4 digital compilations available in every major download store, we are proud to present you another milestone with our 50th single release. It gives you a taste of what to expect from Ralf GUM’s forthcoming album and showcases our label philosophy in a splendiferous way, which is put out music that coevally touches the soul, has a message and moves the body. GOGO Music … music it is and is it!
Release date vinyl and all download stores: 23rd of April 2012
Promo out on Traxsource now: www.Traxsource.com/GOGO_Music
