Side A, 1998
Perhaps more inspiring to me than any other DJ out there, Charles ‘Feelgood’ Fields is truly a jack-of-all-trades, a renaissance man of sorts who spins several types of electronic music, lays his own beats, remixes other people’s beats, and owns his own record label---hell, he even owns his own nightclub! Feelgood is from Baltimore and was spinning records at house parties all the way back in the mid ‘80s, so by the time the rave scene was exploding in the US he was already a headlining act. Along with legendary DJ Scott Henry, he opened a weekly party/event called Fever which ran from 1992 – 2001; any promoters out there know how insanely long of a haul that is. I first heard Feelgood when I lived in Orlando, circa ’94, and I was hooked from the first eardrum-shattering bass drop; seriously, he always delivers the goods, I’ve seen him spin close to 20 times and never a letdown. As my blog indicates, I am a person who loves all different kinds of music, so I have always appreciated Feelgood’s ability to cut and mix between several varying styles of beats. This mix is a really good showcase for that diverse approach, as he blends flawlessly from tech-house to disco house, from speed garage to funky breaks…he even closes with some hypnotic Chemical Brothers madness that includes a sub-bass which can actually make you feel a little like you’re rolling, if you have good speakers. This is only one of several mixtapes that Feelgood dropped over the years, many others of which I also love---I always grabbed the Feelgood ones ‘cause they were guaranteed to be dope; for those interested, Side B of this tape was mixed by none other than Terry Mullan. Charles is still out there busting his ass, consistently being ranked in BPM & DJ magazines’ Top DJs lists, spinning at clubs from Ibiza to Moscow, Paris to NYC, and plenty of American hometowns across the United States. Behind all of it, and most importantly of all to anyone that’s ever had to deal with entertainers, Feelgood espouses his namesake to the fullest in every encounter: be that dealing with the promoters, the hipster vampires, or giving the crowd on the dancefloor what we are begging for…Charles always makes us feel good!!
Side A, 1998
