Show Notes
Moving on with the 'Best Of' series, I present to you the Freemasons. This dynamic duo consists of producer/DJ's James Wiltshire and Russell Small. James has also produced under the pseudonym 'Jimmy Gomez' and Russell is one half of Phatts & Small. Both me hail from Great Britain and from what I can gather, hit notoriety with their remixes around 2005 or so. Their original song "Love On My Mind" was released at this time and had major chart success in the UK. That same year they had commercial success in the USA with their massive club mix of "Mesmerized" by Faith Evans. During the 2000's and 2010's they continued to release their own original tracks featuring artists such as Katherine Ellis, Amanda Wilson, Sylvia Mason-James, Siedah Garrett and Peyton as well as remix for international artists such as Kylie Minogue, Katy Perry, Whitney Houston, George Michael and Beyonce` to name a few. Similar to 7th Heaven, the Freemasons have an understanding of how to take a song and spin it into a dance floor anthem. Signature house rhythm's and funky beats underscore the journey that is a Freemason remix. There are no 3 minute 'extended' mixes with these guys. Taking you on a journey on the dance floor is their specialty and I am here for it. I had to filter a serious number of awesome mixes to come up with this compilation which features 34 songs clocking in at just over 4 hours. Feast your ears on the brilliance that is Freemason. Enjoy Anthony
1/ "HOLIDAY" - MADONNA 2/ "RAIN DOWN LOVE" - FREEMASONS ft. SIEDAH GARRETT 3/ "ROCK WITH YOU" - MICHAEL JACKSON 4/ "SEXUAL HEALING" - ALIBI vs. ROCKEFELLER 5/ "PUT 'EM HIGH" - THERESE 6/ "HEARTBREAK" (MAKE ME A DANCER) - SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR 7/ "UNINVITED" - FREEMASONS ft. BAILEY TZUKE 8/ "IF" - FREEMASONS ft. HAZEL FERNANDES 9/ "TURN ME ON" - DIRTY OLD ANN 10/ "SHINE" - LUTHER VANDROSS 11/ "I WASN'T KIDDING" - ANGIE STONE 12/ "MOST PRECIOUS LOVE" - BLAZE ft. BARBARA TUCKER 13/ "MESMERIZED" - FAITH EVANS 14/ "MILLION DOLLAR BILL" - WHITNEY HOUSTON 15/ "BEAUTIFUL LIAR" - BEYONCE` & SHAKIRA 16/ "I WANT YOUR SEX" - GEORGE MICHAEL 17/ "NOTHING BUT A HEARTACHE" - FREEMASONS ft. SYLVIA MASON JAMES 18/ "TEARS" - FREEMASONS ft. KATHERINE ELLIS 19/ "WATCHIN" - FREEMASONS ft. AMANDA WILSON 20/ "ACAPELLA" - KELIS 21/ "LIGHT UP THE WORLD" - YASMIN 22/ "ROLLING IN THE DEEP" - ADELE 23/ "HEAVEN" - EMELI SANDE 24/ "SANDCASTLE DISCO - SOLANGE KNOWLES 25/ "THE ONE" - KYLIE MINOGUE 26/ "GOOD GIRL" - ALEXIS JORDAN 27/ "HOLD ON" - MR DYF ft. SHENA 28/ "KEEP THIS FIRE BURNING" - OUTSIDERS ft. AMANDA WILSON 29/ "LOVIN' YOU MORE" - STEVE MAC & STEVE SMITH 30/ "WHEN YOU TOUCH ME" - FREEMASONS ft. KATHERINE ELLIS 31/ "RING THE ALARM" - BEYONCE` 32/ "DISCO LIES" - MOBY 33/ "ONLY GIRL" (IN THE WORLD) - RIHANNA 34/ "PART OF ME" - KATY PERRY
More from Anthony Whitlock's Podcast
Speaking of divas, it's time I focused some attention on the fabulous Deborah Cox. Canadian born Deborah Cox signed to Arista records in 1994 and her first album launched her career with the second single "Who Do U Love". From there, she climbed the charts around the world with hits such as "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here", It's Over Now", Absolutely Not" and Mr Lonely" in the late 1990's and 2000's. In the 2010's she continued with hits such as "Let The World Be Ours Tonight", "Beautiful U R" and "If It Wasn't For Love". While it was the urban and R&B versions of her songs that hit the mainstream charts, it was the club mixes that launched her in the night club scene. Her songs were mixed by the heavy hitters of the time including Hex Hector, Junior Vasquez, Davis Morales, Wayne G and Tony Moran. This was the 90's and 00's where club mixes regularly clocked in over 10 minutes. This first edition of the sublime Ms Cox features songs from the start and middle of her career right up to her more recent releases. More to come from this amazing singer. Enjoy Anthony
The October edition of UP! is filled with chunky house and vocal house anthems. I'm on annual leave this month so I'm in a happy/camp mood :) The front end of the set is vocal house with tracks from Toya, Alex Newell and Clubland. Russ Rich & Andy Allder have a brand new original song out which Russ very kindly gave me an early copy of. "Disco Lights" is an absolute euphoric slice of dance floor heaven. Russ wrote the song himself and the production and vocals are extraordinary. Andy also features a mix later in the set for ELMNTS. Wayne G. features two exceptional mixes in the set. The first is Miley's "Bass Persuades" which he has previewed as a fund raiser only release for Dementia UK, a very worthy cause. The second is Rita Ora's "Ask & You Shall Receive". I first met Wayne about 500 years ago on one of his regular visits to Sydney and we've stayed in touch over the years. He is an extraordinarily generous man and just a wonderfully kind soul and I can't thank him enough for the private mixes he has given to me. Madonna's renaissance is in full swing and her collaboration with Kylie Minogue on "Love Sensation" is a great example of it. Producer eSQUIRE features two awesome remixes before the set heads into camp, main room territory with standout remixes from Dirty Disco, GSP and 7th Heaven. I'm releasing this month's edition of UP! on my younger brother's birthday so, Happy Birthday Nick. Enjoy Anthony
The September '26 edition of UP! is jam packed with wall to wall vocal house anthems. The set kicks of with a great song "Let There Be Love" from Tess Merkel followed up by Harry Styles' "American Girls"' I pulled a classic Mariah Carey track from the vaults as well as Madonna's smash hit "Danceteria" from her current album Confessions II. Kristine W is back with her new song "Music's Gonna Save Us" and club diva Gypsy Love has a new song "Synchronicity" gaining traction in the clubs. Stand out remixes come from pretty much everyone featured here including Division 4, Dirty Disco, Rafael M, Andy Allder, Matt Moss and Tracy Young. Take yourself on a house journey with this month's edition of UP! Enjoy Anthony
This month's edition of UP! has been one of the most difficult for me to put together. One of my dearest friends of over 30 years passed away this month and it has been difficult to reconcile the profound feelings of grief and loss that have swallowed me, his beautiful partner, his family and friends. David was a bright light in the lives of everyone who knew him. I wasn't sure how I could translate that into a musical set that would do him justice. We had so many amazing nights out and in over the years. I have selected some songs that have uplifting, positive and powerful messages. These are some of my all time favourites mixed by some of my favourites in a T-Dance format. And to Derek, if you are reading this then you will know the significance of the closing song. This is the one that pulled David out of his mood on the dance floor at the Midnight Shift all those years ago. David, you will be missed but never forgotten. xx
Heading into July '26 is the latest edition of UP!. This set starts out with some fantastic house and pop tracks and progresses into some big room anthems. The set kicks off with Russ Rich and Andy Allder's brand new original track "Body And Soul". This is a beautiful house track with excellent vocals and production. The pair also lend their remix magic to "Raise it Up - Together" by Stephen Jusko & DJ Blacklow ft. Debbie Holiday. Andy appears again on his remix of "Eternal Flame" with Matt Consola. Division 4 turns in two stellar remixes for Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo respectively and of course Dirty Disco delivers thumping remixes for Lady Gaga & Doechii and Peyton respectively. There are some excellent covers in this set including "Eternal Flame", "In The Air Tonight" and "Freedom". Kylie Minogue's "Light Up" is transformed by Edson Pride and Tony Moran and Danny Verde also features a couple of tracks here. Enjoy Anthony