Numbers: Influences And Classique, A 7th Birthday Special

Having partied with the extended Numbers family for a couple of years now – diving into their super strong podcast series, physically released product and attending parties (in and out of fabric) – we feel like we can safely say they’ve got their unabashed rocket fuelled, formula down pat. A typical Numbers party is as vibrant and haphazard in genre as anything you’ll ever experience, pounding out the four four pump of their much publicised teenage love affair, Drexciya; flipping tempos down into the future thinking squashed hip hop of affiliated artists Hudson Mohawke and Rustie, whilst churning out the profanities of booty bass, the hyper styles of the current mutiny engulfing dubstep before leaving the night reeling from the resident DJs drawing for Fleetwood Mac or Robin S.

The party, born in the intimate venues of the collective’s native Glasgow, is celebrating its 7th anniversary this July with a double headed line up; two sterling line ups positioned a week apart. Up in Scotland at Glasgow’s Sub Club they’ve invited Mr Oizo collaborator and Ed Banger mainstay Feadz to try and out select Number’s resident Jackmaster in a back to back special that also sees Night Slugs boss man Bok Bok go head to head with UK funky progeny Lil Silva. The London leg, happening in Farringdon on the 9th July, is another prominent musical spectacle with the crew welcoming broken house don Karizma to Room One, along with Roska, Hardhouse Banton and a plethora of back 2 back sets from Hessle Audio co-founders Ramadanman and Ben UFO, Night Slugs cohorts, L-Vis1990 and Bok Bok and residents Spencer and Jackmaster and Nelson and Goodhand.



With such an unpredictable music policy and such a rich and varied booking policy – from Ghostface Killer, DJ Funk and Square Pusher to Moderat, Joy Orbison and Dopplereffekt – over the last seven years, we thought we’d pressure the team to share with us a little bit of their club night’s history in their own words. And with each of the members (bar Spencer) selecting one track that’s become special to them for whatever reason we’ve done just that.

Pointer Sisters – Automatic (Planet Records, 1983)

The 80's Screamer is something I’m particularly fond of. A good screamer would be something like The Jets ‘Crush On You’ or Shannon’s ‘Give Me Tonight’ but the one that stuck with me and several others is ‘Automatic’ by The Pointer Sisters. It’s not your average screamer, with The Pointer Sisters singing in such a low register that it makes them sound something like the (Marge) Simpson Sisters instead of the same ladies who sang ‘Jump.’

Numbers used to take place in a tiny hotel basement called Basura Blanca which had flashing walls and a somewhat eccentric clientele. We've all got great memories of those days and ‘Automatic ‘used to get rinsed quite a bit at these parties. I suppose it had such an effect on myself and the missus that we chose it as our first dance song at our wedding which also doubled up as an excuse for all our closest friends and family to trash the rather picturesque Isle of Arran.



If Actress tells you that this is a Werk tune, ignore him. – Richard Chater

Fix – Flash (KMS, 1992)

Ever tried the Techno karaoke before?

It's one of those spontaneous things that doesn't really work if you sit down and explain it to someone. Lyrics are good but generally speaking the techno karaoke doesn't need them. Basically what it needs is a bubbling mix of energy, hype and vibes, matched with a suitable tune at the right moment. When it drops it's a lot of fun - you definitely have to be on the floor circa the last hour of a dance to get it. Lots of big tracks at our club are well suited to the singalong-and-bounce-fader-action and this Parliament sampling bomb has consistently generated one of the best Techno karaoke responses over the years.



A standard in the record bags of all of the residents. – Nelson

Ralphi Rosario – You Used To Hold Me (Hotmix, 1987)

This tune has been passed down through generations in Glasgow like a secret martial arts technique.



If you ever need to get some ladies involved on the dancefloor, drop this one and it’s on. P.O.L. Style, Goodhand and I used to skip school on a Friday afternoon and get schooled in the ways of Techno. Out of so many Detroit and Chicago vocal classics this sticks out as my all time favourite, and it still regularly stands the test of time on any dancefloor. – Nok La Rok

Mr. De' feat. DJ Assault - Big Booty Hoes and Sluts Too (Assault Rifle, 1997)

Before I moved to Glasgow in 2000, I was a total backpack hip hop nerd and would stand for nothing else. I always thought this would continue forever, until stepping into my new local for the first time and hearing the dulcet tones of Assault's 'Asses Wigglin And Titties Jigglin.' Luckily though, this same bar was also the main haunt of Richard and the rest of the Mystec crew, so a pilgrimage to Paisley's Club 69 for this young Aberdonian was not far round the corner.



Forget about Juke. Booty was the original and best, and it has always been a big love of Glasgow and Numbers, particularly in the first few years of the club. For me the old(er) shit was always the best and I couldn't ever really look past the classics of Mr De’ and DJ Assault whose Belle Isle Tech Mix CD was on repeat at my house for months on end. 38 tracks of nonstop hits, equally as irritating and amusing for anyone dumb enough to still be awake at 8am Sunday morning. So 'Big Booty Hoes and Sluts Too' is my joint, cause "I don't give a fuck if you're eight or eighty, grandma bitch looking like some gravy...." – DJ Bobby Cleaver

Drexciya – Journey Home (Warp, 1995)

Drexciya has always been one of our most prominent influences and the same can be said for the various labels and clubs that existed before Numbers. Along with Prince it’s safe to say they’re the most rinsed production team at the club… because they’re f*cking amazing.

Since the very first Numbers party when I arrived at the club to hear Spencer playing ‘Hicc-ups,’ and right through to the 7th Birthday parties next week, I'm sure at least one Drexciya tune has been played at every club we’ve ever done.

The first Drexciya tune I ever heard was ‘Journey Home’ and it’s still my favourite to this day. I remember a few weeks after the untimely passing of James Stinson, Nok La Rok and I threw a Drexciya tribute party at an illegal warehouse space in Glasgow. 400+ people turned out that night just to hear a couple of guys playing Drexciya tracks, and I remember when this one dropped it was a very emotional time for myself and the rest of the Drexciya heads in attendance.



Many years ago Jackmaster layered the accapella of another Numbers classic (Ciara’s ‘Get Up’) over the Drexciyen (audio of which is available in the very first Numbers podcast mixed by Jackmaster, ‘60 Minutes of Numbers – From Paris to Baltimore via Detroit’) original and in my opinion, the blend captures perfectly what the club has been all about for the last seven years. – P.O.L. Style

Modeselektor – Kill Bill Vol. 4 (Bpitch, 2005)

It just wouldn't be right if these guys weren’t on the list. They came and played to 80 people in our basement way before most people had heard of Modeselektor or Numbers, and we’ve all been one big happy familly ever since.

Kill Bill Vol. 4 is the big, bouncey party tune from Modes’ debut album and it’s usually the climax of the many live shows they’ve done for us over the years (it’s also cost us a fortune in Champagne due to the fact that Gernot loves to splash everyone with his magnum over the said climax). This used to get pulled up before I even knew what a rewind was, although probably because the absolute havock on the dancefloor would force me to pull the needle off the record and start it again, and again.



As soon as you bring in the first beat the crowd would start going for it. They know this one. - Jackmaster

Eddie Flashin Fowlkes – 420 Low (Tresor, 1992)

When I was about 14 or 15 growing up in Glasgow, me and my pals used to listen to loads of 150BPM hardcore and gabba music with heavy Hoover bass and stupid vocals. Every Friday after lunch we went round to Nok’s sisters house to hang out and listen to all the classic Detroit Techno and Chi-town House records stacked everywhere in her flat.

Frequent requests included a Beavis & Butthead sampling Dance Mania tune, some Juan Atkins tune we nicknamed 'toothpaste' and this absolute seminal number by a geezer from Detroit called Eddie
'Flashin' Fowlkes who made a Detroit Techno Soul double pack vinyl LP with some little known German guys in the 90's on Tresor Records.

‘420 Low’ is one of those tracks that made all of us do a complete musical bodyswerve and start to get down to the wealth of mind-blowing music being sold in our local record store, Rubadub.



Basically we've all been dropping this tune every week since then and shit never gets tired! Some guy in the YouTube comments says something like 'twisted track, but there's no-where to go after it'. He’s obviously not been down to the club. - Goodhand