Thread: Ellis Dee - Top DJ?

So as the title suggests, I didn't think so BITD.

There were many stories about him turning up at events he was playing at being smashed out of his face on various narcotics and when I saw him live on many an occasion I felt his mixing and selection was piss-poor with too many cut-outs on the X-fader.

Well, I've changed my mind about him, so nurr

His productions (which tbh I've only just found all of them) are proper swipezster-perfection , these in particular:





LOVE IT!

Your opinions on the bloke?

Depends on what years you are talking Stu...? I always rated Ellis Dee hugely in 91 & 92, deffo in the same bracket as Sy & Slipmatt during that time as he always played uplifting, decent hardcore & got the crowd hyped.

Dunno about later on in 94 time though...

I did rate him and he has pulled off some cracking sets, but unfortunatley to many piss poor ones doesn't balance it out!
I think i rate him more on the production side as above as he has made some good tunage.
Sorry Captain Roy

You could always rely on Ellis Dee to play a decent selection, but as with alot of the "top" DJ's bitd his mixing did sometimes leave alot to be desired! But as already mentioned he was a quality producer

he was great in 91 and 92, but he did play ther same tunes a lot. i have 3 tapes from 91 with virtually the same tunes ina different order. didnt rate him much after that though

ive always thought ellis dee's best era was 97. check out his dreamscape 25 and 26 sets,and his energy97 set. his dreamscape 15vs16 sets not bad either from nye 94.

He was in my top 3 fave DJ's in 91 & 92 without a doubt. He played at The Eclipse first time I ever went there and loved him from that day on. The Fantazia Summertime set still gives me goosebumps now

a bit hit n miss but early 90s he was awesome

Generally I think Ellis dee was an awesome dj all his fantazia sets were exellant, though some not helped by some terrible mc'ing but I have an old perception tape of his and I have to say he couldn't mix for toffee that night.

With ellis dee u actually had to catch him on his night, if u did u were in for a treat of great selection and mixing; however if u didnt u would hear a great selection mixed badly, some of his sets in 93 were apalling, and also in late 94 perhaps cos he was off his nut or perhaps due to a poor setup. More significantly it was down to his disillusion with the music at these times.

Ive always questioned any djs abilities to be able to mix well on certain setups, some djs may complain about bad setups causing them not to monitor properly, but if another dj comes on and seems to have no trouble beat matching what can we possibly think to those djs compalaining about setups?

Whatever the circumstance ellis dee is a dj if on form is not to be missed. Id say he could easily be the best dj of the night if hes up for it.

His most popular era as a top dj had to be 91 and 92 mainly due to the fact that his rhythm section material kept him at the front. Once the darker styles emerged and djs like grooverider and fabio began to flourish more ellis dees reign was just a mere distant memory. Only the true oldskool will remember ellis dee at the peak of his career.

Another person spoke of him having a good patch in 1997, this is very true. In 1997 ellis dee would play mostly jump up, but the harder edge of material about, not as cheesy as a typical nicky blackmarket set of that era.

late 94 and 95 ellis dee practically disappeared, djing less as in interviews he claimed to have almost quit entirely after the demise of the music thru the split. The hardcore was like sped up chipmunk vocals and the jungle was too dark were his words. He claimed to just put the tunes on the decks not worried in the slightest about which order he played the tracks. As a dj in turmoil he didnt know which path to take, but eventually took the jungle path.

As soon as the music became a bit more his style in 1995 he began re establishing himself. Once 1996 came along with the birth of the new found jump up he was back in full effect. 1996 was a great year for him and late 1996 he played what id describe as one of his best drum and bass sets ever at Helter Skelter oddyssey. He was also described as the best dj that night in a review in dream dance magazine.

Throughout 1998 Ellis Dee lost most faith in drum and bass as most of it had turned into what he described as too dark and said that it didnt inspire people to dance. He encountered a few problems with promoters and later on decided to quit djing drum and bass partly due to the backstabbing and backbiting, and began to explore nu skool breaks, partnering with his old pal from his rhythm section days rennie pilgrem.

Nowadays Roy djs oldskool along with breaks, and still actively writes breaks and drum and bass, the last decent drum and bass track he did under the name full spektrum and was a rip off of the new york track.

Love him!

Great tunage,quirky mixing but deffo one of the original badboy's!

Top Dj for me. I remember seeing him at a few raves bitd, mixing was a bit ropey sometimes, but I used to like the way he would chop the tunes, remember him at the Labrynth the odd time aswell, created a good vibe, this tune would probably be one of my favourites by him, and also was responsible for the energiser series apparently, also got me into breaks with the TCR records connection aswell.

I liked his older sets from 91/92 my fav is his NYE '91 set he did. As mentioned already he was a good producer too. I talked to him once on facebook and said I was using his sample "Listen to the rhythm flow" in one of my own piano based hardcore tunes and he said to send him the finished track and he would give me some pointers

I always thought Ellis Dee was a bit hit & miss; but from that 91-93 era he certainly had some memorable moments....I agree his mixing was a bit ropey; but I feel that way about all the DJs....some were probably struggling with ropey set-ups yes; but I suppose in the heady days/daze of the times; they might well have succumbed to the 'trappings' of their fame and been 'off their faces' when doing their gigs. I dunno, maybe they were. Maybe they weren't.

I loved Ellis's erratic style - spinbacks, the odd scratch. Mainly the tunes....the tunes off his late 92/early 93 sets are the underground pounders....Lemon D's "Pursuit Thru..'; Foul Play "Feel The Vibe (Again)"...the best tracks of that time...Ellis was caining them. He could be a bit predictable though. Slipmatt too - especially in his early Happy Hardcore patches. I had several tapes that were near-identical line-ups! I suppose that was a bit inevitable with the constant gigs up & down the country. A bit of variety here & there wouldn't have hurt though, surely?!

Anyway....Ellis Dee. Top DJ representing the Hardcore back in the day for me. I very rarely heard a set where at least 50% of the music was poop. Ellis always played a lot of tunes I either went on to love or liked. And produced some bombs. For me his contribution is more positive than opposed. And I can understand his disillusion at the scene splitting; he wasn't alone. Respect Roy

Ive heard him clang on many an occasion, but then again Ive seen him tear places to bits.

not the best but far from the worst

like as bee said in other post he is a bit hit and miss , but you can fault any 91-93 mixes , favs are fantazia second sight and summer time 92 , good dj and producer

And for the record ellis dee did not produce ANY of the energiser series, they were all written by dave charlesworth. Ellis dee used to play them a lot is quite possibly the reason for this confusion.