(It's a bit long) The numbers in the text refer to the footnotes.
THE MAJOR FORCE LABEL BEGAN IN TOKYO
IN LATE '87(1) TOSHIO NAKANISHI(2) HAD BEEN A
MEMBER OF PLASTICS, AN '80S JAPANESE
BAND WHO'D TOURED WITH THE B52'S AND
TALKING HEADS. TOSHI JOINED UP WITH
MASAYUKI KUDO(3), A RESPECTED DJ
PRODUCER, AND PERCUSSIONIST GOTA(4) TO
FORM MELON. MELON TOURED THE UK IN '85
AND '87 TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM - THEY
INFLUENCED THE STREET FASHION OF THE
TIME AS WELL AS IT'S MUSIC. FOLLOWING
DISAPPOINTMENTS WITH 'DEEP CUT' TEHIR
'87 ALBUM, THE BANDS MANAGER - YOSHI,
DECIDED THEY SHOULD START MAJOR FORCE.
THE CENTRAL FIGURES IN MAJOR FORCE
WERE: TOSHI, KUDO, HIROSHI FUJIWARA(5) &
TAKAGI KAN(6). IN THE PERIOD REPRESENTED
BY THIS COMPILATION MAJOR FORCE
COLLABORATED WITH: KOOL DJ RED ALERT(7),
HOLLYWOOD BASIC(8), DJ MILO(9), RONIN, 45
KING, TIM SIMENON/BOMB THE BASS,
SATOSHI TOMIIE(10), ECD, SDP(11). MAJOR FORCE
ARTISTS TOURED WITH: BEASTIE BOYS,
PUBLIC ENEMY, JUNGLE BROTHERS.
Footnotes.
1.
SAMPLER TECHNOLOGY HAD NOW IMPROVED TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT IT COULD
PROVIDE THE BASIS FOR A NEW FORM OF MUSIC; MAJOR FORCE'S PRODUCTIONS WERE
CONTEMPORARY WITH THOSE OF THE DUST BROTHERS. HOUSE AND HIP-HOP WERE
BENEFITTING EQUALLY FROM THE CREATIVE ATMOSPHERE - THE TWO GENRES WERE
MORE CLOSELY LINKED THAN EVER SINCE. MAJOR FORCE DEMONSTRATES A FUSION OF
THOSE MAIN INFLUENCES AND ADDS SOMETHING OF ITS OWN - THE INDIVIDUAL
PERSPECTIVES OF THE VARIOUS CHARACTERS INVOLVED; EACH OF THEM IMPORTANT
FIGURES IN THE FORMATION OF JAPAN'S STREET CULTURE. THE SECOND MAJOR FORCE
RELEASE: 'SPECIAL-STRONG-HOUSE D.J. MIX BY HIROSHI, K.U.D.O. FEATURING DJ MILO
FROM LONDON' FEATURES TWO HOUSE TRACKS ON THE A SIDE AND ON THE B SIDE, 'RETURN
OF THE ORIGINAL ARTFORM' A HYBRID OF HIP-HOP BEATS AND HOUSE TEMPO AND STILL
ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHTAFTER TUNES IN DJ CULTURE. JAMES LAVELLE: 'MAJOR FORCE
WAS AN INFLUENCE FOR ME TO START MO WAX'
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2.
WHO PRODUCED TRACKS FOR MAJOR FORCE AS TYCOON TOSH. LEFT JAPAN TO LIVE IN
LONDON AT TEH SAME TIME AS KUDO; THEY'VE WORKED TOGETHER AS: LOVE T.K.O. AND
THE MAJOR FORCE EMS ORCHESTRA FOR MAJOR FORCE WEST - THE LABEL HE FORMED
WITH KUDO AND JAMES LAVELLE. TOSHI AND KUDO WORKED WITH HOWIE B AS SKYLAB.
TOSHI IS ALSO AN ARTIST AND GRAPHIC DESIGNER; ALL MAJOR FORCE WEST COVERS WERE
DESIGNED BY TOSHI AND HIS WORK IS USED EXTENSIVELY BY PUSSYFOOT.
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3.
PRODUCER AND CO-PRODUCER OF MOST OF THE MAJOR FORCE PRODUCTIONS; MEMBER OF
MO WAX FOUNDER JAMES LAVELLE'S GROUP U.N.K.L.E., ONE OF THE FOUNDERS (WITH
JAMES AND TOSHI) OF MAJOR FORCE WEST. U.N.K.L.E.'S 'TIME HAS COME' SINGLE WAS
ORIGINALLY CREDITED AS U.N.K.L.E. V.S MAJOR FORCE EMS ORCHESTRA AND RELEASED ON
MAJOR FORCE WEST, BACKED WITH 'MARTIAN ECONOMICS' BY HOWIE B V.S MAJOR FORCE.
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4.
WHO LEFT JAPAN FOR LONDON AND WENT ON TO PRODUCE DRUM TRACKS FOR SOUL II
SOUL'S 'KEEP ON MOVING'.
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5.
WORKED WITH TAKAGI KAN AS TINY PANX/T.P.O. AND COPRODUCED 'THE RETURN OF THE
ORIGINAL ARTFORM' WITH KUDO AND DJ MILO. WENT ON TO START THE GOODENOUGH
CLOTHING LABEL AND CONTINUES TO WORK AS A RECORDING ARTIST AND CULT
SUPERSTAR IN JAPAN.
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6.
WORKED TOGETHER WITH HIROSHI AS TINY PANX/T.P.O AS PRODUCER,DJ AND MC - HIS RAP
IS FEATURED ON THE FIRST MAJOR FORCE RELEASE, THE CLASSIC 'LAST ORGY'.
PREVIOUSLY HE HAD WORKED WITH YAN TOMITA, SAMPLED ON THE JUNGLE BROTHERS'
'DONE BY THE FORCES OF NATURE'. HE STILL RECORDS IN JAPAN AS A HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL
SOLO ARTISTS AS WELL AS CONTINUING TO COLLABORATE WITH VARIOUS ACTS INCLUDING
U.N.K.L.E. ON THE RECENT 'LAST ORGY III'.
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7.
ZULU NATION DJ WHOSE MIXES, BROADCAST ON HIS N.Y.C RADIO SHOW (AND ORIGINALLY
RELEASED BY MAJOR FORCE AS 'PROP MASTERS' PARTY') ARE INCLUDED ONT HIS
COMPILATION.
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8.
WHO RELEASED EARLY DJ SHADOW RECORDINGS
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9.
OF THE WILD BUNCH - WHO BECAME MASSIVE ATTACK. HE COPRODUCED 'THE RETURN OF
THE ORIGINAL ARTFORM' WITH HIROSHI AND KUDO.
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10.
HAD PRODUCED HOUSE CLASSIC 'TEARS' FOR FRANKIE KNUCKLES
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11.
LEADING ACTS OF THE JAPANESE RAP WORLD. E.C.D. AND S.D.P. TRACKS WHICH WERE
RELEASED ON MAJOR FORCE APPEAR ON THIS COMPILATION AS DO TRACKS BY THE
ORCHIDS - A MAJOR FORCE PRODUCED HIP-HOP GIRL GROUP.
Paul