I wanted to do this for a while but was always so overwhelmed when I looked at Barry's catalog of remixes. I thought, how in the hell do I pick 15 - 20 of his mixes to put on a podcast dedicated to him. One night I was on a plane, and I opened this project up and just went with my gut on the remix choices. I picked the ones that most influenced me to become a remixer Dj when I was at COBALT in Detroit.
Dive In The Pool, yeah. Barry love you, but if I hear that song again I will put a fork in my eye. So I left it off this podcast.
Years later, my DJ career took off, and I found myself opening or playing along with some of the best gay DJs in North America.
But nobody intimidated me as much as Barry. I mean, cmon. He worked with Cher, Whitney, Madonna, and the list continues. We crossed paths many times over the years when I was touring. He always was nice; we just nodded to one another and moved on.
Until one night, I was DJing in Palm Springs, CA. The club's sound system was crashing all night. It was horrible. One of the club employees comes into the DJ booth and says, Mr. Barry Harris wants to know if this remix is yours? I was playing a mix of mine of Let The Music Play by Shannon.
It had to be one of the worst sets I have played in my life; I was over their sound system; it was just a joke. And I was like, are you fucking kidding me? This is the night Barry hears me spin a set.
But I said yes, he left. Then he came back and said, " Mr Harris would like to meet you
After my set, they guided me to a VIP area where he laid back on a couch with his feet up and about 2 -3 boys around him.
I walked up and was like, hey Barry, what's up?
Barry looks up, " Don't worry about the system, I know how horrible that is for you. You are very talented Bill don't let that ruin your night."
I said Thank You, laughed and left.
You have had more impact on artists over the past years than you can imagine, Barry.
This mix is for you sir.."