Lil' Louis – The Original Video Clash

Walked into Pacha in Ibiza around 2005 and this got dropped.
My life became complete at that point.
End statement.

Chicago’s Dance mania provided some of house music’s ‘finer moments’. possibly the first hardcore track ever recorded, it’s hard edged noises literally clash and collapse into one huge melting pot of electronic perfection. Sheer brilliance and only ten years ahead of its time.

Every treasure hides its own secrets. Sometimes, these secrets may be astonishing as the treasure itself. Reputed among the most amazing tunes released by Lil' Louis ever, "Video Clash" has quite a story - and few, very few know its true extension.

The first time I heard about "Video Clash" story was on an interview I made with Tyree where he said that he did his "Video Crash" classic because he had heard that Lil' Louis released the original version of "Video Clash" which was produced by Marshall Jefferson, so he, Tyree Cooper, wanted to do one that was better than Lil'Louis one, so he did "Video Crash". Mike Dunn did something similar based on the same concept of "Video Clash" and made "Magic Feet".

The natural reaction was hearing Marshall Jefferson's statement about the original of "Video Clash" in order to elucidate the matter. "Video clash I did in my living room while Lil' Louis was there. Kym Mazelle, Sterling Void, and four others were there. Kym Mazelle started singing "Fuck it, I don't even wanna sing!" over the track, and we were basically just having a jam session. Lil Louis lived really close to me; Fast Eddie was my next door neighbour - and he always complained that Ron Hardy got all my tracks first."

Marshall continued: "Well, he (Lil' Louis) was right there when I recorded "Video Clash" and he insisted that I give him a copy. At that time Lil Louis had the biggest parties in Chicago, where more than five thousand kids would regularly show up, so I gave him a copy to play. He took it home, took off Kym's vocals and edited it. Somehow, that piece of shit became his biggest record."

The other music that spread from "Video Clash" concept was explained by Marshall Jefferson as well: "Soon after, Mike Dunn did a ripoff of it called "Magic Feet", and Tyree Cooper did another ripoff ("Video Crash", and Tyree's testimonial about its history was almost the same of Marshall's), and at least five other ripoffs were circulating and I (Marshall) didn't want to put my version out because I didn't want people to think I ripped off somebody else, so I was ready to push it to the side and forget it."

What made him change his mind is his explanation about Lil Louis' arguments: "He (Lil' Louis) seemed extremely upset that the other versions came out, and asked me to put out the "original version" because he said people needed to hear it. I said no at first, then he said he would put it out for me and after lots of urging I just said - "Go ahead".

The producer of "Video Clash", Marshall Jefferson - the same man behind several other quintessential House tunes, reasoned about when the "Video Clash" was released: "When the record finally came out, my name was nowhere on it. Never received any money for it either. Recently, I asked for the rights to the song back and Lil' Louis gave me back the rights without a fight, so that was cool. There's very little money if any for it now, but at least I have the rights for justice's sake" - said the one who claims to be "Video Clash"'s true creator.

What amazed me the most was the opportunity I had recently to get into a Skype chat with Adonis and Marshall Jefferson and speak about many of these House classics. When we spoke about "Video Clash", Marshall phoned Kym Mazelle and put her telephone call on our Skype chat. Then, he started asking "Hey, Kym, the day when we were in my studio and I began producing "Video Clash", the one that you started singing? You know, the one that Lil' Louis took out our vocals and edited it, and released? I'm telling Alain the story..."

This was one the first techno records I had heard and it really changed my perspective on music. Lil Louis is a GENIUS. Sometimes the best music is very simple and that's the case here, simple but very effective. The production does sound a little dated now, but that adds to the charm. It's a 120 bpm hypnotic techno monster and still sounds excellent on a big sound system. If your a fan of techno from the Windy City then this is an absolute MUST.