Powertools (10.24.92)
Released · 1992
Source · Tef Foo
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Archived Comments
58 entries from the original simfonik.com
Shahnam (a.k.a Shaggy)
June 10, 2011
HUGE DISCOGRAPHY!!!!!!! THANK YOU FOR THIS POST..... SURE DOES BRING BACK MEMORIES.
what I'm abut to say is true & came be taken to some as quite controversial.
Back in the day there were two sides the “Religion: true under ground nation” and then came new & up coming "ravers" who collected flyers and so on. Me and much of my underground colleagues hated when we started to hear the underground sound going commercial! We felt ever since Powertools started playing out the UDG started to go south! by 1994 true UDG parties were all gone and taken over by RAVERS!
Parties in mansions, barns, broken into warehouses, the foothills with pulsating LAZERS and towers of speakers --- all disappeared when Techno went commercial, Thanks to radio.
Mars FM could not compete with the bigger station, they tried to stay and keep it underground, but got eaten up eventually by POWERTOOLS. Listening to Mars FM was like trying to tune into a frequency out of space....it was great!
AHHH I miss those exciting wide eye days!
That's my 2 cents & I guess is for all.
“Bass is thumpin here a little something to bring down the wall.”
PEACE – The TRUE and ORIGINAL SHAGGY.
ONELUV
Josh McClintock
June 10, 2011
Shaggy...I totally agree with you. I was on the underground side of the argument as well. I felt Powertools was wayyyy too commercial back then. The mixes were tight but the house was cheeseball.....I'm shocked to see Jon Williams and Eli Star in the mix here on the show. You were more likely to hear Hardrive - Deep Inside or Sound Factory - Understand this groove for the millionth time. Hey...they did make A LOT of people happy and inspired a shit load of Dj's.....not my cup of tea though. Much rather listen too Mars FM, or Jason Bentley, or KUCI in Irvine.
Pedro808
June 10, 2011
Alot of the old skool underground cats played PT. Moonopup, Aldo Bender, Doc and some other ones. Personally I hated Power Tools and their whole staff. They were pompous and acted like they were the creators of the scene. New jacks. When they were playing freestyle at Black Angus we (OG Underground) were rocking out on Santa Fe. Music was cool but they pulled a lot of gimmicks to deceive their listeners, like their fake on the scene rave reports when they were actually in Jerry Merazs garage. F them dudes.
Scotty P
June 10, 2011
who does that got to get up got 2 feel it track!!!!
Shahnam (a.k.a Shaggy)
June 11, 2011
POWERTOOLS has always been the enemy of our lost culture.
those UDG DJ's got paid to play for powertools. And they should have be shamed of themselves to have played for them. I guess one would sell their soul for fame or even a little radio time.... a move made typically by rising artists.
Just listen to the commercials of "2unlimited" @ music+
they called that techno and raggamuffin!!!
GARBAGE!
The whole POWERTOOL crew are wacked and a bunch of wanna beez! You killed the real underground scene in L.A.
Personally i could not believe this got posted & was in shock for a moment!
POWERTOOLS IS NOT UNDERGROUND & does not belong here! maybe on other sponsored sites, but not here!
I mean how many times did powertools play who is elvis, or james brown is dead, 2 badmice.. COMMERCIAL TECHNO for wanna be HARDCORE!
and that stupid song by crystal waters "gypsy women" i think: ladda dee ladda da, just do her now! i hated that song.
I hope i don't see any more powertools or any of there DJ's especially DJ irene god she sucked!
NO MORE POWERTOOLS PLEASE...it must go away and never to return.
MARSFM is the only underground station for techno/House Hip-Hop had Kday we had MARS and that monkeytools bullshit killed everything. no more POWERCRAP!
I'm willing to bet monkeytools paid Jon and Eli to be there. So they can seem underground with there local wack ass DJ's the entire crew is wacked.
I did a report for my composition writting class in 9th grade @ Chatsworth High on how power106 is killing the underground scene.
For me this was a very touchy subject, and fell very strongly about it.
THANKS FOR READING & SUPPORTING THE TRUE ACID HOUSE FAMILY.
I see one more powetools tape here i will demand all my tapes back immediately. My tapes are all original techno/house and i do not want them rubbing elbowes with the enemy.
I have nothing else to say about this post! wish it went away and replaced by a real underground crew!
Shaggy 8(
Mike
June 11, 2011
I like that it's up here. Was I a fan of KPWR or Power 106? No! I did appreciate the fact that a lot of my favorite DJs were able to play and get exposure to an audience that might not have heard them otherwise. I'm more of a fan of music than "scenes". Along with all of the bad music that unquestionably got played on Power Tools, there was also an incredible amount of pure class music played by some of LA's true underground DJ's --- like RAW, DJ TRANCE, MOONPUP, ALDO BENDER, DOC MARTIN, STEVE LORIA, BARRY WEAVER, etc... I think there's an importance to capture everything, be it good or bad.
Peace!
Winston
June 11, 2011
I loved listening to PowerTools late at night with my friends while partying in the pool. I have always thought that radio stations should release all their broadcasts from the past. I would love to be able to access some of those old shows. They had some of the best mixes around
Shahnam (a.k.a Shaggy)
June 11, 2011
what's really funny is Eli train wrecking....
Josh McClintock
June 11, 2011
Mike..I agree with you ...whether good or bad, Powertools had a huge impact in southern California. So historically this is a cool post. I think Eli and Jon are a bad representation of a typical Powertools show though. Winston, if you think that Powertools had the best mixes around.....you werent looking very hard buddy!!! Whatever makes you happy though...
john
June 11, 2011
power tools is a no go. when i first heard techno on power 106 i had a feeling that was the beginning of the end for the underground scene because the scene is not meant for the general public. for the most part i am glad to have experienced the techno culture before power tools came along and exposed techno to the general public (unfortunately like all things techno will wither with time).
what a coincidence, i attended chatsworth high school in 92.
Pedro808
June 11, 2011
For the record I don't think Barry ever played PT since he had a gig at KIIS and Moompup was playing for Power way before PT started. Moonpup and Boris & Chris used to do the weekend mixes.
What was one scene became two. East & west, you can blame Powertools for that. They pushed the east side scene hard.
DustOne
June 11, 2011
Get mad Shaggy, jeez. This was almost 20 years ago. It's a historic recording that should be heard by anybody who is into EDM.
Nature Boy
June 12, 2011
Wow. Controversy on Simfonik! How long did any scene stay pure? Punk, Hip Hop, the Hippies... All those social movements got swallowed up after a couple good years. It's inevitable that ego moves in and destroys the true spirit. But we remember, don't we? We'll never forget.
The Martian
June 12, 2011
The show publicly announced parties locations on air, told people where most of the Underground record stores were. And made something that was intimate and spectacle of it. They commercialize the wack techno for the weak minded.... The movement at OL McDonnell's rave..! please cuhz!
It made it easy for parents, teachers, media and authority to see what is going on .... and yes ultimately killing the L.A. underground scene by turning it into a capitalistic "rave parties" where tickets are now over $45.
Fuck Powertools big time!
James.exe
June 12, 2011
EXACTLY martian. I was wondering when someone would speak the truth.
James.exe
June 12, 2011
as I used to say back in the day when I saw a cha cha walking up in the line of a real party....
"The Dome is THAT WAY"
DustOne
June 12, 2011
So, what you guys are saying is, that if Powertools didn't exist, then the LA rave scene would have never gone mainstream? I call bullshit. Like Nature Boy said "All those social movements get swallowed up after a couple good years. It’s inevitable that ego moves in and destroys the true spirit." If something is fun and exciting chances are that eventually it's going to catch on with alot of people and get commercialized. Just the way the world is...
You can't blame an enthusiastic Power 106 employee for trying to help his DJ friends by getting them exposure by playing on the radio.
Mike
June 12, 2011
MarsFM wasn't any more underground than PowerTools. Both were accessible via the dial on my radio anyway, and I can only assume that was the case for everyone else in Los Angeles. Call me a conspiracy theorist but I suspect both were also run for the purpose of making money -- a business, if you will.
If you're going to hate on one radio show for playing and promoting electronic music, you should hate on them all. While you're at it, you should also hate on all the record shops that advertised on those stations and had visible storefronts, where undesirables could discover our "underground scene"... I mean, after all, they weren't underground if kids from Fairfax High could walk down the street and get exposed to "our music" and "our scene" via the records that were playing and the flyers that were in plain sight.
Like DustOne, I also call bullshit.
Jason Splat
June 13, 2011
cool mix- I did that version of the logo!
Mojo
June 14, 2011
Shaggy, you went to Chatsworth? I went to Canoga... small world. =)
I'm not going to wade into this controversy, but I just want to say that I trust Simfonik's judgment. He is archiving history, and like it or not, the Powertools show is a part of that. I believe Simfonik has posted enough other quality material on here that we all should be grateful for, so I hope everyone can just take a step back and let the man do his thing. I totally understand where everyone is coming from on this... on all sides. But at the end of the day, it's about the music. And if Simfonik believes these tapes are worthy of posting, then I support that 100%.
Shahnam (a.k.a Shaggy)
June 14, 2011
This forum has given me the chance to finally speak up about all them fools looking like clowns calling themselves ravers.
Time has changed obviously.. I got made respect for SIMFONIK, that is why i'm here, because everything up till now has been underground...NOTHING COMMERCIAL or MAINSTREAM and OLDSKOOL!
If they gonna start posting mixes of the radio, then i think the site will ultimately lose it's edge!
Yeah lets put more powertools mixes up and show our History.
We have enough History without powertools. Jason has enough tapes to archive the entire History and i personally have no respect for powertools nor feel it was ever part of our history other then it being the cancer!
The last thing i want to hear are more whack renditions of Robin -S "you got show me love." or worse, 2badmice,her on this website!
KEEP PURE & RAW.
NO MORE COMMERCIAL MIXES PLEASE!
Shahnam (a.k.a Shaggy)
June 14, 2011
They were a real bad representation of HOUSE and TECHNO and till today they remain just that!
If you like commercial the sound then here it is. ENJOY!
Powerfools get no respect from me EVER!
No matter who had already played for them, they got paid to spin for the show! Trying to make it seem that they are the real source to the LA Underground based Culture.
I know they were just a bunch White collar executives who said yeah, let make some money off this and they did just that! Charge record companies and stores to advertise for air time.... They all made a Deal with the DEVIL.
I know what i'm talking about, i'm a Graduate of Sound Master Recording Schools. I worked for major recording studios in Hollywood for several years.
I heard everything and SAW EVERYTHING!
Mike
June 14, 2011
Looks like Power 106 right there -
http://simfonik.com/2010/10/moonpup-this-is-moon-pup/
I remember hearing some djs didn't even get paid, when they were supposed to, for making the milkyway mixes. If underground djs got paid, instead of ripped off, for playing on powertools, then good for them.
My final thoughts on this post: You have a logo that was designed by Jason Splat, you have djs Jon Williams and Eli Star (all underground), and you have some other stuff -- call it what you will -- that's at least worth archiving to show the contrast of things.
Mike
June 14, 2011
Sick mix from POWERTOOLS right here.
http://simfonik.com/2008/05/raw-live-on-power-tools-1994/
Are you down with the underground?
Shahnam (a.k.a Shaggy)
June 14, 2011
That's what happens when you make a deal with the corporate devil.
YOU GET BURNED !
The analog kid
June 14, 2011
Good point, why didnt all the "underground" heads jump all over RAWs powertools mix ???
simfonik
June 14, 2011
Wow! Really polarized opinions on this one. Let's keep the comments civil, please.
The analog kid
June 14, 2011
Anyways, whats up with mindscratch II Jason ?
DustOne
June 14, 2011
The Blame remix of Robin S. - Show Me Love is sick. Don't hate.
greenhouseffekt
June 14, 2011
I think I remember hearing R.A.W. on PT around '96-97, but he was using an alias, "Dj Raul"..I have a few old PT recordings of DJ Trance from 93-94 and some of his Blakemore appearances from 01-03 if anybody's interested
Volt
June 15, 2011
Thanks for posting this. I'm a big fan of EDM. I enjoyed listening to this. It's important to remember the history. You don't have to listen to it, if you don't like it. It's good to have a healthy, spirited, discussion about this. It's interesting to hear about the above comments as to why this Power Tools track is "bad". It makes me want to listen to what is considered "good".
ramon c.
June 16, 2011
powertools did expose a sound that was "underground". marsfm also help to expose this "underground" sound. both radio stations did help make this a eastside vs. westside scene.
a big memory from alot of people that i have come to now thru social sites is the elitism, borderline racism, that was apparent at alot of events.
Shahnam (a.k.a Shaggy)
June 17, 2011
"Like Nature Boy said “All those social movements get swallowed up after a couple good years. It’s inevitable that ego moves in and destroys the true spirit.”
speaking from experience. The L.A underground scene was strong and taboo from 1988 to 1992. STRONG!
That's 4 years right there that i know of. Who knows what was before 1988 as i was just a kid!
Appointed by Executives, producers and Trend Analysts in early 90' they saw the evolution in Techno not "EDM" and leaped to expolite the sound.. To be the first to expose this musical Taboo we called techno all over the airway. Forcing other pirate radio stations to come out so they can keep a portion of the scene real, hidden, something to call our own and away from the commercial "EDM" being.
People thought techno was crazy and it was taboo back then.
That shit went strong underground for a long time...Not just 2 years...
So yes i do feel strongly that PT and their power of influence over a small private scene in L.A.
But it was inevitable. Thug executives are mad strong in the industry! MARS never had a chance, and if it wasn't for the public support & local paid sponsors KCRW would not have lasted either.
I'm not here to ruffles anyones feathers, i'm just standing up for what i believed in. And by 94-95 was dead. This aint no Sinamatic, Goth, or Breakin that left as fast as it came. The scene was strong for many years until it got commercialized by you know who.
PLEASE don't forget to drop a dime in the donation bucket 8)
PEACE;
Shagyola
Jay
June 19, 2011
Without PT. Los Angeles didnt have a on air outlet for Techno & House. Remember kids..Mars didnt last long & electronic was far from mainstream like it is now. Sure, I'd rather buy mixtapes for the creativity but..PT was fun up until 95-96. They rep'd LA when all these other mainstream stations weres till playing pop & rap every sec of the day.
*I recorded almost every show (when the show aired from 1am-4am) from 1992-1993 ish and up. My ex threw them all away in 2005. One reason why I still hate her.
Jay
June 19, 2011
BTW. If anybody cares or is looking for more tapes & dats (Powertools or A large collection of Tapes) hit me up on Soulseek. Username: Wax
JRmz
June 25, 2011
More Powertools mixes please!
Thank You Simfonic keep up the great job.
"It's all abot the music!"
eric brugge
July 10, 2011
Powertools is what inspired me to become a DJ but it was good in the 90;s not anymore.
eric brugge
July 10, 2011
I think the djs on powertools really didn't know what they were mixing but it sounded good.
justin garnevicus
July 14, 2011
@shaggy!! wwwaaaaa wwwaaaa!!! can somebody call a wambulance? wow!!!! too much time on your hands!!
take your meds!!
Josh McClintock
July 14, 2011
Hey Justin.....is that all you got 4 us? Maybe you would like to voice your opinion about Powertools? If your just here to insult people... take it somewhere else.
Julie
July 28, 2011
Mars FM with Tony Largo, bitd. Gotta keep it old school, imo.
LENYO BOB
July 31, 2011
Mad respect to Simfonik for putting these mixes. Wether we like it or not Powertools played pretty much all the dope Underground DJs i.e RAW, Dj Trance,Doc Martin,Ron D core,Etc etc even NYC heads like Adam X ,Frankie Bones etc. It was a show that we all listened too at some point so lets not get it twisted> Even if Techno got commercialized teh underground was/is always there and if you werent down,you werent there..plain and simple. OLD SCHOOL LA UDG for LIFE!!
justin
August 1, 2011
I have to disagree.. there's room for PowerTools here. We're all guilty of
listening and recording the shows.
We would always hit the record button before getting ready for No Doz
or What (or Docs) —and finally SketchPad for the afternoon..
Randall
August 1, 2011
PowerTools... I heard so many amazing mixes on that radio show. The P.T. mix by R.A.W. that is posted here is such a great example of that. Kinda funny to, in the beginning of that mix he straight disses all the kroq greaser bull shit that was invading the scene at that time. I remember that like it was yesterday. It all went downhill pretty quick. It was pretty wack how things turned out but man... Give thanks we got to experience what the scene was before all the B.S.!! Nobody now a days will EVER HAVE A CLUE WHAT IT WAS LIKE!! We are blessed I feel! Funny thing to me is that for the people today, their experience of going to a party is really a lot like ours back in the day.. Only because they don't know any better. Powertools to me really did cover a lot of bases musically and that was all I cared about. They had a lot of stuff I loved and hated on that show..
eric brugge
August 1, 2011
Now that i am lisening to this mix I remeber it very well. I remember tonyb richard humpty vission and what they were talking about the clubs and raves they were going on and ofcourse exodus records. one time I called in to powertools and i won a copy of bust a groove.
claudia martinez
October 22, 2011
Serious FLASHBACKS!! Hahaha! Awesome! ;D
claudia martinez
October 22, 2011
Classic stuff ;D
travis vs
October 23, 2011
If anything, power tools legitimized that techno music something more than sound effects at late night drug fests. Yes commercialism sucks! Everyone who hugged a speaker knows the score. These are our songs; these are our DJ's...People who didn't go out to parties for the music never lasted long anyhow. I want to believe that going to undergrounds wasn’t about getting jacked up and trying to pick up on the opposite sex. We went because the music and people made us feel good and we could be ourselves- or at least figure it out. That's why we're all still so passionate till this day. I'm sure the people who were clueless back then are the same way today. . BY THE WAY-- big up SPLAT- dude you got up on everything- that turntable design was tight!
remixrob808
December 15, 2012
I truly agree power killed it for alot of us power 106 got so commerical on the sceen that I loved wearing fresh jive clobber beans & dr seuz hats with the mad hatters was great but then all of suden u seen all of these people like if they new the culture I miss the days to go melorse by 12" by sweet as house gear clothing rocking at flamable I even still have my VIP flamable liquid card
Andy Bratz
December 16, 2012
I did not really support this show in the day as I was usually still in a warehouse or vacant building until 4:00 Am, BUT it was great to have this station (Show) sometimes as my tape player in my Hooptie did not work all the time and I did not always have my box with me. If you took away what I did from going to all the true undergrounds like Paw Paw Patch and anything from the beginning of the Bat Line you would accept this POST for what it was and not what it wasnt! I drove from Ventura County "Camarillo" weekend after weekend and even weekdays (from 1989 to 1993ish) for the openess and LOVE and the freedom to be who I wanted to be and not who I was not. I remember a later one called Fresh Fruit (they gave out free fruit) and it seemed to be the last REAL LOVE underground I went to other than seeing DOC on the wednesday night of the L.A. riots in the back of a industial park - that was an awesome night/morning! My point is if you where a TRUE believer of the underground you would want to share this music with anyone who liked it and you would not judge it when it got to "Commercial" but accept where it went and that more and more people liked it and it opened the eyes of millions to this type of music, vibe and culture. I love house, trance and anything DOC does and I am who I am today because of this type of music including Power Tools! POSITIVITY RULES
tony b
April 16, 2013
This would be a good read If any of u really knew what the hell u are talking about... no guest dj's ever got paid to play on Power Tools. They were breakng down the doors to be on the show. Nothing ever stays underground... and the dj's and artist wanted exposure so they could sell mixes and or tracks and get more gigs. It's the music biz... people are in biz 2 make $... nothing wrong with that. It's how we eat.
Clobber1
April 17, 2013
Look whose talking your the king of copy kat Tony...your mixes all sucked.
Jay
June 11, 2013
Its this simple. Los Angeles had no electronic music radio outlets at that time unless you were in the scene and or a dj who bought vinyl. There was no mp3, internet, simifonik, soulseek etc. Mixtapes even were still fairly underground prior to the mid-90s. So.....like it or not, Powertools and Marsfm both played commercial shit. I used to record all powertools live on tapes cuz there was no other large variety of Los Angeles Djs & a few outer towners sets available, only cd compilations which were mainly europe style hardcore still. If you stayed up long enough till 3-4am ( yes powertools used to be on for more then 2 hours) they played a lot of underground acid, techno, & some random mixtapes that werent commercial. Dj Orlando, Thee-o, Trance frequently were on, live or by tape. Them dudes played nothing commercial....
But agree, its all about the underground
Dj elusion
November 20, 2013
omg tony b is still around whats up dude! havent talked to you since the womina wells era 1996 and then you went to groove radio!. I remember you had a studio in pasadena. Hit me up if you still around Man powertools is what got me started late 1992 / 1993. :) hit me up via email or what ever dj_elusion@live [dot com]
Michael "Peach" Melahouris
November 25, 2013
Sup Tony B!
You don't know me but we all know you from the day. Good point BTW! I always appreciated Power Tools. Hope your post groove radio days still keeping food on the table. (on a side note the only time I've ever won anything was from Groove Radio when the Swedish Eagle gave me a TV for commenting online about something. Think I used it till just a couple of years ago. Too funny.
Peace
womina wells
December 19, 2013
I have so much to say but why? Let music do what it do make people feel good groove on everybody
Dj Suave
January 22, 2014
Hi
Nolving
October 3, 2017
Guys I'm a big time house fanatic from back in the day. Can any of you gurus help? Looking for DJ Orlando very rare powertools Hardcore techno mix. I know poertools always had house but a few times they let DJ Orlando bust out some hardcore. It had the song "phat guitar". Love that shit! Sup Tony b, Womina. Miss my good old "Dome" days.