Marc Smith ‘Breakdown’

Catalogue Number CSRT006
I was 14 when I heard this for the first time and it’s one of a handful of records that changed my life. It’s laden with hooks, breaks, samples, snippets of vocals, scratches, stings and god knows what else. It fascinated me and within a few days I’d burnt out my parents’ belt drive turntable trying to do some Marc Smith style tricks.

There are several key samples at play here (all listed on the Discogs entry for this track) which give us insight into Marc’s influences and the role of early hip hop and old soul records in the early rave scene. But there’s plenty of original work here from Marc. I think this is his first solo release, the first time his creativity has been put down on vinyl, packaged up and gone on sale. But his name was well known as for at least 3 years leading up to this release he’d been one of the country’s most in demand DJs. If you saw Marc Smith’s name on a flyer you knew the event was the real deal. Liam Howlett and the Prodigy are often held up as an example of quality rave music but compare what they were putting out at this time with what’s going on with this track and it’s clear Scotland was leading the way.

Marc is still DJ-ing and making his own music to this day, never compromising on his style. He’s easily found on social media. Marc was one of a handful of figures able to straddle the underground and the rave scene as it became more commercial. The original Clubscene 12″ vinyl release of ‘Breakdown’ is the first time the record label had any type of additional artwork on its sleeves, with Marc’s name displayed in huge graffiti style ‘bubble’ lettering alongside images of 2 turntables. The release includes two tracks. The original version is backed with the ‘Sounds Nothing Like The A Side TTF Mix’. Marc had earlier provided his own remix of TTF’s ‘Real Love’ and it seems like there was a nice relationship between the 2 acts at this stage in their careers. With TTF perhaps giving Marc’s music access to a wider, more commercial leaning fan base and Marc keeping them connected to the underground and their roots.

It’s worth noting that at this point in 1992 the artists releasing music on Clubscene weren’t doing it to be part of a scene. You weren’t guaranteed sales or gigs or fame or anything. We’d had a series of Awesome 101 events, the Earthquaker outdoor rave had taken place in Cumnock that summer, StreetRave had been going for a few years and there were various irregular ‘rave’ nights at clubs around the country but nothing like a commercial scene. There wasn’t that much going on and if there was a rave event at a particular location, everyone would know about it. There was no more than 1 or 2 events at a time, word of mouth would kick in and everyone would want to be there. M8 magazine for example still veered heavily towards guitar based indie music with Teenage Fanclub more likely to appear on the cover than a sweaty raver. What that means is that all the people I’m talking about on these pages got involved in music purely because they loved it, not because they were chasing anything. That’s proven by just how many are still involved, and still popular today.

‘Breakdown’ was chosen as the second track on the ‘Essential Clubscene Volume 1’ album (after ‘Obsession’) ensuring its availability on CD and giving fans attracted by the likes of Ultra-Sonic and Suburban Delay an education into turntablism and the very foundations of what was fast becoming a powerful movement. Some 32 years on, this remains one of the Clubscene tracks I listen to the most.

It’s absolutely fantastic, a brilliant piece of work and if he ever reads this I’d like to thank Marc for the impact his music, and this track in particular has had on me. It’s bursting with energy and a real variety of sounds that keep the listener engaged throughout. You can hear how well it’s crafted, taking the listener on a journey and playing with their emotions purely through drum beats, basslines and snippets of sound, all used in a really clever way. There’s no ‘lyrics’ as such, but to me it’s always said a great deal.


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