In 1983, a 32-year-old Madison Avenue ad man named Steve Stein and his sound engineer buddy Doug DeFranco ran across an ad in Billboard magazine. It announced a mixing contest to promote a less-than-brilliant 12-inch called "Play That Beat Mr. DJ."
By the standards of early hip-hop, the ad man and the engineer were unusually old and unusually white. But they took up the challenge. Stein and DeFranco spent 14 hours mixing their tape, crediting it to Double Dee & Steinski. It was the ninth of 10 finalists, and when it finished playing, an all-star jury broke into applause.
One way that mixes work is by interspersing hot or classic hooks from other songs into the record you're tricking up. But Humphrey Bogart and even Rufus Thomas doing Little Richard schtick were less conventional selections — and, in Bogart's case, an especially valued copyright.
Steinski's winning mix got more airplay than sponsoring label Tommy Boy had dreamed. But although sample clearance wasn't the rule of law in the mid-'80s, the label's lawyers wouldn't allow it to be released commercially. This problem has plagued Stein ever since. He continued to work in advertising, but he never stopped making records.
Whether a mix is fully released, barely released or totally unreleased, Steinski treats it like a collage in a museum. He's never sought permission to use a sample, be it from Barry Levinson's Tin Men or some R&B obscurity that couldn't be ID'd by the artist's mama.
But now, the well-named Illegal Art label in Illinois has collected 25 years of Steinski's mixes as a compilation titled What Does It All Mean? So far, no copyright owner has complained, and at this late date, maybe none will.
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