Description
The Basement Boys, a key unit in Baltimore house, have released a timeless house classic that can be considered a completed form even before “Gypsy Woman.” The pitch-down halfway through is also fantastic.
Basement Boys—Teddy Douglas, Jay Steinhour, DJ Spen, and Karizma—formed the strongest team at the time and released the 12-inch record “Tonite” in 1991 under the name “Those Guys.” Having started making music together in 1986, they would make their name known worldwide with Gypsy Woman, which they also produced that same year, but this record is a distillation of the sense and technique they had even before that.
The track opens with an impressive dialogue sampled from Ntozake Shange’s 1976 poetic monologue work, which then develops into a groove where powerful kicks, melodic basslines, and memorable hooks intertwine. Every development, including the pitch-down that occurs around the seven-minute mark, is meticulously constructed, uniting humor, sensuality, and exhilaration over a massive beat. It is truly perfect house music.
The “Reverse Mix” on side B offers another perspective by rearranging the elements of side A. Staccato bass, synth stabs, and tight drums layer one after another, while an organ riff and vocal sample provide the foundation, creating a different sense of tension despite using the same materials as side A. The stripped-down synth processing heightens the pressure, and its functionality on the dance floor is also outstanding.
As Teddy Douglas stated, “Heavy kicks, melodic basslines, and memorable hooks. That’s the formula in the studio,” this is a historic work where that formula bore fruit like magic. It is an essential record when talking about Baltimore house, US house, and early ’90s classic house.
A1. Tonite (Original Colored Girls Mix)
B1. Tonite (Reverse Remix)
The Basement Boys were a trio consisting of Baltimore DJs Teddy Douglas, Jay Steinhour, and Thomas Davis, who began making records together in 1986. ‘Tonite’ was the debut 12” for their ‘Those Guys’ production alias, released in what would be a fateful year for the boys in 1991 as their indelible mark on Crystal Waters’ ‘Gypsy Woman’ made their name and sound known far beyond Baltimore’s city limits. For our money here at Dope Jams, ‘Tonite’ will always be one of the tracks, a genuinely timeless house epitome which continues to sound fresh and inventive. From the opening dialogue pulled from Ntozake Shange’s 1976 release of poetic monologues, to the slowdown after the 7 minute mark, each element is in perfect balance with the others, each subsequent section a logical and pre-prescribed inevitability. Humor, sensuality, and ecstatic joy all united under the massive ass-shaking beat: perfect house music. The ‘Reverse Mix’ on the flip reorients the listener through shuffling the ingredients. Staccato bass is followed by synth stabs and clipped drums, before the organ riff and vocal sample firmly anchor us in a thematic counterpart to the A-side, with the weightless canopies of synths sucked out to increase the pressure. The same, only different. “I like heavy kick drums, melodic bass lines, and memorable hooks in the studio —those are the formula” claimed Teddy Douglas. In the right hands, that formula can yield magic.Steinhour must have had one hell of a basement.
