— From Press Release

Respected and acknowledged around the World as one of the three Detroit Techno innovators, Kevin Saunderson is a legend in his own right, who helped to reshape the future of Dance music as we know it today!

To celebrate his mammoth 20 years worth musical genius, KMS & Fabric Recordings join forces and unleash a retrospective of Kevin’s work with a brand new compilation ‘History Elevate’ featuring a heavyweight selection of KS classics.

This hefty package includes remixes from the maestro with tracks from Cerrone, Pet Shop Boys and Octave One and his first ever remix for Wee Papa Girl Rappers ‘Heat It Up’ (1988), among many other jewels. This journey through Kevin’s incredible musical history also features some of his own penned hits, including some Inner City gems, all remixed by top producers including Luciano, Carl Craig, Simian Mobile Disco, Claude VonStroke and many more.. ‘History Elevate’ is a must have retrospective collection for any proclaimed Kevin Saunderson and dance music fan alike!

My first remix for Wee Papa Girl Rappers ‘Heat It Up’ was the first remix of its kind anywhere. At that time, I was like Just do it! So I listened to the original track, I really wasn’t feeling it, but I did like some of the vocals, but thought that it wasn’t going to work doing a traditional edit/remix. It wouldn’t fit in with what I was doing production wise, so I thought why don’t I make a new track and make the vocals work on top of what I’m doing. I sampled some of the vocals, re-triggered them and laid them out into my format, this was radical in 1988! Consequently I went on to produce many more, some of my favorites are featured on CD1 of this album. The remix is still such an important part of our music and it’s been fascinating to work with the great producers featured on CD2 who have remixed some of my classic material in their own unique styles. We believe this project ties the past to the future, creating a launch pad for
techno to spread our message far beyond … into deep space. – Kevin Saunderson

Kevin was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1964, but moved at the age of nine to the place known as the ‘Motor City’, Detroit. At school he befriended two other like-minded students (Juan Atkins and Derrick May). After a 2 year affair with playing football, Kevin quit in order to focus on music, so he reunited with his high school pals, which unknown at the time would be the move that would help Kevin’s career escalate.

Starting out as a DJ, Kevin soon developed new skills that led him into producing records, which he released on his own label, KMS Records. The demand for Kevin as a Producer and DJ was overwhelming overseas, as well as in the States. He introduced acts like ‘Kreem’, ‘Reese’, ‘Inter-City’ (later to become Inner City) and ‘Reese & Santonio’. Kevin has had many other aliases too, such as; ‘Tronik House’, ‘The Reese Project’, ‘EssRay’, ‘Kaos’ and more recently, ‘E-Dancer’, which he uses to show his versatility at being able to create different facets of Dance music.

Kevin’s biggest achievement and his most commercially recognized project has been INNER CITY with Paris Grey, who have come full circle after13 years, as one of the World’s most influential Dance acts and prime time movers in the house and techno revolution of 1988. The duo have proven they are one of dance music’s great survivors with a new dazzling renaissance and they’re justifiably proud of a healthy career spanning early pioneering hits like “Big Fun” and “Good Life”, “Ain’t Nobody Better”, through to “Hallelujah”, “Pennies From Heaven”, “Till We Meet Again”, “Do Ya”, “Your Love” (to name but a few) and more recently the 1999 Spanish re-recording of “Good Life (Buena Vida)”, which soon became a Number One Club hit in Europe and entered the TOP TEN on the UK Pop Charts, and “Good Love” which was also an instant smash.

Their career has been nothing short of remarkable, not only for their numerous critical and commercial achievements, but also for their longevity. It was in 1987 Kevin and Paris met by introduction from Chicago house producer, Terry “Housemaster” Baldwin. Paris flew into Detroit, came up with lyrics and “Big Fun” was born. Incredibly the tape was then filed away and almost forgotten until UK dance aficionado, Neil Rushton, visited the Motor City to compile the album, Techno – The New Dance Sound Of Detroit for Virgin. He freaked when hearing the song and made sure “Big Fun” was on the LP. Soon afterwards, it was released as a single and went on to become a World wide smash. But despite it’s instant success, the follow up, “Good Life” outsold “Big Fun”. The third single “Ain’t Nobody Better” retained Kevin’s techno-logic microchip feel, topped by Paris’s soulful voice. Their debut album, “Paradise” cemented this prosperity and highlighted the Detroit techno blueprint.

In 1993, Inner City parted company with their label, Virgin Records. The label released the Testament 93 remix album to celebrate their time together. Also in that year a “homecoming” deal with their manager Neil Rushton’s SIX6 label was finalized. Another UK Tour followed in August ’93, including a headlining appearance on the Reading Festival’s dance stage and the top slot at the European Dance Weekender in Paris the following month. It was also at this time that Kevin’s work with his other group The Reese Project was greeted with equal glee by journalists and clubbers alike.

To date, Inner City have had 12 Top 40 hits in the UK, as well as having had two Top 20 albums, with combined sales of more than 6 million. Inner City have also received 4 Gold singles, 1 Gold Album and 1 Platinum Album.

Meanwhile, Kevin’s alter ego E-Dancer produces Techno Music, pure and simple. Created for a savvy audience by an original master. E-Dancer’s first full length LP entitled simply Heavenly, has hooked audiences and critics alike. Following on with his new Inner City release ‘Say Something’ it reaffirmed Kevin’s standing as one of the ‘INNOVATORS’, and a leader in the industry.

One of the most exciting movements for Kevin in 2005, was his new title which has also given him one of the biggest challenges of his career, the Producer of Fuse-In, the newest reincarnation of Detroit’s 6th electronic festival at Hart Plaza, with an outstanding line up which included Mos Def, Ken Ishii, Carl Craig, Kevin Saunderson, Green Velvet, Ritchie Hawtin, Underground Resistance, Alexander Robotnick and many more..

As Kevin states “What we’ve done in our history in Detroit with techno is a result of a love for all kinds of music, I don’t want this just to be a techno event, I want techno to be the foundation and for people to realize how powerful Detroit has been and still is, I want to put on a good show with good artists so people can be inspired by the music.”

Springboarding to present day, Kevin continues to tour the world and has been busy remixing many a dancefloor hit over the past 2 years penning reworks including: Simian Mobile Disco ‘Hustler’, Claude Vonstroke ‘Who’s Afraid Of Detroit?’, Hercules And Love Affair ‘You Belong’ and The Presets ‘This Boy’s In Love’ among others. This is Kevin Saunderson, this is inspiration for all music lovers alike and there is so much more to come…

Kevin Saunderson
History Elevate Tracklisting

CD1: Remixed by Kevin Saunderson

01 The Christians – The Bottle – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Universal
02 Wee Papa Girl Rappers – Heat It Up – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Sony
03 Ann Consuelo – Do It For Love – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Kevin Saunderson
04 Cerrone – Supernature – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Malligator/TLP
05 Pet Shop Boys – Go West – Kevin Saunderson Remix – EMI
06 Lighthouse Family – High – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Universal
07 Hercules And Love Affair – You Belong – Kevin Saunderson Remix – EMI
08 The Presets – This Boy’s In Love – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Modular
09 Octave One – Blackwater Ft Ann Saunderson – Kevin Saunderson Remix – 430 West
10 Simian Mobile Disco – Hustler – Kevin Saunderson Remix- Wichita
11 Cameo – Money – Kevin Saunderson Remix – Warners

CD2: Kevin Saunderson Remixed

01 Intro
02 Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Good Love’ Luciano’s Good Love Remix – KMS
03 Kevin Saunderson ‘Bounce Your Body To The Box’ Mike Shannon’s Flashback Mix – KMS
04 Kevin Saunderson ‘Just Want Another Chance’ John Tejada Remix – KMS
05 Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Big Fun’ Simian Mobile Disco Remix – KMS
06 Kevin Saunderson ‘Till We Meet Again’ Carl Craig Remix – KMS
07 Kevin Saunderson ‘The Human Bond’ Claude Vonstroke Rave Recognize Rave Mix – KMS
08 Kevin Saunderson ‘Rock To The Beat’ Ben Sims Remix – KMS
09 Kevin Saunderson ‘Rock To The Beat’ Christian Smith & John Selway Remix – KMS
10 Kevin Saunderson ‘Pump The Move’ Samuel L Session Remix – KMS
11 Kevin Saunderson ‘World Of Deep’ – Jesse’s Respect To Detroit Mix – KMS
12 Kevin Saunderson ‘Bassline’ Joris Voorn 07 Remix – KMS
13 End Peace
Mini mash bonus mix:
Kevin Saunderson ‘Bassline’ Loco Dice Remix
Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Good Love’ Jay Haze edit – KMS
Kevin Saunderson feat Inner City ‘Good Life’ Mathew Jonson’s Acid Mix – KMS

‘History Elevate’ will be released on June 9, 2009 on KMS Records & Fabric Recordings

Kevin Saunderson will play Detroit’s Movement Festival, which takes place May 23, 24 and 25. More info on XLR8R.com.