Inner City - Big Fun (12" Club Remix)

Inner City - Big Fun (12" Club Remix) / 12 Inch Extended Version

In 1973, at the age of 9, Kevin Saunderson moved with his family from New York to Detroit.

A couple of years later, he started at Belleville High School and, at the age of 14, became friends with fellow pupil Derrick May — after punching him in the face over an unpaid bet.

Saunderson had also become friends with classmate Juan Atkins, who, in his late teens, had become interested in music production and began recording with electro group Cybotron.

Atkins and May also started creating music together, releasing their first track, Let’s Go by X-Ray, in 1986.

Initially focused on his studies and football, Saunderson eventually got involved with May and Atkins. Atkins shared his production knowledge and helped Saunderson produce his first track, Triangle of Love by Kreem, which was released in 1986.

Now in his early 20s, Saunderson was creating music in his own rudimentary home studio, equipped with a Roland 909 and 727 drum machine, a Yamaha DX100 synthesiser, an Akai S9000 sampler, and a Yamaha piano keyboard.

With this setup, he created an instrumental using a 909 drum rhythm, DX100 bassline and string sounds, and piano chords. He sampled the chord sound from Nitro Deluxe’s Let’s Get Brutal using the S9000, creating the main Big Fun hook that would also become the signature Inner City sound.

Saunderson felt the track needed a vocal, and his friend, Chicago house producer Terry ‘Housemaster’ Baldwin, suggested he speak to Paris Grey.

“Paris Grey got involved through a mutual friend,” says Saunderson. “We talked on the phone and she told me she was a church girl but loved house music. So we tried it out. I told her to keep it very uplifting.”

“It had been no vocals, just the backing track. I love vocals and melody — stuff like Chaka Khan and Jocelyn Brown. I was a little different from the other guys from Detroit. They were into straight instrumentals. I was like 50:50.”

“I have no clue how Paris came up with the lyrics. She called me one day saying, ‘I got it, it’s done.’ She sang it to me on the phone and I said, ‘I gotta get you out here right away.’”

“We recorded it in Juan Atkins’ home studio, in his attic. No vocal booth. We had one mic. Paris stood in the corner, she put the headphones on and we did it.”

Around this time, Saunderson had been clubbing at Paradise Garage in New York, listening to Larry Levan’s sets. He imagined nothing more than creating a track that might go down well in the club — his dream was simply to have a record played there.

He finished the track and left it alone for a while, until UK record company exec Neil Rushton contacted Derrick May to compile tracks for a Detroit techno compilation.

Rushton’s label, Kool Kat Records, was involved in importing early US house and techno records, and they were always on the lookout for breakthrough material. Saunderson’s Big Fun was unknown at the time but was included on the compilation nonetheless.

Saunderson thought nothing more of it, but back in the UK, tracks from the compilation began getting club play — and Big Fun stood out, especially in Paul Oakenfold’s set at his acid house night, Spectrum, at Heaven nightclub in London.

Big Fun was released as a single in 1988 and reached the UK Top 10. Saunderson and Grey produced a full album, Paradise, which reached the UK Top 3 and spawned five Top 20 singles.

Former schoolmates Saunderson, May, and Atkins became known as the Belleville Three, credited as pioneers of Detroit techno — the earliest form of techno music.

Featured here is the Club Remix of Big Fun, an extended version created by Juan Atkins and the first single released under a new name: Inner City featuring Kevin Saunderson.

Year: 1988 Label: 10 Records Cat no: TENR240