Steve "Silk" Hurley

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"Steve Hurley" redirects here. For the singer with Cockney Rebel, see Steve Harley.

Steve "Silk" Hurley (born Steven Hurley, 9 November 1962, Chicago, Illinois) is a pioneering house-music producer and club DJ.

1 Career
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Career

Hurley gained worldwide fame as a DJ on the Saturday Night Live Ain't No Jive Dance Party on WBMX in Chicago in the mid 1980s. Hurley's mixing style is different than the usual radio/nightclub DJ who plays house music (such as Tony Humphries on WRKS in the early 1990s), since his style of club mixing incorporates advanced DJ tricks only done by hip hop DJs or turntabilists such as scratching, cutting, drop outs, back spins, and beat juggling. He released songs under the stage name of Steve "Silk" Hurley and, with vocalist Keith Nunnally, had many hits on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart as J.M. Silk, including "I Can't Turn Around," which hit Number one in 1986.

His song "Jack Your Body" was also a hit on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number one for two weeks in January and February 1987, despite Hurley's refusal to promote it. This was the UK's first house-music chart topper, and it paved the way for the acid house sound popular there during the late 1980s. However, the track broke the chart rules, since the 12-inch format exceeded the then-current twenty five minute time limit. In spite of "Jack Your Body"'s success, Hurley has had no further singles (under his own name) reach the UK Chart, thus condemning him to one-hit wonder status.

Hurley also worked as a prominent remixer, re-working tracks for the likes of Madonna ("Take a Bow"); Jennifer Lopez ("Aint it Funny"); Brandy Norwood ("What About Us"); En Vogue ("Strange"); Ce Ce Peniston ("We Got a Love Thang," "Keep on Walkin'," "I'm Not over You," "I'm in the Mood"); Dannii Minogue ("Baby Love"); New Order ("Fine Time"); Taylor Dayne ("I'll Wait"); Diana Ross ("You're Gonna Love It"); Crystal Waters ("Makin' Happy"); Prince ("Gett Off"); Black Box ("Fantasy," "I Don't Know Anybody Else"); and the Party, which was a band comprised of five Mickey Mouse Club cast members ("Free"). One of Hurley's notable early remixes was a transformation of Roberta Flack's 1989 song "Uh-Uh Ooh-Ooh Look Out (Here It Comes)" that took the soft ballad into to the house-music realm by removing all but the vocal from the track and substituting a minimalist set of house-styled percussion tracks.

In addition to remixing songs, Steve "Silk" Hurley has also worked as a record producer. Among the noteworthy dance/pop crossover hits for which Hurley is credited as the producer are Jomanda's "Got a Love for You" (#40 Billboard Hot 100 Singles, #1 Billboard Dance/Club Play, #66 Billboard R&B), Kym Sims' "Too Blind to See It" (#38 Billboard Hot 100 Singles, #5 Billboard Dance/Club Play), Ce Ce Peniston's "We Got a Love Thang" (#20 Billboard Hot 100 Singles, #1 Billboard Dance/Club Play), and Clubland featuring Zemya Hamilton's "Hold on Tighter to Love" (#79 Billboard Hot 100 Singles, #1 Billboard Dance/Club Play).

Hurley was nominated for a Grammy Award for Remixer of the Year in 1998 and 1999.^[1]