In this episode of the Dexter Jones Podcast, I sit down with Jon X Crosse for a journey back into the golden age of 90s trance and electronic music.
Jon’s story is absolutely fascinating. From working with some of the earliest MIDI technology and experimenting with synthesizers in the 1980s, to creating Crescendo – Are You Out There? and becoming part of The Morrighan, this episode takes us right inside the making of some truly special records.
We get into the remarkable story behind Crescendo, a track whose musical foundations Jon says began when he was just 12 or 13 years old and were partly inspired by Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.
Jon also tells the incredible story of booking Sasha & John Digweed at Heaven in the early 90s, recording their sets onto DAT and studying the way they built their musical journeys. Those recordings would go on to have a major influence on the way he approached the production of Crescendo.
Then we get into Lange featuring The Morrighan – Follow Me, how Cecily wrote those unforgettable lyrics, how the record came together with Lange, and why more than two decades later it can still create incredibly emotional moments on the dancefloor at Amnesia Ibiza.
We also talk Judge Jules, Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, Guru Josh, Radio 1, Heaven, the early days of music production and plenty more stories from an extraordinary period in British dance music.
If you lived through this era, there are some serious memories in this one. And if you didn’t, this is a brilliant insight into how some of the records that helped define it were actually made.
Jon X Crosse: Inside the Golden Age of 90s Trance Anthems.
00:00 Intro
01:18 Jon X Crosse: An Extraordinary Career
02:04 The Birth of MIDI & Electronic Music
06:23 Jon’s Disastrous First TV Appearance
08:45 The Story of Crescendo
12:24 The Emotion Behind Crescendo
13:21 How Sasha & Digweed Influenced Crescendo
14:54 Crescendo, Beethoven & Moonlight Sonata
17:01 Making Crescendo
19:53 Guru Josh, Kirk Field & The Prodigy
23:21 The Morrighan
25:09 The Story of Follow Me with Lange
28:23 How Follow Me Was Written
29:42 Why the Lyrics of Follow Me Endured
32:29 Follow Me & Kevin and Perry
33:12 Why Crescendo Was So Different
37:39 The Bizarre Story Behind the JD-800
42:08 How Jon Booked Sasha & Digweed for £350
45:21 The Secret Sasha & Digweed DAT Recordings
46:53 John Digweed Plays Crescendo on Radio 1
49:54 What Happened After Crescendo?
51:47 80,000 Records Sold in One Week
52:54 The Return of Crescendo
55:02 Why These Records Still Mean So Much
56:02 Part Two: Prince William, the SAS & More
56:39 Judge Jules & His Radio 1 Debut
58:16 Part 2 incoming.
Contact Jon:
www.morrighan.com
@jon_x_crosse
