DeeperSoul Blog - Deep & Soulful House Music

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Friday, August 12

Blaze

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Studio APt.

Josh Milan, Kevin Hedge and Chris Herbert started writing music together in 1984. Kevin and Chris were childhood friends and Josh was a member of the church Chris attended. Chris was a vocalist who wanted to record, Josh was a natural musician who played with the church choir, and Kevin was a DJ who spun locally at parties around their native Newark, New Jersey. The three decided to form a production team after Chris introduced Josh and Kevin and encouraged them to become a recording group.


The trio started to develop demo recordings in the style of the day’s popular club music. With "DJ" Kevin at the controls, Josh "the piano man" on the synthesizer and the "lead vocal" stylings of Chris, they turned out song after song for other artists and producers to record. The three ultimately signed their first record deal with the newly formed Quark records in 1985, producing three major club hits of the time; "Whatcha Gonna Do", "If You Should Need A Friend" and "Can't Win For Losing". The Blaze sound caught the ear of then Motown Vice-president of A&R, Timmy Regisford, who immediately put them to work on numerous Motown projects. After many remixes and session work, Regisford decided it was time to take it to the next level. He invited Kevin, Chris and Josh to record a full length album for the soul music icon, Motown. “25 Years Later", Blazes' first long player, was critically acclaimed upon its' initial release in 1991 and has since went on to become one of house music’s classic albums.
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Hedge and Milan went on to produce three more albums under the Blaze banner: "Basic Blaze" on Slip-n-Slide/UK, "Natural Blaze: The James Toney Jr. Project" on Life Line/Japan and "Spiritually Speaking" on Slip-n-Slide/UK. Also, you will find many compilation albums that comprise some of Blazes' greatest hits, a few are: "6 Hubert St." on Avex/Japan, "Pure Blaze" on Easy Street/US, "Blaze Productions" on Playhouse/Germany and "Spiritually Speaking…Then and Now" on West End/US. In 1995, Blaze scored their biggest writing success with a song called "Hideaway" performed by De'lacy. The song reached the top ten on the UK charts and was added to a vast array of compilations, racking up sales in the millions. Josh and Kevin also penned charts hits for Amira "Desire" and themselves with the #1 dance hit, "Breathe". This helped to maintain the duo to become one of the most sought after writing, production and remix teams in the business.

Studio APt.

After touring with bands and playing at such incredible venues and cities as Wimbley Arena, most of the Carribean islands and major cities in the U.S. Following their tour, Blaze returned home to start businesses that included real estate, car services, retail stores and night clubs (Kevin and Josh co-owned and promoted the Club Shelter in NYC). During this time, Chris decided to continue his career in the now popular hip-hop/R&B music genre, leaving Josh and Kevin to further their careers by writing and producing for other artists and vocalists.


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