DMX Krew – Ffressshh!

Ed Upton's DMX Krew act was a pioneer of the second wave of electro.

You might argue electro never went away with the likes of Cybotron and Model 500 carrying the flag in the late 80's or NWA Dr Dre produced tracks like Panic Zone or Something 2 Dance 2 in the popular sphere but the underground resurgence in the early 90's for me was Drexciya, UR, a bit of Dynamix II and DMX Krew.

What distinguishes Ed is his light humourous touch, great sense of melody and ability to mimic other styles but still modernising and giving things his own inflection.

I think he didn't seek to parody or exaggerate 80's electro but just to push it in directions he thought it didn't explore well enough.

Here's Ed from 1997 at his dancing and romancing best. The production is simple but the duet singing is a heartfelt boy meets girl on the dancefloor story with an innocence that we hope was real and may even still exist today.

I typed out the lyrics to help you sing along:

rock your body
rock your body
rock your body
rock your body

the first time that i saw that boy he was dancing on the floor
and the only thing that crossed my mind was i had to see him more
the way he moved was oh so smooth with confidence and grace
his body so coordinated moving him through space

now i am not the kind of girl who believes in wasting time
the minute that i saw him dance i knew he would be mine
i asked a friend what is that dance and she looked at me in shock
she said don't you know that dancing girl they call it the body rock

he was rocking his body, yeah yeah yeah
and the only thing i wanted was for him to rock his body next to me

rock your body
rock your body
rock your body
rock your body
rock ya rock rock your body

the first time that i saw that girl i was dancing to the beat
i saw they way she looked at me and it made me move my feet
my body was in motion to a deep electro groove
the signals she was sending me were causing me to move

the way she smiled at me told me that something had begun
and when i saw her start to dance i knew she was the one
she really got the funk you know she was rocking in her socks
and right before my very eyes she was doing the body rock

she was rocking her body, yeah yeah yeah
and the only thing i wanted was for her to rock her body next to me

he was doing the body rock
he was rocking his body, yeah yeah yeah
and the only thing i wanted was for him to rock his body next to me

rock your body
rock your body
rock your body
rock your body

rock your body
rock ya rock rock your body
rock your body
rock ya rock rock your body
rock your body
rock ya rock rock your body
rock your body
rock ya rock rock your body

you were doing the body rock
you were rocking your body, yeah yeah yeah
and the only thing i wanted was for you to rock your body next to me

you were doing the body rock
you were rocking your body, yeah yeah yeah
and the only thing i wanted was for you to rock your body next to me

you were doing the body rock
you were rocking your body, yeah yeah yeah
and the only thing i wanted was for you to rock your body next to me

you were doing the body rock (rock your body)
you were rocking your body, (rock your body) yeah yeah yeah
and the only thing i wanted was for you to rock your body next to me (rock your body)

you were doing the body rock (rock your body)
you were rocking your body, (rock your body) yeah yeah yeah
and the only thing i wanted was for you to rock your body next to me (rock your body)