So Deep. Shelter...Soul Fly Free reflects Network’s love affair with Vocal House.

As House Music mutated from its’ raw two men learning how to programme a drum machine roots, things got more sophisticated. And frequently more Soulful. Lift ever voice and sing...

Whether you want to tag this obsession for songs and singers as part of a golden thread from Disco to Phillly, or go for the narrative that the halcyon days of Deep House and Garage were simply proto Soulful House is your call.

Not concerned at all about reference points, Network threw its hat into the ring by championing amongst others The Reese Project.
Kevin Saunderson’s alter ego to his supergroup Inner City captured the zeitgeist of the “songs not samplers” mood of the era with a series of exquisite singles combining the essence of Detroit Soul with the dance floor urgency and clarity of House.

They are represented here via an epic C J Mackintosh’s remix of “So Deep”. Network had a knack of picking UK remixers to deconstruct American recordings and come up with a winning Brit-Yank hybrid, and CJ perfectly hit the spot.

As indeed did Ashley Beedle’s much loved East Village mixes on Inner City’s remake of Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway’s classic “Back Together Again”. The dub mix in particular transforms a stunning song from the Disco Soul era into a timeless House Music jewel.

It was not just UK remixers who got Network’s support. The label also believed British vocalists could take on their American counterparts. Two of the most outstanding tracks here showcase the precocious talents of Wolverhampton gospel music trained teenager Andrew Pearce.

Slo Moshun’s Mark Archer and Danny Taurus’s featured Andrew as the main vocalist on “Help My Friend”, their 16.43 minutes long (!) homage to America’s Deepest House dons. Stoke seems an unlikely location for such a Soulful tour-de-force (wait till you get to the end of this propaganda piece for the real deal on that narrative !) but the now legendary track was indeed laid down there at Network’s Baseroom Studio with Ann Saunderson taking time off her Detroit duties with Inner City and The Reese Project to co-compose the song and arrange the vocals. Network loved the results so much that Andrew was packed off to Detroit to get that Motor City magic. Kevin and Ann Saunderson came up with two stellar tracks on him, with one of them, the magical “Day By Day” taken to new heights via an awesome remix by Chez Damier and Ron Trent. It is one of Network’s finest moments.

Ann Saunderson really is the heroine of this compilation. As well as co-writing The Reese Project, Slo Moshun and Andrew Pearce gems, she hooked up with New York’s Network affiliate Andréw Komis to come up with the stunning “No Worries” for Pandella. Keeping it in the family, Slo Moshun’s Danny Taurus provided the mesmerising remix of it on this collection. Ann turns vocalist on Kaos “Freedom Of Choice” which she wrote with Slo Moshun who In turn produced the track which is embellished with an effervescent remix by Grant Nelson. It is a prime example of the London-centric UK Garage movement of the time, as does Pete Heller and Terry Farley’s aptly titled remix on Beverlei Brown’s “On And On”.

In contrast the Salt City slant on The Trinity’s anthemic “Gonna Take Time” brings a touch of Manchester cool to the proceedings, while the most surreal geographical connection is the Mike Banks dub mix of Darlene Lewis’s genre defining “Soul Fly Free”. Mike, the enigmatic Techno maverick behind myth making Underground Resistannce, recorded the uplifting vocals at his Detroit base but chose to do his mixes in.... Stoke.