Tango & Ratty

Tango, originally from Bromley, Kent, & Ratty, born & bred in Leamington Spa, met in 1992, when Ratty was handed a dub plate of what was to be the first of many releases for Tango, at a major rave event in Birmingham.

A hip hop DJ since the mid 80’s, Ratty had already earned his reputation as a big name DJ. Playing major events up and down the country, he had become well known for his choppy style of mixing, scratching, and his selection of up front music. Friends in the right places meant that Tango (also a hip hop DJ and one time DMC competitor) was able to start getting some DJ work, with spots at venues such as Shelleys in Stoke on Trent and J-Jays in Wolverhampton showcasing his tried and tested DJ skills. The two soon discovered they shared very similar musical tastes, and struck up a friendship, with Ratty being among the first to play Tango’s early releases.

Further to the release of Tango’s first 4 track EP “Impact” (the first outside artist EP to be released on DJ SS’ new Formation records imprint) and the subsequent remixes, the two got together in the studio to produce the now classic “Tales from the Darkside /Final Conflict.” A remix EP followed, featuring Mickey Finn and Bay-B-Kane’s mix of “Tales..." which proved to be almost as popular as the original. Tango went on to produce several more tracks for Formation, including the reggae influenced “Project 1” and the seminal “Future Followers,” a move towards the darkside that would become a feature of Grooverider’s sets for several months to come. In the meantime, Ratty went into the studios at Formation to create the “Taste of Things to Come” EP, which also received widespread DJ play.

Ratty’s DJ work continued to flourish throughout the early to mid ‘90’s, headlining every major event up and down the country and taking him to the USA and Australia, while Tango started to follow suit with sets around the UK and into Europe. During this time, Tango notched up a host of remixes for various labels, including Moving Shadow, Suburban Base and Formation, as well as producing the club-smashing re-work of Dance Conspiracy’s “Dub War” (“War for ‘94”) which even received airplay from the legendary John Peel. 1995 saw the release of several tracks for Creative Wax, including “Understanding” (which was later remixed by Total Science) and a mix of Alex Reece & Wax Doctor’s “Frequency.”

After a quiet patch, the two got back in the studio properly again in 2002, and a string of strong new material followed, including releases for L-Plates, Funktion and Basement Records, and remix work for Total Science and Outrage amongst others. They had also started to play back to back Old School sets, which were proving increasingly popular. During this time, Tango also produced a stream of Breakbeat releases with DJ Pulse, including remix work for Stanton Warriors (“Da Virus”) and more Radio 1 airplay, this time from Pete Tong.

Tango & Ratty collaborated last year on several drum & bass tracks for an album of library music, siting it as another step forward creatively and a chance to experiment with new ideas. The duo are also now key players in the current Jungle Techno revival being pioneered by Outrage and Modular's J-Tek records, and have several tracks in the pipeline for the label in 2009. Forthcoming release "Cold Feeling" recently received airplay on Radio 1 Xtra from Bailey, and Tango's forthcoming "Lost Tribes" is a current feature of DJ Randall's sets. Unreleased VIP mixes of "Tales..." and "Final Conflict" are also scheduled for release in 2009, along with unreleased mixes of some of Tango's early Formation releases, including "Future Followers." Tango and Ratty have recently played on Pyro Radio, and will be appearing again when the forthcoming monthly J-Tek show commences on the station. They can also be heard on www.kunninmindz.com every other Wednesday, playing the freshest J-Tek tracks mixed with original Jungle Tekno.

Tango & Ratty now bring you the awesome new label Steel Fingers exclusive to DTO4Music!