Frankie Bones

Frankie Bones
Frankie ‘Bones’ Mitchell is a prominent figure in the development of dance music in the US. Bones is widely regarded as the "Godfather of American Rave Culture"and is credited with helping to establish the underground dance music scene in New York City in the 1980s and 1990s. Bones started his music career in the early 1980s, spinning at clubs and parties throughout NYC. He gained widespread recognition for his role in organizing the first outdoor electronic music party in the US, known as “Storm Rave" which took place in Williamsburg, Coney Island, & Plumb Beach. Throughout his career, Bones has produced, remixed, and released countless tracks, albums, EP's, and mixtapes. He has also performed at many large scale music festivals and events around the world such as the Love Parade in Berlin, Germany and Insomniac's Electric Daisy Carnival located in Las Vegas, Nevada. Today, Frankie continues to be an influential figure in the dance scene and remains active as a performer, producer, and author represented globally by Southfirst Talent.
Early life
As a child growing up in Brooklyn, Frankie 'Bones' Mitchell's father was murdered just before Frankie graduated high school. His life radically changed, and he inherited his father's entire vinyl record collection. He began to produce house tracks with Lenny Dee.
His brother, Adam "X" Mitchell, is also a techno DJ and producer, and their colleague Heather Heart is a DJ and music writer/zine maker who helped create the community for underground techno music in New York and beyond. Bones, Adam X, Heather Heart and others are associated with the record label Sonic Groove. The three co-owned a record store with the same name at 41 Carmine St in New York City, where it had relocated to from a Brooklyn location in 1995. The shop closed in 2004.
Bringing rave culture to America
After he had begun producing records, Bones was offered a gig to play for 5,000 people in England called "Energy". As the event started on August 26, 1989, he played to the unexpected number of 25,000 people.
Together with his brother, Adam "X" Mitchell, Bones took to forming his own event in Brooklyn in the form of a series of ″Storm Rave″ events that started on May 11, 1991. The events began with only a few hundred people in attendance growing to over thousands where the likes of Josh Wink, Doc Martin, Sven Väth, The Horrorist, DJ Keoki and Richie Hawtin were able to launch their performances into international careers.
Bones is recognized to have spread the idea of Peace, Love, Unity and Respect (PLUR) into rave culture. Supposedly in response to a fight that broke out at one of his Storm Raves in Brooklyn in June 1993, Bones is said to have got on the microphone and yelled: "If you don't start showing some peace, love, and unity, I'll break your faces." Other sources report that as early as "on July 4, 1990, [...] Frankie's brother and Storm Rave collaborator Adam X painted 'Peace Love Unity' on a train car".
Berlin's Love Parade, which had been generally considered to have been the largest rave festival in the world at the time, named its 1991 and 1992 parades after well-known compositions by Frankie Bones: "The Future is Ours" in 1991, and "My House is Your House (And Your House is Mine)" in 1992.
Discography
Singles
B2B (12") – ESP-SUN Records
Dirty Job (12") – X-Sight Records
High I.Q. (2x10") – Hyperspace
In The Socket (12") – ESP-SUN Records
The Candle EP (12") – High Octane Recordings
The Mutha Fuckin Good Life (12") – Underground Construction
The Way U Like It (12") – Bellboy Records
We Call It Tekkno (12") – Bash Again!
Baseball Fury (12") – Sonic Groove
Masters Of The Hardgroove (12") – Hard To Swallow
My House Is Your House (12") – Bash Again!
Electrophonic (12") – E Series
Filthy Dirty Animal Crackers (12") – Blueline Music
Remains 10 (12") – Remains
The Falcon Has Landed (12") – Hard To Swallow
The US Ghetto Selecta (12") – Pro-Jex
Speedometer EP (12") – Synchronicity Recordings
Dangerous on the Dancefloor - Musto and Bones
12" Vinyl Releases
Bonesbreaks Volume 1 (LP) Underworld Records 1988
Bonesbreaks Volume 2 (LP) Underworld Records 1988
Bonesbreaks Volume 3 (LP) Underworld Records 1989
Call It Techno (12") Breaking Bones Records 1989
New Grooves EP (12") Nugroove Records 1989
Bonesbreaks Volume 4 (12") Breaking Bones Records 1990
Bonesbreaks Volume 5 (12") Underworld Records 1990
Call It Techno (12") JEP Records 1990
Call It Techno (Remixes) (12") X Records (US) 1990
Cross Bones E.P. (12") Rave Age Records 1991
Crossbones E.P. (12") Fabulous Music UK 1991
Bonesbreaks Volume 6 (12") Groove World 1992
Trapezoid (12") Fabulous Music UK 1992
Bonesbreaks 7 (Progressive Vibe EP) (12") Groove World 1993
Bonesbreaks Volume 8 (Progressive Aggressive Freestyle EP) (12") Groove World 1993
From Brooklyn With Love EP (12") Groove World 1993
The Thunderground EP (12") Groove World 1993
Thunderground E.P. (12") Fabulous Music UK 1993
We Can Do This (12") Groove World 1993
We Can Do This / Feel The Rush (Test Pressing) (12") Groove World 1993
Bonesbreaks Volume 10 (12") Brooklyn Gutter Culture 1994
The 2 Clues EP (12") Empire State Records 1994
Bone Up! (LP) Trax Records 1995
Bonesbreaks – The Unreleased Project (12") Music Station 1995
Bonesbreaks Volume 10 (12") Hot Associated Label 1995
Einstein e=me+3² (12") Drop Bass Network 1995
Inside The Silverbox EP (12") Electric Music Foundation 1995
Bonesbreaks Volume 11 (LP) Underworld Records 1996
Climax Control (12") Hyperspace 1996
Furthur (12") Drop Bass Network, Communique Records 1996
My Peak (Promo) (12") Logic Records (US), Logic Records (US) 1996
Rewind Tomorrow E.P. (12") Futurist 1996
Technolo-G (12") ESP-SUN Records 1996
Trackwerk Orange 1 (12") D-Dance 1996
B2B (12") ESP-SUN Records 1997
Ghetto Technics 1 (12") Ghetto Technics 1997
Ghetto Technics 2 (12") Ghetto Technics 1997
Inside Mr. Paul's Greybox (12") Futurist 1997
Proceed With Caution EP (12") Electric Music Foundation 1997
Dirty Job (12") X-Sight Records 1998
Ghetto Technics 5 (12") Ghetto Technics 1998
Ghetto Technics 7 (12") Ghetto Technics 1998
Ghetto Technics 8 (12") Ghetto Technics 1998
High I.Q. (2x10") Hyperspace 1998
In The Socket (12") ESP-SUN Records 1998
Rockaway Shuttle EP (12") Sonic Groove 1998
The Candle EP (12") High Octane Recordings 1998
Ghetto Technics 10 (12") Ghetto Technics 1999
Ghetto Technics 11 (12") Ghetto Technics 1999
Ghetto Technics 9 (12") Ghetto Technics 1999
The Mutha Fuckin Good Life (12") Underground Construction 1999
The Way U Like It (12") Bellboy Records 1999
We Call It Tekkno (12") Bash Again! 1999
America In Black & White EP (12") Bellboy Records 2000
Baseball Fury (12") Sonic Groove 2000
Bonesbreaks 2000 (12") Badmotherf#*ker 2000
House Special EP (12") Urban Substance Records 2000
My House Is Your House (12") Bash Again! 2000
My House Is Your House (12") Bash Again! 2000
The Saga EP (12") Pro-Jex 2000
Electrophonic (12") E Series 2001
Filthy Dirty Animal Crackers (12") Blueline Music 2001
Ghetto Technics 14 (12") Ghetto Technics 2001
Ghetto Technics 16 (12") Ghetto Technics 2001
Ring Your Alarm EP (12") Pro-Jex 2001
The Metropolitan EP (12") Missile Records 2001
The Strength To Communicate (12") Remains 2001
The US Ghetto Selecta (12") Pro-Jex 2001
Turntable Specialist #1 (12") Hard To Swallow 2001
And Here's Another Human Distraction (12") Remains 2002
The Day After The Music Stopped EP (12") Hard To Swallow 2002
The Lot Of People (12") Pro-Jex 2002
The Thin Line Between Fantasy & Reality (2xLP) Pro-Jex 2002
Underground Mash-Ups (12") Hard To Swallow 2003
(Pro)File. (Pro)Duce. E.P. (12") The Last Label 2004
Crash-Up On Interstate 95 (12") The Last Label 2004
The Lot Of People (12") Pro-Jex 2004
Unidentified (12") Kiddaz.fm 2004
Speedometer EP (12") Synchronicity Recordings 2006
The House of ODD (12") The Groove Shop 2006
Albums / DJ mixes
DJ Techno Mix Vol. 1 (CD) – Beast Records
Global House Culture Vol. 2 (CD) – ESP-SUN Records
Computer Controlled (CD) – X-Sight Records
Dance Madness And The Brooklyn Groove (CD) – BMG
United DJs Of America Vol. 6 – Frankie Bones – Brooklyn, NY (CD) – Moonshine
The Future is Ours - Musto and Bones - Citybeat / RCA (1990)
Army Of One (CD) – System Recordings
Al-Naafiysh (The Soul) Prof.File 2: Frankie Bones, Turntable Specialist (CD) (BML) (USA)
Technolo-G (CD) Roadrunner Records (USA)(1998)
You Know My Name (CD) Moonshine Music (2000)
Escape from Brooklyn (CD)
Factory 303 – Frankie Bones Continuous Mix (2000)
Diary of a Raving Lunatic (CD) 1995
References
External links
Discography of Franke Bones at Discogs
Frankie Bones′ artist website at SoundCloud
Biography of Frankie Bones at "The DJ List"
1966 births
Living people
Musicians from New York City
DJs from New York City
Club DJs
American DJs
Remixers
Place of birth missing (living people)
American techno musicians
20th-century American musicians
21st-century American musicians
Electronic dance music DJs