To grasp the future you need to understand the past. Danny Howells takes us through his favourite all time classic tracks.

The Choice series asks famous DJs to mix together what they consider to be their all time classic tracks. It’s a chance for them to feature the tracks that have inspired them over the years, which formed the foundations of who they are today and shaped their musical history. It also allowed them an opportunity to include some of the compiler’s own exclusive re-edits that will only ever feature on these album’s and nowhere else.

The latest released album in the Azuli's Choice series is Danny Howells, who is one of the few DJs on the scene today that truly has a style of his own - which includes his collection of loud shirts. With his passion for music and infectious personality, Danny has created a unique, eclectic sound that has established him as one of the top DJ’s in the world. With over 12 years experience and a hectic touring schedule regularly takes him all over Europe, North and South America, Asia and Australia, he has become truly international.

Like his DJ schedule Danny’s musical influences also stretch far and wide. He likes anything from jazz to rock, to pop and anything a bit bizarre, and collects archive rock n’ roll and funk footage from all over the world. “There’s not a lot I don’t listen to,” he says.

“When I was asked by David Piccioni at Azuli whether I'd be interested in joining some of my musical heroes such as Jeff Mills, Tenaglia, Kevorkian etc, in compiling two cds of my favourite records of all time, my response was quite simple. Dream come true! I dothis down - this is one of the most fun and exciting projects I've ever been involved in, and to say that I'm plean't think there's anybody out there who would turnsed with the result is an understatement.”

“He along with a stack of the key tracks that influenced me during my first few years as a DJ, by legends such as DJ Pierre, David Morales, ToddTerry et al, I've also been able to include tracks that influenced meat an earlier age. Some of my all time favourite records are on here, Carly Simon, The Temptations, Iron Butterfly,Orbital etc. It's a very honest and personal selection, and I really hope people enjoy my Choice as much as I enjoyed putting it together.”

Danny has come a long was since his early beginnings DJing at Bedrock in his hometown of Hastings. Though his complete love of all music remains the same. He likes to champion his own special tracks and records that nobody else has latched on to and has a way of combining cutting edge grooves with crowd pleasing dynamics that enable him to connect with his audience making him one of the hottest DJs in the world.

Danny's Track-By-Track Guide

‘The first couple of years as a DJ are the ones I feel most nostalgic about. With this mix I didn’t want to have loads of back to ’88 classics on it, because I didn’t want to manufacture a past that didn’t exist for me. My collection goes back decades and I have music from all styles, but I wanted to include the music that has influenced me most. Disco One is my fantasy 1992-93 mixtape and Disco Two is more like a Back To Mine influenced mix, a bit trippier and druggier.’

Disc One
Urban Soul – Alright
‘It’s probably the least obscure choice on the album. I find it very haunting and melancholic. It’s sad, in a way. But when I pulled it out again recently, it sounded like a breath of fresh and really strong still. A lot of the tracks on Disc One are things I used to play as a warm-up DJ, as is this.’

T-Coy – Carino 90
‘This is something from when I first started playing out. All of these tracks, actually, are things I burnt to CD for after parties or the odd time I might want to play them. I bought this as a four-track 12-inch on Deconstruction. It was a real bitch to mix with, quite unconventional, but a real feel good track. It’s got a dated charm to it, but I still play it out occasionally.’

Turntable Orchestra – You’re Gonna Miss Me When I’m Gone
‘It’s always been one of my favourite dance tracks. From the opening piano to the vocal and even the cheesy spoken bits in Spanish and English, it’s always been an after-party favourite or back at my place with a few friends. I still play this out quite a lot; last time was when I played before Danny Tenaglia at Ark.’

Fire Island – In Your Bones
Fire Island feat. Ricardo Da Force – Fire Island
‘They were like the UK version of that darker New York sound. Neither of these left the box for well over a year when they came out and I always used to play them together, too, which is what I’ve done here. These were my introduction to that slightly darker New York sound which I’d not been exposed to before. I played a lot of hardcore and Italian pianoey stuff at the time as well, but I didn’t think that had aged very well so I left them off the CD. These two were staples at my residency at the Crypt.’

Pleasure Dome – 9 Minutes of Techfunk
‘There are a couple of tracks on the CDs that have never really left the box. This is one. Pleasure Dome was 1994, and it was a Bedrock warm-up track, which I always played towards the end of my warm-ups. John would come on after and go into Joe T Vannelli or Fathers of Sound, that sort of sound. I play it regularly. There’s a lot more to this tune, so many layers, possibly too many at times, cos it does get a bit too cluttered, but I love the way the bassline comes in and it has that DJ Pierre influence in it, too, and he was a major influence…’

Photon Inc – Give A Little Love
‘Generate Power was the more recognisable one, but this was always a bit more disco-ey for me so I always preferred it. I did a re-edit of it and played it on the Space terrace. It’s so simple and yet it’s so climactic. It builds and builds. It’s one of those tracks that, when I hear it on a big system, it still drives me insane. When it peaks it blows my head off (Please note: this is not literally true – Medical Ed.). Last time I played it was a few weeks ago in Kelly’s in Portrush.’

PM Dawn – Watcher’s Point of View (Todd Terry Melody Mix)
‘This reminds me of one of the all-nighters on the pier. Steve Proctor was the first DJ I heard playing it. I remember getting on the train to Brighton the next day because I had to have a copy. Todd Terry’s style is more choppy than, say, DJ Pierre, but the drums are still relentless. At the time I hadn’t been exposed to many dance remixes of major bands and I remember hearing this with PM Dawn’s vocals and thinking, ‘what the fuck is going on?’

CeCe Peniston – Keep Giving Me Your Love
‘This was from the soundtrack of Prêt A Porter. This is a Morales dub, I’d always buy those Boss dubs without hearing them. This was a big Bedrock track from its release right through to the parties at Heaven. It sort of signalled the start of the night in a way, I’d get through most of my warm-up set and when the drop comes with the big doo-doo-doo, it was always the first big cheer of the night. It felt like, ‘ok, we’re ready to go now’. That track sums up my residency at Bedrock.’

Chito’s Revenge – Oracion
‘I bought this on one of my first shopping expeditions to London. I’d just started working as a psychiatric nurse and I was getting £4 an hour, so an expedition to London was quite a big thing. And intimidating, too, because no one knew who I was, I was only playing a few local parties. I went to Zoom in Camden and Billy Nasty had played in Hastings and recognised me so he always made me feel welcome. This was one of the tracks he gave me. It’s one of the tunes that have never left my boxes. It has such tension and drama. I played it in Womb in Tokyo – my gig of the year, it was like being in the eye of a hurricane – and this track took the roof off.’

Hocus Pocus – Hocus Pocus
‘From the harder end of what I was playing in my local gigs. I used to buy loads of Italian stuff around this time and this is one of them. This is an epic, with lots of twists and turns. It might be a bit cheesy now, but I like it. When I got this I caned it to death. The riff was later sampled by Slacker.’

Slack – Painkiller
Ready For Dead – Ready For Dead
These remind me of the early all-nighters in the pier. Or, more precisely, it reminds me of the parties we used to have at my flat after we got back from the all-nighters on the Pier. It was mainly myself and Ashley Casselle. They’d start on Sunday morning and go on till Tuesday or Wednesday. There was one party which Digweed did with Nicky Holloway called The Battle of Hastings and I found an old tape with me and Ashley from the after-party, and these two tracks are on it. These were the sorts of tracks that would always knock us sideways, sprawled out on my sofa in my smelly flat near Hastings Pier.

Disc Two
Sub Sub – Space Face
I’d moved into a horrible flat with my friends Mandy and Olivier. Mandy was called Acid Mandy because she was such a hardcore raver. And she brought this home one day and played it to me and knocked me out. There are certain elements to it that sound dated and old now, but it’s still got something about it.

Coldcut and Hexstatic – Timber
Until 1997 most of my gigs were either local ones or in London, but I remember doing a gig with Grant Plant in Cambridge at More Tea Vicar. This was long before the days of decent hotels or nice flights. I ended up staying two days with Grant Plant in his bed, because they had no money for hotels or any of that. After the gig, as DJs do, you get your decks out and play each other records and he introduced me to this. It blew me away. I still play it regularly.

Michael Bundt – The Brain of Oscar Panizza
This is more of a wild card, really, the other tracks are things I’ve known for a long time, but I discovered this on a jazz compilation a few years ago. It’s from an album called Just Landed Cosmic Kid. I was at home stoned with a glass of wine and it’s so mad I can’t believe someone hasn’t sampled it and turned it into a breakbeat monster. Brilliant tune.

Japan – Ghosts
Sometimes when I’m playing on my own all night I’ll pull out things like this or Cocteau Twins, ambient tracks, Small Hours by John Martyn, that kind of thing. Lots of stuff I grew up with but I still go back to and play during the first few hours warming up. I can’t explain how beautiful I found it when I first heard it. It has a haunting quality.

Iron Butterfly – In A Gadda Da Vida
The Temptations – Papa Was A Rolling Stone
Iron Butterfly’s In A Gadda Da Vida I got into primarily for the cover and then my mother used to play it all the time. I’ve only used the drum solo from it, but even though it’s heavy metal it’s a dance record. The whole thing is based around that brilliant groove. A lot of people wouldn’t think of Iron Butterfly as a dance record, but I do. The Temptations is another one from when I was a kid, not the sort of thing you’d think of as a dance track, but it totally is. The mix, from one into the other, is a tribute to my mum, really, because she played those tracks all the time.

Faze Action – Plans And Designs
Ashley Casselle and I had played together somewhere in London and we were back at his flat. Everybody had left and it was just me and him, and we were fighting over who puts the next record on. He played this and I thought it was so beautiful I let him play two records on the trot as a bonus.

Black Science Orchestra – Save Us (Funky Music)
This is such an amazing record. So uplifting. Even though you’re pushed for time on a project like this, I couldn’t bear to edit this down. It’s untouchable. It’s a tune I can’t imagine ever getting tired of.

Visnadi – Hunt’s Up
Visnadi – Racing Tracks
UMM was such a good label, one of the first I’d buy just because it said UMM on the cover, even though some of them – at the time – I’d be scratching my head and thinking, ‘eh?’ But you come back to them four years later and they suddenly made sense. Very forward thinking. Hunt’s Up still sounds amazing, but Racing Tracks is incredible, with the cars going from left to right. I played it out recently at the End. I played it towards the end and no one knew what it was; five people came running up to ask what it was. Top secret! (Not any more – Spy Ed.) It’s such a futuristic record and a dirty funk groove.

Orbital – Impact
No-one can deny the, er, impact they’ve had… Even now I listen to the Brown album all the time on my iPod. Even though you’re supposed to rotate the music on the iPod, this album always stays on there. I didn’t see them live till later on, they played at the Phoenix festival in 1997, which I played at, the first festival I did.

Holy Ghost Inc – Mad Monks On Zinc
Another early after-hours track. I picked this up in Zoom, as well. Nowadays you don’t blink at owning a white label, but I got very excited when I got my first one. And this just had a plain black cover and black label with monks on it. Very intriguing. It’s a very spooky record and it still sounds as good as when I first heard it.

Carly Simon – Why
One of my all-time top three records. My auntie had it on 7-inch and I wore it out. I ended up getting the 12-inch. Chic production. As a youngster hearing Good Times by Chic when I was a kid! Metronomic rhythms and one of my earliest exposures to dance music. I’m so happy we managed to clear this track.