DJ’s love of 45s still runs deep

Most people remember their first 45 rpm record, don't they?

Mine was Billy Joel's "Allentown," which I played on a big plastic Fisher-Price turntable normally reserved for Disney trifles.

For many of us, 45s were that initial gateway to music, a 7-inch vinyl keyhole of sorts.

Las Vegas DJ John Doe can relate.

Born in Detroit, he remembers raiding his mother's Motown-heavy 45 collection from a big steam trunk when he was a kid.

"I just always equated spinning the 45s with fun, because my mom would dance and I just associated those two," Doe recalls.

These days, Doe is known in town as one of the city's premier vinyl collectors, especially when it comes to 45s. He's particularly well-versed in rare funk and soul, much of which was originally issued only on 45s in small pressings of 500, 1,000 copies. Doe spins many of these rare records at his popular The Get Back events at the Beauty Bar, which take place on the first Friday of every month.

Taking his love of the 45 a step further, Doe has helped put together a special event to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 45's advent at LAX on Monday.

"What we ended up designing was more of a DJ showcase," Doe explains. "It places four DJs in opposite corners of the venue and the crowd in the middle, then each DJ spins 45s for four minutes. Depending on how fast you juggle through them, you can play two or three or maybe up to five or six. Then, once that DJ is finished with his routine, the next DJ has to beat match off of that guy's record. Then it just goes around in a circle for 90 minutes."

With laptops and beat-matching software making DJing much easier these days, the show will spotlight old-school techniques.

"This event definitely focuses on what they used to call the art of DJing," Doe says. "It incorporates the record collecting aspect. You used to have to go out and find these records, whereas nowadays, you can do that from your sofa with an iTunes account."

Also appearing at LAX with Doe is DJ Shortkut, one of the original members of influential turntable crew the Invisbl Skratch Piklz, Breakstra founder Music Man Miles and Seattle's Jake One, who has collaborated with such hip-hop luminaries as MF Doom, De La Soul, M.O.P. and others. In addition, the event will feature a headlining set from DJ Rich Medina, known for his work with Tribe Called Quest MC Q-Tip.

Together, they'll revisit the roots of DJing, PowerBooks be damned.

"A lot of people like to say that the laptop can do everything, but it really doesn't," Doe says. "If you're a bad DJ with a laptop, you're still going to be a bad DJ."

Contact reporter Jason Bracelin at jbracelin@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0476.