Login
Login

Steve "Silk" Hurley

{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2019}}

{{Redirect-distinguish|Steve Hurley|Steve Harley}}

{{Infobox musical artist |

| name = Steve "Silk" Hurley

| image = Steve "Silk" Hurley.jpg

| caption =

| image_size =

| background = non_performing_personnel

| birth_name = Steven W. Hurley

| alias = {{hlist|Steve Hurley|J. M. Silk|Jack Master Silk|Voices of Life|The Voices of Life|SilkMix.com}}

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1962|11|9}}

| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

| death_date =

| instrument =

| genre = House

| occupation = {{hlist|DJ|record producer|remixer|singer|songwriter}}

| years_active = 1983–present

| label = {{hlist|RCA|Silk|Atlantic|InDaSoul|Underground}}

| associated_acts = {{hlist|Silk & the Soul Crew|In Da Soul|The Reunion Project}}

| website = [http://www.myspace.com Steve "Silk" Hurley]

| current_members =

| past_members =

}}

Steve W. "Silk" Hurley (born November 9, 1962),{{cite book|last1=Larkin|first1=Colin|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|date=2006|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195313734|page=669|edition=4th}} also known as J. M. Silk (for "Jack Master Silk"), is an American club DJ, house music producer, and songwriter.

From 1985 to 1988, he had four top-10 singles on the US Dance chart, including the number-one hit "I Can't Turn Around", all released in collaboration with Keith Nunnally as J. M. Silk. With "Jack Your Body" (number 25 on the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Music/Club Play),{{Cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/music/steve-silk-hurley|title=Steve "Silk" Hurley Chart History|magazine=Billboard}} he topped the UK Singles Chart in January 1987 as a solo artist,{{Cite web|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/23841/steve-silk-hurley/|title=STEVE 'SILK' HURLEY | Official Charts Company|website=Officialcharts.com}} while one of his later compositions, "Work It Out" from 1989, brought him his fifth top-10 record on the US Dance chart (at number three). To date, Hurley's last charting single is "The Word Is Love (Say the Word)", also known as "Silk's Anthem of Life" by The Voices of Life, which peaked at number 26 in 1997 in the UK.

Hurley is a four-time Grammy Award nominee; two times as Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical (in 1999 and 2000),{{cite web|title=41st Grammy Award Nominations, 1999|url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1999/grammys.htm|website=Rockonthenet.com|access-date=December 1, 2010}}{{cite web|title=42nd Grammy Award Nominations, 2000 |url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2000/grammys.htm|website=Rockonthenet.com|access-date=December 1, 2010}} and twice for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical (in 2002 and 2003).{{cite web|title=44th Grammy Award Nominations, 2002|url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2002/grammys.htm|website=Rockonthenet.com|access-date=December 1, 2010}}{{cite web |title=45th Grammy Award Nominations, 2003|url=http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/2002/grammys.htm|website=Rockonthenet.com|access-date=December 1, 2010}}

Early life

Hurley studied engineering at Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy (originally named Lindblom Technical High School){{Cite web|url=http://www.5chicago.com/features/march2006/stevehurley.html|title=5 Magazine : Steve "Silk" Hurley: Smooth As Ever|date=January 9, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109200158/http://www.5chicago.com/features/march2006/stevehurley.html|access-date=August 25, 2020|archive-date=January 9, 2008}} in Chicago, Illinois, and later at junior college but dropped out by 1981 to concentrate on his music career full-time.{{cite web|title='Steve "Silk" Hurley, Bio|publisher=AllMusic|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/steve-silk-hurley-mn0000028242/biography|access-date=December 1, 2010|first=John|last=Bush}}

Career

Hurley gained worldwide fame as a DJ on the Saturday Night Live Ain't No Jive Dance Party on WBMX in Chicago in the mid 1980s. Hurley's mixing style is different than the usual radio or club house DJ (such as Tony Humphries on WRKS in the early 1990s), since his style of mixing incorporates not only beatmatching, but advanced techniques only done by hip hop DJ's or turntablists such as scratching, beat juggling, cutting, needle dropping and back spinning. He released songs under the stage name of Steve "Silk" Hurley and, with vocalist Keith Nunnally, had many hits on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart as J. M. Silk, including "I Can't Turn Around," which hit number one in 1986.{{cite web|title=J.M. Silk Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography|url=https://www.musicvf.com/J.M.+Silk.art|website=Music VF|access-date=6 January 2022}}

His song "Jack Your Body" was also a hit on the UK Singles Chart, reaching number one for two weeks in January and February 1987.{{cite book|first=David|last=Roberts|year=2006| title=British Hit Singles & Albums|edition=19th|publisher=Guinness World Records Limited|location=London|isbn=1-904994-10-5|page=263}} This was the UK's first house music chart topper, achieving the number one spot with the distinction of never having been played on BBC Radio 1 other than on chart shows.{{cite news|last1=Rogers|first1=Jude|title=How Jack Your Body began house music's squelching electronic revolution|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jan/19/how-jack-your-body-began-house-musics-squelching-electronic-revolution|access-date=6 January 2022|work=The Guardian|date=19 January 2017}} In spite of "Jack Your Body"'s success, Hurley has had no further singles (under his own name) reach the UK charts, thus condemning him to one-hit wonder status. In 1988, he released an album titled Work It Out Compilation on Atlantic Records.

Hurley also worked as a prominent remixer, re-working tracks for Madonna, Michael Jackson, CeCe Peniston, New Order, Black Box, En Vogue, Janet Jackson and Inner City.

Hurley was nominated for a Grammy Award as Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical in 1998 and 1999, and for Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical in 2002 and 2003.

Hurley's remixes could be heard on The Tom Joyner Morning Show every Tuesday and Thursday morning during the last half of the second hour of the nationally syndicated morning show, which originated from Dallas, Texas.

Controversy

=Steve Hurley vs Farley Keith=

In 1986, WBMX DJ and house music producer Farley Keith had stunned the Chicago community when he hit the top-10 of the UK Singles Chart with "Love Can't Turn Around," released under the alias Farley "Jackmaster" Funk. Hurley claimed the track was a blatant theft of one of his own productions, and the two stopped speaking to each other. At that time, Farley Keith shared an apartment with Hurley, who came up with a cover of an Isaac Hayes' disco record, called "I Can't Turn Around", from 1975. Before Hurley could arrange to have the record licensed for overseas distribution, Keith produced his own version of the song, keeping much of Hurley's instrumental arrangement, dropping the rest of Hayes' original lyric, while Vince Lawrence supplied new words. The final result officially became the first ever Chicago house record to reach the music charts.{{Cite web|url=http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=15728|title=Love Can't Turn Around by Farley "Jackmaster" Funk – Songfacts|website=Songfacts.com}} Ironically, Hurley's version topped the US Dance chart and the producer later got his satisfaction by trumping Keith's success with the number one hit "Jack Your Body".

Discography

=Albums=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
Year

!Title

!Artist(s)

1987

| style="text-align:left;" |Hold on to Your Dream

  • Release date: 1987
  • Record label: RCA Records
  • Formats: LP, CS

|J. M. Silk

1989

| style="text-align:left;" |Work It Out Compilation

|Steve "Silk" Hurley

=Singles=

class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
rowspan="2"|Year

!rowspan="2"|Title

!rowspan="2"|Alias

!colspan="4"|Peak chart positions

!rowspan="2"|Certifications

!rowspan="2"|Album

style="font-size:smaller;"

!width="35"|IT
{{cite web|title='Steve "Silk" Hurley's Biography'|url=https://home.comcast.net/~sportscenter1/SilkBio032107.pdf|website=Home.comcast.net|access-date=December 12, 2010}}

!width="35"|UK
{{cite web|title=JM SILK - full Official Chart History|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/23713/jm-silk/|website=Official Charts Company |access-date=6 January 2022}}{{cite web|title=VOICES OF LIFE - full Official Chart History|url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artist/4349/voices-of-life/|website=Official Charts Company|access-date=6 January 2022}}

!width="35"|US Dance
{{cite web|title=Songs written by Steve "Silk" Hurley Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography|url=https://www.musicvf.com/songs.php?page=artist&artist=Steve+%22Silk%22+Hurley&tab=songaswriterchartstab|website=Music VF|access-date=6 January 2022}}

!width="35"|Hot Dance Singles Sales

1985

| style="text-align:left;" |"Music Is the Key"

| style="text-align:left;" |J. M. Silk

| —

| —

| 9

| 18

|

|The House Sound of Chicago

rowspan="3"|1986

| style="text-align:left;" |"Shadows of Your Love"

| style="text-align:left;" | J. M. Silk featuring Steve "Silk" Hurley

| —

| —

| 3

| 40

|

| rowspan="7"|Hold on to Your Dream

style="text-align:left;" |"I Can't Turn Around" (by Isaac Hayes)

| style="text-align:left;" |J. M. Silk

| —

| 62

| 1

| 9

|

style="text-align:left;" |"Jack Your Body"

| style="text-align:left;" |Steve "Silk" Hurley

| —

| 1

| 25

| 37

|

  • BPI: Silver{{cite web|title=Steve 'Silk' Hurley - Jack Your Body|url=https://www.bpi.co.uk/award/3453-1108-1 |website=bpi.co.uk|access-date=15 January 2022}}
rowspan="4"|1987

| style="text-align:left;" |"Let the Music Take Control"

| style="text-align:left;" |J. M. Silk

| —

| 47

| 2

| 8

|

style="text-align:left;" |"She's So Far Away"

| style="text-align:left;" |J. M. Silk

| —

| 80

| —

| —

|

style="text-align:left;" |"Heart of Passion"

| style="text-align:left;" |J. M. Silk

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

style="text-align:left;" |"Cry of the Lonely"

| style="text-align:left;" |J. M. Silk

| —

| —

| 50

| —

|

rowspan="2"|1988

| style="text-align:left;" |"All in Vain"

| style="text-align:left;" |J. M. Silk

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|Jack Trax: The Fifth Album

style="text-align:left;" |"It's Percussion"

| style="text-align:left;" |Steve "Silk" Hurley featuring M-Doc

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|

rowspan="3"|1989

| style="text-align:left;" |"Work It Out"

| style="text-align:left;" |Steve "Silk" Hurley featuring M-Doc

| —

| —

| 3

| 17

|

| rowspan="3"|Work It Out Compilation

style="text-align:left;" |"Chain of Fools"

| style="text-align:left;" |Steve "Silk" Hurley featuring Risse

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

style="text-align:left;" |"Cold World"

| style="text-align:left;" |Steve "Silk" Hurley featuring Jamie Principle

| —

| —

| 22

| 36

|

1991

| style="text-align:left;" |"Seasons of Love"{{Ref label|note_l|A

}

| style="text-align:left;" |Keith Nunnally

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|

|-

| 1992

| style="text-align:left;" |"Melody"

| style="text-align:left;" |Steve "Silk" Hurley

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|

|-

| 1997

| style="text-align:left;" |"The Word Is Love (Say the Word)"

| style="text-align:left;" |The Voices of Life featuring Sharon Pass

| 15

| 26

| —

| —

|

|

|-

| 2000

| style="text-align:left;" |"Dubs from the Dungeon Vol.1"

| style="text-align:left;" |Steve "Silk" Hurley

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|

|-

| 2002

| style="text-align:left;" |"Don't Give Up"

| style="text-align:left;" |The Voices of Life featuring Gordon Chambers

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|Non-album single

|-

| rowspan="2"|2003

| style="text-align:left;" |"Stop Playin'"

| style="text-align:left;" |SilkMix.com vs. 2 Live Crew

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|

|-

| style="text-align:left;" |"Runnin' Away"

| style="text-align:left;" |The Voices of Life featuring Sharon Pass

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|

|-

| 2014

| style="text-align:left;" |"Classic"

| style="text-align:left;" |Steve "Silk" Hurley featuring Javante

| —

| —

| —

| —

|

|

|-

|colspan="9" style="font-size: 9pt"| "—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that region.

|-

|}

;Notes:

  • A {{Note|note_a1}} Steve Hurley was credited as one of backing vocalists on the Keith Nunnally's debut solo single. The other names were Sharon Pass, Kym Sims and Manny Mohr.

Music awards and nominations

class="infobox" style="width: 25em; text-align: left; font-size: 90%; vertical-align: middle;"
bgcolor=#D9E8FF style="text-align:center;"

!style="vertical-align: middle;"| Award

| style="background:#eecccc; font-size:8pt;" width="60px"| Nominations

| style="background:#cceecc; font-size:8pt;" width="60px"| Wins

bgcolor=#eeeeff

|align="center"|

ASCAP Awards

|{{nom|3}}

|{{won|3}}

align="center"|

Grammy Awards

|{{nom|4}}

|{{won|0}}

;ASCAP Award

;Grammy Award

class=wikitable
align=center bgcolor=lavender

!width=1%|Year

!width=53%|Nominated work(s)

!width=34%|Award

!width=3%|Result

1999

|"If You Could Read My Mind (Silk's Uplifting Vocal)" by Stars on 54
"If You Could Read My Mind (Silk's House on 54 Mix)" by Stars on 54
"Nobody Else (Silk's House Revival)" by CeCe Peniston
"Special Love (Silk's Special House Mix)" by Jestofunk feat. Jocelyn Brown
"Where You Are (Silk's Old Skool Mix)" by Rashaan Patterson
"The Word Is Love (Silk's Anthem 7)" by The Voices of Life

|rowspan="2"|Remixer of the Year, Non-Classical

|{{nom}}

2000

|"Go Down Moses (Silk's Spiritual Anthem)" by Kelly G feat. Sharon Pass
"He Loves Me 2 (Silk's 12" Mix)" by CeCe Peniston
"Higher (Silk's Journey to Heaven Mix)" by Vernessa Mitchell
"Jack Your Body 2000 (Silk's Y2K Mix)" by Steve "Silk" Hurley
"Rollercoaster (Silk's Uplifting Extended Mix)" by B*Witched
"Yeah Get Down (Silk's Disco Dub of Life)" by Maurice Joshua presents The Reunion Project

|{{nom}}

2002

|"Soul Shakedown (Silk's Downunder Mix)" by Bob Marley

|rowspan="2"|Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical

|{{nom}}

2003

|"What About Us? (SilkMix.Com Mix)" by Brandy

|{{nom}}

;Other Awards

See also

References

{{Reflist}}

External links

  • [http://www.discogs.com/artist/Steve+%22Silk%22+Hurley Steve "Silk" Hurley] on Discogs
  • [http://www.snschicago.com S&S Chicago Records] official website
  • [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY-zEOAYWe8 DJ mix by Steve "Silk" Hurley on WBMX radio, Chicago, 1986] on YouTube

{{Steve "Silk" Hurley}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hurley, Steve Silk}}

Category:1962 births

Category:Living people

Category:Singers from Chicago

Category:African-American male singers

Category:African-American songwriters

Category:African-American DJs

Category:DJs from Chicago

Category:American dance musicians

Category:Record producers from Illinois

Category:Songwriters from Illinois

Category:American remixers

Category:Place of birth missing (living people)

Category:American club DJs

Category:American electronic dance music DJs

Category:RCA Records artists

Category:Atlantic Records artists

Category:Robert Lindblom Math & Science Academy alumni