Gat Decor were an English electronic music group popular with the 1992 song "Passion". The song is considered to be one of the best-known works of the early progressive house genre. The main contributors of the team are the BritishDJs and producers, Simon Slater, Laurence Nelson-Boudville and Simon Hanson. The name 'Gat Decor' was derived from an anagram of 'Tag Records', a record store based in Soho, London. Although Gat Decor does not have an extensive catalog, the act and "Passion" are widely considered influential to electronic dance music in the early 1990s; and Slater still continues to license "Passion".
"Passion"
"Passion" is Gat Decor's best-known work. Disturb in confidentiality, only for hype club in 1991. Originally released in 1992 on Effective Records, the 12-inch single contained the original, instrumental version along with Darren Emerson's remix on the B-side. This was Emerson's first remix, and also Darren's 1st record label. The 1992 release was an immediate success in underground dance clubs, and eventually became a hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at number 29. "Passion" is notably one of the first songs to be referred to as "progressive house". Nick Warren has described the single as one of the first to create a distinctive British house sound. The distinctive "piano-house" progression in its second half was played by Simon Slater who said, "The piano break was played by me and the break is actually 1 semitone up from the bass line which is unusual but it worked and was kept like it is in the track as you know it. Then I delayed the track and added delays to create the piano rhythm." Since its original release, "Passion" has been officially and unofficially re-issued several times. Remixed by East London DJ Mervyn Victor after playing it live in the mix for several years he finally put out a few DJ only copies in 1994 on vinyl calling it "Degrees of Passion". This was a version of the 1992 seven-minute instrumental with a mixed in vocal from "Do You Want It Right Now?" by Degrees of Motion featuring Biti. The vocal used from Degrees of Motion was sung by Biti Strauchn At the time nearly every major DJ in the UK jumped on it making it a cult hit. In 1996 a four-minute version subtitled the "Do You Want It Right Now Mix", featured a new version of the "Do You Want It Right Now" vocal recorded by Beverley Skeete peaked at number six in the UK. As of 2008, countless bootlegs have been released, consisting of remixes and other mash-ups. The track has appeared on an abundance of compilation albums and DJ-mix sets. Other producers who have mixed the song throughout the years include Junior Vasquez and DJ Chus. In 1996, Mixmag magazine ranked the 1992 single number 33 on their list of the "50 Most Influential Records of All Time". In addition, Mixmag ranked "Passion" number 22 on Mixmag's list of "100 Best Dance Singles of All Time". The track, in both its original and various bootleg forms, is still widely played in nightclubs to this day.
