Walter Gibbons
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Walter Gibbons (April 02, 1954 - September 23, 1994) was an American record producer, DJ and remixer.
He is often credited with remixing "Ten Percent", by Double Exposure), the first commercially available 12-inch single mix (in reality he did a very skillful re-edit of the original mix, a subtle disctinction). Among his many remixes proper was one of the most successful early American remixes, "Doin' the Best That I Can" by Betty Lavette. Gibbons was known as "the DJ's DJ" due to the fact that his peers would go out of their way to go hear him play. He enjoyed a long association with Salsoul Records at the end of the 1970's. His mix of "Hit and Run" by Loleatta Holloway was a surprise hit (he had considerably lengthened the recording and even removed Holloway's first two verses of vocal).
He was also one of the early pioneers of beat-mixing, known for considerably more skillful mixing than many better known dj's at the time, and many early pioneers of the house-music scene site him as an influence. his "Disco Blend" of Double Exposure's "Ten Percent" was once described by UK dj Ashley Beedle as providing a "blueprint for house music".
Gibbons became a reborn Christian in the 1980's, but still managed to turn out cutting edge mixes during this period (he simply focused on songs and lyrics that did not offend his beliefs). He died of AIDS related symptoms in 1994.
