Quad City DJ's

A production duo that landed huge hits for themselves and others, Quad City DJ's enjoyed a relatively short but successful career in '90s dance music, and permanently implanted several songs in the brains of the Jock Jams generation. Formed in Jacksonville, Florida, by high school friends C.C. Lemonhead (Nathaniel Orange) and Jay Ski (Johnny McGowan), the pair went under a number of different names for their production work, and served as behind the scenes masterminds for various Miami bass acts, often featuring similar personnel, but released under different names.

Orange and McGowan first tasted major success in 1993 when they wrote and produced “Whoot, There It Is”, released by 95 South. The song landed on five different Billboard charts, peaked at Number 3 on Hot Rap Singles, and featured the unmistakable chorus that would also drive Tag Team’s “Whoomp! (There It Is)” to even greater success. Their next hit came with their song “Tootsee Roll”, recorded by the 69 Boyz in 1994. The song came equipped with lyrics that offered instructions for its own dance, and proved irresistible in clubs and suburban middle school dances alike. It spent more than four months on the charts, where it topped the rap chart and peaked at Number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The next year, Orange and McGowan recruited singer JeLana LaFleur and began to release their own music under the Quad City DJ’s name. They debuted with the smash single “C’mon N’ Ride It (The Train)”, a Barry White and whistle-based track that was inescapable on pop radio. The song made it to Number 3 on the Hot 100, and remains a staple anthem used to pump up crowds at sporting events. The single was followed with the 1996 album Get On Up and Dance, which went platinum.

Quad City DJ’s followed up this success with the theme song for the Michael Jordan and Looney Tunes-starring live action/animation hybrid Space Jam, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Dance Recording. The soundtrack, which also featured cuts from R. Kelly, Seal, Salt-N-Pepa, and D’Angelo, went six times platinum in America alone. It would be the group’s last hurrah, as they disbanded in 1997.