Basement Boys

The seminal production team the Basement Boys, who have been responsible for remixes for artists like Paula Abdul, Michael Jackson, Erykah Badu, and Bob Sinclair, first got together in Jay Steinhour's Baltimore basement in 1986. All of them respected DJs in their own right in the Baltimore, D.C., and Virginia club scenes, the trio of Steinhour, Teddy Douglas, and Thommy Davis soon realized that they worked even better as a team, though three years later Davis left to pursue other ventures and DJ Spen joined the group.

The Basement Boys' first taste of success came in 1991, after they produced dance diva Ultra Naté's debut album, Blue Notes in the Basement, and Crystal Waters' song "Gypsy Woman," and released Tonight under the moniker Those Guys. The Basement Boys performed the same duties for Ultra Naté's follow-up record, 1994's One Woman's Insanity, and that same year started their own label, Basement Boys Records, in order to have full artistic freedom in their pursuits. Soon, a studio band was added to the group's lineup, and the band's run as label owners and producers officially took off. Not wanting to neglect their own music, in 2006 they released The Basement Boys Present Mudfoot Jones, a fictional blues drummer whose songs they then remixed.