Matthew Kelso on I THINK I LOVE YOU

In 2004, I attended a very rainy Bonnaroo music festival. I was in college and had already been a musician and DJ for years. I was there to see legends like Bob Dylan, The Dead, Primus, David Byrne and Burning Spear. But my whole approach to what is “right and wrong” in music, especially while DJing, was altered drastically when DJ Danger Mouse played I THINK I LOVE YOU by the Partridge Family. Yes, you read that correctly.

2004 was before Brian Burton aka DJ Danger Mouse formed Gnarls Barkley with Cee-Lo. “Crazy” had not yet permanently infiltrated our brains. His lone notoriety at that time was “The Grey Album”, Jay-Z’s “Black Album” acapellas over beats chopped out of The Beatles “White Album”. I was a massive fan of that album and the genre bending concept that it was. Afrika Bambataa taught me that a DJ can make anything work if the context is right. Danger Mouse’s late night set was a top priority for my festival going experience.

After dropping some hip-hop classics and rarities, one would expect a peak with Run-DMC, Dr. Dre, Jay-Z, etc. Instead, he played I THINK I LOVE YOU by the Partridge Family In the middle of a hip-hop set.

Not ironically, it totally worked. It bounced. It caught our attention, and it made us dance. This should not make sense! After mixing that into HELLO, I LOVE YOU by the Doors, we were all blown back. He could have played my 5th grade recorder recital and the crowd would have been elated.

The Partridge Family song was an ubiquitous and corny pop culture staple. But that night I heard it with new ears. Perhaps for the first time in history, I THINK I LOVE YOU blew a party up.

| Matthew Kelso has been a multi-instrumentalist, producer, DJ, song writer and occasional hype man since 1995. He is currently finalizing his fourth solo album. When he couldn't find a band he found DJing. When he can't DJ, he hoards records in anticipation of DJing.