Easily the most dexterous in the stable of Detroit techno pioneers, Kevin Saunderson recorded some of the hardest and most mechanistic techno to come out of the Motor City but routinely hit the mainstream dance charts as well with productions for his techno-pop act Inner City. From his very first production, Saunderson forged an energetic, ground-breaking style for techno -- a dense rhythmic assault of sound-samples and heavy percussion, often with a repetitive chanted chorus forming the only vocals. Throughout the 1980s and '90s, Saunderson recorded as Tronik House, the Reese Project, E-Dancer, Inter-City, Essaray and Reese & Santonio (the latter as a duo), and also developed a roster (including Blake Baxter and Chez Damier) for his own label, KMS Records. After a Saunderson retrospective appeared in 1997, he began to make a higher profile in the album ranks. The following year, he recorded a mix album for Studio !K7 as well as a debut solo LP (as E-Dancer).
Saunderson is the only one of the fabled Belleville Three (himself, Juan Atkins and Derrick May) not born in Detroit. His parents moved to Detroit when he was 12, and he met up with Derrick May and Juan Atkins while attending Belleville Junior High. All three were fans of the local Parliament/Funkadelic machine, but Atkins introduced both Saunderson and May to synth-pop pioneers like Kraftwerk and Gary Numan. While Atkins was recording with Cybotron and May was inaugurating his DJ career, however, Saunderson studied telecommunications at nearby Eastern Michigan University and dreamed of playing professional football. Saunderson began to reconsider his quest by 1984, and turned to DJing instead. He had accompanied May to Chicago several times to go to the essential house clubs, and he had also spent time in New York listening to Larry Levan spin records at the Paradise Garage.
Saunderson accompanied May and Atkins to Detroit's fabled Music Institute and formed his own KMS Records in 1986. Early Saunderson singles like "Triangle of Love" by Kreem and "The Sound" and "Bounce Your Body to the Box" by Reese & Santonio quickly made the transition from local clubplay to radio and finally, export to Britain, where they became underground hits along with Derrick May singles like "Nude Photo" and "Strings of Life." In 1988, Saunderson was working on a track when he realized that a vocalist might give it the sound he wanted; he was recommended to Paris Grey, and the two collaborated on the single "Big Fun." Released later that year on the British compilation Techno: The New Dance Sound of Detroit, it became a Top Ten hit in Britain. The follow-up "Good Life" also hit the Top Ten.
The E-Dancer project Saunderson creates music that is "more underground." The first E-Dancer album, 'Heavenly,' was released in 1998 to critical acclaim; Spin magazine named it ?one of the ten albums you've never heard.