He also produced works by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, New Order, Mr. Lee, 808 State, and Ghost Town DJ's, and has been named as an influence by Octave One and Neal Howard.
[2] He started off as a promoter, but deputised after the club's DJ couldn't make it; enjoying the experience, he began DJing at all his parties.
He became friends with Farley "Jackmaster" Funk of Hot Mix 5,[3] a collective of DJs formed in 1981 for WBMX's Saturday Night Live Ain’t No Jive Chicago Dance Party,[4] after inviting him to spin a set at one of them; one day Funk let Wilson deputise for him, and from that guest spot Wilson became a member of the Hot Mix 5,[3] joining between the departure of Ralphi "Rockin" Rosario, Kenny "Jammin" Jason, and Mickey "Mixin" Oliver to WGCI-FM's copycat Jackmasters program in July 1986 and the latter's cancellation in February 1987.
[5] He then entered the DMC World DJ Championships with his friend Bad Boy Bill; afraid of losing his reputation, he produced a number of house tracks as insurance, on the grounds that if he performed poorly, he had production to fall back on.
[3] In 1988, Wilson and Steve "Silk" Hurley produced "Brides of Frankenstein", a Chicago house megamix of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark songs,[6] which charted at No.
[14] He produced "Another Sleepless Night",[14] which was initially released in September 1990 as "Mike "Hitman" Wilson featuring Shawn Christopher",[15] and appeared on an Arista Records compilation album;[14] with this credit, the song charted at No.