Month: March 1990

BEATS & PIECES

IN THE currently fast moving world of radio, events can overtake each other, and, since last week’s column was printed, at the conveniently timed annual general meeting of Manchester’s Sunset 102FM the shareholders demanded reinstatement of the station’s founder Mike Shaft, who is now back in charge, the only major change being temporary closure of the news room’s full service . . . London’s latest 24 hour incremental station, Choice FM starts up on 96.9FM at 10am this Saturday, promising category defying “good” music (though it has a line-up of soul, dance and reggae DJs) through the mornings before broadcasting specialist ethnic services after lunch . . . Viceroy will be marketing Andrew ‘Komix’ Komis’s own New Jersey Sounds label here, debuting as in the US with Pandella ‘Don’t Stop (Your Love)‘ . . . 808 State’s ‘The Extended Pleasure Of Dance’ EP, with its main two tracks already promoed, adds only the Jimi Hendrix wah-wah started abrasive spacey ‘Dr Who’-ish synth tones jolted ‘Cubik‘ (124bpm) to the jerkily churning twittery ‘Cobra Bora (Call The Cops Mix)’ (119¾bpm) and rambling slow jittery ‘Ancodia (Taters Deep Nit Funky Beat Mix)’ (106¼bpm) . . . Tongue ‘N’ Cheek’s commercial 12-inch of ‘Tomorrow’ (due next week) will couple Frankie Knuckles’ promoed Warehouse Mix with the new (unless it’s his Favourite Garage Mix retitled) Def Piano Dub, an Acappella, and ‘Encore (Recall Rap Mix)’ . . . Dee’ Moe ‘One Step At A Time’ is out commercially next week with a new slithery brass accented Horny Mix (98½bpm) as flip to the Nomad Mix (remixer Nomad Soul turns out to be no relation of Damon ‘Nomad’ Rochefort, but is Soul II Soul’s engineer Howie Bernstein) . . . Selly Oak’s Loading Bay Records Hi-NRG label (contact Duncan Finlayson on 021-472 2463, afternoons) is handling its own distribution now, along with Greyhound, and currently has on release the girls cooed Giorgio Moroder penned thumping Obsession ‘Never Ending Story‘ (121¾bpm) (LBAY-9), ‘West Side Story’ NRG-ising US hit Vicki Shepard ‘Somewhere (There’s A Place For Us)‘ (128bpm) (LBAY-8), Italian galloping Jayne & Jill ‘Lay, Lay, Baby, Lay‘ (129¾bpm) (LBAY-7), double-sided frisky Italian Dandy ‘Cassanova‘ (129¾bpm)/Maria Gomez ‘Hungry For Fame (I Am A Star)‘ (129¼bpm) (LBAY-6), also double-sided Italian Van Halen NRG-ising Eskimo ‘Jump‘ (129¾bpm)/Mark Farina ‘To My Heart‘ (119bpm) (LBAY-5), plus by now the unheard Ankie Bagger ‘Where Were You Last Night‘ (LBAY-10) . . . ‘Keep It Together‘, Madonna’s first ‘street cred’ club hit in yonks, will only be the UK B-side to ‘Vogue‘, the latter not from her LP (and hopefully nothing to do with that non-starter of a hyped dance craze) . . . Kicking Back with Taxman PA this Thursday (29) at Ladbroke Grove’s Sub Club (off the Portobello Road in Subterrania) . . . UK rappers dominate at Brixton’s The Fridge this weekend, with Stevie V PA-ing on Saturday, while Silver Bullet and Merlin guest at Sunday’s noon-11pm Chillin alldayer with DJs Cutmaster Jay, DJ Face, Grooverider, Fabio, Valentine, DJ Biznizz and DJ Bones — and the following Sunday (April 8) the normal evening session there has Ultramagnetic MC’s and Blade with DJ Pogo . . . DJs like Andy Weatherall, Paul Gotel, Spence, Chad Jackson and DJ Charles jock on two levels every Friday at Flesh in Bournemouth’s Madisons . . . Marie Birch’s new Impact Record Promotions will now be located at Concorde House, 1 Barb Mews, Brook Green, London W6 7PA (081-602 8822) . . . Diamond Time, makers of the excellent continuously segued DiscEyes video compilations, have moved to 16/26 Rosemont Road, London NW3 6NE (071-433 3355) . . . Denmark’s Kenneth Baker excuses the messy edits in his Dr Baker ‘Kaos’ by pointing out that the HIP-Side was created without any form of sequencing, all drums and samples being played by hand — Guru Josh, incidentally, is remixing it for UK release on Desire . . . Brian Carter was wearing a silly grin following the 1990 Technics World DJ Mixing Championship Final, as he’d only just recently signed to BCM Records the brilliant young German winner, Cologne’s DJ David! . . . KICKIN’!

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HOT VINYL

THE FAMILY STAND ‘Ghetto Heaven (The Remix)’ (104bpm) (Atlantic A7997T)
Already sizzling just on single-sided promo, this inevitably Soul II Soul-ish New York trio’s Sandra St. Victor agonised, V. Jeffrey Smith and producer Peter Lord crooned haunting slinky jogger is in fact mixed by Jazzie B & Nellee Hooper with James Brown grunts punctuated typical jiggling beats, smoothing out the group’s own actually similar though much rawer efforts as revealed now in the joltingly jittering Original Version and Dub (104¼bpm) on the commercial flip.

JODY WATLEY ‘Precious Love (Tongue In Groove Mix)’ (88¼bpm) (US MCA Records MCA-24010)
Breaking with her more usual style, this Dynamic Duo & Brian ‘Chuck’ New remixed sultry slow tugging jogger has delicately picked Spanish guitar and a useful Soul II Soul feel (Dub Instrumental flip, no other mixes), worth checking.

CHERRELLE with Alexander O’Neal ‘Saturday Love (Feelin’ Luv Extended Mix)’ (122½bpm) (Tabu 655800 6)
At last out legally after months on initially limited white label, when credited to its creators Olimax & Dj Shapps, this brilliantly synchs the original acappella vocals to a tubular bells plinky-plonked breezily bounding brand new backing (with, coincidentally, Pigbag ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Pigbag’ and Spandau Ballet ‘Chant No. I’ percussion breaks!), madly infectious, flipped by 1985’s now stodgy seeming Original Extended Mix (116¼-116bpm) plus Cherrelle’s solo jiggly jogging ‘Foolin’ Around’ (101 bpm). Continue reading “March 31, 1990: The Family Stand, Jody Watley, Cherrelle with Alexander O’Neal, Soho, Bizz Nizz”

BEATS & PIECES

BEATS INTERNATIONAL is only the commercial tip of the iceberg, all the signs are pointing (certainly in London, no doubt influenced by Bristol) towards an upsurge of interest in real reggae riddims, a logical progression for the Soul II Soul groove — and that indeed appears to be their own next direction! . . . Big Boss Groove, abbreviated for convenience to BBG, are releasing their white labelled ‘Sn/appiness‘ commercially soon via Polydor . . . Tim Raidl has set up the Chill Records label specifically for ‘raw underground’ UK house productions, and is looking for a few acts to complete his roster at Mix Connection & BritMix UK, 68 Sunningdale, Round Green, Luton LU2 7TE (0582 412460) . . . Paul Gotel’s new additions to Power Promotions’ existing DJ mailing list service are Power Press, handling dance music press promotion, and The Power Pool, a DJs’ record pool to be run by Frank Perkins, while other expansions to come include a full radio promotion service, a national shop strike force, and international promotion in Europe — where next, the World?! . . . Lisa Horan has replaced Paul Kindred as club plugger at Breakout/A&M . . . Linda Rogers has left BCM Records, leaving Ruth Rothwell and Record Mirror contributor Muff Fitzgerald as a caretaker UK staff . . . Edinburgh’s Dance Department promotion service (031-551 2477) intends to prove that there is more to Scottish dance taste than PWL and Hi-NRG! . . . Capital FM jocks Mick & Pat’s third annual Easter Help A London Child charity record will be a revival of Odyssey’s ‘Use It Up And Wear It Out‘, produced as usual by Stock Aitken Waterman . . . London’s KISS-fm seems likely to be gaining the services of a certain superstar reggae DJ when it comes on air in August . . . Mike Shaft sadly has left Sunset Radio, the black music Manchester incremental station that was his personal dream come true, resigning after a boardroom battle because apparently his otherwise successful programming policy had failed to attract enough national advertisers — it’s hard and cruel in the real world of radio, where idealism and love of music have to give way to commercial pressure . . . Jerry Hipkiss, sticking to his soul guns like Robbie Vincent in the face of the acid and now indie onslaught, has lost his Saturday Dancetrax show on Severn Sound (where he’s still music librarian), but continues jocking Mondays at Hereford’s Lovejoys . . . Peter Young has moved already from afternoons to 9am-noon weekday mornings on London’s new Jazz-FM (“102.2, the hottest number in town”), where an intended ‘touch screen’ control system was aborted just before the station went on air because, as he says, “The screen kept reverting to a normal TV picture, and every time I touched Peter Sissons’ nose a Muddy Waters record started”! . . . Sharon Redd, following her guest vocal for Larry Joseph & Science, has also been recording solo in London with Alan Cross & China Burton of What It Is! Productions . . . Benjamin Zephaniah is the correctly spelt name of the poet starting ‘The Poem’ by Bobby Konders’ House Rhythms . . . CJ Mackintosh has also remixed Janet Jackson’s ‘Escapade’ . . . ffrr’s pressing of the previously limited edition, shuffling acidic instrumental Orbital ‘Chime’ (Oh’Zone Records FX 135) is a faster 120½bpm, the flip’s hypnotist overlaid gently twittering ambient ‘Deeper’ being 120¾bpm now . . . ‘Where’s Your Head (12″ Mix)’ is on Shabazz’s commercial B-side, here 104¾bpm . . . Oleta Adams’ B-side ‘Don’t Look Too Closely’ is a slowly intensifying 37/74-76bpm . . . Ben Liebrand’s chunkily clonking though dated (due to the song) Extended Remix of Bill Withers’ hoarsely rasped ‘Harlem ’89’ is 112½-114½-114bpm, his alternative Street Mix 113-114¼bpm and 1971’s original Bobbie Gentry-ish ‘Harlem’ 112-114½bpm . . . Sweet Exorcist ‘Testone’ has been remixed (WARP/Outer Rhythm WAP 3R) as the still jerkily bleeping (and 125½bpm) ‘Testfour‘, ‘Testfive‘, and a short empty ‘Testsix‘! . . . Tongue ‘N’ Cheek appear this Wednesday (21) at Soho’s Jacqueline’s with DJ David RB and MC AW1 from the Trax Production Posse (this previously announced night having been postponed) . . . The Shamen PA next Monday (26) at the returned weekly Land Of Oz in Charing Cross’s Heaven, with DJs Paul Oakenfold, Alfredo, Fat Tony, Tony Wilson, Nancy Noise, The Orb and live rapper Ricky Light — jocks from a similar though expanded team are for the next three months taking the Land Of Oz concept on a one-niter tour of 25 UK clubs, featuring PAs by such as Adamski, Electra, Izit, Guru Josh, Jesus Loves You, E-Zee Posse, Cry Sisco, KLF and other popsters . . . DJ Jay joins Mike McGowan for the Friday raves at Torquay’s Claires Club, while his own Big Beat Sunday was so successful on Sunday it’s now moved to Saturday at Teignmouth’s Bugsy B’s . . . David C.L. Young (very formal!), newly appointed nightclub promotions manager for Stakis Leisure in Scotland, is with guest DJs updating Monday at Paisley’s Toledo Junction under the name Monsoon (“Where The Music Reigns“) . . . Whitstable’s Bob Le-Roi, retaining his roadshow, has given up club work to freelance for East Kent’s Invicta Radio . . . Bizz Nizz ‘Don’t Miss The Party‘, biggest initially in the North, has already been described by Hugh Bryder of Liverpool’s Mardi Gras Club as “the acid ted anthem of the year so far”! . . . David A. Stewart featuring Candy Dulfer’s hit has a perfectly danceable seven inch, so why did the 12 inch mixes have to be mucked up with that tempoless ambient break? . . . Diana Brown & The Brothers’ ‘Masterplan‘, due next month, sounded so strong on first radio hearing that I couldn’t leave my car until Tim Westwood had back-announced what it was — not many newies are that good! . . . KICKIN’!

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HOT VINYL
Reviewed by James Hamilton and Norman Cook

ALISHA WARREN ‘Discover Me’ (100bpm) (RCA PT 43492)
Combining the feel of Lisa Stansfield and Soul II Soul, this superb sultrily soulful swaying jogger is obviously right on the button for today’s tastes and is likely to be huge, flipped by its starkly percussive Acappella and the fluidly bounding ‘Touch Me (The Amore Mix)‘ (122bpm). Now, what’s all this about the 49ers?!

NATION 12 ‘Listen To The Drummer’ (Norman Cook)

KEY III ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ (Norman Cook) Continue reading “March 24, 1990: Alisha Warren, Rebel MC, Solid Gold Easy Amex, Today, Tribal House”

BEATS & PIECES

NIGEL WILTON is definitely, as recently rumoured, leaving Island’s club plugging team at the end of the month to join Steve Ripley’s dance music marketing department at CBS/Epic – but their club promotion will still for the time being be handled independently … Simon Walsh is updating the club DJ mailing list at Music Enterprises Ltd, The Courtyard, 42 Colwith Road, London W6 9EY (01-741 5515), who coincidentally handle a certain amount of work for CBS/Epic … Paul Gotel, previously Andrew Woods’ assistant, has taken over Power Promotions (Unit 302, The Metrostore, 5/10 Eastman Road, London W3 7QS, 01-746 1210), who likewise handle much CBS/Epic product … Adamski has remixed The House Crew ‘All We Wanna Do Is Dance’, appropriately as it’s the anthem of the Freedom To Party (in muddy fields!) campaign … U.F.I. stands for the Universal Funk Industry, their recently reviewed ‘Understand This Groove’ being due also as a Dave Dorrell & CJ Mackintosh remix … Olimpia is spelt that way because ‘You Want My Love’ was created by Italy’s Oli, Spinmaster MP, and DJ 1A … Cooltempo next week release the Belgian Bizz Nizz ‘Don’t Miss The Party Line’ … Tim Garbutt, about to make his vinyl debut as half of Trak 1, has successfully launched his own Hoof  house and hip hop night, with guest DJs and PAs, every second Monday (March 19 included) at Harrogate’s Legends, and every Thursday from this week (15) at Bradford’s Rio … Justin Robertson and Greg Fenton’s Euro-based Spice night has moved in Manchester to Richfields every Sunday … DJ Tegwen has started a specialist electronic beat/new beat/hard beat Sex Beat Wednesday at Brighton’s Savannah … Steve Stuart, switching after eight years from the kids downstairs to the over-25s upstairs at Boston’s Elizabethan Club, is also about to hit the road with his own Outside Broadcast Unit, complete with generator, radio mic and backup crew … Mr Slick is keeping rollerdisco alive at Forest Gate’s Uppercut Rollerdisco Club, Friday being the crucial night … D Mob and Blacksmith’s already reviewed newies aren’t out commercially for another fortnight yet … Kate B’s ‘Free’, reviewed last week, should have been 123½bpm (quoted in The Club Chart though), while MC B. featuring Daisy Dee’s ‘This Beat Is Technotronic’ is in fact a cheeky cover version of an actual Technotronic album track! … Boney M have covered Izit’s ‘Stories’ … Ruby Red Records, claimed to be Wolverhampton’s only dance music shop (in Cleveland Street), needs more independent labels to supply it with releases that upfront DJ customers are otherwise missing (contact Mick or Malcolm on 0902 771186) … The Club Chart’s entry threshold keeps getting higher, as do the number of dance music releases trying to scrape in at even 100=, leaving a real log lam of well supported ‘bubblers’ from which last week’s next 10 were Stacy Lattisaw. Bizz Nizz, Paradise 10, Silver Bullet (Norman Cook Remix), Goodbye F.B.I., Dee’ Moe, Ryo Kawasaki & “Satellites”, Snap (Arista), Liquid Oxygen, Equation … Ram Jam, Jam Jam, Jam Tronik, Jam Machine — does everything these days have to have jam on it? … KICKIN’!

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HOT VINYL
Reviewed by James Hamilton and Jon Dasilva (Hacienda)

TONGUE ‘N’ CHEEK ‘Tomorrow (Warehouse Mix)’ (120bpm) (Syncopate 12SY 14)
Frankie Knuckles remixed excellent smoothly thrumming timeless strider with a lovely soulful female lead, lush harmonies, cool male narration and slick orchestral noises, flipped by a sparser less vocal Frankie’s Favourite Garage Mix.

CASH CREW ‘One Decade’ (115bpm) (Vinyl Solution STORM 12, via SRD, 01-889 6555)
Fast talking Trim, Champain and DJ Loose from Ladbroke Grove are about to explode with this excellent jittery tumbling rap, the real thing, flipped by the bass, percussion, panting and giggling girls driven nervy instrumental ‘Amo‘ (123bpm), each refreshingly in only one mix.

FORCE LEGATO ‘System (Remix)’ (Jon Dasilva) Continue reading “March 17, 1990: Tongue ‘N’ Cheek, Cash Crew, Janet Jackson, Black Box, Salt-n-Pepa”

BEATS & PIECES

It’s interesting to note that the “Soul II Soul effect” is bringing dance tempos back down to such an extent that in The Club Chart’s Top 20 last week there were 12 hits all slower than 115bpm, most of them (and all the biggest ones) a lot slower . . . Paul Oakenfold has done a legal remix of the old Red Box ‘Enjoy’ for East West release, coupled by the currently bootlegged original B-side which has been so much in demand . . . Jonathan Richardson and Terry Farley of Boys’ Own have formed P.O.P. Promotions (standing for ‘Pieces Of Plastic’ — like it!), and are topping up their DJ mailing list at 249/251 Kensal Road, London W10 5DG (01-968 8459) . . . Andrew Wood has just sold his successful independent Power Promotions (operating one of the more effective mailing lists) to assume a corporate role instead, taking over from Nigel Webb running club promotions for BMG (which includes RCA, Arista and Motown) . . . Edinburgh’s Bill Grainger points out that, while he may be busy with Big Fun, he is still running his own First Class promotion service for Scottish and Northern Ireland DJs, currently mailing PWL Records product amongst others . . . Andrew ‘Komix’ Komis is managed only outside North America by Best Beat Music . . . Stockport’s new (though off air for six years, previously pirate) incremental radio station KFM 104.9FM as part of its recent launch celebrations relayed live a normal night’s jollifications from Offerton’s Hamiltons, whose DJ Tim Howard now co-hosts the station’s Saturday 3-6pm dance show . . . Mike Pickering makes his third trip to Cork this Thursday (8), guesting at Greg D’s regular Sweat night in Sir Henry’s . . . Nigel Thomas’s monthly modern Sounds Of Soul night should be at Nantwich’s Cheshire Cat this Thursday, too . . . Ubiquity II at Brighton’s Zap Club next Wednesday (14) offers individualists both Push and Choice Exact playing live funk, a PA by local hero Norman Cook’s Beats International, DJs Shem ‘Streets Ahead’ — guess where half Record Mirror’s staff are likely to be that night! . . . Gee St Records have started a weekly Saturday club night at the City Of London’s Turnmills, conveniently just down the Clerkenwell Road from their HQ in Gee Street (which really exists!) . . . Blackburn’s DJ IMC (Ian McIntyre) has been jocking in Europe but is back in the groove at Rochdale’s Fatsoe’s Fridays and Middleton’s Hippo’s Saturdays . . . DJ Miller (The Killer) — real name Kevin —has split from Ipswich’s Hoofers to start an upfront and underground Saturday at Woodbridge’s The Slam (possibly undergoing a name change), with jazz and rare groove Sundays . . . Rusty Egan’s latest invitation club night is Gold on Fridays at Kensington’s The Park, with DJs Noel Watson and Carl Cox plus guests . . . Chris Hill thought he had retired from DJing (he’s busy enough as a partner in the Ensign label on which Sinead O’Connor is currently so hot) but, following his successful return (about every third Saturday) to his legendary Canvey Goldmine haunt of the Seventies, soon starts also on Tuesdays at Dartford’s Zen (as Flicks has become) and on Thursdays at Ealing’s Broadway Boulevard, playing left field soul ancient and modern . . . New York’s Dave Piccioni plus other jocks like Kid Batchelor, DJ Tee and Keith Franklin, along with further guests and MCs, create Confusion:Bass 9T Sundays at London Shaftesbury Avenue’s Shaftesbury’s . . . Tony Christian, assistant head DJ, wants to get the message through to the locals that Croydon’s previously middle of the road Cinatra’s (sic) has woken up to the dance groove of the Nineties! . . . Dr. Baker ‘Kaos’ (Danish Coma Records COMA 127 001), Kenneth Baker’s 1988-style cut-up reviewed last week, is indeed in six sometimes messily edited mixes, confusingly only differentiated by (mostly quite accurate) timing-like numbers, the HIP-Side having 5:36 (126¾-127bpm), 4:18 and (actually a much shorter 3:26!) 5:12 (127-126¾bpm), the HOT-Side having 5:02 (118¼-118½bpm), 5:46 and its own (accurate!) 5:12 (128bpm) . . . Casa Nero’s commercial pressing will be flipped by a more tightly remixed ‘Ain’t No Acid in This House’ . . . Habit ‘Fly Like An Eagle’, recently reviewed off white label, turns out to be remixed by Bruce Forest & Robin Hancock . . . DJ Kid Smurf tips that Depth Charge ‘Bounty Killers’ played at 45rpm and vari-speeded down on an SL 1200 to run at between -1 and -3 becomes an “excellent hardcore hiphouse techno track” . . . KICKIN’!

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HOT VINYL
Reviewed by James Hamilton and Paul Oakenfold

JUNGLE BROTHERS ‘What “U” Waitin’ “4”? (Jungle Fever Mix)’ (109bpm) (Eternal W9865T, via WEA)
Waiting to explode when out fully next week, this jauntily chugging rap is now driven in CJ Mackintosh’s killer remix by a beefy combination of People’s Choice ‘Do It Any Way You Wanna’ beat and Salsoul Orchestra ‘Ooh I Love It’ strings and brass, while his all new more, percussively shuffling C. Jungle, C. Jungle (108¾bpm) — a wordplay on his initials — ends with some Maceo Parker ‘Soul Power’ sax, and Tony Humphries’ hollow booming Love Ride And Orchestra Mix (109¾bpm) joins the JBs’ own bumpily tapping ‘J. Beez Comin’ Through (Remix)‘ (102½bpm) on the flip.

MC B. featuring DAISY DEE ‘This Beat Is Technotronic (Uptown Mix)’ (124½bpm) (Big One VVBIG 20)
Just what the world was waiting for, a German carbon copy of the Technotronic sound! At least they have the honesty to admit, repeatedly, that that’s what it is in the title line of this Holland based (and apparently Paris Grey discovered) 19 years old American/Brazilian girl’s Ya Kid K-type word spitting simple galloper, flipped by its Rebel MC punctuated High Level Mix and the Portuguese accented but this time Italian house copying magpie type ‘Musquash‘ (124bpm).

BOBBY KONDERS’ HOUSE RHYTHMS ‘The Poem’ (120bpm) (US Nugroove NG 038)
Continuing the current New York trend for EP-type multi-track 12-inchers (this one having actual toons, though), Bobby Konders’ Peter Daou keyboarded instrumental six-tracker is hottest for this Benjamin Zephaniah black poetry introed then jazzily trilling loper, but has also the electronically fluttering ambient African chanting ‘Massai Women‘ and its more twittery ‘Dub Massai Style (Mark’s Mix)‘ (119¾bpm), the title line repeating urgent ‘Let There Be House‘ (124bpm), bassily striding ‘Version‘ (120bpm), and twittery twizzling ‘Nervous Acid‘ (119½bpm). Continue reading “March 10, 1990: “The “Soul II Soul effect” is bringing dance tempos back down””

BEATS & PIECES

OLIMAX & DJ SHAPPS’ excellent but still hard to find remix of ‘Saturday Love’ is suddenly about to go “overground” in a big way, having been picked up for full release in a fortnight by Tabu (655 800) — who will, however, be crediting it as being by Cherrelle & Alexander O’Neal (which seems reasonable enough in the circumstances!), as a prelude to the relaunch of Cherrelle’s old album . . . Steve Ripley, remembered by older DJs as the award winning one-time club plugger at CBS, is once again assembling a fully fledged in-house dance music marketing department for all the CBS/Epic labels . . . Greater London’s first ‘incremental’ local radio station, JAZZ-fm comes on air formally at 6am this Sunday, March 4, but is already running a continuous test transmission on 102.2FM . . . Jon Williams, mixing really upfront Eurobeat at Mayfair’s Wall Street on Dilly Daily Thursdays and Red Square Saturdays, tips that Dave Pearce will be among the KISS-fm presenters come August . . . Chad Jackson, never busier, is remixing ‘The 900 Number’ — after all this time — to make it a virtually new track although still under The 45 King’s name . . . Soul II Soul’s ‘A Dream’s A Dream‘ is due as their sixth single in March, featuring ‘Glamazon’ Victoria Wilson-James (the first signing to their own new record company) . . . ffrr have now signed the previously limited edition, 800 pressings only, Orbital ‘Chime‘ for wider release . . . Mercury have for some reason only just fully released Adventures of Stevie V ‘Dirty Cash (Money Talks)‘, promoed since late October and in The Club Chart clear through November/December . . . K.Tronics Ensemble ‘House Of Calypso‘ is due for reissue as a remix to cater for continued demand around Manchester . . . Shep Pettibone’s chunkily shuffling Soul II Soul-ish 12-inch Remix, Dub, Instrumental, and more typically pop accented swingbeat-ish 12-inch Extended Mix of Madonna ‘Keep It Together’ (US Sire 0-21427), reviewed without BPMs last week by Norman, are all fractionally around 104¾bpm, while DJ Mark The 45 King and co-producer Stephen Bray’s different drily drummed rolling 12-inch Mix and Bonus Beats are fractionally around 103¼bpm . . . A Tribe Called Quest ‘I Left My Wallet In El Segundo’ (US Jive 1300-1-JD), the often raggamuffin accented mildly amusing story telling slow rap also recently reviewed by Norman, is in different lethargic Feature Length (89½bpm), and drums rumbled Talkie (97¾bpm) and Silent (99bpm) treatments, flipped on translucent green vinyl by the really funny ‘Pubic Enemy‘ (not a misprint!) in ‘Another One Bites The Dust’ bassed Saturday Night Virus Discomix (108bpm), and “scratch it” punctuated Talkie and Silent (109bpm) treatments — and treatment is what the fellah needs! . . . Chris Checkley and Louise Chantrell at CT Records (01-229 7329) reckon they’ve built such a good mailing list of 100 top DJs as a result of publicity in Record Mirror that they’re prepared to do independent club promotion for other labels! . . . Shoeburyness’s enterprising Ian Bunker (0702-297876) has become the UK and European representative for Chicago’s House Nation Records, Subculture, Hillbilly House, Hot Mix 5 Inc, StreetSide Records and other associated labels . . . Big Beat label producer Andrew ‘Komix’ Komis is now managed internationally by Neil Rushton’s Birmingham based Best Beat Music, alongside the likes of Kevin Saunderson, ‘Magic Juan’ Atkins and Derrick ‘Mayday’ May . . . Matthew Roberts, with Gary Jones and guests on Eclipse Wednesdays at Chester’s Rendezvous or alone on Xtra Large Mondays at Wrexham’s Cotton Club, is offering good money for top class PAs, live acts and guest DJs (0978-751499 after 5pm) . . . KISS-fm’s latest, 7th Record Fair is once again at Highgate’s Jacksons Lane Community Centre this Sunday (4) between 10am-4pm, rare groove collecting fanatics being advised to get there early before the goodies are gone . . . Epsom’s Diamond Duel record shop manager and renowned 6T’s pioneering DJ, Tony Rounce, is taking over from Nick Gordon Brown running the Impulse Promotions DJ mailing list . . . Breakout are promoting the re-release of ‘Love Together’ by circulating pairs of L.A. Mix emblazoned white cotton sports socks! . . . IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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HOT VINYL
Reviewed by James Hamilton and Jay Strongman

QUEEN LATIFAH & DE LA SOUL ‘Mama Gave Birth 2 The Soul Children (Extended Vocal)’ (107½bpm) (Gee Street GEE T26)
Due commercially next week but not surprisingly huge already on white label, the Princess Of The Posse’s hottest album track is now excitingly remixed by CJ Mackintosh & John Waddell to become much more beefily chugging in the guesting De La Soul’s style than it was on LP, flipped by alternative The Secondary and instrumental The Primary Mixes (107¾bpm), a surefire smash.

A’ME LORAIN ‘Whole Wide World (Wingate 12″ House Remix)’ (104½bpm) (RCA PT 49294)
This remorseless bass thumped and piano jangled jiggly ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’-ish lurcher and its less vocal Wingate House Dub Remix are not surprisingly the treatments that eventually attracted UK attention to last autumn’s US ‘True Love’ movie tune, rather than its Paula Abdul-ish squeakily juddering Elliot Wolff 12-inch (105bpm) pop version, rightly relegated to the flip now it’s out here.

SEDUCTION ‘Free Your Body (It’s Time To Get Hip House)’ (120½bpm) (Breakout USAF679)
Less to do with Seduction as a girl group and more to do with them as an outlet for producers Clivilles & Cole, this guys rapped and samples studded hip house import coupling of ‘Heartbeat’ has proved so hot in its own right that it’s been added to the UK re-release of the girls’ US smash ‘Two To Make It Right’, the latter now just in catchily chanted vigorously jittering Latin hip hop The Club Mix (115-115¼bpm) and alternative bassily rumbling instrumental The House Dub (121bpm) treatments. Continue reading “March 3, 1990: Queen Latifah & De La Soul, A’me Lorain, Seduction, J.T. And The Big Family, Beat System”