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BEATS & PIECES

THE CLUB CHART last week somehow got lost in transit between me and the printers, which was thoroughly frustrating as I’d gone without sleep for nearly 48 hours to get both it and the DJ Directory done before going on holiday (to sunny North Wales again, of course!) — however, just in case any have dropped out this week, new entries were [omitted here, as these have all been added to the chart in the previous week’s post] — incidentally, while on the subject of charts, DJs do please try to list the individual album tracks and different specific mixes you are using … 10 Records have circulated a lavishly gatefolded “limited edition DJ only promo album sampler” of just three tracks from the imminent Inner City LP, which seems a bit silly as it’s a fair bet that these three will continue to dominate recipient DJs’ charts even after the actual LP has long been out, the attractive strong 123⅓bpm ‘Do You Love What You Feel‘, fairly typical 120⅚bpm ‘Secrets Of The Mind‘, and moodily spurting (0-)127bpm ‘Inner City Theme‘ … Simon Harris ‘(I’ve Got Your) Pleasure Control’ did indeed hit The Club Chart last week on promo, way ahead of May 29 release, the Club Mix as previously detailed being (0)-121⅗bpm while the flip’s Street Mix is also 121⅗bpm, the Instrumental 122bpm and Bonus Beats 121⅘bpm — and, similarly hitting on ffrr promo ahead of May 29 release is the Tokyo recorded, very tuneful sinuously subtle deep house Frankie Knuckles presents Satoshi Tomiie featuring Robert Owens ‘Tears’, in 121⅓bpm Classical Vocal and Instrumental (the latter especially haunting), and 121¾bpm Percussion mixes … Nomad featuring Daddae Harvey ‘The Ragamuffin Number’ turns out to be on Rumour Records, released fully next week, its flip’s break beats being titled ‘It Really Doesn’t Matter’ and ‘Bonus Beats’, while the oddly spelt Daddae is from Camden Town’s Soul II Soul Basement Store — and the whole thing is yet another opportunistic production by Damon Rochefort! … Candi McKenzie’s follow-up on May 29 will be the Jocelyn Brown-ish jiggly swingbeat 0-107⅔-0bpm ‘Honesty‘, with a bumpier 107⅚bpm Dub … US imports I had no time to review in full this week include the Ted Currier produced quite calmy lurching and trotting (but with some Todd Terry-type samples) Tony Terry ‘Forget The Girl‘ (Epic, 113⅗bpm in at least its Extended Remix); intense girls supported piano jangled jaunty New Jersey house Gordon Nelson Jr. ‘Pump Up The Music’ (Spin City); Patrick Adams created but Marley Marl remixed impassioned male group’s bounding garage/house Mark IV ‘It’s A Mean World‘ (Tuff City); Richie Weeks created nervy guys nagged cymbal schlurped urgent jittery jangly stuttery pushing Kidzstuff ‘Wanting You’ (Renee Records); repetitive “te quiero” (“I love you” in Spanish) girl muttered and cowbell clonked jiggly burbling New Blood ‘Touch Me (Te Quiero)‘ (Smokin’); excellent cleverly worded juvenile delinquency morality tale telling slow rap Slick Rick ‘Children’s Story‘ (Def Jam); unexceptional jogging soul Eugene Wilde ‘I Can’t Stop (This Feeling)‘ (Magnolia Sounds/MCA Records); crawling mellow soul ballad Miles Jaye ‘Objective‘ (Island) — this preceding his eagerly anticipated largely downtempo but very classy ‘Irresistible’ LP … US albums also include the midtempo and slow soul The Controllers ‘Just In Time’ (Capitol), while on LP here is the soulfully sung late Seventies/early Eighties-style superb Marc V ‘Too True’ (Elektra) … Teddy Riley & Gene Griffin’s own swingbeat epitomising group’s previously reviewed (last year) album is finally out here, Guy ‘Guy’ (MCA Records MCG 6043) … ‘Lean On Me’, the more recently reviewed (very) various artists soundtrack album that sold on import for its now 12-inched Big Daddy Kane ‘Rap Summary’ track, has been issued here (Warner Bros 925 843-1) … ‘Friends‘, a probably Whodini inspired jaunty 100bpm swingbeat jiggler featuring some uncredited male rap (by producer Andre Cymone?), is emerging as the standout track on the otherwise commercially competent new album by Jody Watley, ‘Larger Than Life’ (MCA Records MCG 6044) … UK singles yet to be properly reviewed include the Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley remixed and reissued (in full commercial form for the first time) catchily tumbling house Culture Clash Dance Party ‘Love Fever‘ (Jive); Paul Scott created Turntable Orch-ish repetitively nagged Ulysses ‘Come Into My Life‘ (Garage Trax); limited edition pre-release gently chugging exotic sax instrumental (nothing to do with Clarence Reid’s foul mouthed similarly named alter ego!) “Blowfly” featuring Gary Barnacle & Brendan Beale ‘Blowfly’ (W.A.U/Mr. Modo Recordings); London girl rapper’s murkily jiggling bumpy Private Slim ‘There I Go Again’ (Rhyme ‘n’ Reason Records); Hamilton Bohannon “everybody, get on up and dance” prodded samples scrubbing frenetic jumbled rap Company 2 ‘I’m Breaking Thru This‘ (Tam Tam); organ chorded jerkily lurching mournful Tony Lewis ‘Let My People Go‘ (Garage Trax) … Manchester’s Stu Allan (061-224 7990) has details of an alternative The Last Resort package trip to New York’s New Music-Seminar, including flights and a less expensive hotel for £599, but this excludes registration at the seminar (which costs far more than it’s worth — as I always say, don’t register, just hang out in the revolving bar for free and you’ll meet everyone!) … Creole Records, based in North West London’s Harlesden district since at least the mid-Seventies, have just moved to Blackpool — quite a hop! … Simon Goffe has indeed gone to Desire as label manager — no gaffe! … Coldcut can go hang, The Dynamic Guv’nors actually namecheck me in the rap of their new ‘Movin’, Doin’ It’ — I’m not too sure about that “unlike James, never out of fashion” bit, though (I’m just well dressed!) … WOOO! YEAH!

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MANDY SMITH is much in the news at the moment, so now seems a good time finally to reveal this exclusive snap of here with none other than DAMON ROCHEFORT, currently building a new reputation as producer of such as Sharon Dee Clarke, Omen, and Nomad featuring Daddae Harvey!

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HOT VINYL

SOUL II SOUL ‘Back To Life (Club Mix)’ (10 Records TENX 265)
Totally remixed from their album so now without Caron Wheeler’s acappella and Jazzie’s groove, this terrific chunky unhurried percussion jiggled 100⅚bpm sinuous jogger does again have Caron’s coolly weaving vocals and (presumably) the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra’s strings, combining with the hypnotic beat to make a truly haunting mood, flipped by a more slinkily rolling 0-101bpm Jam On The Groove treatment and its 101bpm Back To The Beats percussion (not, though, as good as the A-side’s backing track). Too hot to hold, this isn’t out fully until May 22 but is reviewed now to coincide with the biggest import seller from the middle of last week, the US pressing of ‘Keep On Movin’ (US Virgin 0-96556), which combines the previously released 93⅓bpm Club Mix, 0-93½bpm Big Beat Acappella, 93½bpm Nellee Hooper 7″ Mix and 0-93bpm The First Movement with — check this! — Teddy Riley’s samples backed much more emphatically jiggling faster 99⅔bpm Rubba Dub and sharper 100bpm Bonus Beats, obviously essential for completists!

ILLUSION ‘Why Can’t We Live Together (Love & Unity Remix)’ (Rumour Records RUMAT 1, via PRT)
Last week’s highest new Club Chart entry, this Timmy Thomas remaking pre-new beat 1982 Belgian oldie has been a revived Balearic beat for trend setting London DJ Danny Rampling, who now has also created this superior lightly pattering dynamic 0-113⅕-113-0bpm remix, far better than the flip’s more stolid 112⅘-113⅗bpm Original 12″ Version (which you may remember from the Forrest ‘Rock Your Boat’ era).

JOYCE SIMS ‘Looking For A Love (Club Version)’ (US Sleeping Bag Records SLX-40142)
Self penned/arranged/co-produced for the first time, this long overdue and eagerly awaited return is a flute tootled lightly Latin-style 109⅔-109¾bpm naggingly attractive pattering and jiggling swayer which should prove to be quite a haunting “grower” if it doesn’t grab you immediately (109¾bpm Instrumental and 109⅔bpm Radio Versions too), very pleasant. Now, who really is co-producer Andy Panda? Continue reading “May 13, 1989: Soul II Soul, Illusion, Joyce Sims, Pressure Zone, Kraze”

BEATS & PIECES

BELIEVE THIS or not, but for some reason BBC-TV is not now showing the Royal Albert Hall filmed Technics World DJ Mixing Championships and Awards show until the end of July! … Circuit featuring Koffi ‘Shelter‘, far from being a scam (which I always doubted), merely turns out to be another creation by Jolley Harris Jolley … Arthur Baker’s twinpack-promoted ‘It’s Your Time‘ will be commercially released here as the first, “a”, record in the pack (with the NYC Vocal/Jazz Version/Peech Dub), the remaining promo mixes not coming out because Lenny Dee & Victor Simonelli of the Brooklyn Funk Essentials have instead created two very different new remixes to follow … Steve Wren’s previously promo-only but vastly superior The Slammer Mix of Lisa M ‘Rock To The Beat’ is now due out commercially thanks to DJ-created demand … Samantha Fox ‘I Wanna Have Some Fun’ has been promoed with, as flip, Kevin Saunderson’s ‘Can You Feel It’ quoting instrumental solidly smacking techno 121bpm Fun House Mix and even more samples-stuffed 0-121⅕-0bpm Alternative Fun Mix, neither due commercially — yet, that is! … Simon Harris’s brightly forceful (0- )121⅓bpm remake of On The House’s ‘(I’ve Got Your) Pleasure Control‘, featuring sassy female vocals by Brooklyn’s Lonnie Gordon, isn’t due until May 29 but is likely to have hit The Club Chart as an initially very limited promo … Urban have picked up The Real Roxanne ‘Roxanne’s On A Roll’, with a Norman Cook remix to follow, and BSBi have picked up Amy Jackson’s ‘Let It Loose’ … Cappella’s initial UK pressings were found to be faulty but, after a delay, perfect ones should now be fully available at last … Big Bang’s Hi-NRG revival of Abba’s ‘Voulez Vous?‘, white labelled and favourably reviewed several months ago, is finally out commercially on a new label launched by the recording studio of the same name, Swanyard Records Limited (SYRTR I, via RCA/BMG) … LA & Babyface created the not surprisingly swingbeat-ish jittery rolling ‘Nothin (That Compares 2 U)‘ — 104⅚bpm on edited seven inch — due here imminently by The Jacksons (minus Michael) … Sharon Dee Clarke’s Beat The Street Mix of ‘Something Special’ emphasises the elements of Sharon Redd’s old juddery throbbing ‘Beat The Street’ beat that one now realises were evident all along in the original ‘Urban House’ album version — to clarify last week’s elision … I think it also needs clarifying that my occasional factual comment that something happens to be selling well in Central London is not always to be taken automatically as a recommendation! … Lyndon T has taken over Secret Promotions now that Simon Gaffe has apparently gone to Desire as label manager … Les Adams’ remake of Maurice ‘This Is Acid’ having just about single-handedly, and belatedly, launched “acid” in the States — surprising though this may seem to people here, where it comes too late in the then dying craze — D. Mob ‘We Call It Acieed’ is also now fast becoming a monster in US clubs! … ‘Life Is A Dance‘, the Chaka Khan remixes album, will be out here at last on May 22 … ‘Where Do We Go?‘, not perhaps their LP’s most obvious single choice, will be the Ten City follow-up … The Time are evidently recording a comeback album on Warner Bros, one side produced by former mentor Prince and the other by former members Jam & Lewis … Quincy Jones’s long awaited next album under his own name will be loaded with superstar guest vocalists … Teddy Riley has produced Heavy D’s upcoming ‘We Got Our Own Thang‘ … Pete Tong joins Steve Wren on Friday (5) at Gravesend’s The Slammer … Glen Gunner (of the Camden Slammer/Electric Ballroom) and Nigel Hayes are at Ealing Broadway’s Haven Stables on Monday (8), to be weekly if response is good, except that the following Monday (15) the same venue has been booked by Justin Smith for a Salsoul/Philly/jazz-funk/boogie Metro night with Carlon and guests … Jerry Dammers and Rhythm Doctor spin “stinky sounds from a farty bass” on Stink Thursdays at Manchester’s Precinct 13, where Love Is The Message Fridays have garage and Seventies/Eighties “disco” … Noel H and the Young Guns spin soul/funk/house/rap/garage Wednesdays at Streatham Zigis … Jeff Thomas of Swansea soul fame has started no dress restriction, solidly black music In Full Effect Thursdays at Merthyr Tydfil Charbonniers … Noel Watson hosts Freestyle 90 Thursdays at London’s Camden Palace … I had taken ambitious jockette Kirsty B for an upmarket Chinese celebration birthday dinner at Hampstead’s ZenW3 last Tuesday when in walked George Michael and his Wham! partner Andrew Ridgeley to sit down opposite us, then out walked Mahesh Bajaj, and on leaving we found dining downstairs Pete Tong, Johnny Walker and Clare Shave — does that qualify for Babble?! … James Brown played a “Sixties singer” called Lou De Long in last week’s ludicrously far fetched episode of ‘Miami Vice’, his own old ‘I Got You (I Feel Good)’ being credited to his fictional character but packaged in its original album sleeve with just his name changed! … M-D-Emm member Dave Lee recently discovered by chance that the nagging “wheeee” noise from Nitro Deluxe’s old ‘The Brutal House’ was actually sampled from Loleatta Holloway’s ‘Love Sensation’ … MC Jammy Hammy once again provides a “male sample” on the upcoming, June released, LA Mix single, ‘Get Loose’ … WOOO! YEAH!

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HOT VINYL

KECHIA JENKINS ‘Still Waiting’ (US Profile PRO-7250)
Fly Guys-produced superb, powerfully wailed, bass-snapped and drums-smacked timelessly trotting strider with some sneaky quotes from ‘Ring My Bell’, in 115⅕-115bpm Fly Guy Mix, 115⅕bpm Fly Guy Dub, jerkily bounding 116⅔bpm Kechia’s House and Piano Beats, and 116⅗-116⅔-0bpm Damn, That Girl Can Sing Dub versions, due soon to launch at last the US label in this country and sure to be huge.

ALYSON WILLIAMS featuring Nikki-D ‘My Love Is So Raw (Extended Club Mix)’ (Def Jam 654898 6)
Her album’s standout dancer in a UK remix by Dave Dorrell & CJ Mackintosh of M|A|R|R|S, this terrific jittery jerky 0-106½-0bpm go go-hip hop-swingbeat fusion is wailingly worried by Alyson with bursts of rap by Nikki-D, and flipped by the Ted Mills of Blue Magic duetted 0-73bpm traditional squeaky sweet soul ‘We’re Gonna Make It‘, plus a previously unreleased rather good (and vocally accurate) 90⅚bpm swingbeat remake of Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ ‘I Second That Emotion‘, worth checking.

SWEET TEE ‘Let’s Dance’ (US Profile PRO-7246)
Hurby Luv Bug and the Invincibles-produced but Fast Eddie-remixed Cookie Crew-ish bumpily bubbling subdued hip house, an instant-import hit, the JB backing samples being varied for the two sides’ different 118⅔bpm Hip House and 114⅖bpm Hip Hop mixes (each with an instrumental too). Continue reading “May 6, 1989: Kechia Jenkins, Alyson Williams, Sweet Tee, Russell Patterson, Silicon Chip featuring the Turntable Orchestra”

BEATS & PIECES

ARTHUR BAKER and the backbeat disciples’ richly produced Latin/house freestyle ‘It’s Your Time‘, featuring Britain’s Shirley Lewis on main (but by no means all) vocals, has been circulated by Breakout initially as a promo 12 inch twinpack in seven mixes, the (0-)119¼-0bpm N.Y.C. Vocal (although at first incongruously Cockney accented!), 118¾-0bpm Jazz Version and N.Y.C. Vocal Without Rap, (0-)118½bpm Peech Dub and Bass Mix, 118½bpm All City Mix and 909 Instrumental Dub Mix … ‘Back To Life‘ will, but not until May 22, be the remixed follow-up by Soul II Soul, whose album is so much in demand (as previously reported) that the sleeve of the latest hastily pressed batch is no longer a golden mustard colour, having become a cheaper watery yellow instead! … The Funky Worm’s initially promoted commercial A-side ‘u + me = love (12″ version)‘ merely features support singing by Ten City, whose actual remix is indeed along with an instrumental on the commercial flip — hopefully that clarifies last week’s deliberate confusion! … Sheffield’s Living In A Box realised with horror that their new ‘Gatecrashing’ title might be seen as insensitive following the disaster at the Hillsborough soccer stadium in their own home town, and have had the single withdrawn … Merlin here and Big Daddy Kane in the States would appear to be temporarily out of circulation, the naughty boys! … KISS-fm, already joined by SOLAR’s station manager Tony Monson, has also been joined by Graham Gold (at the expense of his own S.O.U.L. plans) to present a stronger united application as a black music station for the Greater London VHF/FM incremental licence, with financial backing headed by printing company Centurion Press … Disco Mix Club is again organising a special travel and accommodation package for New York’s New Music Seminar between July 13-20, costing £747 based on sharing a twin room at the event’s venue, the staggering Marriott Marquis hotel (the single rate is £1,076) — details from John ‘Superstar’ Saunderson on 06286-67276 … WEA’s man of the year (last year, that is!), Fred Dove is marrying on June 3 Zoe Glitherow, until recently his assistant in the club promotion department — any guesses who’ll be doing the disco? … Champion next month release the import hits by Velma Wright and Doug Lazy … US newies that I didn’t have time to review in full this week include (and this one would have been lead review!) the Fly Guys produced terrific timelessly trotting Kechia Jenkins ‘Still Waiting‘ (Profile), 115⅕bpm in its rapidly BPM-ed Fly Guy Mix; Fast Eddie remixed Cookie Crew-ish subdued hip house Sweet Tee ‘Let’s Dance‘ (Profile), likewise 118⅘bpm in its Hip House Mix; Virginia recorded pleasant datedly flavoured huskily soulful infectious sparse go go-cum-swingbeat Dadzie’s New Image ‘Get You Girl‘ (Dadzie Records), 99⅔-99⅚bpm in its Extended Mix; Lamya cooed and panted female Raze ‘Break 4 Love’ answering Razette ‘Ready 4 Love‘ (Da SHEET Records); Masters At Work created sparse house instrumental nine-track (groan!) “Power House” ‘It’s Power House Brooklyn Style‘ (Nugroove); Robert Brookins produced slow tapping jiggly street soul Sue Ann ‘Pleasure‘ (MCA Records); monotonous now suddenly dated seeming downtempo rap Public Enemy ‘Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos‘ (Def Jam) … UK newies similarly include the also lead review worthy CJ Mackintosh & Dave Dorrell remixed go go/hip hop/swingbeat Alyson Williams featuring Nikki-D ‘My Love Is So Raw‘ (Def Jam), around 0-106⅔-106½-0bpm (for fully accurate BPMs of course, check The Club Chart); Coldcut remixed superb atmospheric slowly jogging and weaving reggae accented Cleveland Watkiss ‘Spend Some Time‘ (Urban); urgently rumbling fast rap Mink featuring 2wic-e The Trouble ‘Hey! Hey! Can You Relate?‘ (FON); title repeating attractive gently undulating downtempo dated jogging jazz-funky street soul instrumental Greedy Beat Syndicate ‘This Is London‘ (Greedy Beat Records), reminiscent of Light Of The World ‘London Town’; aggressively rapped jerkily jiggling hip house Mad Mission ‘Energy‘ (Greedy Beat Records); “don’t stop, don’t stop, keep on” repeating solidly pushing jiggly disco instrumental Mr Monday ‘Keep On‘ (Greedy Beat Records); apparently Steve Proctor created clichéd samples crammed frantic hip house-cum-acid Technodelia ‘Technodelia‘ (white label); disappointingly dull Paula Adbul-style jolting Cherrelle ‘Affair (Steamy Affair Mix)‘ (Tabu) … LPs include the variety filled (17 tracks including a bonus 12 inch) but somewhat scrappy and under-produced Coldcut ‘What’s That Noise?’ (Ahead Of Our Time); typical timeless Delfonics-like sweet Philly soul (with some chunkier current swingbeat) Blue Magic ‘From Out Of The Blue’ (OBR); Master ‘The Beatcreator’ Tee produced compilation ‘The Rebel Presents …’ (Intrigue/Unyque Artists), containing hip house, street soul, acieed and straight house by Too Tuff, Soul Connection, Nemisis, Deluxe, The Beatcreator and The Rebel featuring MC ‘Superjam’ IB … Radical Records’ ‘This Is War’ compilation turns out to have divided some of the tracks from the original ‘Rap Trax Volume One’ import set with StreetSounds/DJ International Records’ rival ‘Hip House’ compilation, both UK LPs being augmented by a few tracks from other sources … Radical’s Virgo album does indeed contain all four tracks from the current Virgo Four 12 inch import, plus four others … I’m sorry I don’t have time to BPM everything immediately, but in this age of multi-track import singles it often takes me half an hour to monitor just one 12 inch — hopefully this system which seems to be evolving, where I at least list and briefly describe what’s new, is of some help? … I hear on the grapevine that someone reckons that The Club Chart recently contained a white label of which allegedly I had been sent the only copy, but I cannot imagine what this supposedly was as absolutely nothing gets into that chart without thoroughly researched sales and/or DJ plays (there isn’t any room for flights of fantasy when my main priority is to clear the roadblock of deserving genuine “breakers” that are always struggling to make the 100!) — so think again, whoever is spreading such a silly rumour! … DJs, while we’re on the subject, please do try to get your charts to us by Wednesday, even when FAX-ing them, as it’s such a frustrating waste when fresh new ones don’t arrive in time — also, plugging companies, please stop sending us duplicates of charts we already receive, as they only confuse the issue! … Dino’s only recently reviewed ‘24/7‘ is now out here (Fourth & Broadway 12BRW 128), UK pressings being 86⅐-0bpm with a 115¼-0bpm flip — the 25 year old singer turns out to have been music director of KCEP, the leading black music radio station in Las Vegas, before he began recording himself … I stumbled across (while rummaging through all my old James Brown albums to try and trace a sample) the 1969 Marva Whitney ‘It’s My Thing’ LP and now see that DJ Mark The 45 King was mistaken in his memory of the title of what turns out to be ‘Unwind Yourself‘, the intro sax of which it is that has particular “numerical” significance! … Chris Philips & Paul Bennun have their latest P’funk and purple Get On Down night this Thursday (27) at Exeter Quay’s Warehouse … Martin Collins, Bob Masters. Simon Dunmore, Gary Dennis, Steve Jason, Tony Fernandez, Chris Browne, Dougie Osbourne, Danny Smith, Richard Routledge, and Dean ‘N’ Richie jock across five separate sessions in two clubs, Tiffanys and Scruples, at this Sat/Sun/Monday’s 2nd Great Yarmouth Soul Weekender, for which you arrange your own bed and breakfast accommodation (full details 0733-558355 office hours) … Jeff Young, Pete Tong, Chris Brown, Chris Dinnis, Sean French and Bob Smith host this Sunday’s noon-midnight It’s About Time Soul Event alldayer at Plymouth’s Academy (details 0752-600978) … Rick Robinson, Mark Carrera, Gary G and guests skipper a Sunday midnight-Bank Holiday Monday 6am disco cruise on the Thames, £15 if joined at Greenwich pier or £18 including a coach trip from Bexleyheath’s Drayman … Bank Holiday Monday’s evening gigs include a Shindig at Peterborough’s Videotek with the inevitable Steve Allen, Nik Graham and more, while The Big Sleeze! is above Gillingham’s Catch 22 with Tim Westwood, Pete Tong, Gilles Peterson, Norman Jay, Eddie Gordon, Aadil, Maggot, and Craig & Marcus … South Ockendon, Essex DJ Dave Pinney aka The Pinney Project (0708-852872) is looking for club or pub work while his usual venue is closed … Bobby Brown’s current ‘Every Little Step‘ import appears to be the theme tune to the upcoming ‘Ghostbusters II’ movie … I don’t know what LWT are playing at: two weekends ago they were back with a full night time TV service in London, advertising ‘The Hit Man And Her’ at 4am but then just showing a half hour edited highlights version at 4.30am instead — again, hiss, boo! … WOOO! YEAH!

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HOT VINYL

BIG DADDY KANE ‘Wrath Of Kane’ (Cold Chillin’ W2973T)
Finally out here after being huge on import, this excitingly frenetic fast talking 125⅓-0bpm hip house-ish rap ‘n’ scratch (coming to an abrupt dead stop halfway which DJ Mister “Cee” brings back with a slithery scratching restart) is now flipped for excellent value by the brand new gently jiggling 104⅔bpm calmly reassuring ‘Rap Summary (Lean On Me)‘ — otherwise only available on the ‘Lean On Me’ import soundtrack album — plus his now not so recent album’s revamped jittery chatting and scratching 110⅚bpm ‘Raw (Remix)’, this latter being rather too rudely worded for airplay!

CHAKA KHAN ‘I’m Every Woman (Remix)’ (Warner Bros W2963T)
With the unfamiliar new intro that nobody recognised before Chaka actually arrived on stage at the Albert Hall, Dancin’ Danny’s long awaited clompingly surging and swirling 0-114-113⅔-114-112¾-113½-114⅓-114¼(break)-114⅔-115⅓-115⅔-115½-0bpm remix (half an hour to BPM completely, thanks a ton!) cleverly keeps all the flavour of 1978’s original while being drastically different from the old short 114⅓-113-113⅔-114⅓-115½bpm version, included for comparison (along with an edit of the remix). Obviously it will delight all those who dread the rigidly overdubbed modern style of remixing, as Danny appears to have taken little advantage of digital technology!

ROQUI ‘Lover’ (US Nugroove NG-014)
Rheji Burrell (the more prolific twin!) created terrific bright jauntily jiggling 120⅗bpm girl wailed happy halfway meeting between the hip house and swingbeat rhythms, in five mixes (plus acappella), which those DJs more into the latter beat are vari-speeding down to a slower tempo. Dig the Terry Burrus “vibes” especially in the Super Club Mix! Essential. Continue reading “April 29, 1989: Big Daddy Kane, Chaka Khan, Roqui, Inner City, The Biddu Orchestra”

BEATS & PIECES

Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Murphy were the co-hosts of last Wednesday’s Soul Train Black Music Awards on US TV, presenting the awards to such superstars as Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones and Anita Baker while the likes of Whitney Houston looked on, from the equally star studded audience! … Dancin’ Danny D’s long awaited clompingly striding 0-114-114⅓-115½-0bpm remix of Chaka Khan ‘I’m Every Woman’ will finally be released here next week … WEA have scheduled The Funky Worm’s 12 inch as having a Club Mix A-side, flipped by a Ten City remix plus a dub; however, FON have pre-empted them by circulating a promo labelled as The Funky Worm + Ten City x The Fon Force = U + Me = Love (Club), flipped by The Funky Worm x The Fon Force = U + Me = Love (Dub), both of these somewhat Yazz-ishly vocal but Brass Construction-ishly instrumental fluid treatments of the Undisputed Truth ‘U + Me = Love’ being 121⅚bpm – make of this confusion what you can … Soul II Soul’s album is flying out so fast that the EMI pressing plant can’t keep up with demand! … Les Adams’ currently hot reputation in the States is the result of his remake (only retaining the original vocal) of Maurice ‘This Is Acid’ topping first the Club Play and then the 12-inch Singles Sales charts in Billboard – the US trade magazine which nowadays, incidentally, refers to “new jack swing” rather than “swingbeat” … The Real Roxanne’s video for ‘Roxanne’s On A Roll’ is evidently a send-up of Elvis Presley’s 1964 movie, ‘Love In Las Vegas’, complete with Elvis lookalike! … Paula Abdul’s follow-up is a straight reissue of last September’s LA & Babyface created wriggly trotting 116⅙bpm ‘Knocked Out’ (Siren SRNT 92), in which you may remember much multi-tracking disguised her squeaky voice’s limitations (nobody denies she looks cute in her videos, which are what sell her records) … UK pressings of 2 Live Crew ‘Yakety Yak’ (Epic 654798 6) are exactly as reviewed on import, except the 7” Radio Mix is replaced by ‘Mega-Mixx 2’, an Incredible Bongo Band based excellent 0-113½bpm scratching mix of famous break beats … US imports I had no time to review fully this week (wanting to get rid of the backlog first) include the bass bubbled sinuous hip house T La Rock ‘Housin’ With The T’s’ (Fresh); ‘Funky President’ sampling New Edition-style excitingly churning swingbeat Robert Brookins ‘Don’t Tease Me’ (MCA Records); Rheji Burrell created girl sung hip house meets swingbeat-ish (best if slowed down on vari-speed decks!) Roqui ‘Lover’ (Nugroove); Howie Tee produced jogging conversational rap Special Ed ‘I Got It Made’ (Profile); Parliament quoting funkily bumping rap MC Hammer ‘Turn This Mutha Out’ (Capitol); remixed bubbly leaping (but not another ‘Turn Up The Bass’) Tyree ‘Hard Core Hip House’ (DJ International Records); het up New York house Private House ‘Don’t Turn Away’ (Easy Street); sampled driven drily drummed soulful house Rickster presents KLE ‘We Got The Music’ (Underworld); Smack Music Productions created mournfully muttered and catchily saxed Hendrix ‘Me Wanna See Ya Dance’ (Easy Street); Samantha Fox answering jerky fast rap Steady B ‘Nasty Girls’ (Jive); wriggly shrill smacking Apollonia ‘Mismatch’ (Warner Bros); poor value (‘Weekend’ flipped) dull instrumental The Todd Terry Project ‘The Circus’ (Fresh) … UK newies likewise include the surprisingly garage-ish strings backed bumpily striding The Biddu Orchestra ‘Humanity’ (Trax); ‘Magic Juan’ Atkins mixed bumpily thudding girls chanted though mainly instrumental Bang ‘You’re The One’ (RCA); Les Adams remade (again retaining just the vocal) throbbingly shuffling Burrell ‘Put Your Trust In The Music’ (10 Records); Paul Hardcastle created, Kevin Henry sung and self harmonised tuggingly meandering First Light ‘Loving You’ (Sgt Pepper’s); delicately tapping and jittering sweet girl wailed pleasant dated street soul Zushii ‘There Ain’t Enough Love’ (First Base) … Froggy and Flip funk Rainham’s Berwick Manor for the next few Saturdays … Paul DJ Gotel presents Simon Dunmore, Bob Jones and Gary Dennis spinning “real soul” at JB’s Soulmine every Sunday afternoon (noon-5pm) for over-20s in Ealing’s Haven Stables (good restaurant included) … Chris Brown likewise is Out To Lunch spinning soul, jazz and underground sounds every Sunday (noon-3pm) at Bagshot’s The Hero … Chris Dinnis and Bob Smith have their now monthly real soul Humdinger next Tuesday (25) at Exeter’s Boxes … Ian Levine has actually stopped DJing at Heaven because, he says, “Once the Hi-NRG chart had gone, I thought what’s the point?” … Naisha ‘One Step At A Time’ has been belatedly picked up here by PWL Records, perhaps not so surprisingly considering the Hi-NRG element that I always considered was present in this Clivilles & Cole created recent import hit … Raul featuring J. Bonnell ‘Guitarra’ has at last been picked up here, by Rhyme ‘n’ Reason Records … Koxo Band ‘Paradhouse Remix’ was one of the Balearic sounds discovered by Nicky Holloway on a visit to Ibiza last May, and big for him ever since … Nottingham’s def dude Graeme Park has been globetrotting between jocking jobs in New York, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Milan – with stopovers back home to fit in a few of his regular gigs! … New York’s Big Beat label owning Craig Kallman spent eight months jocking in London, primarily at The Wag – which must explain his consistent sensibility for the right on sounds! … Kraze, of ‘The Party’, were earlier Moon-Fou, of the much sampled ‘Shut Up!’ … Mysty Day has replaced Starlena Young as the new partner of Curtis Jones in the vocal duo Déjà … London, far from getting two blasts of ‘The Hitman And Her’ now that the sadly missed Night Network is no more, doesn’t get any at all – London Weekend Television amazingly, and stupidly, closing down around 3.30am on Saturday and Sunday mornings! Hiss, boo! … WOOO! YEAH!

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HOT VINYL

THE 45 KING ‘The Red The Black The Green’ (US Tuff City TUF RV-01)
Instantly snapped up by all his fans, DJ Mark’s LaKim Shabazz rapped typical funky JB-type break beat backed 105bpm chugger is, as exclusively announced, on red vinyl – but without the black and green label he had also hoped for – coupled by the break beat looping attractive Crown Heights Affair scatted catchy 116⅗bpm ‘Dance, Dance, Dance’, percussively strolling 101⅔bpm ‘Simply Dope, Part 1’, jiggly saxed 104bpm ‘Simply Dope, Part 2’, and tapping drummed 95⅔bpm ‘First Choice’.

DOUBLE TROUBLE & THE REBEL M.C. ‘Just Keep Rockin’’ (Desire WANTX 9)
Credibly following Longsy D’s House Sound, this terrific leaper combines ‘The Liquidator’ with “woo/yeah” repetition and skanking “riddim” vocals in the skacid 0-123⅗bpm Sk’ouse Mix, and samples Michael Jackson’s ‘Don’t Stop’ bass in the enthusiastic 0-123⅕-123⅗-124bpm Hip House Mix (which indeed is exactly that, with no ska influence). Double Trouble? Double sided dynamite!

THE PRESS GANG ‘Money (Club Mix)’ (TMT 12TTT-1003, via Priority/BMG)
Beverley Brown cooed and brightly emphatic guys chanted friskily tumbling and leaping 121½bpm excellent catchy skipper (more frantic bubbling stuttery 122¾-0bpm Dub Mix), hard to categorise as it’s refreshingly original – although Beverley is something like a street soul Yazz!

ARNOLD JARVIS ‘Take Some Time Out’ (RePublic Records LICT 024)
1987’s mournfully nagged garage classic has been much remixed for UK 12 inch release (not until May 2 but hot already on promo), Tommy Musto & Yvonne Turner creating the jittery lurching 118½bpm Breakin’ Bones and 118½-0bpm Dubbin Bones Mixes, while the label’s own Shy Boys, Dave Lee & Mark Ryder, made the perhaps stronger more sparsely striding 118bpm Rugged Riddim and 0-117⅘bpm Real Dub Mixes. Any similarity of the bassline to ‘Definition Of A Track’ from the ‘Back To Basics’ EP could be more than coincidental! Continue reading “April 22, 1989: The 45 King, Double Trouble & The Rebel M.C., The Press Gang, Arnold Jarvis, Bad Boy Orchestra”

BEATS & PIECES

JACQUELINE KHAN is setting up the totally independent Radical Records to rival her hubby Morgan Khan’s own Westside operation — distributed by Spartan, the label’s first releases will be the recent ‘Rap Trax Volume One’ album (here retitled ‘This Is War‘) and the Virgo Four newie … Linda Rogers is leaving Phonogram to run, as label manager, a London office for Brian Carter’s Germany based BCM Records — her old employers, meanwhile, would appear to be phasing out the Club logo and setting up a new dance label … Nigel ‘Nick’ Halkes is leaving Secret Promotions to take over Paul Kindred’s old position as club promotions manager at CityBeat … UK pressings of last week’s lead review, The Neville Brothers ‘Sister Rosa’ (Breakout USAT 656), still have Public Enemy’s here 0-97½-97⅔bpm 12″ Remix, 97⅔bpm Dub Version and 0-97⅔bpm 7″ Edit, but replace the original LP Version with Aaron Neville’s typically melismatic (0-)25-24⅓-0bpm reading of Sam Cooke’s ‘A Change Is Gonna Come’ (which appropriately of course had a disguised civil rights message, too) … The Beatmasters with Merlin ‘Who’s In The House’ turns out to be in a less resonant, more cleanly leaping mix on commercial pressings (still 124-0bpm), actual remixes having yet to be made — likewise, Freshski Dames ‘Kickin’ It Live’ is in a less shrill mix (still 0-104bpm) on its commercial pressings, flipped now though by the girls’ frenetic jittery ‘Think (About It)’ tempoed (0-)113½bpm ‘Stay Bad’ (Mango Street 1215 407) … Blue Magic ‘Romeo And Juliet (Vocal Remix)’ appears to be out here (QBR 654769 6), but UK pressings have not been promoted … Midnight Star’s most recent, eponymously titled, album — reviewed on import months ago — has unexpectedly just come out here (MCA Records MCG 6041) … LaKim Shabazz’s album has been picked up here by Sure Delight, with the first single scheduled as its ‘Pure Righteousness‘ title track (perhaps misguidedly in view of overwhelming DJ support for ‘Adding On‘) … ‘Wrath Of Kane‘ will finally be out here by Big Daddy Kane (who, despite huge hip hop popularity on import, has yet to amass significant UK sales), coupled with not only the older ‘Raw’ but also his brand new ‘Rap Summary‘ — the track for which people have been buying the ‘Lean On Me’ soundtrack album! … 10 Records have picked up Taravhonty … RCA will soon be reissuing classics from the Prelude catalogue, remixed by Backroom Productions (the team behind Jomanda) … Simon Walsh’s club plugging Music Enterprises Ltd has moved to The Courtyard, 42 Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9EY (01 -741 5515) … MCPS, the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society, is building a computerised national discography detailing every recorded track ever released, and needs for a full time job someone with a specialist interest in dance music (including reggae) to help compile the exhaustive data — contact Godfrey Rust (01-769 4400) … UK releases I had neither time nor room to review in full include the pop-aimed datedly volume pumping jerky Humanoid ‘Slam‘ (Westside); Magic Juan produced Reese & Santonio remaking but now pop-pitched Lisa M ‘Rock To The Beat‘ (Jive); washing machine style scurrying instrumental Bizarre Inc ‘Technological‘ (Blue Chip “R&B”); volume pumping style vocodered shrill twittery leaping Mass Reaction ‘Can You Feel The Beat’ (Immaculate); starkly ticking sweet street soul Nemesis featuring Rosaline Joyce ‘Heartbreaker‘ (Intrigue); bouncily tugging jiggly jogging swingbeat-ish Al Jarreau ‘All Or Nothing At All‘ (WEA); surprisingly house-style twittering and samples studded vigorous Debbie Gibson ‘Electric Youth‘ (Atlantic); Prince mixed jerkily lurching but sweetly whispered Wendy & Lisa ‘Lolly Lolly‘ (Virgin) … US imports ditto include the interesting emptily tapping then synthetically orchestrated instrumental L.B. Bad ‘New Age House‘ (United Sounds of America); falsetto guy wailed classily subdued throbbing and jangling Paris Brightledge ‘Learn To Love‘ (DJ International Records); scratching (and scratchy sounding!) fierce rap Uptown ‘Dope On Plastic‘ (Tommy Boy); The Jaz rapped and group souled jerky rolling strange O’Jays ‘Have You Had Your Love Today‘ (EMI) … Fareham bedroom DJ Dan Almond (0329-280376) is desperate for a 12 inch of Brother D ‘How We Gonna Make The Black Nation Rise’, good price paid … Leroy Hutson and Bobby Thurston are live at Brixton’s Fridge this Thursday (13), when Uxbridge’s Regals reopens with new Thirties decor … M-D-Emm’s scratching Mark Ryder joins resident jock Paul Marks at Southend-on-Sea’s Rain discotheque on Fridays, when John Matthews packs Richmond-on-Thames’ hot and heaving Park Avenue … Rob Huntley hip hops Solution Sundays at Broadstairs’ free admission Charles Dickens (evening pub hours) … Chris Paul and Chris Forbes are building up Blue Mondays with pure house and garage (positively NO Balearic!) at London’s Camden Palace … Eon Irving points out that the ‘Funky Drummer’ backing of Sweet Tee ‘As The Beat Goes On‘ combines perfectly with Alyson Williams ‘Sleep Talk‘ … Bobby Brown’s on stage dancing, to judge from TV’s ‘Big World Café’ clip, seems to have interestingly African-like exciting intensity … TV being on as I write, I’ve just been struck by the surprising similarity of lugubrious talking style between Julian Clary of the Joan Collins Fan Club, and the less camp but equally dog loving Sir Clement Freud! … Candy J, whose raunchy ‘Desirable Revenge‘ was recently reviewed, turns out not to be quite the woman she appears, evidently being a notorious Chicago transexual … James Brown seemed much on some journalists’ minds in the week ending April the First! … WOOO! YEAH!

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BRUCE FOREST is the New York DJ who came to fame via a legendary long residency at the Club Better Days, but is better known here as one of America’s best remixers. He recorded his favourite “rimshot” effect sample in an unorthodox way that may inspire others: he found an alley full of (sound deadening) snow, cleared a patch of concrete and threw a golfball at it. Whack!

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HOT VINYL

SOUL II SOUL ‘Club Classics Vol. One’ (10 Records DIX 82)
Cheekily titled, this excellent and obviously destined to be massive album is crisply produced by Jazzie B and Nellie Hooper, Jazzie’s own rapping being rather like a London/Jamaican accented Gil Scott Heron, although of course it’s Caron Wheeler who sweetly sings the slinky smash 93⅙bpm ‘Keep On Movin’‘ and wails the 0-101bpm ‘Back To Life (Acapella)’ preamble to the then continuing, Jazzie expounded 0-101bpm ‘Jazzie’s Groove’, Rose Windross who hauntingly warbles the act’s debut jiggly jogging 0-101⅓bpm ‘Fairplay‘, and Do’reen who quavers the less successful weavingly jolting 84-0bpm ‘Feel Free‘ and new half-stepping jiggly garage-ish 112bpm ‘Happiness (Dub)‘, leaving Jazzie to the Zulu chanted afro-house 117⅘-0bpm ‘Holdin’ On (Bambelela)‘, rolling simple 91⅚bpm ‘Feelin Free (Live Rap)‘, and lazily chatted 105-104⅚-105bpm ‘Dance‘, of which latter the flute tootled gently pattering 104⅚-105-104⅚bpm ‘African Dance’ is an instrumental — and the set’s standout?

THE REAL ROXANNE ‘Roxanne’s On A Roll’ (US Select FMS62334)
Based on the rolling organ and brass (and “all right” rather than “yeah — wooo!”) from Lyn Collins’ ‘Think (About It)’, plus a scratched in “The R” from Eric B & Rakim, Omar Santana’s remix of this infectious rap jiggler stays close to producers Jam Master Jay and the LA Posse’s original in the A-side’s 114⅓-114-114⅓-114bpm Extended Version, 114½bpm Instrumental and LP Version (Radio Edit), but branches out in the flip’s acidically twittered 115bpm Deep House Mix and 115-0bpm Hip Dub Mix, and chunkily broken down 115-0bpm Deep Dub Mix.

JOMANDA ‘Make My Body Rock’ (RCA PT 42750)
Originally credited to singer/co-writer Cheri Williams when part of New York Underground Records’ ‘Back To Basics’ EP before being hot for months as by Jomanda in its remixed form on Big Beat import, this girls wailed here 122⅔-0bpm friskily vigorous galloper is now in yet another brand new, much improved, percussively pattering Club Mix Sweet (with a sparse bongos breakdown near the end), its Sweet 7″ Mix, plus the import’s instrumental The Stomp Version and more fluidly driving (0-)122⅔-0bpm Supremely Clubbed mix. Continue reading “April 15, 1989: Soul II Soul, The Real Roxanne, Jomanda, New Edition, Raze presents Doug Lazy”

BEATS & PIECES

PRESTATYN 5 was generally considered a much better weekender than the previous one last November, when the bottom had just fallen out of “acieed” leaving a void that this time was filled with quite a lot of “swingbeat”, as a useful bridge between rap and soul — even so, if any one record stood out it was, to my mind, A Guy Called Gerald ‘Voodoo Ray’ … Soul II Soul made an impressive addition to Easter Sunday afternoon’s line-up, along with Adeva (who lustily rolled on her back with legs apart in the air!) and De La Soul … Ten City’s romper-suited Byron Stingily was possibly the most soulful singer ever at a Prestatyn, his partner Byron Burke doing an incredible shimmying dance … Chaka Khan is tipped as a live attraction at Prestatyn 6 (November 3/4/5, advance booking details on 01-364 1212), presuming that her remixed and reissued oldies will have brought her back to the fore by then! … North Wales, as anyone who stayed on after the weekender will confirm, looked lovely last week with blossom, flowers, budding leaves and warm sunshine as if early May — I added to my already great knowledge of the area by exploring the rather Lake District-like hills and villages (such as Rowen) of the western Conwy valley, and famously picturesque Anglesey side of the Menai Strait … Cutmaster Swift was celebrating his world win along with DJs Pogo, Jay and Biznizz by making an annual trip to Prestatyn — and then on my return I found them all buying imports off Jon Jules at Rayners Lane’s Record & Disco Centre! … 1988’s Technics World DJ Mixing champion, Cash Money has left the UK after amazingly beating up one of his tour promoter’s employees, for which he was arrested, fined, and given two years’ probation should he ever return … Denmark’s very first “end of weeker” (rather than weekender) is Thurs-Saturday April 20/21/22 at Copenhagen’s Coma Club: starring Will Downing, Todd Terry, Raze, Coldcut, T La Rock, Odyssey plus DJs Gail ‘Sky’ King, Johnny Walker, Norman Jay, Bob Jones, Gilles Peterson, Bob Masters, Jazzy M, the local Delgardo and Kenneth Baker — details from Bob Jones (0702-710293) or Jazzy M (01-384 2320) … Martin Collins’ new “pop soul” shows on Capital Radio start next Saturday (15) with a 3-5pm slot between Peter Young and Pete Tong, while he’s also presenting Sunday through Thursday 10pm- 1 am (expect other changes at the station, too) … Robbie Vincent, declaring a vehement lack of intention to see the film ‘Scandal’, let slip the stunning revelation that it was he, as a cub reporter for London’s Evening Standard, who broke the news to Christine Keeler that Stephen Ward was dead … Jeff Young returns to Swansea Martha’s Vineyard next Monday (10) … I take it that Theo Loyla’s letter last week refers to “the silent majority” of small town DJs who consistently made such big hits out of all the records he promoted during the last years of his career as a disco plugger? (Theo lives in a glasshouse near Herne Bay) … WOOO! YEAH!

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PRESTATYN JOCKS in their “Satanic Verses” finale regalia! Back-row (I to r): Gilles Peterson, Johnny Walker, Martin Collins, Chris Forbes, Pete Tong, Paul Oakenfold, Sean French, Eddie Gordon, Chris Brown. Front row (kneeling): Ian Reading, Froggy, Chris Hill, Jeff Young, Nicky Holloway, Kev Hill

DE LA SOUL arrived at Prestatyn only just in the nick of time, hours late, having battled through the holiday traffic from Manchester airport by black cab!

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HOT VINYL

THE NEVILLE BROTHERS ‘Sister Rosa (12″ Remix)’ (US A&M SP-12306)
The veteran New Orleans soulsters are rapping and chanting their thanks to pioneering civil rights campaigners Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King in this perhaps incongruous to purists but terrific hip hop-ishly jiggling ultra funky 0-97⅔-97⅚bpm remix by none other than the Public Enemy crew of Eric Sadler and Hank & Keith Shocklee, sampling Sly & The Family Stone’s ‘Thank You (Falettinme Be Mice Elf Agin)’ and Dr King’s “free at last”, far removed from the loosely undulating original 0-89⅔-90⅓-90⅔-91bpm LP Version (piano jangled 97⅔-97⅚bpm Dub Version and 0-97⅔bpm 7″ Edit of 12″ Remix, too). Crucial!

TARAVHONTY ‘I Can’t Hide’ (US Big Beat BB-005)
David Morales mixed outstandingly neat and classy, mournful guy moaned, group chanted and piano jangled throbbing cool lazily striding pshta pshta driven 119⅕bpm garage roller, in five mixes (0-119⅕-0bpm The Aftermath), sure to be big. This label’s output is so consistent!

CIRCUIT featuring KOFFI ‘Shelter’ (Collision Records 12CIR 1, via The Cartel)
Wailing good Ten City-ish bassily tumbling and bumbling lushly orchestrated 121 bpm home-grown house hustler, initially promoed as a dodgy white label “scam”, with two more rawly broken down garage-ish B-side versions. Continue reading “April 8, 1989: The Neville Brothers, Taravhonty, Circuit featuring Koffi, Little Steven, Urban Jazz LP”

BEATS & PIECES

CHRIS PAUL has created his own London Jazz Remix of Vicky Martin’s ‘Not Gonna Do It’, giving her acappella a new backing, which MCA Records turned down having already prepared their own release but which radio DJs Pete Tong, Jeff Young and Chris Forbes have been hammering so much instead that now MCA are getting orders for it — and Chris has actually sold it back to its original US label, Movin’ Records, as Vicky herself loves it! … BMG’s disco man Eddie Gordon attempted to pull a scam with the new Five Star ‘Heartbeat‘ (Tent PB 42693), having white label promos pressed in the US as being by Vector and then describing the lightly juddering jiggly 108bpm trotter in a mailout as “L.A. R&B in the shape of Karyn White/Sheena Easton etc” — the only trouble was, the promos took so long arriving that the group had already been on TV several times plugging the song! … kc Flightt ‘Planet E‘ is due for rush release here now to meet massive orders — such a rush job in fact that the original import pressing has been circulated (the UK pressing will be RCA PT 49404) … Jody Watley ‘Real Love’ has been promoed here as a twinpack (MCA Records JW 1) with all the import’s mixes plus two new radio edits, which I wouldn’t have thought entirely necessary! … Simon Harris and Bruce Forest discovered that they both share a passion for cartoons, collecting especially Warner Bros classics — hopefully that clears up last week’s puzzle, another clarification being that Tony Prince at the International DJ Convention announced Derrick May as “Derek B”, and then seemed to think he was Kevin Saunderson! … Philadelphia’s hottest producer of recent years, Nick Martinelli was due to be gaoled by March 13 for three years and fined for $25,000 for selling cocaine, the offence apparently occurring in 1981 … Bobby Brown’s current UK version of ‘Don’t Be Cruel’ appears to be the Timmy Regisford & Eddie Gordon remix, hard to tell from a creditless white label promo … Jomanda’s commercial pressing here will have a new Sweet Mix as A-side, flipped by the import’s Supremely Clubbed version (with a harder Latin remix to follow) … Ten City apparently “demanded” to remix The Funky Worm’s April 17 released Brass Construction meet Norman Whitfield type ‘U + Me = Love’, their mix being the B-side, while FON Force returned the favour with their remix of ‘Devotion’ … Toni Scott’s “edit” and “instrumental” turn out on commercial copies to be respectively the T.U.X. Mix and R.T.Z Mix … Capitol are reissuing Maze ‘Joy And Pain’ to try and head off the two current remakes, coupled with ‘Twilight’ — wouldn’t now be a good opportunity finally to include also Les Adams’ excellent but unreleased ‘Maze Megamix‘?… Lisa Horan, no longer at Syncopate, is now Derek B’s personal assistant and running his reactivated Tuff Audio label … Friday (31) Sugar Bear scandalizes Newcastle-upon-Tyne’s Walker’s at the Dance Society, while Colin Faver, Norman Jay, Simon Dunmore, Marco and Flem soul High Society at Ealing College’s Mandela Rooms … Tim Westwood is in the house Saturday (1) at Gravesend’s The Slammer … Mike ‘Hitman’ Wilson guests with DJ Kid Bachelor at Sunday’s first weekly Musika! night in London Shaftesbury Avenue’s Shaftesburys … Arthur Baker did a useful house remix of, if you can believe it, the Gipsy Kings’ ‘Bamboleo’, but it never came out … US imports that I haven’t had time to review fully (presupposing all the ones I did write fit this week!) include the jittery leaping “electro-house” Unknown DJ ‘Basstronic‘ (Techno Kut), Teddy Riley produced inevitably swingbeat jiggly soulful swaying Déjà ‘Made To Be Together‘ (Virgin), NWA associated (but clean!) rumbling enthusiastic go go-ish “live” rap Eazy-E ‘We Want Eazy (Remix)‘ (Ruthless), over jerkily lurching jittery Guy ‘I Like‘ (Uptown), Lenny Dee & Frankie Bones created variously tempoed electronic instrumental nine track ‘New Grooves‘ EP (nugroove), ditto disappointingly dated acidic Frankie “Bones” presents ‘Bonesbreaks Volume 3‘ (Underworld), samples woven simple starkly cantering “techno” 24-7-365 ‘Sample That!‘ (KMS), house samples backed jauntily leaping (and mildly filthy, heterosexually!) The Buggers ‘I Can’t Wait For Love‘ (Animal), samples studded jerkily bounding (with similar “pussy/dick” references!) Clubb ‘So Hot‘ (Bassment), War ‘Low Rider’ based rhythmically ambiguous 71⅔/143⅓bpm bouncily jerking The 7A3 ‘Drums Of Steel‘ (Geffen) … I can’t claim actually to have met Christine Keeler but often spoke to her when answering the telephone while staying in late 1963 at the Chelsea house of an old school friend, who, young and impressionable, was her boyfriend at the time and driving her to and from court every day for the Lucky Gordon assault trial, during which she was convicted of perjury — in fact, I knew many of the peripheral figures whose names figured in the newspapers back then, my first experience of “pot” being in such company, and can vouch for the accurate flavour of the film ‘Scandal’ … Ten City, Kym Mazelle, Cookie Crew, Adeva, Longsy D, Chanelle, De La Soul, Monie Love, Jomanda, MC Duke, Smith & Mighty, Jimi Polo and Heather Austyn were the stars due to appear at Prestatyn over the Easter weekender — pix ‘n info next week ! … WOOO! YEAH!

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Stanton DJ Award winners at the Royal Albert Hall during the World DJ Mixing Championship finals included:

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MARK JAMES, better known as DJ MARK THE 45 KING, started out as a “record feeder” for another DJ, which is how he got to know so many rare old seven inch funk singles’ break beats (Marva Whitney’s ‘Wind Up‘, for instance, has particularly numerical significance, hint hint!). Having recently produced Doug E Fresh and remixed the Wee Papa Girl Rappers’ Wee Rule’, his next import 12 inch featuring La Kim will be ‘The Red, The Black, The Green‘, on red vinyl with a half black, half green label. Oh yes, older than previously misinformed, he is in fact 27!

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HOT VINYL

TEN CITY ‘Devotion’ (Atlantic A8916T)
Reissued classic Marshall Jefferson produced ethereally wailed stratospheric Sylvester-ish soaring string sawed churner, always a club smash and destined now to cross over at last, here in 123bpm Club Mix and Instrumental, plus a brand new FON Force created totally different percussion bumped 0-123⅔-0bpm The Voice Of Paradise Mix.

A GUY CALLED GERALD ‘Voodoo Ray (Remix)’ (Rham! RX8804)
Selling better largely because the flip includes the still much in demand exotic seeming “hey ya, uh ha” girl chanted bubbling twittery 119½-0bpm Original Mix, the new less urgent more percussive 118-0bpm Ricky Rouge remix and lurching 119⅓-0bpm Radio Mix are however also on an all-new import five tracker (US Warlock WAR-038), where both are somehow 119⅕-0bpm, and confusingly our Radio Mix is called the Original Mix while the remix becomes Gerald’s Rham On Acid Remix, the flip having three very different 119bpm Frankie Knuckles remixes, largely rebuilt in more typically US style as the smoothly pulsing Paradise Ballroom, more jittery Penthouse, and tighter Voodoo Raydio Mixes, with a calmer loping rhythm and bursts of nagging jangly piano.

DARRYL PAYNE ‘Past, Present & Future’ (Graphic Records LIPS 4)
A various artists compilation LP of the New Yorker’s productions, many previously unreleased, with the 122-122¼-122-121½bpm excellent breezily bounding fluidly soulful MARC SADANE ‘Why Can’t You (Believe In Me)’, 105⅓-0bpm Leroy Burgess arranged weaving jolting soulful 1985 recorded (by the now sadly late) DINO TERRELL ‘You Can Do It (It’s So Easy)‘, 121-119½-0bpm huskily worried galloping 1983 recorded DARRYL PAYNE featuring WILL DOWNING ‘I Can’t Believe It’s Over‘, 121bpm bouncily leaping simple soulfully nagged BILLY STRICK ‘Can You Love Me‘, 116-115⅘bpm currently 12-inched naggingly cantering BRIAN KEITH ‘Touch Me (Love Me Tonite)‘, 0-115⅕bpm thuddering jittered rolling 1983 recorded NV ‘It’s Alright‘, (0-)119½-120-120½-121-121½-121⅔- 0bpm unsteadily surging recently remade jerky Bernard (Peech Boys) Fowler sung SINNAMON ‘I Need You Now‘, 121bpm lightly skittering Hi-NRG Martha & The Vandellas reviving KREAMCICLE featuring BARBARA HARRIS ‘Dancing In The Street‘. Continue reading “April 1, 1989: Ten City, A Guy Called Gerald, Darryl Payne, De La Soul, James Brown”

BEATS & PIECES

DISCO MIX CLUB’s 1989 International DJ Convention remained an unsurpassable meeting place for the world’s dance music business, but its two main days (held for the first time at the Empire in London’s Leicester Square) were a hard slog and many people expressed regret that the event was no longer at the now doubtless outgrown Hippodrome — itself criticised in the past, mainly about drink prices! — where, by being “in the round” with a central stage area, everyone could see what was going on without having to make a special effort, unlike at the cavernous new venue where the stage was at one end and usually obscured by people standing on stools to get a better view … Shep Pettibone (who wasn’t there) came out top of a poll to find the favourite remixer of the panel members in the interesting producers and remixers seminar debate, which featured Frankie Knuckles, Bruce Forest, Ben Liebrand, Les Adams, Phil Harding, Arthur Baker, Paul Dakeyne, Brian Harris, Dave Morales, Gail ‘Sky’ King, a taciturn (and in fact 27 years old!) DJ Mark ‘The 45 King’ James, and Derrick May — who Derek B himself made a very true criticism of DJs who buy records purely to impress other DJs, ignoring their customers (much of the “rare groove” vibe?) during a Chris Hill chaired “million pounds of experience” debate in which I hope I was as controversial as possible, along with Jeff Young, PWL’s Tilly Rutherford and veteran jock Ian Reading … Uncle B Nice (East London’s slow talking freestyle Brian Bennett) was the Shure Golden Mic winning rapper, much to the delight of co-sponsors Sleeping Bag Records who had fancied him from the start … Alyson Williams was joined by Chuck Stanley in a soul searing live showcase, while other live PAs at the Empire included Adeva, Jomanda, Paula Abdul and Black Rock & Ron … Technics World DJ Mixing judges at the Royal Albert Hall (where Tony Prince was aided by Jeff Young and Mike Shaft as comperes for the BBC TV-filmed event) were Bruce Forest, Ben Liebrand, DJ Mark The 45 King, Les Adams, Red Alert, Tim Simenon, Derek B, Paul Dakeyne, Cash Money and myself — I actually scored Finland’s DJ Eliot Ness as my winner, not only because I thought he was best on the night but also because I can’t help thinking that there will be no incentive for other countries to compete if the championship is always hogged by the UK and USA … Cash Money, last year’s champ (who remarked during the final, “These guys are all copying what I did last year”), had been due to perform as well and wanted to show people that “when you win you don’t just fall over, you go on and get better, and doors are opened to you, there is something more to strive for”, but he was told he would be “too good” and blow the actual competitors away if he did — hence his pointed remarks during the award giving! … Chaka Khan was the final live “surprise”, teasingly introduced except nobody recognised the new long intro of Dancin’ Danny D’s drastic remix of ‘I’m Every Woman’! … MCA Records’ private party at Kensington’s swank Roof Gardens, following the finals, was the hottest invitation in town and a grand finale for all who got in! … Gail ‘Sky’ King, Les Adams and Emma Freilich (LA Mix), Roger Tovell (Severn Sound), Rich Edwards (Radio Wyvern), ‘Mad’ Max Burns (Lincoln Cinderellas) and I went to a well known “after hours” Grecian restaurant for a late night meze after the MCA party, and had to leave in a hurry (luckily after eating) when the people a couple of tables away started trying to kill each other with broken bottles —just prior to this, the restaurant, by complete coincidence, had been playing a bootleg of Les’s and my Capital Radio New Year’s Eve party tape from 1987! … Bruce Forest, legendary New York club DJ/remixer, and Simon Harris discovered, during an earlier, Mexican dinner, that they both share a passion for new radio edits, which I wouldn’t have thought entirely necessary! … Heather Austyn turns out to be the Cool Notes’ Heather! … Martin Collins, now managed by Adrian Webb, will be broadcasting vocally on Capital Radio by mid-April … LNR ‘Work It To The Bone‘ (US House Jam), reviewed last August but never hot enough to hit the Club Chart, is finally taking off in the wake of being much sampled … WEA’s club plugger Fred Dove included in the “goodie bag” that all DJ convention-goers received, “the world’s first CD slip mat” —think about it! … WOOO! YEAH!

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Continue reading “March 25, 1989: N.W.A: “Shocking and loathsome though most of it may be, I haven’t enjoyed an album so much for ages””

BEATS & PIECES

WHO WILL the surprise superstars be at the Royal Albert Hall tonight (Tuesday)? — photos and full details about the International DJ Convention and Technics World DJ Mixing finals next week! … Alyson Williams’ ‘Raw’ LP, reviewed in full on import last week, is inevitably now out here too (Def Jam 463293 1) … The 45 King’s The 900 Number’ has apparently spawned a new sliding and jumping dance dubbed the “chill” at Mr B’s in Southend-on-Sea — the same neck of the woods where “rowing” began to the Gap Band’s ‘Oops Up Side Your Head’, if you remember … Graham Gold, further to last week’s mention of his SOUL-fm bid, suspects that the move of former Capital Radio managing director and IBA director general John Whitney to the Really Useful Group as managing director is not unconnected with this Andrew Lloyd-Webber company’s upcoming bid for the solitary Greater London FM community radio licence, to run a classical music station — could well be, and isn’t that just like big business? … Inner City’s next single, due on April 3, is another Paris wailed jittery chugging techno smacker, with similarities but slower (circa 120bpm monitored off cassette) than their first two hits and actually mixed for A-side purposes by Duane Bradley, with though Kevin Saunderson and Juan Atkins mixes as flip … Kevin Saunderson’s faster House Mix turns out to be the A-side of the commercial 12 inch of Paula Abdul ‘Straight Up’ (Siren SRNX 111), flipped just by the Marley Marl mix … Wee Papa Girl Rappers’ commercial 12 inch leaves off the ‘Puff The House Down’ version, being A-sided by the Demolition Mix of ‘Blow The House Down’ (Jive JIVE X 197) … Blue Magic ‘Romeo And Juliet’, despite being on Def Jam in the States, really will launch that label’s new OBR “soul” logo when it’s released here … Severn Sound’s happy hippo Jerry Hipkiss points out that Jazzy Jason ‘M.U.S.I.C. (Use It)’ uses Paul Simpson’s 1983 import-only ‘Use Me, Lose Me’ over the riff from Colonel Abrams’ ‘Music Is The Answer’, as well as the beats from my remix of ‘The Smurf! … Malu Halasa last week mistakenly credited ‘I’m Into Something Good’ as having been originally by the Beach Boys, when in fact it was by Earl-Jean, soloing leader of popular girl group of the time (1964) the Cookies — I know only too well, as in a roundabout way that’s too embarrassing to explain, I was indirectly responsible for the song getting to Herman’s Hermits, whose leader Peter Noone has just re-recorded it! … Orchestra JB ‘On A Love Groove‘ (Metro Music) will be reissued imminently following the already reported resurgence of interest in it … Seventh Avenue has had such a fluid membership that it is impossible to categorise any individuals as being the main members, the boys now signed to Jive (for production by Marshall Jefferson) under the new name of Big Fun all being singers in their own right, I’m assured … Maxwells in Stirling needs DJs (not as exciting maybe as “Mars needs women”!), contact 0786-72619 during office hours, 0506-883608 evenings … Harrogate’s hobbyist mixer Tim Garbutt could have had time off work to go to Sheffield as a semi-finalist in the Technics UK DJ Mixing Championships but not to go to Leigh (past Manchester on the motorway over the Pennines) when the venue was switched to there, his slightly strange reason for being unable to compete! … Cash Money & Marvelous are touring at Rayleigh Pink Toothbrush Thursday (16), Northampton Roadmenders Friday, Norwich Arts Centre Sunday, Brixton Fridge Monday, Manchester Legends Wednesday (22), Bristol Bierkeller Thursday (23), Colchester University Friday (24), Tonbridge Angel Centre Saturday (25) … Simon Goffe brings upfront sounds to Soul On Ice in Dublin’s McGonagles on Saturday (18) … Gary J and Zippy pump upfront trax Wednesday at Club Jazzbo in Wrexham’s Mr C’s … Mark King has upfront Fridays at Burnham Beeches Henry’s near Slough … Steve Wren is funky downstairs, Bob Wilton soulful upstairs on Fridays at Gravesend’s famed The Slammer … DJ Le Carioca plays “Brazilian house” Saturdays at Café De Brazil in Manchester’s Precinct 13 … John Lengthorn has been given a month to establish Sunday as a “house” night at Bermondsey Old Kent Road’s Dunn Cow … ‘Night Network’ sadly going off the TV screens, will London at last get to see both parts of ‘The Hit Man And Her’? … Disco Mix Club master of ceremonies par excellence, John Saunderson surely isn’t touring with the Monkees under the guise of Davy Jones?… WOOO! YEAH!

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[Elsewhere in this week’s issue, Alan Jones writes as follows:]

rm’s Hi-NRG Chart bites the dust this week — and it won’t be revived.

We finally pulled the plug on a chart that both myself and James Hamilton have spent numerous hours compiling after a concerted attempt to manipulate it (partly successful) by an individual whose only aim would appear to be to boost his personal favourites to unrealistic heights.

Though we had been suspicious that this was the case for some time, we continued to put together the chart, believing that it was important to reflect what was happening in this particularly specialist area. But the recent history of the Hi-NRG chart has been a stormy one, with enormous amounts of flak flying in all directions.

We’ve had allegations that the chart is rigged by a prominent songwriter/producer who owns his own record label, that the SAW content of the chart is unrepresentatively high, that it is full of highly priced European imports placed there on the instructions of an import shop owner who had therefore a vested interest in giving these records a boost, and various other petty accusations.

Enough, we say. All we ever did was to compile the chart on the basis of specialist returns with scrupulous honesty.

Appearing in rm, the chart gave Hi-NRG (basically gay disco music) a visibility it has nowhere outside specialist publications. Its passing means that such charts will no longer get any prominence in the overground press. That is to no-one’s advantage, and all those who sought to distort the chart by making false claims on behalf of their own/friends’ records or by casting stones at others must share the guilt for its demise.

On a brighter note, though it was the most undynamic chart in history the Pop Dance Chart did mirror what was happening in thousands of clubs up and down the country, as well as helping our esteemed but hard-pressed Mr Hamilton decide what pop records he should review. As such, it served a purpose, and will be re-instated as from next week.

[As it turned out, the Pop Dance chart was not re-instated, and it did not appear in rm again.]

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HOT VINYL

NEW EDITION ‘Crucial (Dance Remix)’ (US MCA Records MCA-23934)
Jellybean Johnson, Spencer Bernard, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis together created this very uncharacteristic joltingly edited, funky bashing and jumping youthfully enthusiastic (0-)104⅙-104⅓-104⅙-104⅔-104⅙-0bpm P’funk-style jiggly remix — and maybe it’s a case of too many cooks, as the edits keep losing the beat (don’t these guys know how to measure the space between beats on tape?) — much livelier than the usual “swing beat” (104⅓bpm vocal dub and percapella too).

DJ DZIRE featuring JC 001 & Glory B ‘Bad Place To Get Hit’ (Furious Fish FFD002)
Rarely can there ever have been such a massive scratcherama as this four tracker, committed to vinyl by 18-year-old West London DJ Darren Galea from White City, with a flurry of flying fierce styli and toasting dread chat in the jittery exciting 113-115¼-114⅓bpm Freestyle, drier more staid dubwise 11 4bpm PA Mix and fast talking slithery 114-113¾-114¼bpm Sunday Night Live Mix (another that slips in my Tyrone Brunson/COD remix!), plus the slurring, rumbling and skanking 0-123⅔-124bpm ‘Rebel Sound Parts 1 & 2‘ (which fades halfway). Massive? Large!

kc FLIGHTT ‘Planet E’ (US RCA/Popular 8897-1-RD)
Although his last import, ‘Let’s Get Jazzy’/ ‘Dancin’ Machine’, sold steadily for months it never managed to hit The Club Chart, but this newie has instantly exploded! Sampling (by permission) the Talking Heads’ Once In A Lifetime’, it’s a hip house-ish leaping conversational rap that’s proving oddly hotter in its 121¼bpm percussive House and burbling Acid Drop Mixes than the more urgent 121⅛bpm actual Hip Hop Mix, coupled for added appeal with a bumpily pattering and twittering fiercer 123¾-124¼-124½-124⅔-124¼-123¾bpm Acid House Remix of that last single’s ‘Dancin’ Machine’. Continue reading “March 18, 1989: “rm’s Hi-NRG Chart bites the dust this week — and it won’t be revived””

BEATS & PIECES

BIG LIFE are rush releasing the De La Soul album here this week, largely as a result of its appearance in The Club Chart despite their attempt to get US imports banned — they had originally scheduled its UK release for later in the month, March 27 now instead being the release date for Richie Rich’s remix of the set’s hottest track, ‘Me Myself And I‘ (which on reflection is perhaps more ‘Knee Deep’ than ‘One Nation Under A Groove’!) … Merlin is featured rapper on the Beatmasters’ early April released jerkily tumbling 124-0bpm ‘Who’s In The House‘, this paraphrased but blatant remake of ‘Turn Up The Bass’ being a dig at Tyree as they claim to have originated the very first “hip house” record in 1986! … Eddie Gordon has called his new dance department at BMG the apt Dancin! In The Streets — it embraces the Bertelsmann Music Group’s labels RCA, Arista and Motown plus subsidiaries (on 01-636 8311, ext 2266) … Everton Webb of Birmingham’s Sidestep Promotions (021-643 6584) has taken over the club promotion of Big Life (aided by the label’s Tessa Lewis), which includes Ahead Of Our Time too … Graham Gold, veteran jock at Soho’s Gullivers and co-compiler of the excellent monthly Disc-Eyes music video service, is preparing a heavyweight bid for the Greater London FM community radio licence, his proposed station being tentatively titled Sound Of Urban London (SOUL-fm) … ‘Joy And Pain’ will be Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock’s next “new” single, both here and in the States … Bonnie Byrd here will be on the new BsBi label, presumably a Mahesh Bajaj venture … Desire have picked up Corporation Of One ‘The Real Life’, while Fourth & Broadway have Keyman Edwards … I began BPM-ing the UK pressing of Deniz ‘You Were The One’ and, on finding that our Metro Mix equivalent of the import’s Club Mix appeared to be much the same, assumed that the other mixes ,were unchanged in speed too — however, on closer examination I find that they’re not, so adjust last week’s review to make the House Mix 118½-118bpm, Shameek’s House Mix 118⅙-118⅓bpm, Metro Club Mix (0-)116⅖-116⅗-116⅖bpm, Deniz-A-Pella 116½bpm (drat, that’s another half hour out of my life!) … Radio Clyde’s mix master Paul Welsh actually threw me a wobbler by suggesting my BPMs have been getting inaccurate over the last few months, but by recalculating several using a different stopwatch and then re-BPM-ing records from way back I found no divergence — so maybe it’s Paul who needs a new watch or deck (don’t forget there are discrepancies between different pressings and mixes, which I monitor separately, the given Beats Per Minute only applying to the particular version stated) … DJs who return charts would in fact do Alan Jones and myself a great favour if they could detail the different mixes they might be using of individual tunes (incidentally, we do not supply printed chart forms — use your own paper unless serviced with chart forms from other sources) … Graphic Records have released a descriptively titled ‘Past, Present & Future‘ album of Darryl Payne productions (LIPS 4), for full review later, with tracks by such as Brian Keith, Sinnamon, Marc Sadane, Dino Terrell and NV … N.W.A.’s ‘Straight Outta Compton’ album (US Ruthless), apart from a revival of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band’s ‘Express Yourself‘, is a particularly filthy rap set full of repetitive obscenities and the glorification of gang violence — yet I heard one “mutherf***ing”-filled track being played on a European radio station when tuning my new car’s radio! … 12 inch imports for future full review include the Talking Heads ‘Once In A Lifetime’ — sampling hip house KC Flightt ‘Planet E‘ (RCA); jaunty girls chanted and samples studded early Eighties-style electro Domino ‘Cuties Get Connected‘ (Profile); frantic Todd Terry-ish samples-crammed LNR ‘Work It To The Bone’-based Casanovas Revenge ‘Let’s Work‘ (Invasion), which includes the “wooo”/”yeah” driven ‘Here We Go‘; Jungle Brothers ‘I’ll House You’ rudely remaking No Face ‘Hump Music‘ (Mess); Glenn ‘Sweety-G’ Toby created percussively driving pop aimed The Klub ‘Stand Up‘ (Smokin’); Philly recorded superb weaving soulful guy sung Theryl ‘Open Up Your Heart‘ (Hot Soul); breathily tender slow swaying blue eyed soul Dino ‘24-7‘ (4th + B’way); Jocelyn Brown-ishly wailed bashing backbeat jolted jogging Towanna Sheppard ‘The Stronger The Love‘ (Renown International Records); ‘You Don’t Know’ rearranging stuttery jittery Serious Intention ‘We Know‘ (Easy Street); MFSB adapting jazzily chugging and bubbling MFM Orchestra ‘Love Is The Message’ (MFM); Tommy Musto produced squeakily “street soul”-ish bounding Arlene ‘Who Will It Be?‘ (Midnight Sun); urgently rapping and scratching Sir Fresh & DJ Critical ‘Sit’em Down (Git’em & Hit’em)‘ (Solid Goals Records); Master Ace, Craig G, Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane rapped, Joe Tex piano sampling murky slow Marley Marl ‘The Symphony (Remix)‘ (Cold Chillin’); Reggie & Vincent Calloway produced strangulated guys sung juddery uttering Sharp ‘Playboy‘ (Elektra) — and there are more! … Orchestra JB ‘On A Love Groove‘ (Metro Media Music) is becoming a big “cover-up” secret for several trendy jocks who considered it to be a naff volume pumper when new, while 1977’s Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers ‘Egyptian Reggae‘ (Berserkley) is much revived by more pop orientated trendies around London … Tim Westwood and Max ‘n’ Dave are joined next Wednesday (15) at London Camden Lock’s Dingwalls for a Rap Review 3 by DJ Pogo, Monie Love, Top BiIlin’, London Posse, Trouble, plus probable guests from the previous night’s World Mixing final … Ket Shah, Stewart Eden and DJ Lewis play hard tackle Fridays at The Harlem Shuffles in London Edgware Road’s Jools Wine Bar … London’s Hippodrome has apparently re-started gay Monday nights … Daryl Stafford ended up as only a temporary stand-in at Southampton’s Magnum, where the resident DJ is still Richard Hunt — who has also taken over from emigrated Adrian Dunbar at Bournemouth’s Bolts … Soul II Soul’s latest vocalist, Caron Wheeler, was formerly in La Famille, and the rock stars backing vocal trio Afrodisiak … LA Mix’s album, currently in mid-production, is likely to surprise everyone with its variety of styles, and emphasis on real instruments as well as machines! … North Wales, looking lovely in the sun last week (between occasional snow flurries), is already about as advanced vegetationally as a normal April and, even should things only stay the same until Easter, will be well worth exploring by Prestatyn weekender visitors if the weather is good — head for the hills, to the west and south-west across the Vale of Clwyd, and get lost on purpose! … I seem to have stumbled on a pattern for finding good value, ex-garage director’s slightly second hand cars in Wales, a swap between my 1986 “C” registered red Nissan Silvia and an “F” reg white one (with air conditioning and other luxury refinements) only costing me a difference of £4,000 last week … Disco Mix Club’s international DJ convention starts this Sunday, you hardly need reminding, so I’ll see you all there? … WOOO! YEAH!

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HOT VINYL

JUNGLE BROTHERS ‘Black Is Black (Ultimatum Mix)’ (Gee Street GEE T15, via Demix/Rough Trade)
Vocally augmented by Q-Tip from A Tribe Called Quest and totally remixed here by the Stereo MC-associated Ultimatum, this buoyantly jiggling 117½bpm calmly stated Malcolm X quoting anti-segregation rap is followed by the more sparsely bubbling vibes prodded jazzy 0-117½bpm ‘Ultrablack’ version, and double AA-side flipped by DJ Soul Shock’s previously imported 0-99⅔-100-99⅔-0bpm remix of the slinkily weaving ‘Straight Out Of The Jungle‘ (which drops into Grandmaster Flash’s similar ‘The Message’ amongst other funkily rumbling quotes), plus the languidly muttering 0-99⅚bpm ‘In Time‘ featuring Q-Tip again.

HEATHER AUSTYN ‘Bad Attitude (Extended Mix)’ (Urban URBX 33)
Martin Freeland created soulfully wailed and fast phrased chunkily jiggling strong UK recorded 110⅘bpm funk jolter (instrumental flip), not due commercially until March 20 but proving too hot to hold back.

THE MINUTEMEN ‘OK, Alright’ (US Smokin’ TAI 126615)
Norberto ‘Norty’ Cotto-created typically Todd Terry-type drums thrashed and guys chanted dated jack track-style nervy jumper, in 121bpm Club Mix, (0-)121-0bpm Spago Mix, 121-0bpm Bonus Beats and Radio Mix (the latter mislabelled in place of the Acappella), selling well. Continue reading “March 11, 1989: Jungle Brothers, Heather Austyn, The Minutemen, Bobby Brown, Alyson Williams”