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BEATS & PIECES

DOCTOR K, well known for his recordings on I.M.W and as a finalist at other previous contests, had deliberately held back in the preliminary rounds but then let loose to win the scratch mixing category in last week’s grand final of the London Mix Competition, with Ross Emins as runner up, while (ironically adding a really fresh dimension to the mixing competition format) the “straight” club mixing category was won by Mike Lloyd (using some Kylie Minogue as a crowd wind-up!), with Steven Verity as runner up. Promoter Wayne Nevers of New Cross’s Bad Company Soul Syndicate plans definitely to hold a second competition next year, possibly earlier in the summer … Ontario based Bigshot Records’ founder Jerry Fumo is hosting what’s described as a “label awareness bash” next Tuesday (12) at London’s Café De Paris, for which a limited number of £8 public tickets are available on 01-439 6194 … CityBeat and associated label XL Recordings are recruiting club DJs to act as regional representatives, promoting new releases and talent scouting for future signings – call Nick Hawkes on 01-870 7511 if interested … Arthur Baker, riding high as composer of Taylor Dayne’s current US smash, has been chosen by the film’s subject to score a documentary about the career of Quincy Jones, and is also looking forward to leading the band when Al Green promotes ‘The Message Is Love’ live on Johnny Carson’s top rated ‘Tonight’ show (rivalled now however on US TV by a “hipper” chat show hosted by Arsenio Hall) … Eddie Murphy has disappointed fans with his self written and directed new film ‘Harlem Nights’, a gratuitously foul-mouthed tale of nightclubs and gangsters set in 1938 which is never less than interesting but, despite co-starring Richard Pryor, Red Foxx, Della Reese, Arsenio Hall and a vampish Jasmine Guy, fatally just is not funny … Fred Parris & The 5 Satins’ 1956 doo wop classic, ‘(I’ll Remember) In The Still Of The Nite’ as usual came top of New York oldies station WCBS-fm’s annual listeners-voted Top 500, broadcast repeatedly throughout Thanksgiving, which was typically dominated by doo wop despite 23 entries by Elvis Presley and even the incongruous inclusion of Led Zeppelin’s ‘Stairway To Heaven’! … Tim Rudling and Lisa Horan, previously together in EMI’s dance music team, have reunited to form The Dance Corporation handling all kinds of promotion (on 01-878 5022) … Welsh studio mixing wiz Alan Coulthard has been rushed off his feet since going independent, just in the first six weeks creating commercial megamixes for Inner City, Mel & Kim, Raze, ‘The Champion Story’, and the Gibson Brothers (the latter commission including six separate remixes too) … Ben Liebrand Remix ‘The Eve Of The War’ originally stormed the pop chart while still on its previously reviewed German 12 inch pressing (CBS 655126 6) … Dave Dorrell & CJ Mackintosh have remixed the Roxanne Shanté album’s ‘Independent Woman’ for UK release next month … DJ ‘Kid Smurf’ wants strictly ravers only to turn up for his new Move Groove night starting this Thursday (7) at the Bear Cage in Leicester, where his Helsinki Bar gig has switched from Saturdays to Fridays … Gary Marson mixes up mainly house, lightweight rap and new soul on Fridays also at Leicester’s Bear Cage, and Saturdays at Nottingham’s Hippo … Matthew Roberts finds that, as many of his crowd go raving on Fridays at Manchester’s Hacienda, they dictate the upfront black sounds he spins with fellow ‘Blast’ jocks Gary Jones (tipped as a name to watch) and John Locke on Saturdays at Chester’s “heaving” High Society, and with Andy Baker on Thursdays at Wrexham’s Mr C’s … Jason Bushby’s soul/house/garage/hip hop Fridays at Saltburn’s Philmore Discotheque have been truly “heaving” ever since we last mentioned them, with guest DJs and PAs every week, more live acts always being needed – talk to him or Chris Farrell at the club on 0287-22202 if you’re interested in playing to the North-East Posse! … Al Charles, just to be contrary, reports an average 500 funksters “kickin’ and firin’” at his totally upfront Vienna Sundays, 8-11pm in Bury St Edmunds’ Devonshire House! … Nick Power (Kingston Upon Thames) rightly points out that of course it isn’t Faith, Hope & Charity but the other girl group with a similar name, Ecstasy, Passion & Pain whose ‘Touch And Go’ from 1976 sounds similar to ‘Just Wanna Touch Me’ by Italy’s Fidelfatti with Ronnette (of which an improved Norman Cook remix is out now) … Leon Roberts, of Manchester’s Black Rhythms at The Poly, says “Never mind a Loleatta Holloway compilation LP (all the classics are on Dutch Rams Horn 12 inch anyway), isn’t it about time someone bootlegged the acappella of ‘Love Sensation’ to make every house mixer in the country happy?” … IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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HOT VINYL

TASHAN ‘On The Horizon’ (OBR 465521 1, via CBS)
Deliberately inspired by Marvin Gaye’s socially conscious ‘What’s Going On’ style, with touches of Curtis Mayfield and Frankie Beverly too, this excellent gentle soul album combines messages of philosophy and love, even sampling a credited Marvin on the jerkily jogging 96bpm ‘Great Feeling’, and although not necessarily an essential floorfiller has excited instant interest, having also the wriggly undulating 93bpm ‘Black Man’, jiggly muffled swingbeat-ish 108⅛bpm ‘On The Horizon’, hesitantly jittering 95bpm ‘Think About You’, tuggingly swaying (0-)95¾bpm ‘Keep Moving On’, delicately funky 0-106-0bpm ‘All The Time Lovin’’, fatalistic swaying 81⅓-0bpm ‘Changes’, joltingly pattering (0-)107¼bpm ‘How Ya Livin’’, “mother, mother” started drifting 106¼bpm ‘Save The Family’, doodling (0-)92-0bpm ‘Heaven’, meandering 32½bpm ‘Tears Of Joy’, Alyson Williams duetted live 0-72-71⅓-72-71⅔-0bpm ‘Do You Wanna Know’.

D.J. LELEWEL ‘Magic Atto II°’ (BCM Records BCM 355 X)
Finally out here, and charging up The Club Chart as a result, is this typically exciting bounding pounder created by the man behind Black Box, The Mix Master and Starlight (to name just three of the very biggest Italo house hits!), Daniele ‘DJ Lelewel’ Davoli. Once again there’s a Loleatta Holloway-sounding “don’t hold back the feeling”, especially through the flip’s superior here 117⅓bpm The Deep, some corny Euro rap spoiling the A-side’s 117⅓-0bpm The House, as the two different versions are called.

ADAMSKI ‘LIVE AND DIRECT’ (MCA Records MCAX 6702)
This promo six-tracker, comprising in two parts the whole of side one of the now released parent LP (MCL 1900), has proved that last year’s acid house sound is still alive and well and actually being played live in aeroplane hangars (where much of this was recorded) by a sort of one man band, who lays down beats and keyboard lines in a continuous acieed session through the twittery thumping 0-120¼bpm ‘N-R-G’, piano pumped 122¼bpm ‘I Dream Of You‘, less good frantic hollow 126bpm ‘Tenko Krishna‘, piping and jangling frisky 124bpm ‘The Bassline Changed My Life‘, briskly chugging electro 126bpm ‘In Your Face‘, and dispirited twittery 124-124¼-0bpm ‘Magik Piano‘. Continue reading “December 9, 1989: Tashan, D.J. Lelewel, Adamski, Adeva, De La Soul”

BEATS & PIECES

MARK RYDER and Dave Lee have made no secret of recording on RePublic Records as the acts M-D-Emm and Mystique but now confess to having been not only Raven Maize all along (in a supremely successful scam which saw ‘Forever Together’ appearing first as a US Quark import!) but also the currently hot Masters Of The Universe, the latter on Strictly Underground (a separate label which Mark will be running for strictly limited 5,000 only pressing runs). What’s more, they now have a vocal re-recording of the Masters’ ‘Check It Out’ ready for licensing to any interested major labels, while ‘Do You Want Me’ has just appeared in four different mixes now credited as being by Skeletor on US Easy Street! … 10 mixing jocks (five scratch and five club style) compete tonight (Tuesday 28) in the final of the London Mix Competition at Bethnal Green’s Tantrums in the Hackney Road, starting 8.30pm — full winner details next week … Sharon Dee Clarke has been flown out to Italy to add a vocal for radio purposes to FPI Project present Rich In Paradise’s fast Club Chart climbing version of ‘Going Back To My Roots’ … Ben Liebrand’s Hip Hop Remix of the Sugarhill Gang’s ‘Rappers Revenge’ is also out here at last (Castle Communications SHRD0012) … Tyree featuring J.M.D. ‘Move Your Body’, reviewed only last week on import, now that it’s out here (DJ International Records 655470 6), somehow slows the LP Version – Tyree Mix (here the A-side’s first track) to a slower 123⅔bpm while the rest speed up to make the Julian ‘Jumpin’ Perez Mix 125½-125-125¼-0bpm, Boogie Man (Boggie Mix) 0-126-125⅞bpm, and Tyree (Lost His Vocal) Tyree Mix 125¾bpm … XL Recordings have released not only ‘Just As Long As I Got You’ on its own remixed single but also its whole parent EP, exactly as on import, Frankie “Bones”/Lenny “Dee” present Looney Tunes Volume One (XLEP 102), from which the 0-120-0bpm ‘Another Place Another Time (Club Mix)‘ still remains the only other DJ chart-returned track … Kym Mazelle’s next single, on December 27, will be her reading of Jean Carn’s classic ‘Was That All It Was‘, to be creatively marketed in remixes by David Morales, Les Adams and Judge Jules … Loose Ends manager Tony Hall is representing the hot Ontario based Bigshot Records here (on 01-437 1958) … Tony Jenkins. the club entrepreneur whose Funktion helped start nearly 10 years ago the whole moveable venue one-niter club scene, now not only is linking up with brewers Bass-Charrington to launch a planned chain of ‘music specialist’ wine bars (featuring live DJs every night. with the aim of being either ideal pre-club meeting places or even, on areas where the night life is found to be wanting, actual alternatives to clubs, the first Middlesex venue opening soon as Up West), but also is part owner of North-East London’s new Blenheim studio complex … Luton’s burgeoning entrepreneur Tim Raidl not only is setting up his own DJ 4 DJ record label as an outlet for the Mix Connection DJ team, but also is separately a partner (on the production/A&R side) in the local Soul Sense record shop’s label of the same name – the latter is looking for house and street groove (rather than rap) demos at Soul Sense Records, 16 Stuart Street, Luton, Bedfordshire LU1 2SL … Brian Wolland has taken over as club promotions manager – and is expanding the DJ mailing list – at International Radio Promotions, 112 Talbot Road, London W11 1JR (01-727 3458), who since the spring have plugged for such as Mistri, LaKim Shabazz, The Dismasters, Cybotron, Omar and Kelly Charles … DJ/promotions manager Danny Lee of Upminster based Academy Teenage Nightclubs, travelling around council owned venues playing to a total membership of 12,000 under-18’s (a significant slice of the singles buying market), offers recording artistes an unusual and cheap method of personally plugging their music, or putting over any other message they want (like “Hey kids, stay cool, stay off drugs”), all for the price of just two telephone calls – call him first on 04022-21536 and he will give you the ’01-‘ number of an answering machine on which to record whatever you wish to say, which will then be turned into a jingle, edited and sampled as appropriate, to accompany your latest release at all the club gigs … John ‘Nick’ Osborne, who jocks at Purley’s Cinderellas Rockerfellas, is also promoting the upfront new Dancefloor Records shop at 463 Streatham High Road (right opposite Les Adams’ old venue, The Sussex), where he’s starting a 15 per cent DJ discount service for card holding regular customers, and a mail order services (details of both schemes on 01-679 5579) … DJ Paul Oakenfold, as well as being the driving force behind the group Electra, launches his own PerfectO Records label with the re-release of Izit ‘Stories’ here, and confirms that, as the hot Italian remix was in fact unauthorised and not very well recorded, the new punningly titled ‘I’ve A Novella Mix’ is indeed a UK re-recording – but the Italian version is on the flip anyway, as the Stories Mix … Paul Oakenfold it was, with Nancy Noise, who sowed the seeds of the Balearic movement (and the current ‘whitening’ of dance music) nearly three years ago at Streatham’s The Project at Zigi’s, before moving two years and one month ago to Future at Charing Cross’s Heaven, where, with Terry Farley too, on Thursday (30) they mark this oddly lopsided anniversary by way of a mid-evening private party … Trevor Fung and Ian B specialise in Belgian ‘hardbeat’ on Evolution Tuesdays at London Leicester Square’s Maximus … Digger Elias and colleagues, on the other hand, present swing beat (plus purple and hip hop) on Bounced Wednesdays at Mayfair’s Legends … New Age Dance has a future sounds policy with New York DJ Dave Piccioni, raver G.G. Rider and MC Noise on D.A.T. (Digital Audio Transmission) Thursdays at 53 Berwick Street in Soho … DJ Pretty Cool spins nothin’ but the best dance music every Wednesday at Warrington’s Olivers, in the city centre there. IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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HOT VINYL

LISA STANSFIELD ‘Affection’ (Arista 210 379)
The Rochdale soulstress’s superb solo album is still very much a Blue Zone recording, being co-created and produced by her colleagues Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, apart from the Coldcut produced old joyfully cantering 0-123¼bpm ‘This Is The Right Time’, the set’s standout being widely acclaimed as the sweetly crooned steadily jogging 96bpm ‘Sincerity’, but also extremely classy are the Marvin Gaye ‘What’s Going On’-style 111bpm ‘Live Together‘, briskly bounding 125bpm ‘What Did I Do To You?‘, swaying jiggly wailing 100bpm ‘You Can’t Deny It‘, lushly weaving 95⅛bpm ‘When Are You Coming Back?‘, chunkily jolting 0-104bpm ‘Mighty Love‘, wriggly shuffling 120bpm ‘The Love In Me‘, snappily lurching 104bpm ‘Poison‘, plus of course the chart topping sultry 100½bpm ‘All Around The World’.

ALYSON WILLIAMS ‘I Second That Emotion’ (Def Jam 655456 6)
Received rather late, this superb searingly wailed Smokey Robinson & The Miracles classic reviving jogger is duetted by Chuck Stanley, not that he’s easy to spot, the 0-91bpm J&M Emotional Club Remix, 90⅔bpm Gota 12” Remix and 91bpm J&M Instrumental Remix all jogging sultrily to Soul II Soul-type tempos. Continue reading “December 2, 1989: Lisa Stansfield, Alyson Williams, Record Mirror DJs survey”

BEATS & PIECES

BEN LIEBRAND has created an excellent 0-110¼-110⅓-114⅓-114¾-118-119¼bpm ‘The Megamix‘ of Luther Vandross oldies, sliding neatly through ‘Never Too Much/Sugar And Spice/I Really Didn’t Mean It/The Glow Of Love/Super Lady’, obviously to tie in with the current ‘Best Of Love’ compilation album but seemingly only available as an Epic single-sided promo (XPR 1466) … ‘The Look Of Love‘, the Soul II Soul/Smith & Mighty/Fresh 4/Sybil style pre-dating Wild Bunch track mentioned last week, did come out here (as I rather thought) on the B-side of ‘Friends And Countrymen‘, the group’s last single before they disbanded (they weren’t “dropped”, as Ian Dewhirst mistakenly thought) — plus the (by now doubtless suddenly much in demand!) track is due out again on a ‘Soul In Darkness‘ Fourth & Broadway ballad compilation album … Fourth & Broadway, incidentally, have already snapped up here the sizzling Mondeé Oliver ‘Stay Close’ … Toney D’Addezio, whose recently reviewed ‘Housework’ is credited as being by his alter ego, Toney D & The Lovetrip Orchestra, is indeed Italian but has lived in Switzerland since he was tiny, based in Berne where he jocks at Babalu and owns both the Fantasy import record shop (“Switzerland’s best”) and Fantasy International Records label — ‘Housework’ is due again within the next two months as a vocal version featuring none other than Arnold Jarvis, retitled as ‘I Want To Have Your Love‘ … Sybil’s album, perhaps surprisingly (or maybe not, considering the deserved plugs she’s had on ‘The Hit Man And Her’ recently!), will be out here on PWL Records rather than Champion, as will be ‘Don’t Make Me Over’s follow up ‘Walk On By’ … US Warner Bros vice president Benny Medina took a select few of the Prestatyn weekender crew to dinner at Bodysgallen Hall near Llandudno (on my recommendation, the best haute cuisine restaurant in North Wales!), where he revealed that the upcoming Quincy Jones album includes every vintage of performer from Siedah Garrett and Heavy D to Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald in tracks which document and encapsulate the development of black music during his lifetime — and on one totally acappella track Quincy beats out a rhythm on the metal plate inserted into his skull during an old operation, to the scatting accompaniment of such as Bobby McFerrin and Al Jarreau! … Paul Simpson ‘Walk Away From Love’ on its commercial pressing is flipped also by the Candi Staton featuring old 113bpm You Got The Love Mix of ‘Musical Freedom’ … ZTT which originally stood for Zang Tumb Tumb appear to have reverted to simply Zang for their 808 State release … Twin Hype ‘For Those Who Like To Groove’ is flipped by the sombre 92⅓-0bpm ‘Lyrical Rundown‘, while the Quartz remix’s original 12-inch repeating B-side makes the less spacious Original Mix now 0-118⅓bpm and the sparse bumpily chugging ‘R – U – Ready’ 122½bpm … Izit’s UK B-side to the ‘Stories’ remake has the initially sparser 0-93⅛bpm Jackanory Mix and “you gotta feel the music in your gut, get up and move your butt” muttering 93bpm Stories Mix … Looney Tunes ‘Just As Long As I Got You’ on its XL Recordings UK pressing, as well as the 121bpm Warehouse Rave Remix, has the 121bpm Brooklyn Club Mix, (0-)122bpm Original Version and 120⅔bpm Bones Breaks … Paradise Orchestra’s B-side mixes of ‘Satisfy Your Dream’ are the trickily spurting 119½-0bpm Magic Fly Mix and 0-119¼-0bpm Percappella … Keith Thompson’s jerkily jumping (and now accurately calculated) 119¾-117½bpm Trenchtown Rock Mix of ‘Can’t Take It’ is flipped by the different 117¾bpm Raggamuffin House Mix and stuttery 119¾-120⅓bpm Jerk House Style Mix … Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King ‘Day To Day’ in its Dance Mix, on closer examination, should be a nit-picking 106-105¾bpm, the other dubs and edits all being about that too … ‘(There’ll Be A) Better Day’ in its Original Mix is now 118½bpm on Julian Jonah’s remix pressing … Sublevel’s much longer and emptier also Basement Boys created B-side Original Dance Mix of the Andrea Holdclaw wailed ‘Don’t Blame Me’ is a slower 117-117⅔-117½bpm — that I think, and trust, gets us up to date with all the additional tracks and mixes on previously reviewed singles which I had no time to calculate in full when new … BBC Radio Lancashire’s very listenable soul show presenter Gary Hickson and expatriate Merseysider Jon Williams are guest jocks with Desa at Birkenhead’s next The Defhouse on Monday (27) … Steve Poindexter’s ‘Computer Madness‘, a 127½bpm house track from a US Muzique Records 12-inch reviewed back in June, never hit The Club Chart but is getting sustained action up north, especially in the north-east — could it be the next ‘The Theme’? … TV coverage of the Berlin Wall has been especially fascinating considering that most of the action has been centred on the Brandenburg Gate, only a few hundred yards from the Tempodrom where just over two months earlier BCM Records had held their three day Summer Dance Festival, during which I walked around (and photographed extensively) the whole length of the wall that has received most attention … IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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HOT VINYL

SOUL II SOUL ‘Get A Life (Club Mix)’ (10 Records TENX 284)
Out commercially next week. this typical sneakily unemphatic jiggly rambling 101bpm jogger offsets Jazzie’s philosophical husky muttering with his cousin Marcia Lewis’s vocal refrain and even some background kiddie chorus by 15 of his nephews and nieces, using basically the same backing track as the flip’s long promised and now remixed also 101bpm autobiographically muttered ‘Jazzie’s Groove (New Version)‘ (instrumental Piano Version and 100⅞bpm Bonus Beats too), but perhaps it’s not quite punchy enough a ‘song’ to be as big a crossover hit in the coming month as it might have been at a less fiercely competitive time of the year. An apparently unreleased remix of ‘Back To Life’ will couple another subsequently marketed pressing, note.

MONDEÉ OLIVER ‘Stay Close’ (US Gherkin Records GKE 1055)
Causing a huge stir, this Larry ‘Mr Fingers’ Heard mixed late Seventies jazz-funk flavoured speedily pulsing but unhurried girl doodled 126½bpm weaving and wriggling floater — in “Fingers” Club and Short Vocals, Renegade Philly Dub and Piano Winelight instrumentals – has the haunting atmosphere of a ‘Pacific State’ and is sure to shoot up The Club Chart.

THE CHIMES ‘Heaven (Heavy Club)’ (CBS 655432-6)
This excellent joyously soulful Chaka Khan-ish wailer has now been promoed on two separate pressings, the first (XPR 1467) with a superior funky drum and tambourine wriggled 112½bpm Peter Hinds mix flipped by Frankie Foncett’s more drily thrumming stark 113¼bpm Attack Vocal Club Mix, and the second (XPR 1473) with the group’s own emptier more dubwise piano jangled jolting 112⅔bpm The Chimes Remix flipped by another, again drum and tambourine driven though less mellow than before, 0-112⅓-0bpm Peter Hinds Remix … and it’s this latter Hinds mix which for some reason turns out to be the above billed commercial A-side, flipped in turn by yet another new striding 1121/2-0bpm Alternative 12″ Mix by Hinds, plus the previously unheard very stark minimal bass thumped slow weaving mournful though happily worded 713/4bpm ‘So Much In Love (Extended Demo Version)’. Continue reading “November 25, 1989: Soul II Soul, Mondeé Oliver, The Chimes, F.P.I. Project/Rich In Paradise, E.V.O.E.”

BEATS & PIECES

ALL CHANGE at several record companies: no sooner was he mentioned in this column last week than Eddie Gordon has already left BMG to set up a club promotion department for Pete Edge’s new Warner Bros label (which, as I can exclusively reveal, seems likely to be called Spirit, as in ‘Spirit of the ‘90s’), his old post as head of the RCA/Motown/Arista serving ‘Dancing In The Streets’ department already having been filled by Nigel Webb from Impact (he’s the brother of Everton Webb from Big Life/Kool Kat), while ‘real soul’ DJ Simon Dunmore is taking over club promotion at Cooltempo from the now A&R involved Steve Wolfe, and ‘rare groove’ DJ Norman Jay will be running Phonogram’s new dance label (in tandem with their jazzier Gilles Peterson run label) … A Guy Called Gerald will be launching CBS’s new label Subscape Records with the already promoed ‘FX’/‘Eyes Of Sorrow’, to rival which his old label Rham! are releasing his earlier album track ‘Hot Lemonade’ – so don’t be confused about which is the real follow-up to ‘Voodoo Ray’ … 808 State’s seven inch turns out to be the version that’s titled ‘Pacific – 707’, flipped by just plain ‘Pacific’, on ZTT … Total Contrast have got the album deal they were after and now Syncopate will be rush releasing their already hot remake of ‘Encore’ by Tongue ‘n’ Cheek, due, in fact, this week! … Shep Pettibone, amongst others, is remixing, legally, lots of Loleatta Holloway oldies for an album due on RCA in February … Fidelfatti featuring Ronnette’s vocal on ‘Just Wanna Touch Me’ sounds rather like Barbara Roy from the group Faith, Hope & Charity, thinking in retrospect … ffrr once again supplied record business visitors to Prestatyn with an in-car cassette compilation of upcoming releases, to while away the journey, but it was less compulsive (or well recorded) listening than usual, kicking off as it did with what proves to be the incredibly boring Lil’ Louis ‘Blackout’ – although they agreed the tape included two much better tracks from his album, everyone I questioned had actively hated this intended follow-up to ‘French Kiss’, so maybe the label had better do a quick re-think? … Roger Scott’s US radio debut was on WPTR in Albany, rather than Buffalo, both up-state New York … Ian Dewhirst, following the mention that he now heads the dance/black music section of the National Discography (listing, for not only posterity but also ongoing reference, every recording released), says that his four strong team’s biggest problem is lack of response from indie labels: any labels sending all their current releases (plus artist biographies) and the fullest details possible of any back catalogue are guaranteed that the information will go straight into the computerised listing, which from next year will be accessed on-line by major record retailing chains, libraries, universities, TV and radio stations, generating future business throughout the rest of time and all for the price of a mailout (to Ian at National Discography Limited, Elgar House, 41 Streatham High Road, London SW16 1ER, telephone 01-769 4400) … Ian also points out, with not unnatural pride, that while working at Fourth & Broadway he was instrumental in signing briefly Bristol’s The Wild Bunch, including Nellee Hooper, their innovative reworking of ‘The Look Of Love’ predating the whole Soul II Soul/Smith & Mighty/Fresh 4/Sybil style but sadly only 500 copies were pressed in the US before the label dropped them, and Nellee went on to Soul II Soul! … ‘Lambada’, the pan-European chart-topper by Kaoma (which was initially popularised as an Orangina fizzy drink jingle!) may be sung in Portuguese but its Brazilian origin is now being disputed by a delegation of Bolivian government officials, who claim the tune is one of their country’s folk classics from the Andes, ‘Llorando Se Fue’ … London’s Astoria this Wednesday (15) has The Italian Job starring DJ Lelewel no less, with PAs by Black Box and The Jam Machine plus other jocks including Steve Proctor and Nick Halkes … KISS-fm is keeping its name alive, despite staying legal and off-air, via a new magazine called free!, and Second Base Saturdays at Camden Lock’s Dingwalls with Paul ‘Trouble Those Decks’ Anderson plus guests … Croydon’s newly opened The Blue Orchid has been advertising itself on radio as “probably the most luxurious discotheque in the world” – with emphasis on the fact that it is not in London’s West End … IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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LISA STANSFIELD may have had better photographs taken of her, but this one captures the exact moment when she heard that she had definitely hit number one in the Gallup chart! Just before she went on stage at Prestatyn for an ecstatically received surprise special appearance during Sunday’s grand finale, Jeff Young rang Bruno Brookes at Radio 1 for confirmation of Lisa’s chart position. Her immediate reaction, referring to the Jive Bunny single that she and her Blue Zone colleagues had deposed from the top spot, was to crow, “We chopped that rabbit’s head off!”.

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ADEVA put on an incredibly lewd and funny show at Prestatyn on the Sunday afternoon, getting into all sorts of graphically erotic positions with not only her male dance trio (borrowed from Bobby Brown) but also members of the audience.

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PRESTATYN JOCKS included (dressed in matching cardinals’ robes for yet another ecclesiastical Sunday finale), from left to right, Chris Forbes, promoter Adrian Webb, Ian Reading, Chris Brown, Froggy, Jeff Young, Sean French, Chris Hill, Pete Tong and Kev Hill.

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FRANKIE BEVERLY and Maze were so eagerly anticipated as the main attraction on Saturday night at the Prestatyn 6 weekender that the crowd had already rendered a spontaneous mass acappella version of ‘Joy And Pain’ before they’d even reached the stage! Without them doing anything startling, the group lived up to expectations, ‘Back In Stride’ coming across as particularly punchy in a marathon 90 minutes or so set that was a test of stamina amidst steam heat. Digital Underground had put on an entertaining shorter show the night before, while other PAs over the weekend were by the Chimes, D Mob, Unique 3, MC Duke, Adamski, Glen Goldsmith, Michael Jeffries, Lonnie Gordon, Geoffrey Williams, and, of, course, Lisa Stansfield. Of the DJs, Tim Westwood was widely judged to have been the most charismatic and happenin’, others opting for a predictably safe musical selection to suit a 4,000 strong audience from which few members made up any particular jock’s “crowd” – and that’s the only trouble with Prestatyn as it currently stands. Very efficiently run and good enough fun it may be, but the “family” feeling has gone. However, those too young to have experienced the soulful good old days don’t know what they’re missing and presumably have no other expectations. Prestatyn 7 is being billed as ‘The Long Good Friday’ with reason, being a four-dayer over Easter, April 13-16 (booking details from Livewire on 01-364 1212).

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CHRIS HILL as usual led Prestatyn’s traditional finale as only he could, reciting again his ever popular and raunchily rude ‘The Chalet Rap’. Somehow Adeva got plenty of namechecks in it this time!

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HOT VINYL

LISA STANSFIELD ‘All Around The World (Around The House Mix)’ (Arista 612 857)
Now stealing a significant number of sales from the original, this deliberately thumping 103½-0bpm remix by Yvonne Turner is coupled for extra strength by a Linda Clifford-ish 103¼bpm Runaway Love Mix by Paul Witts and Eddie Gordon, and the Blue Zone created jerky Maze ‘Twilight’-like 113¾bpm ‘The Way You Want It’, all of which can only make it hotter!

SAVANNAH ‘Savannah (Transcendental Mix)’ (Collision 12 CIR 4)
Homegrown and beating the Continentals at their own game, this Richie (Adrenalin MOD) Fermie mixed superb Spanish though bluesy guitar tinkled lightly tapping and slithery scratching 0-121¼bpm subtle instrumental deserves to get wide attention, with a more steadily tripping 0-121¼-0bpm Spanish Guitar Mix flip which is even more delicate.

SUBLEVEL ‘Don’t Blame Me (Basement Boys Remix)’ (US Profile PRO-7261)
Perhaps not as commercial a song but along the lines of their Ultra Naté production, this also excellent Basement Boys created gargling and wailing girl nagged (0-)119¼-119bpm garage/house lurcher rambles about with lots of implied soul, in the ‘diva’ fashion (Original Dance Mix flip). Continue reading “November 18, 1989: Lisa Stansfield, Savannah, Sublevel, Paul Simpson/Anthony White, Evelyn ‘Champagne’ King”

BEATS & PIECES

THIS WEEK, faced with more new entries in The Club Chart than ever before and a finite time in which to get everything completed prior to the Prestatyn weekender, Hot Vinyl of necessity features potted reviews with beats per minute for just the main tracks in order to cover as many actual records as possible (which does not rule out fuller reviews to follow) . . . Patti Day ‘Right Before My Eyes‘, which hit The Club Chart at 100 for one week back in February when first out on US Starway Records, Inc, prior to its current rather higher re-entry as a bootleg, is being issued here legally by Debut . . . Caron Wheeler, of Soul II Soul fame, has signed solo to RCA and is currently working with the likes of Rod Temperton, Afrika of the Jungle Brothers, Carl Macintosh of Loose Ends, and Jamaica’s Steely & Clevie on her debut album . . . 808 State’s remix, reviewed last week off info lacking ZTT white label, turns out to be called ‘Pacific 202’ in its A-side version, followed by the original ‘Pacific State’ and flipped by ‘Pacific 303’ plus the bonus beats-like ‘Cobra Bora (Short Cuts)’, a snippet of a forthcoming new tune from their December 4 released full eight track album . . . FPI Project present Rich In Paradise, on the Italian FPI Project label, is apparently the correct if confusing performer credit for the Club Chart climbing ‘Going Back To My Roots’ adaptation, snapped up here for November 20 UK release by Rumour Records — who’ve also signed A.C. Fax ‘Eventide’ . . . ‘Paradise’ seems to be a popular concept at the moment, incidentally, what with such as Rich In Paradise, Eden’s Paradise, and now Paradise Orchestra . . . Viceroy Records are rushing out Pandella ‘This Way, That Way‘ on their UK branch of the Easy Street label . . . CBS have promoed, ahead of November 20 release, The Chimes’ excellent soulful girl wailed ‘Heaven’, in Peter Hinds’ funky drum and tambourine wriggled 112½bpm mix flipped by Frankie Foncett’s more drily thrumming stark 113¼bpm Attack Vocal Club Mix . . . Jive have already promoed — ahead of release in the new year! — the Chic ‘I Want Your Love’ strings prodded strong She Rockers ‘Jam It Jam’, coupling a forcefully chugging 0-113bpm Pascal Gabriel Mix and messier jiggly 112⅔bpm Hip Hop Mix . . . Yazz’s oldies have been newly remixed for an album called ‘The Wanted Remixes’ in the current marketing fashion (well, Christmas is coming!), which includes the also separately promoed though not to be otherwise released, Dave Dorrell & CJ Mackintosh remixed Soul II Soul-ishly jogging 98bpm ‘Wanted On The Floor‘ and Mark McGuire mixed ”live” jittery (0-)119-0bpm ‘Dream‘ (Big Life BRLX PROMO 1) . . . Dave Pearce and Mike Morrison have formed their own Reachin’ Records label (on 01-935 4679), launched later this month with the gruff guy rapped jauntily jumping 120¾bpm East London “jazz house” (though it sounds like hip house to me) T.D.P. ‘Ladies (Let’s Go)‘, and girls cooed acidically burbling 126bpm (with a Sly & The Family Stone inspired chorus) Pisces ‘Take Me Higher‘ . . . Sydney Youngblood’s November 20 follow-up, ‘Sit And Wait‘ (in instrumentally preambled rather pedestrian jolting 107¾bpm Stationary To Stationary Mix and 108bpm Dub) is being aimed by Circa Records at radio although the clubs aimed flip is far better hit material, the wailing Elaine Hudson duetted deliberately Soul II Soul-like resonantly rumbling 106¼bpm ‘Feeling Free (The “Jazzy Who?” Mix)‘, sure to be much hotter . . . Champion have at last turned Sybil’s revival of ‘Don’t Make Me Over’ into a proper hit but are in danger of being pipped to the post with its logical follow-up, her album’s also Smith & Mighty-style treatment of ‘Walk On By’, which has been covered on Jive in two similar (0-)93¾bpm mixes by Dina Carroll, currently promoed . . . BCM Records are rushing out D.J. Lelewel ‘Magic Atto II°’ next week, following The Mix Master’s fast chart climb here . . . Ben Liebrand Remix ‘The Eve Of The War’ is being rushed out November 13, promoed still in its German CBS pressing . . . de/Construction will finally be releasing Jam Machine ‘Everyday’ on single . . . Darren Ensom, previously of PRT’s defunct NiteShift promotion service, is now club plugging for labels like Rumour, Debut, Passion, Jumpin’ & Pumpin’, Radical, Westside, Trax and DanceMusic on 01-381 8315 at Encore Specialist Promotions . . . Alan Coulthard has a killer Inner City megamix up his sleeve! . . . Glasgow’s The Choice club is due to be staging a West Of Scotland Club DJ mixing competition round about now, featuring Glasgow’s top six mixing jocks, but unfortunately resident jock DJ Lars neglected to say exactly when . . . Jeff Thomas has moved his funky stuff again, as of this weekend swapping his short lived Barry Island venue for Swansea Marina’s Sloanes every Saturday and Wednesday, while his Mondays are rammed and slamming at Port Talbot’s Wall Street in the Aberafan Shopping Centre, with frequent guest Jeff Young on the 13th (as he keeps coming back for these gigs, you know they’ve gotta be good!) . . . Kevin ‘DJ Robi’ Robinson has started Sunrise Wednesdays at Darlington’s Club Lucy’s for upfront house, hip hop and urban beats . . . Balearic pioneers Nicky Holloway and Danny Rampling have switched allegiances to Italy, Nicky hosting Roma MCMLXXXIX Tuesdays at Romford’s Hollywoods, with Pete Tong as guest this week and Fabio next, while Danny’s Shoom Wednesdays at the Park in Kensington High Street are a “Grande Festa Latina!”, with actual Italian DJs from Italy, Europe, as guests each week . . . I keep hearing inaccurate pronunciations of Raul Orellana’s first name — it’s neither “Rowl” nor “Rorl”, it’s (roll those Rs now!) “R-R-Roww-oool” . . . Longsy D’s oddly slow (94⅔bpm) though jauntily syncopated L.D. Jam Inc ‘Rude Boyz Gettin’ Funky‘ on 1st Bass is turning into one of the underground “sleepers” of the year, consistently getting DJ reaction since July without ever hitting The Club Chart . . . Breakers bubbling just under The Club Chart this week include Starlight ‘Numero Uno (Remix)’ (Italian Groove Groove Melody), Cathy Dennis ‘Just Another Dream‘ (Polydor), Big Audio Dynamite ‘In Full Effect‘ (CBS), Adamski ‘Live And Direct’ LP (MCA), Shabazz ‘Respect‘ (US RCA), Will Downing ‘Come Together As One’ LP (US Island), Ruby Turner ‘It’s Gonna Be Alright‘ (Jive promo), LA Mix ‘On The Side’ LP (Breakout), DaMixx ‘Push (It’s Alright)‘ (US Bigshot Records), Criminal House ‘Rhythm Talk‘ (US Dance Mania) . . . ‘Too Soon’ on the Will Downing album is in fact 27-59⅓-0bpm (the first digit got eaten by my word processor last week!), the LP already being due out here (Fourth & Broadway BRLP 538) . . . Soul II Soul seem likely to have been much plugged at Prestatyn over the weekend, thanks to acetates supplied to those jocks who appreciate such things (you know who they are!) . . . BMG’s club plugger Eddie Gordon, rightly lamenting that “These are sad times for soul music”, has asked his mailing list DJs, “What kind of music do people prefer to make love to, rap, house, or soul? If it’s either of the first two then these are sad times for love as well. You are at the controls, you are the inspiration, soul music is the food of love — play on” . . . IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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HOT VINYL

ROB ‘n’ RAZ Featuring LEILA K ‘Got To Get (Extended Mix)’ (Arista 612 696)
Combining De La Soul’s bouncy Hall & Oates beat and a breezy sax lick that sounds like Prince, the Moroccan ancestry but Sweden born and based young rapper struts her staccato stuff in jauntily bounding 116⅓-0bpm hip house style, whipped together by Scandinavian mixing champions Rob ‘n’ Raz plus MC 11 Fresh, with a funkier 117½-0bpm Motor City Mix flip (on 33⅓rpm promo, anyway).

THE FUTURE Edition 3 ‘Autumn Love’
Cunningly disguised without in fact any label name identification as a deliberate (and successful!) single sided scam to hoodwink those with short memories, this Donna Summer “love to love you baby” quoting then Soul II Soul-ishly tempoed moodily swaying 0-97¾bpm attractive resonant organ swamped instrumental (with some white boy narration), and its piano led chunkier 97¾bpm ‘Purple’ break beat, are, as the label says, The B SIDE — but to what? For those who remember the B-sides of the various ‘Jibaro’ mixes, which were ‘The Future: Editions 1 & 2’, this “The Next Step” is indeed obviously the pre-released flip to the now fully pressed and promoed

ELECTRA ‘Destiny (The Rave Mix)’ (ffrr FXDJ 121),
a less subtle “olé olé” chanted brassier more deliberately ‘Balearic’ 0-101bpm fully vocal variation, the correctly credited flip (now 98bpm) being ‘Autumn Love (Future 3)’. Continue reading “November 11, 1989: Roger Scott obituary, Rob ‘n’ Raz featuring Leila K, Electra, Twin Hype, Jimmy Bo Horne, Quartz”

BEATS & PIECES

BBC RADIO 1 had a “mass debate” (don’t say that too fast!) at Milton Keynes’ The Point last week, the first of several to bring the topic ‘This Is Your Radio 1’ to different parts of the country, with Simon Bates chairing a panel comprised of zany afternoon jock Steve Wright, music department head Roger Lewis, daytime programmes editor Chris Lycett, and John Peel’s veteran producer (a broadcasting personality in his own right) John Walters — most of the largely young, autograph seeking, audience seemed to be confirmed satisfied listeners, as might be expected, but the panel were made to wriggle a bit by some pointed questions, not least from the representatives of the area’s brand new local legal Horizon Radio (a further subdivision of “The Hot FM”, Chiltern Radio) . . . Chris Lycett, who seems pretty keen on Italo house as programming fodder, was afterwards forced to admit “We missed the boat on that one” when pressed as to why Radio 1 were so late in play-listing Soul II Soul’s chart-topper! . . Total Contrast report lots of chequebook waving major label interest in their Tongue ‘N’ Cheek ‘Encore’ creation, but reckon it’s hot enough already on their own aptly titled Big Buzz label to take care of itself until they get the album deal they’re looking for! . . . Quartz ‘Meltdown’ is the creation of Dave Rawlings and Ron Herel from Leytonstone’s In The Mix record shop, on whose iTMix logo it was originally white labelled before being picked up by Mercury for imminent full release as a remix, but sometime rm club chart contributor Mark Summers, resident jock at Sudbury in Suffolk’s newly refurbished Broadway Nightlife, has meanwhile unwittingly slightly confused the issue by recording in his home studio a rival track called ‘Melt Your Body‘ which some people have mistaken as the ‘Meltdown’ remix, although he explains “I adapted part of Raze’s ‘Break 4 Love’, the bass line from a track by Chelmsford indie band Nitzer Ebb and the ‘Rock Your Body’ hook from a Nebular track” . . . Les Adams and DJ Shem (Streets Ahead) have each neatly megamixed two sides of a double album of Champion released material due soon on K-tel, ‘The Champion Legend — “Can You Feel It?”‘ . . . KYZE comes out more logically pronounced as “kay-wize” when it’s written as K-Y-ZE, the way it’s printed now on Cooltempo’s UK promo pressing of ‘Stomp (Move Jump Jack Your Body)’, only here in its Steeltoe and Zanzibar Mixes . . . Ian Dewhirst, remembered for his flamboyant leopard skin shirts as a DJ turned record company man, is rather more sedately employed these days as a senior discographer specialising in dance music (along with, by coincidence, one time rm chart returning DJ from Loughton, Andy Gregory) at the National Discography/MCPS, where every recording ever released is being painstakingly catalogued . . . Domenico Modugno’s much recorded classic ‘Volare’ has been revived in typical ‘flamenco wave’ style by the Gipsy Kings, with a dance mix due on 12 inch, as first single from their imminent new album (which lacks the joyous spontaneity of their last set on side one but luckily has quite a jolly side two, including a lovely bossa nova-ish instrumental and rousing live finale) . . . Nouveau ‘adieu!’, the cryptic promo reviewed last week, turned out to be a cunning scam and was in fact an otherwise unavailable specially sparse Pascal Gabriel mix of the London, rather than French Barclay, recorded Jimmy Somerville featuring June Miles Kingston ‘Comment Te Dire Adieu’! . . . Kaoma presumably sing ‘Lambada’ in Portuguese, if (as Alan Jones revealed) the dance began in Brazil . . . Paul ‘DJ Paolo’ Hitchcock has booked Vanilla Sound Corps to make a personal appearance this Thursday (November 2) at Hull’s Wellington Club, and is looking on 0482-440745 for other suitable dance music acts to PA there in the coming months . . . Claire Livingstone is expanding the club DJ mailing list at Stylus Music associated Pyramid Promotions, 31 Norfolk Place, London W2 1QH, and urgently wants to hear on 01-258 0035 from jocks everywhere but especially in the Midlands, to help promote the label’s ‘The Right Stuff‘ double album dance compilation and Imagination’s imminently reissued ‘Just An Illusion’ . . . Jazzy M is guest jock at Notting Hill’s Sub Club under the Westway off Portobello Road this Thursday (2), when DJ Streets Ahead and ‘Tainted Love’ reviving Impedance join Jon Williams at the weekly ‘Dilly Daily’ in Mayfair’s Wall Street . . . Brixton’s Academy houses spectacular huge constructions and illusions this Saturday (4) when SumoSurf X present ‘Outlands’, jocking amidst the happenings and stunts being Dave Picciuni, Noel Watson, Fabio & Groove Rider, Jumping Jack Frost, Pete Stuart and Brian G . . . Andy Henderson plus Rob & Trish are “Brighton’s No. One Soul Trio” for The Monday Night Soul Connection every week at Champagnes Night Club in Montpelier Road . . . Soho’s Jacqueline’s is probably what’s hiding at 201 Wardour Street, the carefully concealed Wednesday venue for pretentious sounding Underwater, where “top session musicians perform with top underground DJs specialising in the evolution of European and American house music” (it says here, without then naming names) . . . Dave Thomas in contrast is hopefully “overwater”, presenting as he does Upfront On Ice Fridays at Cardiff’s Wales National Ice Rink, for which he wants PAs and mailing list support on 0446-721013 . . . Andrew ‘Madhatter’ Holmes spins hip hop ‘n’ house around Manchester on Explosion Thursdays at Middleton’s Hippo’s, and with DJ Space Case on Head Fridays at Oldham Road’s Thunderdome, the duo somehow also fitting in M.VITA (Manchester Vibes In The Area) Thursdays and Saturdays at Burton Road’s Midland pub . . . Rumour Records’ November 6 released ‘Warehouse Raves 2‘ compilation album seems to be following rather closely on the heels of the first one, and possibly as a consequence has nothing like so strong a track listing, mainly relying (with the notable exception of Gil Scott-Heron ‘The Bottle’) on either new UK releases that are still proving themselves or lesser recent imports . . . East and South London DJing legend ‘Segue’ Steve Goddard convincingly contradicts Fast Eddie’s claim by pointing out that the term “hip house” was first used on the label of Screaming Rachel ‘Fun With Bad Boys‘ (US Grand Groove Records), a Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk creation from way back in 1987 — however, was that a house rap in the way that we understand hip house to mean? . . . Soho’s Trax record shop proprietor ‘Tricky Dicky’ Scanes clarifies that the credit lacking ‘Grand Beat’ remix of ‘Grand Piano’ is indeed Italian rather than British in origin, despite its label copy, as various Italian record companies now print “UK” on their seemingly bootleg style labels (often with a fictitious UK address as well) because Italian and other European jocks snobbishly only ever play British originated product! . . . IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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HOT VINYL

SHARON DEE CLARKE ‘Keeping My Faith In Love’ (Rumour Records RUMAT 6, via Pacific)
With vocals arranged by Mykaell Riley of the Reggae Philharmonic Orchestra, who did the same for Soul II Soul, the soulfully singing actress’s sultry lush jogger could end up having similar success when it’s out fully next week, in Richie Rich’s subduedly swingbeat-ish 100½bpm jiggly Club and more nervily cramped Kickin’ It Mixes, flipped by co-producer Damon Rochefort’s more subtly slinky 101⅔bpm Mellow and 101½bpm Love Mixes, all equally good.

DOUG LAZY ‘Let The Rhythm Pump’ (Atlantic A8784T)
Letting it roll again, the infectious jiggly rhythm that is, lazily rapping Doug Finley hangs right in there punctuating away all through his latest jauntily “pumping” and “jumping” 121bpm hip house shuffler, but it’s the beat that raises a sweat, with squidgily wheezing organ and chinking cowbell. The promo has Vocal, Long Instrumental, Chop Dub and Acappella Versions, the commercial pressing I believe loses the second to last.

L.A. MIX ‘On The Side’ (Breakout AMLA 9009)
Although I’ve been warning you since April that Les Adams, Emma Freilich and Mike Stevens’ album would be filled with a surprising variety of styles, people are now remarking to me in surprise about its variety! Created using live “real” instruments as well as samplers, totally fresh tracks are the jaw droppingly superb smoothly loping “jazz-house” piano, flute and vibes instrumental 122¼-0bpm ‘Breathe Deep’, Audrey Francois wailed scurrying wriggly “garage” 124¼bpm ‘You Are The One‘, Juliet Roberts gurgled jiggly “swingbeat” 104⅛bpm ‘Just Waiting’, Chyna emoted spine tingling dead slow “deep soul” (very Dramatics ‘In The Rain’!) (0-)40/80-0bpm ‘Don’t Turn Away‘, and Sweet Pea rapped Lowrell reviving jogging 96⅓bpm ‘Mellow Mellow (Right On)‘, while already familiar although in some cases much remixed are the Kevin Henry chanted “Philly” style 120¼bpm ‘Love Together’, Jazzi P rapped “hip house” 127¼bpm ‘Get Loose’, Vince Montana-ish jazzily tumbling 0-114⅛bpm ‘Don’t Stop (’89)’, and last year’s Top 6 smash 117⅔-0bpm ‘Check This Out’. Continue reading “November 4, 1989: Sharon Dee Clarke, Doug Lazy, L.A. Mix, Mr. Lee, Luther Vandross”

BEATS & PIECES

BLACK BOX ‘Ride On Time’ sold over 650,000 copies during its six week tenure atop the pop singles chart, which doesn’t actually sound like a lot for so long a time, but nevertheless is claimed to be the best selling “black” dance record ever in the UK —incidentally, isn’t it about time some bright spark whipped out a Loleatta Holloway compilation album? . . . WEA Records on December 1 will be fragmenting in the UK again, as they did for a while during the Seventies, to form two completely separate new major record companies, one comprising Atlantic/Atco/WEA International repertoire plus most current UK signings while the other will comprise Warner Bros/Elektra/Geffen/ZTT and other associated logos including Pete Edge’s new dance label (the name of which has yet to be announced) — although the companies will in most essentials be operating autonomously, legendary dance music plugger Fred Dove will continue working for both from the Alperton warehouse along with the sales team as part of a remaining central staff . . . Atlantic have had to beat off the apparent threat of bootlegs by promoing on white label, in the “SAM” sampler series, Doug Lazy’s squidgily thumping infectious jiggly hip house ‘Let The Rhythm Pump‘, 121bpm in all four mixes . . . De La Soul’s commercial 12 inch pressing of ‘Eye Know’, despite a misleading advert, does not include the strictly promo only Lazy Daisy Mix, this being replaced on the flip by Dave Dorrell & CJ Mackintosh’s also 109(-0)bpm chunkily jogging Patrice Rushen ‘Remind Me’ based The Kiss Mix (plus the previously mentioned (0-)99bpm ‘The Mack Daddy On The Left’) . . . Oh Well ‘Oh Well’ meanwhile would now appear to have been released here by Parlophone also in its better US issued but Music Factory created UK Mix . . . Lisa Stansfield’s seven inch of ‘All Around The World’ is flipped by the also lush languorously swaying 97⅞bpm ‘Wake Up Baby‘, another excellent Blue Zone creation, now on the commercial 12 inch pressing too . . . 10 Records have pressed on 12 inch promo a condensed 0-120⅝bpm Unique Radio edit of the remade Unique 3 ‘The Theme’, to counter criticisms that the full length version is too long . . . ffrr’s next compilation in the ‘House Sound’ album series will be inevitably ‘The House Sound Of Europe — Volume 5 (Casa Latina)‘, including Izit ‘Stories (The Storie Mix)’ (which you’ll find turning up on quite a few other compilations too, although it’s now been signed as a single by ffrr, as has been the also included Gino Latino ‘Welcome’ in the face of fierce bidding) . . . Frankfurt DJ/rapper Deskee’s ‘Let There Be House‘ has been picked up here by Big One’s associated hardcore dance label 1st Bass (another that now ignores when appropriate the BPI’s 20 minutes time limit qualification for the singles chart) . . . Lil Louis’ follow-up will be called ‘Black Out‘ . . . Frankie Knuckles is an exciting addition to the DJ line-up at next week’s sold out Prestatyn weekender, where, among other PAs (as well as Adeva’s live show) on Friday, Digital Underground will be doing a half hour party set complete with paper streamers (but what about indoor fireworks?!), while the Maze featuring Frankie Beverly concert on Saturday is shaping up as a major full scale production . . . Adrian Webb — or ‘Man Webb’ as he’s fast becoming known, thanks to his MANWEB (Manchester And North Wales Electricity Board) sponsors at Prestatyn! — will next be putting on a New Year’s Eve ‘1990 Party’ Soul Weekender, the emphasis on soul, with DJs Jeff Young, Chris Hill, Gilles Peterson, Martin Collins, Froggy, Kev Hill and Sean French plus guest attractions between Saturday, December 30 and Monday, January 1 at Brean Sands near Weston super Mare, which, the venue being residential, will avoid the licensing problems that others are likely to encounter on a Sunday New Year’s Eve (full booking details from Livewire Promotions on 01-364 1212) . . . ‘Man Webb’ seems now but a logical short step on next to ‘Manuel’ (as pronounced in ‘Fawlty Towers’), not that there’s anything incompetent about Webbo, of course! . . . Camber Soul Weekender 89 at Camber Sands’ Pontins near Hastings next weekend, November 3-5, stars the likes of Greg Edwards, Bob James, Aadil, Bob Masters and basically the Kent Soul Festival posse, £40 tickets and details from KSF Promotions, PO Box 100, Ashford, Kent TN24 8AR (telephone 0233-633652) . . . Jon Williams this Thursday (26) has Sharon D. Clarke and Ralph Tee as the first guest PA and DJ at a new “Italian & American Garage & Freestyle House” night in Mayfair’s Wall Street, where he still partners Judge Jules on Hu Gadson & Rusty Egan hosted Saturdays — Jon is also back on home turf at Desa and Gary Hickson’s next The Defhouse in Birkenhead on Monday (30) . . . Jeff Thomas has landed on his funky feet again with a Saturday gig at Barry Island’s The Warehouse, kicking off this week (28) with special guest Jeff Young, and is also spinning smooooth sounds (soul ‘n’ jazz-wise) Sundays at Swansea’s Mothers café bar . . . ‘DJ Jon’ Fawcett of Backstreet Productions claims that his house/funk/world (Balearic?) gigs are among the few house-ier nights in the rap and reggae dominated Bath and Bristol area: he’s in Bath at the Hat & Feather Sundays, Moles Club Mondays, Players Club Thursdays (the main night, entitled lesta Loca!), and at various secret locations Saturdays . . . Phil Ross, Big J, Scott Brazil, Richie T, and Bunny spin soul/rare groove/hip hop every Monday at Bloxwich’s Starlite Club, while Phil Ross joins Kevin J and Sugar D playing much the same but with funk too on Thursdays at Small Heath’s Porsche Club, and jocks solo on Fri/Saturdays at Worcester’s Picassos Nite Club . . . 100= had there been room in The Club Chart last week should have been Ben Liebrand Remix ‘The Eve Of The War’, reviewed this issue . . . London Weekend Television didn’t even show ‘The Hit Man And Her’ the week I wrote about it last — bah! . . . IT’S SUCH A GOOD VIBRATION!

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HOT VINYL

ULTRA NATÉ ‘It’s Over Now (Original Classic Mix)’ (WEA YZ440T)
Not out fully until November 13 but dropped on white label at the shops that matter and hot already for all who have it, this simply stunning Basement Boys produced subtle fruity sax squealed and mournfully soulful girl croaked 119¾-0bpm chunkily lurching garage trotter, with rhythm breakdowns as it progresses and a more instantaneously vibrant B-side 119¼-117¼bpm 1989 With Attitude Mix, has even greater impact than Adeva’s ‘Respect’ had and in this Soul II Soul era is certain to be huge!

THE MIXMASTER ‘Grand Piano’ (BCM Records BCM 344 X)
Distinctively introed by Joe Tex’s “Fellers, what d’you think about the women’s liberation?” before then bounding through Loleatta Holloway’s “it’s such a good vibration” and a lot of KAOS ‘Definition Of Love’ amongst its many samples, this Daniele ‘D.J. Lelewel’ Davoli created 0-124-123-123⅔-0bpm terrifically exciting piano pounded leaper has been massive for months on import, all that’s missing from this UK remix apparently being a Bobby Brown sample, with the Burundi Black rhythm throbbed 0-208½/104¼bpm ‘Piano Groove‘ as flip. The next Black Box?

ROQUI ‘You Are On My Mind’ (RePublic Records LICT 025)
This session singing 21- year-old (pronounced “Rocky”) from East Orange, New Jersey, is given more of an actual song than usual by the Burrell twins for her strong solo debut, a wailing and romping timeless 123½bpm frisky canterer that really leaps along in four different mixes, due fully on November 6. Continue reading “October 28, 1989: Ultra Naté, The Mixmaster, Roqui, El Chico, D.J. Lelewel”

BEATS & PIECES

BAD COMPANY PROMOTIONS are organising a London Mix Competition for mixing DJs, the heats and final to be held in November (7/8/14/15/21/22 and 28) at Hackney Road’s Tantrums, and judged (on musically flowing club mixing skill, note, as well as exhibitionist scratching “bedroom” stunts) by the likes of Jazzy M, Simon Goffe, MC Jammy Hammy, and MTV’s Sophie Brown and James Hyman, with as first prize a latest model Numark disco mixer plus the probability of a special appearance on MTV: would-be competitors, apply as soon as possible to Wayne Nevers on 01-469 2065 at Bad Company Soul Syndicate, 15b Florence Road, New Cross, London SE14 6TW . . . Mix Connection in association with Jazzy Jason of the Dynamic Guv’nors are holding a 1990 World Bedroom Mixing & Production Competition, high quality cassette tape entries of between seven and nine minutes duration to be received for judging by December 1 at Mix Connection, 68 Sunningdale, Round Green, Luton, Bedfordshire LU2 7TE, England (further details and application forms from that address, or from Tim Raidl on 0582-412460) — prizes are a highly publicised year’s management contract with the Britmix production team plus Mix Connection subscription packages . . . Michael Perch clarifies that, although deliberately limited promotion for Outer Rhythm releases will indeed be by him alone, he is acting more as a co-ordinating overseer of the actual Rhythm King label’s club promotion, which continues to be handled independently by Clubnet . . . Now out commercially and selling fast following last week’s white label review is the Forgemasters ‘Track With No Name’ (Outer Rhythm/W.A.R.P Records WAP 1) . . . Mercury have snapped up Qaurtz ‘Meltdown’ for rush release next week as a remix coupled by its original iTMusic mix, while Urban have picked up Fidelfatti featuring Ronnette ‘Just Wanna Touch Me’ . . . Frankie Knuckles Presents ‘Your Love’, the Jamie Principle featuring underground “sleeper”, appears finally to be out here (Trax Records/Radical TRAXT 3), not that it’s been sent to me . . . ‘The Mack Daddy On The Left’, recently reviewed on import (as (0-)99bpm), has been added to the commercial 12 inch of De La Soul ‘Eye Know’, which, so far as one can tell from advertisements, appears to include both of the promoed Dave Dorrell & CJ Mackintosh remixes after all — similarly, the commercial 12 inch of Adeva ‘I Thank You’ (on which The Philadelphia Mix is (0-)121½bpm and Philly Dub Mix 119⅔bpm) adds her album’s good but less incisive 119¾-119⅓bpm ‘I Don’t Need You’ . . . BCM Records have promoed back-to-back here, as a trailer for their November 6 issued ‘Sueno!’ compilation album, Wood Allen ‘Airport ’89 medley with Electric Fling’ and El Chico ‘House Music Lovers’ . . . Fourth & Broadway have promoed the controversial ‘F*** Tha Police’ from NWA’s album, but as yet seem undecided about its commercial release . . . Home Secretary Douglas Hurd, instead of cracking down indiscriminatingly on the so-called “acid house” M25/warehouse parties (where he’d probably find very little drug taking actually goes on, that being last year’s thing), could wipe them out at a stroke if only he would relax the virtual curfew of the 3am licensing laws, as all that the kids (the new generation of voters at the next general election!) want is somewhere to have fun and dance all night — why must officialdom be so negative always? . . . M-D-EMM’s sample spotting main man Dave Lee has noticed it’s Booker T & The MG’s ‘Melting Pot‘ (something of a classic New York break beat) that is used in varying amounts by not only Roxanne Shanté ‘Live On Stage‘ and MC’s Logik ‘Get Involved‘ but also the Big Daddy Kane album track ‘Another Victory‘ . . . Booker T & The MG’s, coincidentally, will be combining with Rufus & Carla Thomas, Sam Moore of Sam & Dave, the Memphis Horns plus Phil Upchurch next January in Cannes at the annual MIDEM music business convention for a Stax reunion concert — the TV rights to which have already been bought here by ITV! . . . Blue Chip Recording’s managing director Kevin Anthony Roberts reverts to his Northern Soul name Kev Roberts when he presents the Stax/Atlantic/Motown/Philly/Sixties R&B/funk classics ‘Kev Roberts Hall Of Fame’ every Friday 9pm-midnight on Mike Shaft’s Manchester radio station, Sunset 102FM — the UK’s first legal soul station! — which comes on air this Sunday (October 22) . . . London’s Evening Standard, in its most recent monthly ES magazine, detailed several DJs’ spooky experiences of supposed ghosts at Capital Radio, which during my 10½ years there were always quite convincingly rationalised as being noises and surges in the air conditioning system, an explanation that still fits most of these latest occurrences (as I grew up in a thoroughly haunted house, this is not a denial of the supernatural) . . . Brian Mason, armed with a copy of rm, recently had a live on-air telephone chat discussing current club music trends with Jody B, his one time DJ-ing partner at Cricklewood’s Ashtons, on her Sunday afternoon Radio One show — in Finland, that is! . . . Cardiff born and bred Damon Rochefort was filmed last week for a half-hour special to be shown on HTV in November, tracing the ‘Rake’s Progress’-like rise of this local boyo made good as journalist/record producer in wicked London — what’s more, he had to do half the programme in Welsh, which he hasn’t spoken now for seven years! . . . Paul ‘Trouble Those Decks’ Anderson, amongst his other “happenin'” London gigs, is starting a new house orientated ‘What It Is!’ 9pm-2am late Sunday night, just down Clerkenwell Road from our typesetters, at Turnmills . . . DJ Pete Heller hosts this Thursday’s weekly Sub Club at Notting Hill’s Subterania in Acklam Road (off Portobello Road under the Westway) . . . DJ guests like ‘Evil’ Eddie Richards and Noel Watson rock the house on two floors for housequake—pure groove every Friday in Mayfair at Cork Street’s Academy (can that be the same Academy as Auberon Waugh’s new literary boozing club?!) . . . Justin Smith spins upfront house ‘n’ beats on Fridays, and on non-alcoholic under-18 Tuesdays, at Ealing’s Stocks . . . Jim Thompson The MCJT and Alan ‘The Fatman’ Ritson spin ltalo house, garage grooves and acid pop every Friday from 7.30pm at Liverpool’s The Queens, Waterloo . . . Mike Howard and Chrissy J mix everything up (including some straight pop) Downstairs at Papa’s pasta joint in West Croydon’s London Road every Friday/Saturday night . . . ILR soul show presenters ‘Big’ Rich Edwards and Jerry ‘Happy Hippo’ Hipkiss team up every Monday at Hereford’s over-2I s Lovejoy’s . . . Mark King’s upfront hip hop and house Sundays at Chertsey’s Galleon are going so well he’s doing the same now on Saturdays at Bagshot’s Hero . . . D.J. International Records in the US have issued a compilation album called ‘Hip House‘ (DJ# 1021) — containing already available stuff by combinations of Fast Eddie, Tyree, Kool Rock Steady, K.A. Posse, Julian “Jumpin” Perez — the sleeve of which takes pains to point out that, although there may indeed have been “house raps” previously, it was Fast Eddie in 1988, on combining hip hop and house for ‘Yo Yo Get Funky’, who first used the actual musical description “hip house” . . . Frankie ‘Bones’ and Tommy Musto, amongst many other various aliases, are now teaming up as the Flowmasters for an EP due soon on XL Recordings . . . RePublic Records are releasing Da Posse featuring Martell ‘Searchin’ Hard’ here, in new US mixes including a swingbeat version . . . Mike Pickering & Graeme Park have remixed Snowboy ‘Snowboy’s House Of Latin’ . . . Nile Rodgers is working on a new album for Chic . . . Janet Jackson’s comeback single may have topped the pop chart in the US, where ears are obviously more attuned to the current jerkily mechanical production techniques of mainstream American dance music, but in house crazy Britain its impact has been much less, although ironically most of its limited dancefloor reaction has noticeably come from the North (which one might have presumed to be the stronghold of house) . . . Southgate’s Cloud 9 Discotheques (01-368 7447) had one of their vans stolen back in August during a Sunday lunchtime, loaded still with an entire mobile disco including such as a Citronic Delaware console, Wilding Sound speakers, Opti Solar 250 projectors, Pulsar Zero 3000 lighting units, other effects and a complete set of records – obviously one has every sympathy in such a loss, but it does point up the need for any vehicles used regularly by mobile discos to be both as anonymous looking as possible (ie: not sign written) and fitted with an alarm if they are likely to be left loaded even for only a short time, on private property just as much as in the street, while ideally whenever busy schedules allow they should of course be completely unloaded between gigs, even if that is a sweat (it’s how I always operated, touch wood without mishap) . . . BCM Records in Germany actually sell a slipmat, bearing their dancing footprints logo, sensibly packaged in a sleeve like an album and with a catalogue number to boot (BCM 70179)! . . . Barry Tomes of Birmingham’s newly renamed PromoBeats DJ mailing list (021-460 1645) is awarding 15 record tokens to the senders of the first five reaction reports received after each mailout, whereas most other better experienced club pluggers usually prefer DJs to wait for up to a fortnight (with maybe interim ‘phoned in reports) in order to form a more fully considered reaction . . . Andy Baker, busy now also with a day job as assistant manager of Bangor’s Our Price record shop, is offering expenses to encourage artist PAs and product promotions to visit his North Wales venues, busy black music Thursdays at Wrexham’s Mr C’s and Fri/Saturdays at Rhyl’s recently refitted Roxannes . . . MANWEB to boost Webbo! — a cryptic way of revealing that the Merseyside And North Wales Electricity Board, as part of their current Manweb Music Machine sponsorship programme in the area, will be sponsoring Adrian Webb of Livewire Promotions’ upcoming sixth Prestatyn weekender (which, incidentally, is now completely sold out) . . . I have for the first time this week not only typed but also totally typeset (thanks to my newly boosted word processor) every word you read in the DJ Directory, so any mistakes are mine alone, leaving just The Club Chart for technical reasons having to be copied from my old word processing package’s print-out (hence the decimal points still instead of fractions) — BUT NOT FOR LONG!

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HOT VINYL

INNER CITY ‘Whatcha Gonna Do With My Lovin’ (Def Mix)’ (10 Records TENX290)
Kevin ‘Reese’ Saunderson daringly changes pace by reviving Stephanie Mills’ Mtume & Lucas penned slinkily attractive oldie, but he and singer Paris Grey should get away with it as it’s close to the Soul II Soul groove – the only way you can sell soul here these days – in this 0-105½-0bpm Morales & Knuckles remix, weavingly jogging through long lush instrumental passages, flipped by their more bumpily rolling 104⅔-104⅞bpm Master Reese Meltdown Mix plus the stutters spiced though fairly dreary techno (0-)122⅜bpm ‘Set Your Body Free (Marc Kinchen’s London Remix)‘. Not out commercially until November 6, it’s sure to be huge by then!

TONGUE ‘N’ CHEEK ‘Encore’ (Big Buzz BUZZ001)
Total Contrast return, rapping briefly, in an amazing samples woven jiggly tugging 108⅝bpm running synch between the James Brown ‘Funky Drummer’ break beat and bass jogged Cheryl Lynn classic, ‘Encore’ (as big an enduring underground “sleeper” from 1984 as Fatback’s similarly tempoed ‘I Found Lovin’’, hence this virtual remix’s high entry last week in all the dance charts that matter!), flipped by the enigmatically titled ‘Instrumental’, a totally unrelated house tempoed 122¼bpm skittery burbler. Massive!

JIVE BUNNY AND THE MASTERMIXERS ‘That’s What I Like’ (Music Factory Dance MFDT 002)
Actually sent to me this time (thanks!), Andy Pickles & Les Hemstock’s latest party classics crammed 163-161-163-0bpm megamix again is underpinned by the John Anderson Big Band, using their ‘Hawaii Five-0’ at beginning and end, with a clever (if safe) combination of Chubby Checker, Chris Montez, Surfaris, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Bill Haley, Eddie Cochran and Dion in between. Let’s twist again! Continue reading “October 21, 1989: Inner City, Tongue ‘N’ Cheek, Jive Bunny And The Mastermixers, Fluke, Grace Jones”

BEATS & PIECES

RHYTHM KING, realising they’ve become increasingly pop orientated, are the latest record company to launch an uncompromisingly specialist dancefloor aimed label, Outer Rhythm, which like CityBeat’s new XL Recordings will ignore the Gallup chart rulings about the running time of singles whenever necessary to give dance fans full value — first release will be the previously hard to find Forgemasters ‘A Track With No Name’ (see review) — the label’s co-ordinator Michael Perch also acting as the whole company’s in-house club plugger now . . . XL Recordings meanwhile have just released here the Ellis “D” ‘Free Your Mind’ LP (XXXL 101), reviewed fully on import, from which the UK single will be ‘Just Like A Queen’, but not however until there has been a special twin-pack pairing of ‘Took My Love Away’ and ‘My Loleatta’ with the Brooklyn Funk Essentials ‘We Got To Come Together’ (all in various mixes) . . . Frankie ‘Bones’ and other star DJ performers will be jocking at a private CityBeat party this Thursday somewhere in Covent Garden, incidentally . . . CBS have picked up D.J. International Records for the UK now, debuting next week with the Fast Eddie featuring Sundance import hit (which stupidly they’ve promoed in just one mix) . . . D Mob introducing Cathy Dennis ‘C’Mon And Get My Love’ turns out on commercial pressing (ffrr FX 117) to be just in its originally promoed disappointing 120.4bpm Dance Hall Mix flipped, as mentioned last week, by the subsequently also promoed better (0-)119.8bpm Spaghetti Western Mix — leaving that latter promo pressing’s Jools Holland keyboarded Keys II My Love dub, the version that’s actually hottest of all . . . Joyce Sims ‘Take Caution With My Heart’ is similarly on commercial pressing (ffrr FX 118) in its previously promoed now 116.8bpm Take Precaution 12″, 116-0bpm Take Precaution Dub, and 116bpm Original Mixes, but is likewise much hotter in the also already promoed totally different more garage/house-ish “drain” thrummed tougher 116.2bpm Basement Rock Mix by Mark Brydon of Sheffield’s FON Force, with its 116.2bpm Basement Rock Dub plus the previously promoed good chugging 115.6bpm Justins House, these however being due commercially as soon as next week (ffrr FXR 118) . . . Swansea’s famous Martha’s Vineyard is now under new ownership and is being revamped into a bland over-25s venue, despite the reputation as one of Britain’s best black music clubs earned for it by the efforts of DJ Jeff Thomas, who not surprisingly has moved what is still billed as “The Martha’s Monday Night” to Port Talbot’s Wall Street (his other black night is Thursdays at Merthyr Tydfil’s Charbonniers, with commercial Fridays at Neath’s Arches, offers of a funky Saturday being gratefully received on 0792-702034!) . . . Paul Anthony has returned to the West Midlands, opening Jay Jays in Willenhall this Thursday (12) with Mike Page rejoining him as resident jock . . . Andy Carroll of Liverpool’s The State has joined John ‘K’ and James ‘B’ (so does this make him Andy ‘C’?) spinning Euro Beats ‘n’ House on Mondays at Victoria Street’s The Underground . . . Metro has moved from Haven Stables in Ealing to the nearby Stocks on Uxbridge Road every Thursday now . . . Hammersmith’s Le Palais is the cunningly disguised venue for an “inner city M25 party”-type Paradiso night this Sunday (15) with DJs like Paul ‘Trouble’ Anderson, ‘Evil’ Eddie Richards, Derrick May and PAs by The Rebel MC & Double Trouble, 808 State, Rhythim Is Rhythim. . . DJ Ciao, who points out that Hipnosis ‘Droid’ is Italian (I only referred to it being from the “new beat era”, which it was), says that he and fellow Europhiles can tell which Italian and French pop songs inspired many of Stock Aitken Waterman’s creations, and wonders if maybe they will have to look a little further afield now? . . . ‘The Hit Man And Her’, in its unselfconscious way, has become perhaps the closest successor yet to the mid-Sixties’ legendary ‘Ready Steady Go’, and it really is scandalous that London Weekend Television see fit only to show it at 4.00 in the morning on a Sunday when other regions screen it earlier (just 50 minutes or so after it has actually been recorded and rushed by bike to the nearest transmission point!) . . . Broadstairs for bouillabaisse and lobster was the ultimate destination of an East Kent jaunt last week — BUT NOT FOR LONG!

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HOT VINYL

THOMPSON TWINS ‘Sugar Daddy’ (US Warner Bros 0-21320)
An instant big seller in Central London, this Shep Pettibone remixed five-tracker (plus the pure pop 127bpm ‘Monkey Man‘) is sorta like latter day Duran Duran meeting Lipps Inc in its gruffly growled then jauntily chanted jiggly 111¾bpm A-side versions, the slightly Oriental flavoured Sweet N’ Low Mix, piano jangled chunkier Big Daddy’s Dub and drily lurching 7” Remix, but far hotter are the less vocal 112bpm B-side’s percussively clomping and chugging Velvet Rail Mix and Dub, quoting Instant Funk’s “c’mon you can get it”. Just to confuse matters, the here only three-track UK pressing re-titles the Sweet N’ Low Mix as the 12” Remix (Warner Bros W2819T), still 111¾bpm as also now is the Velvet Rail Mix under its new name as the Sugar House Mix, the Velvet Rail Dub becoming the 111⅔bpm Sugar House Dub.

FAST EDDIE featuring Sundance ‘Git On Up’ (US D.J. International Records DJ#990)
“Git up, git on up” isn’t exactly the freshest beat to repeat, though the result is effective enough as this Roxanne Shanté influenced rapping girl duetted routine hip house bounder thumps and jumps through its 123⅔bpm Fast Eddie, 123⅓-123¾bpm Julian “Jumpin” Perez, 123¾bpm Rocky Jones, and 123⅓-123⅔bpm Tyree Cooper Mixes. Rather confusingly, the one version that’s been promoed here ahead of UK release next week is yet another 124¾bpm mix, closest to Rocky Jones’s without being the same.

MR. LEE ‘Get Busy’ (US Jive 1274-1-JD)
Lee Haggard has really got busy, whipping up this Joeski Love title line sampling superb flawlessly simple and infectious hip house leaper, not doing anything necessarily very different but just doing it all so much better than anyone else, in 124-0bpm Club and Hit Man’s House, 124bpm Radio and Chicago Mixes. I guarantee you can’t stay still to this! Dy-no-mite! Continue reading “October 14, 1989: Thompson Twins, Fast Eddie, Mr. Lee, Dee Holloway, Rosso Barocco”

DMC LIMITED

I said a fortnight ago that DMC were over-extended at the bank due to their expansion into magazine publishing and record retailing. That was entirely wrong: they have sent me a letter from their bank manager to prove it. I unreservedly withdraw the statement with my sincere apologies to them.

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BEATS & PIECES

GINO LATINO as the name for a recording act has a confusing history, it first being adopted by Jovanotti, currently seen as presenter of ‘Gimme 8’ on BBC2-tv, who began as a DJ/artiste working for Italy’s Ibiza Records and used this, apparently cartoon character’s, name as an alter ego for his rap recordings on that label – like ‘Welcome’ and ‘Yo’, both big as separate records in Italy last summer and now issued back-to-back on US import — but who has reverted to his real name for the UK released (TV tie-in?) rapping ‘Gimme 5’, perhaps because rival Italian label Disco Magic in the meantime have found a different DJ whom they also call Gino Latino, this being the one whose ‘No Sorry’ is currently hot (probably explaining his lyrical assertion “I’m the best DJ anywhere”) . . . I must thank for the above detailed info the indefatigable ‘Tricky Dicky’ Scanes, pioneering proprietor of Soho’s Trax Records in Greek Street, which began as the country’s leading specialist Euro/Hi-NRG stockist before warehouse DJs started using the shop as a source for obscure fast synthesised instrumental B-sides and suddenly, as a result, it unwittingly sparked off the whole current Euro craze — something about which Dicky is suitably cynical, saying that other record shops will probably have stopped stocking Euro product by Christmas, although at present he is spending three days every fortnight driving thousands of miles around Europe buying up new releases just to keep his jealously guarded edge and stay ahead of the game! . . . Dicky points out, incidentally, that Belgian beats have come up in tempo again from “new beat” to make “hardbeat”, sort of metallic house, examples to look for including Mackenzie ‘Chicago Trip‘, Style ‘Aha Aha’, and the now quite old Dow Jones ‘Techno Groove‘ . . . Oh Well ‘Oh Well’ — no sooner had I thought it worth UK release — is indeed now out (on Parlophone 12R 6236), but in the form of the less good more angular here 110.2bpm Germany issued Remix three-tracker rather than the superior though apparently hard to find US pressing (both reviewed last week) . . . Champion, with predictable unpredictability (but, as it turns out, good enough commercial sense), have reissued last year’s girls muttered 120.8-121.2-120.8bpm weird stark juddery electro/freestyle The Beat Club ‘Security‘ (CHAMP 12-223) — something of an enduring “sleeper”, first about on US Pizazz around July 1988 before coming out here on Bass Records exactly a year ago and briefly peaking at 64 in The Club Chart a month later — while, rather more typically, they have also only just got around finally to releasing the months ago promoted and reviewed Farley Jackmaster Funk ‘Free At Last’, Chubb Rock with Howie Tee ‘Ya Bad Chubbs’ and Kelly Charles & James Bratton ‘Reachin’’ (you can see why I don’t exactly rush to review the label’s promos when even their announced release dates so often prove to be meaningless!) . . . Chris Rea ‘Josephine (La Version Francaise)’, reviewed last week off promo as a better value ‘On The Beach’ flipped single in its own right, for some reason seems now only to be out commercially as a 12 inch coupling to the 134.8bpm ‘The Road To Hell’ (WEA YZ43 I T) . . . The Mix Master ‘Grand Piano’ appears to be subjected to an import bar now ahead of UK release, making the original import copies collectors’ items as the UK version looks like being without some of the original samples . . . Hipnosis ‘Droid’, inspiration for the Manic MC’s ‘Mental’, is coming out here via Pacific . . . Easy Street Records are launching their UK label next week via Viceroy Records, as already reported, with Kelli Saé ‘It’s Too Late’ (Phil Howells is building a club promotion mailing list on 01-401 2226) . . . Islington Music Workshop, home of the I.M.W label, amongst other of its studio training courses, is running a Remix Weekend on October 28/29, teaching the techniques for creating commercially released remixes — full details of this and the other courses on 01-608 0231 . . . Ontario’s hot Bigshot Records are planning a UK showcase performance by all their artistes . . . Leeds Castle near Maidstone (where in fact I was doing a gig on the ramparts 20 years ago the night the Americans landed on the moon) was my daytrip destination last sizzling hot Monday — BUT NOT FOR LONG!

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HOT VINYL

LISA STANSFIELD ‘All Around The World (Long Version)’ (Arista 612 693) Co-penned/produced by her Blue Zone colleagues, Ian Devaney and Andy Morris, this sweetly swirling strings swamped lush Philly Soul meets tensely thudding swingbeat-type sultry 101.5bpm swaying jittery jogger is incredibly classy, flipped on promo by a shorter 100.2bpm mix ahead of full release next week. Watch it go!

D MOB introducing Cathy Dennis ‘C’Mon And Get My Love (The Remixes)’ (ffrr FXR 117)
Not even released commercially yet and here already are Dave Dorrell & CJ Mackintosh’s remixes on white label, the A-side’s “a yippee yi yay, ah yah” overdubbed shuffling and cantering (0-)119.8bpm Spaghetti Western mix being due as the commercial pressing’s B-side next week, but meanwhile the track that’s really tearing the place up is the promo flip’s Jools Holland keyboarded chunkily lurching 0-119.6bpm Keys II My Love piano dub, coupled with the Cathy wailed tightly striding 119.6bpm ‘D’ Second Coming mix, this whole second promo being far better than the disappointing initial pre-release. Incidentally, check The Club Chart very closely this week as there’s a ton of hot stuff likely to be hitting that, after doing so many pop reviews, I just didn’t have time to tackle yet.

FOSTER McELROY ‘Dr. Soul (Extended Version)’ (US Atlantic 0-86289)
Marlon Brando impersonating ‘Godfather’ introed then MC Lyte rapped excellent chunkily lurching (0-)108.5-108.3bpm go go/swingbeat/funk jiggler with a usefully timeless sound, remixed from Denzil Foster & Thomas McElroy’s recently reviewed album and equally hot (instrumental flip). Continue reading “October 7, 1989: Lisa Stansfield, D Mob introducing Cathy Dennis, Foster McElroy, Fidelfatti with Ronnette, Liz Torres”