Todd Terry, Just-Ice, KRS-One and Cash Money join DJs Tim Westwood, Colin Faver, Danny Rampling, Kid Batchelor and Mixmaster Tee tonight (Tuesday 18th) at London’s Wag for the UK launch of Sleeping Bag Records, operating here out of Mervyn Anthony’s front room (on 01-637 5277) as an independent label distributed by Rough Trade – so the Todd Terry Project won’t be on Westside Records after all! … The Real Roxanne ‘Respect’/’Her Bad Self’, reviewed last week on import, has already been rushed here on promo by Cooltempo (COOLX 176), both sides being ½bpm slower … ffrr snapped up Marshall Jefferson presents Truth ‘Open Our Eyes’ … I had to rush a couple of last week’s import reviews (to get any in at all, whereas this week there isn’t room for all that I’ve done!), and on closer examination only the X Rated Movie mix of Jamie Principle is 118¾-0bpm, the other three being 118⅔bpm, while only the A-side mixes of MC Bam Bam are 111⅓bpm, his B-side’s being 111⅔bpm, and the R&B Club Versions of Back To Back are 109⅚-0bpm (niggling inaccuracies maybe, but my reputation is at stake) … Tricky Dicky Scanes’ Balearic top 10 sales chart (third time lucky?) omitted the numbers, 7 Amnesia ‘Ibiza’ (Belgian InDisc), 8 Hong Kong Syndikat ‘Too Much’ (E&F Records) … The Mafia’s ‘The Scene Of The Crime’ megamix is underpinned by Maze’s ‘Twilight’, with repeated bursts of The Incredible Mr Freeze’s “I wanna go back, back to the scene of the crime”, before a ‘Joy And Pain’ finale – OK? … Steady B’s promo pressing was mis-labelled, the B-side vocal Extended Remix being 104bpm and Instrumental 103⅚bpm … Jellybean Johnson, not John ‘Jellybean’ Benitez, is the confusingly credited guitarist on Pia Zadora’s ‘Dance Out Of My Head’ … Jellybean Benitez’s previously unavailable percussively lurching 116½-0bpm remix of ‘Love Will Save The Day’ has now been added to 12 inch copies of Whitney Houston’s ‘One Moment In Time’ … Hazell Dean’s seven inch version of ‘Turn It Into Love’ is now on 12 inch flipped by Les Adams’ 0-115…133bpm ‘Megamix’ of her past hits (EMI 12EMX71) … Graeme Park turns out to have produced the Rose Windross vocal version seven inch of Adrenalin MOD ‘O-O-O’ (re-edited by someone else with his dub version to make the new 12 inch), plus he’ll produce the follow-up … Original Concept ‘Charlie Sez’ and Ice-T ‘Grand Larceny’ both sample Coldcut’s ‘That Greedy Beat’ (but didn’t that in turn have something to do with ‘Get On The Good Foot’?) … Ben Liebrand’s 1988 remix of the Four Seasons featuring Frankie Valli ‘Oh What A Night (December 1963)’, reviewed some time ago on import, seems now to be out here on a label called Prism Leisure Corporation … GLR (Greater London Radio), as BBC Radio London is in the process of becoming, will not be completely soulless after all, Dave Pearce being retained for a Monday-Thursday 7-10pm dance music show and a Sunday 8-10bpm rap slot … Radio 1 DJ Bruno Brookes is another who seems to think the current craze is “acid rock”! … Dancin’ Danny D on TV – yippee! (or, acieed!) … NANU NANU!
HOT VINYL
KYM MAZELLE ‘Useless (I Don’t Need You Now)’ (Syncopate 12 SYDJ 18)
Perhaps the culmination of all his house and soul fusing production work with the likes of Ten City, this Marshall Jefferson created glorious wailing and nagging canterer has been previewed on promo as a lavishly gatefolded twin-pack, the two singles being released to the public separately in consecutive weeks, first out being Marshall’s own The Windy City Mixes (Syncopate 12SY 18) in piano churned bouncy 118⅔bpm 12” Mix, vocally doodling 118⅔bpm Ad Lib Dub, and less resonant 118⅚bpm Deep House mix versions, much weightier and more densely textured than Clivilles & Cole’s alternative The Big Apple Mixes (Syncopate 12YX 18), in lightly rambling 120-0bpm Fierce Club, jittery electronic 120½bpm Dub, and better ‘Set It Off/Twilight’-type bubbled really wailing 120⅓bpm After Hours Club versions (the promo adds radio mixes and an acappella too). Above all, let’s not forget the superb gutsy vocal performance of Kym, who gives all she’s got even when just vamping the title line over and over.
BÄS NOIR ‘My Love Is Magic (Club Mix)’ (US nugroove NG 003)
Ronnie Burrell (of the Burrell twins) created terrific piano pattered and wailing girls gurgled see-sawing 123-0bpm percussive bumpy bounder, maybe more garage or even Latin than strictly house in approach but very exciting, and all without a trace of acieed (dub/edit flip). Get right on one, chummy!
DE LA SOUL ‘Jenifa (Taught Me)’ (US Tommy Boy TB 917)
“This song does not contain explicit lyrics but the thought is erotic, oh baby!” preambled, nervily jittering and swirling but quite casually spoken (0-)119-0bpm exciting “new wave” psychedelic rap, another fresh direction as was ‘Follow The Leader’, coupled in an agreeably freaky package by the lazily chatting and — would you believe? — yodelling 0-93-0bpm ‘Potholes In My Lawn‘ (instrumentals too). Forget acieed, “This is the daisy age”! Continue reading “October 22, 1988: Kym Mazelle, Bäs Noir, De La Soul, 3D, Dee Dee Wilde”
Champion Records, at my suggestion, could be issuing all their previously released Todd Terry productions as both a “best of” cassette and boxed 12 inch set – the label has also beaten off the rest of the pack to pick up Sugar Bear ‘Don’t Scandalize Mine’ … Royal House will be touring here early next month … Tricky Dicky Scanes’ Balearic Top 10 sales chart last week omitted two numbers, 7 Amnesia, incidentally, qualifies in Belgium itself as “New Beat”, an example of that country’s current new music scene, another upcoming one to look for apparently being The Maxx ‘Cocaine’ … William Pitt ‘City Lights’, on closer examination of the currently reissued UK pressing, turns out to be 103⅓-103⅔bpm and its instrumental 103⅙-104⅓bpm – with, coincidentally (or not?), a huskily muttered atmosphere that now sounds remarkably similar to the obviously more recent Robbie Robertson hit, ‘Somewhere Down The Crazy River’ … Polydor’s commercial release of the Osmonds’ ‘One Bad Apple’ is, you must realise, only the original version, not the white labelled “illegal” megamix that was recently reviewed … Phil Harding & Ian Curnow have followed their old and new Four Tops remixes by doing the same for Diana Ross, their current ‘Mr Lee’ mix being rivalled soon by a remix of ‘Love Hangover’ on Motown … Shep Pettibone has remixed George Benson’s ‘Twice The Love’ album title track … I must apologise to UK record companies that so few of their releases have been reviewed, the trouble is they are putting out too darned many at the moment (I haven’t had time to review eight import singles that I actually bought, either), and my having a humdinger of a cold for over a week hasn’t helped – however, just count up all the individual BPMs that are in this issue and you’ll see that, at an average four minutes for each one, my time has been full … US albums I haven’t had time to review include Vesta Williams ‘Vesta 4 U’ (A&M), Cheryl Pepsii Riley ‘Me Myself And I’ (Columbia), Midnight Star ‘Midnight Star’ (Solar), Kenny G ‘Silhouette’ (Arista) – check The Club Chart as always for BPMs … while US albums that were reviewed in full and are now out here include Royal House ‘Can You Party?’ (Champion CHAMP 1017), Karyn White ‘Karyn White’ (Warner Bros WX235) … Motown are bringing over The Boys for exposure on kids’ TV at the beginning of November … Everton Webb is expanding his club, radio and shop promotions list at Sidestep Promotions, which although closely linked to the Kool Kat label actually operates independently, plugging other people’s product too, at Studio House, 10 Bishopgate Street, Birmingham, West Midlands B15 1ET (021-643 6584) … Supreme Records – and this is not an invitation to join their mailing list! – are now at 1a Waterlow Road, London N19 5JN (01-281 6292) … Islington Music Workshop – home of the I-M-W label – at 44 Peartree Street, London EC1V 3SB (01-608 0231) is about to start new low cost courses for students of 24 track recording, sampling/programming/scratching, and electronic music (call for details now) … Japanese TV filmed DJs Norman Scott and Jamie Peters and their gay audience at London’s Bang! for a prime time magazine programme, and when asked why they had chosen that over any other London club, the crew answered “Because Bang! is world famous” … Thames Television likewise filmed Streatham’s Project at Zigi’s for last Monday’s ‘Reporting London’, but inevitably were investigating the acid house/ecstasy connection, drawing from DJ Paul Oakenfold the comment, “The original scene was not based on drugs, it never was” … ITN had filmed Jon Jules’ acid Thursday at Ealing’s Broadway Boulevard, and a warehouse party, for last Tuesday’s news reports, for similar reasons (Richard Branson talked about “acid rock” – maybe he should stick to ballooning now?) … Chris Paul has started “static house” Mondays at London’s drugs-free Camden Palace – I gave you the whisper about “static house” some weeks back, stay tuned for more details … Mark Summers (Braintree Fantasy, Sudbury Hippodrome) observes that most dancers requesting “acid” cannot actually name any individual artists or titles when asked, answering “I dunno who or what it’s called, just any acid!” – this lack of identity must explain where there have been so few acid hits, and why even DJs tend to buy anything that’s safely labelled with the word “acid” in the title … Mr Lee PAs at Swansea’s Martha’s Vineyard next Monday (October 17) … Tim Westwood has left South Harrow’s Bogarts, where Chad Jackson joins Jon Jules on hip hop Sundays now … Radio Luxembourg has increased its soul output at the weekend, from midnight to 3am every Friday, Saturday and Sunday night … Full Force’s deliberate application of crackling surface noise over James Brown’s ‘Static’ seems to have started a fashion for other productions to emphasise their scratch mix origins by using purposefully crackling old records, The Real Roxanne’s ‘Her Bad Self (The Posse Mix)’ and I.S.P. ‘I’m On A Roll’ being some of the latest examples … Les Adams gets kids hanging around outside his house listening to all the acid remixes he’s doing as they seep (that’s a joke – roar, more like) through his studio window, and now the kids have started knocking on the door to ask for requests! … Simon Harris won the World Yo-Yo Championships back in 1975, and remains the champ as there hasn’t been another championship contest since! … NANU NANU!
HOT VINYL
THE REAL ROXANNE ‘Respect’ (US Select FMS 62318)
Exploding on import, this Hitman Howie Tee produced bassily rumbling 112-0bpm scratchy scolding rap-jitterer (111⅚-0bpm Instrumental) keeps dropping into Aretha Franklin’s ‘Respect’ with Dee Dee Scott recreating the vocal. and a guy complaining “I tell you I can’t relax, you know”, the Jam Master Jay and L.A. Posse produced 0-104½bpm ‘Her Bad Self‘ flip (in three mixes) being based all the way through on the Average White Band’s ‘Pick Up The Pieces’, which may not be entirely original right now but sounds useful.
ORIGINAL CONCEPT ‘Charlie Sez’ (Def Jam 653032 6)
Often imitated in their absence, the wrecking krew return on a hot three-tracker with this raucously shouted then fast talked wordy 0-106⅙-0bpm scrubbingly scratched bumpily lurching chugger full of frenetic though contained activity, flipped by the jumpily jittering 110⅔bpm ‘Runnin Yo’ Mouth‘ and nervy break beat nagged 108⅔bpm ‘Gottanotha Funky Break 4-U -> Hit It!’, all equally good with perhaps the flipside pair being strongest.
THE BRAT PACK ‘So Many Ways (Do It Properly Part II)’ (Breakout USAT 646)
UK copies of the Robert Clivilles & David Cole created dementedly frantic continuation of their 2 Puerto Ricans A Blackman And A Dominican jack track have just the shouting “oh you bastard, come here by my side, listen honey, listen baby, don’t be so f***in’ serious!” started (0-)122⅓-122¼bpm Worldwide DJ Anthem (ending in female groaning that sounds as if it’s from the Chakachas’ ‘Jungle Fever’), scratching 123⅓-0bpm TT’s Bitten Again Dub and percussive 122¼-122bpm Worldwide B-Boy Killer Anthem versions. Continue reading “October 15, 1988: The Real Roxanne, Original Concept, The Brat Pack, Big Lady K, Jamie Principle”
NETWORK PRESS’s Hamburg party for DJs featured a long acid house session by the now truly international London jock Colin Faver, before slumping into boring doldrums until the London lads came to the aid of the party again, Les Adams and Simon Harris following each other with 15 minute mixing sets that they made sure everyone could hear — Les had taken to use in Germany a prototype set (the first in Britain) of Stanton’s 890AL DJ Pro cartridges and styli, designed with his and other DJs’ input especially for scratch mixers, both he and Simon remarking that they performed superbly with not a single jump or miscue during fierce use … Ben Liebrand’s remix of Bill Withers ‘Lovely Day’ is called the Sunshine Mix with good reason, it borrows the drums from San Antonio, Texas, born but now Germany based Sydney Youngblood’s similar earlier treatment of ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’! … Charles Edward Shaw, from Houston, Texas, although based in Mannheim for the last 10 years, actually did the rapping bits in Milli Vanilli’s ‘Girl You Know It’s True’, and says his own imminent ‘Does Your Mother Know‘ on German Musicolor “will tell the truth” … Les Adams, confronted by a D and an H on two separate doors when looking for the loo, had to come back and ask which was Ladies and which was Gents (Damen and Herren)! … Simon Harris ‘Here Comes That Sound’ has actually come out in Germany on Metronome ahead of the UK, where its commercial release will eventually be as a total remix … Adrenalin M.O.D.’s slightly retitled ‘O-O-O-O‘ has been promoed as a (0-)122¾bpm seven inch radio version (MCA Records RAGA 2) ahead of new 12 inch pressings, now featuring vocals by Rose Windross (of Soul II Soul fame) as well as its Serious Intention derived title line hook chant … Wee Papa Girl Rappers ‘Wee Rule’, now that it’s finally released, turns out to be subtitled the Ragamuffin Mix — and I realise should actually be 0-94-95¾-95½-0bpm instead of the constant speed originally assumed — with the funky 0-114bpm ‘Rebel Rap‘ as flip … Hot Mix 5 Inc’s various artists import ‘Acid’ LP has been released here as ‘Acid House‘ on Jack Trax (DOT 1), with the same tunes apart from Fingers’ ‘Ecstasy’ being replaced by Armando’s smurfs started twittery 124½bpm ‘Confusion’s Revenge‘ … K-tel’s ‘The Coolest Cuts’ Shakatak compilation LP (NE 1422) includes a ‘Down On The Street’-based 121¾-0bpm ‘Shakatak Megamix’ bonus 12 inch … Pete Tong’s soul show on Capital Radio now runs from 5-8pm every Saturday, incorporating a realistic “street sales” top 10 (about time too), while Tim Westwood follows from 8-10pm (plus he has an extended midnight-1.30am Friday night slot) with his rap cuts, David Rodigan’s reggae filling 10pm-midnight before Alex ‘Anders’ George spins funk/soul/jazz through Sunday’s wee small hours from midnight-4am, Chris Forbes starting a new house show on Saturday mornings 1.30-4am (following on from Tim) … Greg Edwards has recorded a rap revival of Instant Funk ‘Got My Mind Made Up’, due out as by the Ambassadors Of Funk initially in the US on Next Plateau Records Inc! … Fourth & Broadway have signed up the Delicious Vinyl label here and are rush releasing Young MC ‘Know How‘ as UK A-side, with a live showcase of the label’s acts being planned to follow … Westside Records appear to be releasing The Todd Terry Project’s double-sided import smash here … Blaze ‘Can’t Win For Losin’’ turns out not to be released commercially here until November 7 … Public Enemy could be heading for a personnel change, inside sources suggest … Mantronik is looking for a new rapper now that his Mantronix partner MC Tee has joined the US Air Force … Graham Central Station have reformed to make a comeback album on Preston Glass’s label, Gourmet Records … Tricky Dicky Scanes is selling so much Balearic material (to all types of DJ) at his Trax record shop in Soho’s Greek Street that he can compile an accurate and genuine sales chart, the big hits over the last fortnight being 1 William Pitt ‘City Lights‘ (Sierra), 2 Code 61 ‘Drop The Deal‘ (German BCM), 3 Bappi Lahiri ‘Habiba‘ (Hi-Hat), 4 Fantasy Ten ‘Big Bang‘ (Greyhound), 5 Mandy ‘I Just Can’t Wait (Cool & Breezy Jazz Mix)‘ (PWL), 6 Tijeritas ‘Bamboleo‘ (Spanish Epic), 7 Electra ‘Jibaro (Remix)‘ (ffrr), 10 Project Club ‘Dance With The Devil‘ (Supreme) [#8 & #9 not printed – see comments] … ffrr’s ‘Balearic Beats Vol. 1‘ compilation LP (FFRLP 5) contains previously reviewed (and some charted above) material by Electra, Code 61, Beats Workin’, Mandy Smith, Nitzer Ebb, Fini Tribe and the Thrashing Doves, plus unreviewed (although doubtless I’ll get around to them all, especially if, as seems likely, the set hits The Club Chart) tracks by the Residents, Woodentops, and Enzo Avitabile … Vanessa Holmes has taken over from Zoe Glitherow at WEA as Fred Dove’s club promotion co-ordinator — Zoe is joining Mike Olivier to help run the new Middlesex Sound Installations in Rayners Lane, Harrow … Marie Birch of Sound Promotions has been suffering from chicken pox, which has kept DJs at more than arm’s length, and, seemingly always on the move, she’s now based at 17 Scott Crescent, South Harrow. Middlesex (01-723 8092) … Dean Meredith is updating the DJ mailing list at Blue Chip, 4 Gaol Mews, Gaol Road, Stafford … Imagination are live this Wednesday (5) at Darlington’s Zhivagos, where DJ and promotions manager Jack Wood offers (on 0325-463647, office hours) to organise club tours in the area for record companies trying to break new acts … Fantasy Mondays now at Brighton’s Pink Coconut feature acid, Balearic, house and garage with Paul Clark, Warrick and Craig … Will Downing has been added to the bill for the Blackpool soul weekender … Les Adams has remixed Blow ‘Change (Makes You Want To Hustle)’, bringing out the tune more … Rayners Lane’s Record & Disco Centre salesman Wayne Boyce came up with a killer mix, repeatedly flicking the synth bits from This Ain’t Chicago’s Acid Not Placid mix through Inner City’s ‘Big Fun’ … Paul Rutherford seemed to begin, so far as The Club Chart was concerned, as another East Midlands breakout … Disco Mix Club boss Tony Prince has finally followed my lead and bought a Cannon EOS 650 autofocus camera for trouble free shooting in the dark! … 1988 looks like being a vintage year for future rare grooves, as you can be sure that in a few years’ time, when the second hand bins will be jammed with drastically dated sounding and unwanted acid house, everyone will be paying inflated paces for all the good non-acid stuff that they missed at the time, now, just like the Seventies were later plundered by the first wave of rare groove seekers … Royal Mail deliveries are still far from back to normal, so don’t forget you can FAX us your DJ charts on 01-388 9576… NANU NANU!
RITZY CRACKER
PHIL FRANCE, resident DJ at The Ritzy in Nottingham, celebrated the Mecca venue’s second anniversary by once again honouring some of the previous year’s most important contributors to dance music. Last year it was Stock Aitken Waterman who were honoured, Pete Waterman and Matt Aitken turning up with Rick Astley, Sinitta and Mandy Smith, all of whom put on crowd pleasing performances, as you might imagine.
This year, for excellent musical reasons, Phil chose to honour Coldcut along with the Ahead Of Our Time and Big Life labels. Unfortunately, these fledgling labels do not so far have much of an artist roster, and, as Yazz (whose appearance would obviously have been greatly appreciated by the Nottingham crowd) was tied up in the studio that night recording her album, it was just Coldcut’s Jonathon More and Matt Black who appeared fleetingly to collect their award. Installed only hours before, a 25 screen video wall was able to show their singles, but this was a poor substitute for live performances.
JOHN PAUL BARRETT
Luckily Westside Records artiste John Paul Barrett was on hand for a vigorous personal appearance. Sabrina had been expected, but (as the tabloid press had already announced) was laid up ill, while Germany’s chart-topping Milli Vanilli had come along for the bus ride incognito, without their stage wear, and refused to go on. So, a bit of a damp squib in comparison with last year’s glitzy affair, the night turned into a regular disco session despite the resplendent presence of both the Mayor and Sheriff Of Nottingham, plus all the Mecca bigwigs. It’s bad luck Phil didn’t manage to get Yazz, at least.
HAMBURG HI-JINKS
NETWORK PRESS, Germany’s fortnightly DJ magazine (in which I write a column), celebrated its 50th issue last Monday with a party in Hamburg at a dub called Base. I wasn’t thinking of going to it until I discovered just the night before that Les Adams and Emma Freilich of LA Mix were doing a mixing set there, so we flew over together —and discovered on the same plane Simon Harris, Steven Danté, Baby Ford, and Colin Faver! As you can imagine the British contingent had a fine old time, joining up also with Simon’s Music Of Life label partner Chris France, and BCM Records owner Brian Carter, while Jellybean was also hangin’ out. For further titbits, see Beats & Pieces.
BRIAN CARTER – the Germany based Englishman whose two years old BCM Records pioneered the Compact Disc release of “house” and other dance music styles, before securing a German number one and European smash with B.V.S.M.P.
HOT VINYL
THOMPSON TWINS ‘In The Name Of Love ’88 (Railroad Mix)’ (Arista 611 808)
Shep Pettibone’s spurtingly smacking and funkily rolling 116¼-0bpm remix of this early Thompsons track borrows its pulsing bassline from Ten City’s ‘Right Back To You’ and has surprised everyone (Arista included) by being snapped up by house jocks the instant it appeared on import (only the Railroad Dub flips it here). A national smash!
PUBLIC ENEMY ‘Night Of The Living Baseheads (Anti-High Blood Pressure Encounter Mix)’ (Def Jam XPR 1389)
Due for full review when out properly on four-track 12 inch, their album’s hottest floor-filler is initially on just this violently scratched jiggly churning 104¼-104½-0-104½bpm new version on white label promo.
THE RITZY in Nottingham last year celebrated its birthday by ferrying a coach load of PWL stars and staff to its party, and likewise this last Friday it was the turn of the Big Life and Ahead Of Our Time labels’ entourage to head north, with myself in tow (so there could be a picture story about it all next week) … Clubnet are updating. area by area, their club, radio and specialist record store promotional lists (on 01-968 9661) … 18-years-old Jason Davies of the Mixbusters has just joined Champion Records in A&R, production and promotion capacities (someone else makes the tea!) … ‘Sharp As A Knife (Acid Attack)‘ is the official title of Jon Williams’ Remix 88 Update now that Brandon Cooke featuring Roxanne Shanté is on proper Club black label promo … Eric B & Rakim’s commercial 12 inch here will have the already promoed FON Force mix of ‘Put Your Hands Together’, the about to be also separately promoed Humphrey Bogart “play it!” introed and then acieed siren overlaid jittery (0-)112bpm alternative Parkside Mix by Graeme Park, and (the US A-side) a Red Alert mix of ‘Microphone Fiend‘ … Stetsasonic’s Brooklyn Mix is indeed still ‘Expansions’ based but also drops in some organ from ‘Love is The Message’, not that it’s very obvious … Arista have woken up to the import buzz on Shep Pettibone’s Railroad Mix of the Thompson Twins ‘In The Name Of Love’, and have promoed it here ahead of the now brought forward UK release … Stevie Wonder’s ‘My Eyes Don’t Cry‘, the now Timmy Regisford remixed track from ‘Characters’ (one of the two which were only ever on CD and cassette versions of the album), was reviewed as an import last week and is already on 0-115⅔bpm UK promo (Motown ZT 42260) … Champion have snapped up Farley ‘Jackmaster’ Funk presents Ricky Dillard ‘As Always‘ before even the US Trax imports have come in, be advised … Super Lover Cee & Casanova Rud’s BPMs got confused in last week’s review, 102bpm ‘I’m Back’ and 105½bpm ‘Girls Act Stupid-aly’ being correct … US albums reviewed on import and now out here include Perri ‘The Flight’ (MCA Records MCF 6035), Scott White ‘Success … Never Ends’ (RCA PL90246), Chapter 8 ‘Forever’ (Capitol EST 2073), and Vanessa Williams ‘The Right Stuff’ (Wing Records/Polydor WNGLP 1) … Adonis ‘Acid Poke‘ will be third of the house releases on Fiction Records’ new label, Desire … New York’s Tuff City label is re-releasing the back-to-back “old school classics”, T-Ski Valley ‘Catch The Beat‘/Grand Groove Bunch ‘Catch The Groove‘, and Jimmy Spicer ‘Super Rhymes‘/Maximus Three ‘Rock It Out‘ … Westside Records here have just acquired UK rights to veteran Harlem record store owner Bobby Robinson’s influential Enjoy label and promise that a four album boxed set will include every one of its rap releases in original 12 inch versions … Janet Jackson is now definitely back in the studio with producers Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis recording her follow-up LP, scheduled tentatively for Easter release … Paul Hardcastle confesses to being behind the recent ‘Listen To This!‘ sampler by The DTI, one of the better ones, if you remember my review, not that many people bothered with it … Blaze apparently are not now signing to Warner Bros but seem likely to join either Motown or MCA Records … Aswad ‘The Message’, previously reviewed, is only their 12 inch A-side, the seven being topped by the former’s flip, the actually much more “message” like anti-apartheid South African flavoured disjointedly rambling 106⅔/53⅓bpm ‘Set Them Free‘ … Jim Mullen guests at the opening party night this Tuesday (27) of Stoke Newington High Street’s LA Prison, promising a policy of jazz, Latin, African and soca Tuesdays to Fridays every week … Thursday (29) is launch night at Harlow Mill’s Cheeks of the weekly Subculture, a new night for the old Sweat Box crowd with Kev Hill spinning funkier beats and female DJAJ the jazz and soul … London pirate DJ Darren Fogel got onto TV’s ‘Blind Date’ using his real name Darren James and daytime car dealer occupation, but subsequently has been planting sensational stories in the ‘The Sun’ exposing himself as a supposed sex fiend — all good publicity, of a sort, I suppose — in order to get extra disco gigs out of it! … M-D-Emm members Dave (Calling All Blonde Haired Lovelies) Lee and Mike (Attention You Dark Haired Darlings) Chill appear to be after penpals, or something, on 01-837 2322! … NANU NANU!
I’m sorry if anyone read too much between the lines last week in the ‘Beats And Pieces’ item about Johnnie Walker and Chris Butler. My apologies for any embarrassment caused to both parties.
HOT VINYL
THE TODD TERRY PROJECT ‘Just Wanna Dance’ (US Fresh Records FRE-80125)
Reaction seems fairly evenly divided for both excellent sides of this instant import smash, the nominal A-side being a Third World ‘Now That We Found Love’-pulsed 121⅔-122-0bpm jittery leaping instrumental groove overlaid by Afrika Bambaataa’s “naaaa” noise and much more in Todd’s typical sample-zapping style, while the Jimmy Castor introed B-side is a girls wailed jerkily cantering and jumping (0-)122¾-123-122¾-123-0bpm revival of Class Action’s ‘Weekend’, both very exciting (with radio versions too — and labels on the wrong sides, beware!).
ROB BASE & D.J. E-Z ROCK ‘It Takes Two’ (US Profile PRO-1267)
Hot though not entirely consistent rap album with the standout Todd Terry-ish (0-)118⅓bpm ‘Get On The Dance Floor’, a terrific house compatible combination of Black Riot’s ‘A Day In The Life’ and the Jacksons’ ‘Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground)’, and Maze-based infectiously jumpy 109⅚bpm ‘Joy And Pain‘, well worded about being the new kid but no copyist, plus the Teddy Riley-arranged Marshall Jefferson ‘Move Your Body’-based 0-111bpm ‘Check This Out‘, Steve Miller Band ‘Fly Like An Eagle’-based sinuously jogging 100bpm tick tick tickin’ ‘Times Are Gettin’ Ill‘, ‘Ma Baker’ introed and Thin Lizzy ‘Johnny The Fox’-scratching enthusiastically lurching 0-99⅚bpm ‘Make It Hot‘, Lyn Collins ‘Think (About lt)’-based (0-)111½bpm title track hit, aggressively jolting 110⅓bpm ‘Don’t Sleep On It‘, frenetic 0-111bpm ‘Keep It Going Now‘, embarrassingly drippy rap ballad 36¼/72½bpm ‘Crush‘, and throwaway 113bpm ‘Creativity‘, a funky drummered tape looping tribute to Profile’s Brian Chin.
The first DJs have been busted for ecstasy, police swooping as they left an acid house gig loaded with the stuff … Johnnie Walker is now club promotions manager just for London/ffrr, his matey Chris Butler taking over Polydor/Urban (however, neither can pass “Go” or collect £200) … ‘Sure Beats 2’, free with next week’s rm, turns out to be the truly essential one, with a special stuttered and muttered synth frequency fluttered thumping bubbly 120½-0bpm remix of Coldcut featuring Sweet-Toothed Sonny ‘Acid Drops (Bomb The Mix)’, catchy hooting effect punctuated lurching remorseless clipped rapping (0-)92bpm Cold Crush Brothers ‘The Bronx’ and nervily jumping 0-119⅓-119¼bpm Fourth Floor All-Stars ‘(Fourth Floor) Goin’ Up’ megamix by DJ Mixmaster Tee of various Break Boys, Four Play, Masters At Work and O.N.I.T. (Oh No, It’s Them) tracks … I was so inundated with messenger delivered records right up to my deadline that there was no time to review the week’s two hottest rap albums, Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock ‘It Takes Two’ (US Profile PRO-1267) – would you believe a ‘Joy And Pain’ rap?! – and Ice-T ‘Power’ (Sire 925 765-1), so check The Club Chart for BPMs as they’re sure to hit … FON Force’s now promoed (0-)111-0bpm remix of Eric B & Rakim ‘Put Your Hands Together’ overlays the jittery fast talker with resonant synth tones … Steven Danté’s new single is just called ‘Imagination’ after all but is in so many differently available mixes you need a guide: the previously reviewed promo (Cooltempo DANTEP 2) was the Clivilles & Cole mixed 113⅓-0bpm LP version (flipped by the otherwise unavailable 117-0 Acid Mix and 120⅓-120-0bpm Dub versions), the commercial 12 inch (DANTEX 2) having Clivilles & Cole’s rattling 116-0bpm remix, Dancin’ Danny D’s over busily jiggling murkily dense 0-115½bpm remix and the lurching husky 111⅓bpm ‘It Makes You Feel Good’, but also on another promo (DANTEC 2) are these two commercial remixes plus, on the wrongly labelled flip, Danny D’s throbbing instrumental (0-)116bpm Yardee Groove and tapping 116-0bpm Slam Acappella – while the seven inch is different again, with Bryan ‘Chuck’ New’s more percussively trotting 113bpm mix! … PWL’s recently obtained Workhouse Studio and accounts office in London’s Old Kent Road were totally destroyed in a fire last week (they’re nowhere near the main studios and headquarters in the Borough), the master tape of Rick Astley’s new album going up in flames – however, this mishap only set it back by a few days’ work as thanks to modern recording technology most of its ingredients were on separately stored digital computer discs … ITV’s ‘The Hit Man And Her’ was marginally less chaotic in its second show, but managed to mis-spell the Pete Waterman co-owned Lisson Records as “Listen” in a caption for Cocoon’s ‘Timerider’ (soon to be reissued as the show’s theme) … Robbie Vincent has hired a recorded announcement telephone line on 0836-404478 to give callers the details of his move to LBC, and plugged it continuously as “the Robbie Vincent information line” throughout his final show on Radio London! … Greg Edwards is “still talking” to GLR about a possible soul show … Ichiban Records appear also to be still only “talking” to the Manhattans, but the Three Degrees are definitely now signed to the label … Ralph Tee has signed the Cool Notes to his Risin’ label … Chillin Krew turn out to be animated cartoon or puppet characters from a presumably imminent TV series! … Chris Hill looks like starting a ‘Soul Train’-type TV show in Munich come the new year … Younger Generation ‘We Rap More Mellow’ will finally be out here, some time after its big revival buzz, on RePublic Records – who tracked down the master tape in South Africa … Les Adams’ remix of the Funky Worm ‘Hustle’, originally created just for the Disco Mix Club, will be its commercial A-side in the USA – Les incidentally celebrates his last night jocking at Norbury’s Sussex Tavern this Friday (23) before moving on to bigger and better things … Gilles Peterson and Baz Fe Jazz celebrate the BGP jazz label’s first anniversary with a beat bash at London’s 100 Club on Friday (23) too … Sundays at South Harrow Bogarts with Tim Westwood and Jon Jules laying down the rap tracks attract crowds for all over the South-East plus all the UK and US rap stars you can think of who happen to be in town … Bomb The Bass’s remix, to give its correct title, is ‘Megablast Rap (Version)’ featuring Merlin The New Rap Messiah! … The Pasadenas’ commercial 12 inch of ‘Riding On A Train’ includes an earlier much more gentle 0-106bpm Clapham Junction Demo Mix that’s more London than Philly in sound, plus the gospel introed jerky (0-)100bpm ‘A Little Love’ (very like a slowed down Olympics ‘Good Lovin’’) … Andy Sojka, who produced Projection’s new ‘What’s Your Problem’ with no thought of anything else in his mind, afterwards had it pointed out that of course it sounds like Rufus & Chaka Khan ‘Ain’t Nobody’, so no wonder it seemed naggingly familiar to me! … Shep Pettibone’s remix of the Thompson Twins ‘In The Name Of Love’ rhythmically owes most to Ten City ‘Right Back To You’ … Royal House ‘Yeah Buddy’ is based largely on Exodus ‘Together Forever’ and even on some of Atmosfear ‘Dancing In Outer Space’, amongst other bits … Freddie Jackson grew up only four blocks from Harlem’s Apollo Theatre, and hopes to be able to play there over this coming New Year’s Eve … Freddie could be recording a duet with Audrey Wheeler, who with Cyndi Mizelle stood out more strongly than fellow backing singer Sandra St Victor during their brief solo spot in Jackson’s London show … DJs, don’t forget you can FAX us your charts (by Wednesday afternoon) on 01-388 9576, as the mail may take a while to get back to normal … NANU NANU!
HOT VINYL
D. MOB (FEATURING GARY HAISMAN) ‘We Call It Acleed (The Matey Mix)’ (ffrr FFRX 13)
Due commercially on October 3, unquestionably THE acid house anthem is this now slightly wrigglier Danny D produced “acieed!” chanting frantically churning 124¼bpm twittery jittery jumbled jumpy joyous cavorting craziness (‘matey’ instrumental and beats flip), the original version of which exploded initially on limited promo before becoming the only real standout on ‘The House Sound Of London, Vol IV’ LP.
THE BRAT PACK ‘So Many Ways (Do it Properly Part II)’ (US Vendetta Records VE-7008)
Robert Clivilles and David Cole (of 2 Puerto Ricans A Blackman And A Dominican, who of course created the original ‘Do It Properly’) now make another even more dementedly frantic jack track, its (0-)122¼-122bpm Worldwide DJ Anthem mix having a shouting “Oh you bastard, come here by my side, listen honey, listen baby, don’t be so f***in’ serious!” intro that’s obviously not for air play but could become a real disco motto, while there are also scratching 123½-0bpm TT’s Bitten Again Dub and fiercely percussive 122¼-122-0bpm Pump It One More Time Mix, 122⅓-122¼bpm World Wide B-Boy Killer Anthem and 122¼bpm Percussion Of Death Mix versions. I think this is going to be hot.
JUNGLE BROTHERS ‘I’ll House You (Richie Rich Version)’ (Gee St Records GEE 12003)
Due fully on October 10, this is the (0-)123bpm slightly more open sounding UK remake by Richie Rich and group member Michael ‘Afrika’ Small of the hot import rap treatment of Royal House’s ‘Can You Party’, now no longer using Todd Terry’s production as its backing track (to which Marshall Jefferson could well object in turn!) coupled here with its 122⅔-0bpm Instrumental and Houseappella, plus their album’s title (and best) track, the weavingly rapped bassily grooving ‘The Message’-cutting 99⅚bpm ‘Straight Out The Jungle’. Continue reading “September 24, 1988: D. Mob featuring Gary Haisman, The Brat Pack, Jungle Brothers, Blow, M-D-Emm”
I hope that by pointing out a few things I may persuade any doubters that perhaps I do know what I’m talking about in my stand against the totally unnecessary but fashionable and commercially exploited connection between the drug called ecstasy and the music called acid house. In common with so many who grew up during the Sixties, I have had first hand experience of what you might call the ‘fun’ drug scene for 25 years, both socially and professionally, which includes jocking every weekend at Soho’s legendary mod club The Scene at the height of the purple heart craze (the floor underfoot would suddenly get crunchy whenever there was a police raid!), and running a psychedelic disco in an air tent at, amongst other major hippy gatherings, the massive 1970 Isle Of Wight festival (where I spent 12 days — it only lasted five! — and, incidentally, grew the very same beard that I still wear). Nearly all of the people of my generation who I used to know, but who are now dead, and I only recently realised with horror that it is quite a number, died from drugs related causes. They too began by thinking some harmless seeming substance was trendy. Obviously, not everyone who pops a pill, smokes a joint, snorts some coke or drops a tab is going to progress to the hard stuff. Most people set out to be careful, and have relatively harmless fun . . . if they’re lucky. It is the insidious way in which drugs are promoted to the impressionable and vulnerable young as a fashion accessory that is most dangerous. This process is now being used, often I am sure unintentionally, to link ecstasy with acid house — which began innocently enough as a musical form, the title of Phuture’s ‘Acid Trax’ supplying an appropriate term to help describe the strain of synth sizzled house that was then emerging. OK, maybe some dancers in Chicago always were high on more than just the music, but this was largely unknown here and had no bearing in Britain on the usage of the purely music categorising name, ‘acid house’ — until it all got confused by the cross pollination of such different trendy London nightclub fashions as Balearic beat and born again hippy, so that the word ‘acid’ was taken at face value as meaning LSD, or its more accessible relative, ecstasy, and waving your arms about self consciously in front of your face in a trance dance and chanting ‘acieed!’ suddenly took on a sinister overtone. Doing this is of course big fun, and acid house nights are full of exciting energy. Most of the music, as you must be aware, I have reviewed or at the very least monitored in a positive way with varying degrees of enthusiasm. In the current polarisation of musical styles, my own black rooted taste may be more towards rap, which I have no difficulty in seeing as the logical modern continuation of age old black music traditions, but many (especially the more soulfully grounded) US house productions I like a lot — and, as regards the ease of reviewing it, I’m all for the simplicity of acid house! What I do dislike, and what my stand is against, is the cynical marketing in this country of uninspired material by giving it a questionable commerciality through spurious association with the drug meaning of the words acid and ecstasy, and the like. Agreed, this may lead to a subjective judgement on my part, but then I am meant to be a critic, and, as the preceding sentence should show, it is in any case more a matter of the packaging rather than the actual music to which I may be objecting. (However, as has been pointed out a few times before, I do equate much of the more mindless acid house material with the disco dross of the late Seventies — which doesn’t necessarily stop you loving it, as it’s all down to personal taste!) It is in the interest of drug pushers to increase their market by encouraging the use of soft drugs, in the hope that they can then hook people into a harder habit from which the profits are even higher. The tabloid press’s spectre of the pusher lurking outside schoolyard gates comes more realistically alive when one considers the dreadfully misguided way in which Bros have tagged their new single’s different versions as The ‘Turn On’ Mix and The Acidic Mix. There’s nothing cute and cuddly about those terms, not that one really expects even their most impressionable fans to go rushing out in a quest for practical knowledge as a result! Even so, from innocent experimentation unbreakable habits can be formed, and you can be sure that, if the kid who supplies you at an acid gig isn’t himself rich, someone in the chain who supplied him is laughing all the way to the bank and rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect of all the new suckers that slavish devotion to the acid ethic has brought into the market. Make sure the dope that’s being taken isn’t you, for a ride. Don’t don’t do it. Let’s just enjoy the music on its own.
BEATS & PIECES
Postal strike disruptions have caused headaches for everyone, and unless they end soon seem likely to make rm’s dance charts turn into sales charts (now that would reveal a thing or two!); however, if DJs have access to a FAX machine we would really appreciate it if they could FAX us their weekly chart returns by no later than Wednesday afternoon on (01-)388 9576, marked “RM Disco Chart – attention Alan Jones” (this is not a regular telephone number, it will give you a pain in the ear if you try to talk to it!) – we do not unfortunately have time to take down individual charts in the normal way over the phone … Red Star rail freight is being used by several record companies to get promos to central distribution points around the country, from which DJs can collect them, the main specialist stores in major towns being used like this by such as MCA Records while Rush Release are building a network of their centrally located mailing list DJs to act as local agents – we could see the American record pool method of promo distribution catch on here finally as a result, while another might be that some DJs will suddenly rediscover the advantages of being able to pick and choose, and actually buy just the material that they really need! … ‘Sure Beats 1’, the seven inch 33⅓rpm vinyl EP that is given away free with rm next week (issue w/e September 24), contains the Wee Papa Girl Rappers’ funky break beat cutting brightly lurching 98⅓bpm ‘You Got The Beat’ from their forthcoming LP, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince’s excellent jazzily undulating 102⅙bpm ‘Here We Go Again’ (instead of the track mentioned last week) from their current LP, Bomb The Bass featuring Merlin’s unavailable original 0-111½bpm rap version of ‘Megablast’, and a tempoless “conceptual” deep breathing exercise by S’Xpress called ‘Coma’ – place your order now, and remember ‘Sure Beats 2’ is free the following week too … Richie Rich has re-recorded in London with the Jungle Brothers a brand new version of ‘I’ll House You’ which will be on Gee St Records for officially sanctioned UK release in four weeks – Richie’s own solo recordings will also again be on that label rather than on Club, while a Gee Zone house label will be launched next month … Alexander O’Neal ‘What Can I Say To Make You Love Me’, inevitably now that it’s already been out here as a single, has just been remixed in the US! … MC La Kim ‘The Posse Is Large’ is produced by DJ Mark: The 45 King – last week’s copy confused his name by omitting some crucial capital letters … Ecstasy’s anti-drugs ‘Ecstasy (Don’t Do It)’ appears to be on Syncopate … Les Adams’ remix of Inner City will indeed be out commercially, although altered from the Disco Mix Club version … LA Mix have recruited Newport Pagnell multi-instrumentalist Mike Stevens as a collaborator on future recordings, separate from his own solo career – he was, for instance, support act to Freddie Jackson in London this last weekend … Jeff Young loses an hour from his Friday night dance music show in Radio 1’s upcoming reshuffle … Greg Edwards would appear to be confirmed for a weekend soul show on GLR (Greater London Radio), as BBC Radio London will be called after its relaunch next month – a lot of people are being surprisingly naïve if they seriously think that the sad disappearance of Radio London’s daytime soul shows should be compensated for by new ones on Capital Radio, as both stations obviously know how to target the audiences that they now respectively want (if pirate radio can pull up its socks and present itself more listenably, it is that which ought to fill the gap) … ‘The Hit Man And Her’ made its chaotic debut on ITV at 4am on Sunday morning two weekends ago, live from Mr Smiths in Warrington, with Pete Waterman shouting at the turntables and TV-am’s ‘Wacaday’ girl Michaela Strachan screaming “woooo!” through everything – everything in fact consisting of all Pete’s own current product shamelessly plugged to the practical exclusion of all else, the whole televised “best disco in town” concept being a total mess without the advantage of properly staged set pieces, as a crowded disco environment does not come across as good TV (unfortunately) … Zoe Glitherow leaves WEA at the end of this month after nine and a half years of helping Fred Dove promote their disco releases … Terrajacks ‘Houseplan’ for some reason has a strong following in the East Midlands and next to none anywhere else, according to our chart returns, one of the few truly regional breakouts we’ve spotted in ages … George Benson was slow to hit The Club Chart, largely because, prior to DJs’ charts coming in (there’s always an inevitable delay even without strikes, unless of course they FAX ‘em!), our sales survey these days shows that buyers’ tastes are so polarised that if it isn’t either house or rap they aren’t terribly interested (in London, anyway) … Womack & Womack’s follow-up will be a remix of their album’s standout ‘Life Is Just A Ballgame’ … Marshall Jefferson is producing a comeback album by the Trammps … Ichiban Records were obviously too busy to send me records as they’ve been signing the Manhattans and Three Degrees to the previously “southern soul” orientated label … Johnnie Wilder, now no longer singing with Heatwave, has just recorded his own solo LP in the US, of gospel-ish inspirational songs (he’s still wheelchair-bound) … Peter Royer, who did a version of ‘Love Is In Season’ a couple of years back, is Erroll Kennedy’s replacement alongside Leee John and Ashley Ingram in Imagination now … Graeme Park has teamed up with Mike Pickering playing house at Manchester’s Hacienda on Fridays and other selected venues together … Andy Carroll, Mike Knowler and Davy bring Balearic beats and acieed to Liverpool’s The State every Monday now … Tim Westwood joins Disco Gary VanDenBussche rocking the house at Annerly Town Hall’s The Effect next Tuesday (20), for under 18’s … ‘A Groovy Kind Of Love’ first surfaced here, ahead of the Mindbenders’ hit version, by Patti LaBelle & The Blue Belles as the better B-side to their London-released ‘Over The Rainbow’ … Rick Astley’s newie is being compared by some to Jeffrey Osborne … Carrie Grant is the perhaps surprising new name of David’s wife, their wedding at “London’s International Charismatic Church”, Kensington Temple being an interesting ceremony, with a wisecracking Welsh preacher wired for sound via a tieclip radio mic, and some great singing from the London Community Gospel Choir among others, the happy couple’s very swank reception in a marquee on a lawn beside the Thames in Putney being climaxed when, in a surprise for his bride, David whisked her away through the night in a launch on the moonlit millpond smooth river – one of the most romantic scenes imaginable! … Colin Hudd is one DJ who loves house and is high on the music but is dead worried that people now think he’s high on something else … Ian Levine makes the valid point that, even at its most banal, late Seventies disco dross was at least tuneful, which is more than can be said for most of acid house … Radio 1’s Newsbeat programme made the surprising report last week that wholemeal bread and muesli contain traces of LSD, found in the wheatgerm, which opens up all sorts of joke opportunities, like people taking packed sandwiches to acieed gigs (it gives a whole new meaning to “Allinson’s, the bread with nowt taken out!) … “Bet you can’t eat three Weetabix without falling over!” … “Hey man, got any Alpen?” … “No, but I’ve got some red hot Country Store” … NANU NANU!
HOT VINYL
BILL WITHERS ‘Lovely Day (Sunshine Mix)’ (CBS 653001 6)
Already a smash before I know it was even out, Ben Liebrand’s latest excellent revamp of an oldie has his usual newly added augmenting 98⅓-0bpm go-go-ish beats and samples, coupled with 1977’s swaying 98bpm original version, 1972’s sombrely soulful 0-36½/73-75¼-73¾-0bpm ‘Lean On Me’ and 1971’s attractively croaking 75¾-79¾-0bpm ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’, essential classics all.
ROYAL HOUSE ‘Can You Party?’ (US Idlers WAR-2706)
Already white labelled for eventual release here by Champion (CHAMP 1017), this often terrific though patchy album of totally lunatic over the top house and hip hop created by cult New York producer Todd Terry has the crazed samples crammed jerkily 123¼-122¾-123½-0bpm ‘Yeah Buddy’, ‘Stone Fox Chase’-based jerky 0-106⅔-0bpm ‘The Chase’, ‘Funky Drummer’-cutting rambling hip hop instrumental 100⅚-100⅔-101-0bpm ‘The Journey’ (yes, it’s “into sound”!), exciting acid house anthem 123-0bpm title track, its drily percussive jittery dubwise 0-122¾bpm ‘Dirty Beats’ and stuttery bounding (0-)123-0bpm ‘Party People’ original version, a short edit of the earlier tumbling 123bpm ‘Key The Pulse’, husky Ian Star nagged disjointedly lurching 120-0bpm ‘A Better Way’, grunting and scratching 101-0bpm ‘This Is Royal House’, and rather flat oddly haunting plaintive girl moaned and wailed 0-92⅚-0bpm ‘No Way No Way’.
SO FAR, nothing but support has been flooding in from all sides for my comments two issues ago about “acid house” now being cynically created for an audience too drugged to care about the quality of the music — at the time of writing now, before this week’s Gallup chart was known, it was still very noticeable that not one actual acid track had cracked the Top 40, a hopeful sign that the majority of the population have kept their musical sense in the face of the subversive hype … Champion Records successfully threatened an injunction to prevent Gee St Records releasing the Jungle Brothers ‘I’ll House You’, because it is of course blatantly based on Champion’s now reissued and fast selling Royal House ‘Con You Party’ … PLASA’s annual equipment exhibition, this year called 88 Light + Sound Show, is at West London’s Olympia 2 this Sunday-Wednesday (11-14), 11am-6pm, £5 admission on the door if you failed to pre-register in time for a discount … rm is about to be sold with two more totally free seven inch vinyl EPs of hot dance music, even better than the last pair, the one available with the issue dated September 24 containing an original rap version of Bomb The Bass ‘Megablast’, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince ‘New Kids On The Block’, plus the brand new S’Express ‘Coma‘ and Wee Papa Girl Rappers ‘You Got The Beat‘, while October 1’s has a special Coldcut remix of Sweet Toothed Sonny ‘Acid Drops’ plus the brand new Cold Crush Brothers ‘The Bronx‘ and Mixmaster Tee created ‘Fourth Floor All-Stars‘ mix of Four Play, Break Boys, Masters At Work, and O.N.I.T. (Oh No, It’s Them) – place an order with your newsagent now so as not to be disappointed! … Top Billin’s long since reviewed single is now finally released commercially, the hotter ‘Never’ B-side turning out to be the old Kleeer song … Electra’s ‘Jibaro (Spectrum Remix)’ sleeve says “This record is dedicated To The Memory of Steve Walsh” … Jolley Harris Jolley’s remix of Pieces Of A Dream ‘Rising To The Top’ should be due next week … Les Adams was guest mixing DJ with Nick Addams at David Grant’s wedding last Saturday — what, incidentally, does Les have in common with Carrie, the new Mrs Grant?! … Brass Construction’s main man Randy Muller has finally set up his own Plaza Records label, as yet unsigned here … Ian Levine is cockahoop at having Seventh Avenue picked up for a five year/five album US deal by Atlantic — who have also just snapped up from him a four years old Hi-NRG hit that he only ever mixed, but recently obtained from its defunct Bronze label, Vikki Benson ‘Easy Love‘, following its sudden much played Latin hip hop success on Miami radio! … Japan’s highest radio jock, Yuki Iwata hosts a four day televised Hi-NRG festival in Tokyo during November, including two separate nights devoted to Stock Aitken Waterman productions and the apparently locally popular Nightmare label, presented respectively by Pete Waterman and Ian Levine … TV makes people look fatter … Charly Records’ catalogue deal with New York’s long established Fania and Vaya Latin labels has resulted in a flood of salsa albums and interesting compilations on the new UK Caliente label, worth checking by jazzier jocks … Impulse Club Promotions’ new main men (on 01-459 8866) Glasgow hard case Kenny Macleod and Bromley (South London) soul boy Nick Gordon Brown “aim to straddle the much-mythologised North/South divide” — to my mind, the ones at top and bottom are fine, it’s those in between who sometimes seem to have chips on their shoulders (stir, stir!) … BAD boy Mike Shawe reckons that three pirate radio stations have shaken up Bristol’s appreciation of dance music, even the largest Mecca venue being more aware of acid while record shops are incorporating large dance music sections and stocking current imports, nearby Bath being very black music orientated too, says he … London Electric Ballroom DJ Glen Gunner boasts that he too has just bought an “F” reg car — from the last time around, 1968, a VW split-screen cam-per, for £150! … NANU NANU!
HOT VINYL
PHASE II ‘Reachin’ (Brotherhood Mix)’ (RePublic Records LICT 006, via Rough Trade)
Typically excellent Blaze-produced soulfully sung and piano plonked creamily thumping smooth 0-121-0bpm hustling New York “deep house” churner building powerful nagging tension, with lyrics full of timeless joy and hope, a real grower as The Club Chart has been proving (more sparsely percussive instrumental 121bpm Stand Firm Mix, piano backed acappella 0-120½-0bpm Redemption Mix, and 120½-0bpm Radio Edit). Don’t miss this, it’s so satisfying!
M.C. LA KIM ‘The Posse Is Large’ (US Tuff City TUF 128031)
Officially flip to the murkily dragging 92⅔bpm ‘We Got The Funk‘ (in two mixes), this DJ Mark The 45 King-produced 106’⅙bpm rap (acappella too) is set to the nagging oboe and drums break beat from his own ‘The 900 Number‘, a real underground hip hop groove for a few mixers in the know, so that consequently this is now massive at rap gigs!
ANDY PEEBLES, now he’s toned down his stentorian Radio 1 vocal modulation, has been doing a good job as Tony Blackburn’s weekday 9am-noon replacement on BBC Radio London, the show being markedly more “soul”-ful than before — however, there’s bad news for all soul fans, as from mid-October the station is adopting an AoR format, leaving soul to the pirates (although ‘Black Londoners’ will be broadcast every evening, 7-10pm, combining black affairs and music), possible new presenters including the likes of Johnnie Walker, Greg Edwards, Tommy Vance and even Jonathan King, while Robbie Vincent is leaving of the end of the week to move his ‘phone-in show to LBC, as of September 26 replacing Mike Allen (who in turn moves to weekends) in the top rated Monday-Thursday 10pm-1am slot on London’s “talk” station … Pres Jam 4 at Prestatyn is likely to feature Salt-n-Pepa, Steven Danté and more, in addition to Keith Sweat’s debut UK concert appearance, the November 4-6 weekender this time attracting the broadest spread of people yet from all over the country (£45 Access/Visa bookings and details on 01-364 1212) — Martin Collins has returned to the LiveWire DJ fold, Tim Westwood will host an extended (and exclusive) rap session, while acid, rap, jazz and doubtless a bit of funk and soul are being offered in three clearly defined “dance zones” … Upnorth Promotions hold their third soul-funk-jazz weekender, the second Blackpool one, on October 7-9 at Fleetwood’s Cala Gran Holiday Park, presenting Jean Carne in concert plus such DJs as Richard Searling, Colin Curtis, Martin Collins, Jonathan, Bob Jones, Hutchy, Norman Jay, Bob Jefferies, Billy Davison, Simon Dunmore, Ian Clark and more (£45 ticket info on 091-389 0317) … Steve Walsh’s family benefiting fund appears to have raised £30,000 from the star-studded special (and final) Radio London Soul Night Out … ‘DiscEyes’ is the best conceived video programme for disco use that I’ve seen, a great deal of clever thought having gone into the musical and visual links between each track of the non-stop segued two hour stereo hi-fi tapes, available on subscription for professional disco use only — details from Diamond Time Ltd on 01-586 7056, ask for Graham Gold (who does the sequencing with Steve Kemsley, video jock at Video Cafés around the world) … Swan Lake’s ‘In The Name Of Love’ shares a title (and to these ears, not much else) with a Thompson Twins oldie, which is now getting London pirate radio play in its new Shep Pettibone created ‘In The Name Of Love ’88 (Railroad Mix)‘ (US Arista ADI-9731), a pulsing bass driven funkily lurching 116⅓-0bpm remix, not at the moment due out here until an album of Twins remixes is released in November … Rick Astley’s upcoming (and long awaited) ‘She Wants To Dance With Me‘ single is self-penned and co-produced by Rick with Phil Harding and Ian Curnow, deliberately to show that he can cut it without any direct Stock Aitken Waterman involvement … ‘Night Of The Living Baseheads‘ is inevitably the next Public Enemy single … Bassment Records’ first UK single through Westside Records will be the Diaz Brothers ‘Here We Go Again‘ … T.I.C. is pronounced as separate initials, their ‘Popcorn ’88 Remix’ indeed being due from Arista this week, flipped by the original Woodstock Mix … Les Adams has created an “industrial” flavoured juddering re-production (rather than remix) of Inner City ‘Big Fun’, specifically for Disco Mix Club subscription service release although a commercial version may be due too … Chris ‘Bam Bam’ Westbrook has also remixed Brass Construction ‘Ha Cha Cha’ … Kool Kat are currently promoing ahead of 10 Records release their Liaz ‘House Sensation (Master Reese Mix)‘, a Kevin Sanderson remixed bustling (0-)126bpm frantic formless rambler with vacuous cooing girls, the epitome of late Eighties disco dross aimed at people too drugged to care about music, while likewise WEA have promoed indie band Beloved’s ‘Acid Love’ in two Mike ‘Hitman’ Wilson mixed trite “it feels like ecstasy” muttered and synth twittered 118bpm versions, flipped by cymbal shushed busier 119⅓bpm Love & Ecstacy and 121¼bpm Original Mixes, two of which will eventually be chosen as a commercial B-side to something else … Jay Strongman’s currently promoed ‘East West‘ (Rhythm King) is, I fear, easy to dismiss now as yet another bass bombing sampler, chugging along at a possibly too monotonous (0-)109bpm jitter despite being built from interesting old funk grooves, the Red Army Choir, disembodied voices, and just a bit of song featuring Maureen … Yazz And The Plastic Population’s horny horn blast is sampled from Sharon Redd’s ‘Beat The Street’ … Gordon Mac’s newly renamed Graphic Records label has released a compilation of ‘Boogie Tunes‘ (LIPS 2) with no discernible common link other than they’re all old, from 1975’s Milton Wright ‘Keep It Up‘ to the relatively recent John Wayne-impersonating Rappin’ Duke’ ‘Rappin’ Duke‘, other cuts being by Derrick, Michele, Taana Gardner, Black Ivory and Melba Moore … Double Trouble guest at London Charing Cross Road Busby’s new Wednesday The Exchange night this week (August 31), while Leroy Burgess and Tyrone Williams, performing as El Bee & Tee, are next door at the Astoria the following night (September 1) with Chris Forbes, Simon Goffe, Madhatter Trevor, Paul Anderson Bobby & Steve of The Zoo … Steve Roberts and Keith Diamond revive “good old soul” (rather than “rare groove”!) on Thursdays at Kingston-upon-Thames Hoofers now that the adversely publicised link between acid house and ecstasy has put paid to the proposed night with Jasper and Jazzy M … Russ Dewsbury and Baz Fe Jazz recently started the Saturday Night Fish Fry for classic jazz and Latin dance in Nash’s Basement on Marine Parade, and now on Fridays also run The All New Jazz Room upstairs at Downbeat in Dyke Road, both in Brighton — where Balearic beats and acid are to be found on Thursdays at Slam in the Savannah, Old Steine, with Paul Clark and Warwick, next week (September 8) seeing a Shoom special starring Danny Rampling and a PA by Baby Ford … Queensgate Leisure open the flashy Discotheque P’Zaz this weekend in Grays, Essex (on Orsett Road in the Queensgate Centre) … Camden Lock’s Dingwalls having stopped live music on Saturdays, that night is now the solidly funky Second Base, with Paul Anderson and a rota of regulars including Gordon Mac, Madhatter Trevor, DJ Tee, Norman Jay, Colin Dale, Steve Jackson, Bobby & Steve of The Zoo, Jazzy B, Jay Strongman, Jules from Family Funktion (dress to sweat, but no trainers) … John Douglas, Ray Keith, Dave Malone, Guy Palmer & Turbo take turns to tear the root off this Sunday (4) at Castle Hedingham’s Memories in Essex … Charles Dickson of Northern Ireland Dance Factory and DCR 100.2fm is organising a Sudan flood victims benefiting ‘DJs Change The World’ day for next Saturday afternoon (September 10, noon-5pm) in Ballymoney Town Centre, County Antrim, with loadsa DJs working hard to raise loadsa (bally?) money for the cause … Teesvalley Roadshow requires a part-time DJ able to work weekends and travel the country — contact Graham Murray on 0642-226270 … I recently mentioned my still functioning 20 years old disco equipment, the very first purpose built mobile disco unit ever, the prototype of a production run marketed by pioneering sound installer Pepe Rush — who, amongst other international projects, is currently building a new mixing desk for London’s Tramp nightclub (if you too want something designed to last, call him on 01-889 2200!) … Gary and Martin Kemp might like to note that the club where I began my DJing career in 1963, The Barn in Knightsbridge, was owned by Ronnie and Reggie Kray, should they want any further first hand insights for their movie! … ssshh — “static house” … NANU NANU!
HOT VINYL
MICHAEL JACKSON ‘Another Part Of Me (Extended Dance Mix)’ (Epic 652844 6)
While ‘Dirty Diana’ could never be regarded as a genuine club cut, this Bruce Swedien-remixed pent-up nervily urgent (0-)110-0bpm jittery jerky really is full of floor filling rhythm in Jacko’s best classic style (in four mixes).
TONY TERRY ‘Young Love (Acid Remix)’ (US Epic 49 07874) One of his last album’s hot cuts given an exciting house-style jiggly jumpy driving 117bpm nervy Steve Peck remix that – possibly a first for a major label US release – is actually called an Acid Remix (not that it’s truly “acieed!”), in similar Extended and Radio Versions, a very different Bohannon-ish bassily bubbled bounding 114½bpm 7” Version, jaggedly juddering 115-0bpm DJ Shock-scratched samples studded Charlie Dee’s “Not Just Sex” version, Omar Santana-edited violently jittering 116½bpm Oh Oh Omar Dubb, and Acappella, adding up to lots of beats for your money (over 35 minutes).
THE PASADENAS ‘Riding On A Train (Extended Version)’ (CBS PASA T2)
Another Philly Soul inspired (no, not ‘Love Train’!) lavishly arranged 111⅙-0bpm surging jiggler with an ever shifting full orchestration and much vocal interplay, a good follow-up to ‘Tribute’ although had it been heard in isolation possibly not as punchy (reviewed off promo, release date unknown). Continue reading “September 3, 1988: Michael Jackson, Tony Terry, The Pasadenas, Sweet Obsession, Biz Markie”
Take this how you like, but it’s worth bearing in mind that the frantically empty disco music of the late Seventies was created (not that we in Britain necessarily realised it at the time) specifically to keep drugged gay New Yorkers dancing on a high, and now the frantically empty acid house of the late Eighties is likewise being created specifically to keep ecstasy motivated trendy Londoners dancing on a high (a fast beat and surface excitement being so common to both styles that many acid DJs are now mixing in Seventies disco oldies without anyone noticing the difference!) – my point being that if the music is appreciated primarily by people speeding on drugs, who are in the minority, why isn’t more being done at the moment to cater for the tastes of the majority, who don’t need artificial stimulants to appreciate a good tune? … Gee St Records have picked up the Jungle Brothers here, ‘I’ll House You’ possibly being due a for UK remix but definitely out on 12 inch and added to UK pressings of their album before they visit for gigs here next month … Maze were mooted but now, as well as fireworks, November the 5th at the Prestatyn weekender will see the first ever exclusive UK concert by Keith Sweat instead … Gullivers DJ Graham Gold is the latest jock to become a recording artiste, co-producing himself with Phil Harding and Ian Curnow on ‘Shikisha’, described as “more Yazz than LA Mix with a touch of Todd Terry” … “They really like acid here”, Kevin ‘Reese’ Saunderson remarked drily, in the understatement of the night, when DJing at Nicky Holloway’s most recent “doo at Kew” (actually the venue’s in Brentford, across the river, but that doesn’t sound so good!) … Nicky Holloway, amongst an armoury of slick acidic tracks, plays the start of Tyree ‘Acid Over’ at 33⅓rpm before jacking up to the correct 45rpm precisely as the main impetus kicks in, and also dramatically shifts the vari-speed during different phases of Donna Summer ‘I Feel Love’ (the Eighties remix version), to ecstatic reaction … I haven’t time this week to BPM the slew of strong acid house albums that are out, including two rival double LP sets, ffrr’s ‘The House Sound Of London Vol IV – The Jackin’ Zone’ and Breakout’s ‘House Hallucinates – Pump Up London, Volume One’, plus two hot import compilations, Hot Mix 5 Inc Records’ ‘Acid’ and the Junior Vasquez remixed mainly Arthur Baker productions on Minimal Records’ ‘Rough House Vol 1’ … Westside Records are countering Serious’s 10 album boxed house set with a 14 album, 120 track, limited edition ‘House Of Hits’ box set! … Ace Records have just released a whole slew of old Stax albums in their original late Sixties/early Seventies sleeves, including Isaac Hayes ‘Hot Buttered Soul’ … Westside Records have signed New York’s Bassment Records for the UK … Andrew Beer is building a DJ mailing list at Warrior Records, PO Box 798, London W14 9NT (01-801 0254) … Bill Medley’s new version reminds me, which now exalted national radio executive, when a producer on local radio, asked the record library for copies of “those two old Hollies hits, ‘He Ain’t Heavy’, and ‘He’s My Brother’?! … Island have signed the Leslie Drayton Orchestra … Chrysalis picked up City Heat’s ‘City Heat’, real “yuppy soul” considering the song is set in a city cocktail bar after work … Raheem the rapping vigilante’s ‘Dance Floor’, reviewed as an import last week (when the fact it’s based on Eddie Kendricks ‘Keep On Truckin’’ was left out), is already on 96⅔-0bpm UK 12 inch (Breakout USAT 642) and getting perhaps more pop than hardcore attention … Kool G Rap & DJ Polo ‘Poison’ (US Prism) only ever hit The Club Chart for one week at number 90 at the end of May, but has been selling steadily for the last 14 weeks – and while we’re talking longevity, Shy Rose ‘I Cry For You’ (US JDC) has been bubbling around the Hi-NRG chart since late last October, without ever getting higher than number seven, so will it last for a whole year? … Nicky Holloway and ecstatic Johnny Walker “Balearic” The Devil May Trip this Tuesday (23) at Uxbridge Regals … Sunday (28) sees Jeff Young, Pete Tong, Chris Hill, Chrisse Jackson, Colin Hudd, Eddie Gordon, Danny Smith and more at Great Yarmouth Tiffany’s 6pm “alldayer”, and Stu Allen, Rob Manley and Steve Woolfe at Manchester Legend’s allniter … Bank Holiday Monday (29) has DJs Huge, The Klass, David T and more at No Sell Out 9 in Liverpool’s Mardi Gras, also Steve Allen, Nick Graham and more plus Chapter + The Verse at Peterborough’s Millionaire Club, a noon-midnight alldayer at Putney’s Micawbers with Jazzy M, Jasper, Nigel Wilton, Steve Roberts and more, and Chad Jackson cutting up Preston’s The Place … Neil Fincham, awarded a gold disc on his departure from Styx, has moved across Edinburgh to continue his funk, soul, jazz policy on Thurs/Fri/Saturdays at the new Morrisons in Morrison Street … Bloxwich’s Flix has become the refurbished Starlight Club, with DJs Ray Young Tues/Fri, Shaun Sullivan Thurs, Scott Brazil Sat … Gary Steel souls Chesham Stages every Thursday … Phil Simmons, recently at the Empire in London’s Leicester Square, has now moved actually to Leicester to jock Thur/Fri/Sat at The Studio … East Midlands club jock Glen Ross writes a weekly music column in Leicester’s The Times … Mark Hughes is excited at the prospect of being the club jock involved in a live link up between Worthing’s Sterns Nightclub and Southern Sound radio on Saturday, September 3 … RSW, creators of the already reviewed funkily drummed ‘Biting My Nails’ on Mute, turns out to be Renegade Sound Wave (with a dreadful vocal version as commercial A-side!) … NANU NANU!
HOT VINYL
BOOGIE DOWN PRODUCTIONS ‘Stop The Violence (Extended Mix)’ (US Jive 1121-1-JD)
Brand new tougher (0-)91⅙bpm “hard” remix of KRS-One’s reggae-ish bass thrummed sombre anti-drugs and violence message rap (only ever out here in its LP version), with some plinky plunky African kalimba, and a dubwise style false finish (instrumental/edit too), flipped by the amusing 0-102bpm ‘Jimmy’, a thinly disguised warning to wear a condom! Meanwhile, KRS-One’s new UK release is the bass jolted wordy unremixed 91bpm ‘I’m Still No. 1’ (Jive JIVE T 179), also flipped by the here 0-101⅔bpm ‘Jimmy’ plus the previously oddly disjointed 76½bpm ‘Essays On BDP-ism’ with Scott La Rock.
M.C. SYN-DEE ‘Best 2 B A Girl’ (Virgin VST 1111)
Promoed for ages to great acclaim and finally out properly (still at 33⅓rpm despite the label saying 45), this is the correct nomenclature for the now subtly remixed and more smoothly rounded jiggly bass throbbed go-go-ish 108⅓bpm infectious female rap, sure to be big (scratching 108⅔bpm Instrumental and funky JB drummer sampled 100bpm ‘Low Down Bonus Beats’ flip).
The Urban All Stars, rather than its creator Norman Cook, turns out to be the correct label credit for the terrific ‘It Began In Africa’ megamix, finished 12 inch copies also including the Jackson Sisters’ ‘I Believe In Miracles’ and ‘When Your Love Is Gone’, and Maceo & The Macks ‘Cross The Track’ … Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis will again be producing the long awaited new Janet Jackson LP … London Leicester Square’s Empire Ballroom has had another fatal stabbing, during a privately staffed function – this will not affect the Steve Walsh family benefiting Soul Night Out there this Thursday, when the myriad of PAs will include Joyce Sims, DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, Wee Papa Girl Rappers, Derek B, Glen Goldsmith, Princess, Steven Danté, Rick Clarke, Mica Paris, Pasadenas, LA Mix, Tongue In Cheek, Ruby Turner, Phil Fearon, David Grant, Sid Haywoode, Total Contrast, Krush, Jazz & The Brothers Grimm, Mirage, Simon Harris and many more (including surprises), Edwin Starr being due to lead them all in an ‘I Found Lovin’’ finale for the Radio London broadcast, the evening’s presenters including Tony Blackburn, Jeff Young, John Sachs, Mike Shaft, John Saunderson, John Ceccini, Gary Crowley and Dave Pearce … Paul Oakenfold filmed the video for Electra on Ibiza without mishap, Ben Liebrand having done a Spectrum Remix of ‘Jibaro’ … Eric B & Rakim ‘Put Your Hands Together’ has initially been remixed for the UK by Sheffield’s FON Force, apparently just one of several remixes … Longsy D + Cut Master MC have been signed by Cold Chillin’ in the US, Marley Marl remixing their earlier ‘Hip Hop Reggae’ for release there … MCA Records picked up The Kraze ‘The Party’, the exciting Balearic house raver about which I enthused some time ago, only a few (albeit major) jocks playing it so far … Republic Records have signed Phase II ‘Reachin’’ and Blaze ‘Can’t Win For Losin’’, both being remixed for the UK (along with Kikkit ‘Love Fixation’) by Blaze, who have left Quark in the States for Warner Bros … Sweatbox DJ Steve Wren has quit his day job at Polygram to become club plugger at Jive, taking up the position Jon Williams left vacant on his move to Phonogram … PRT Distribution is starting its own Nite Shift Promotion service for the benefit of contracted labels, Darren Ensom setting up the DJ mailing list on 01-648 7000 (extension 207) from September 3 … Criminal Records, the UK label that releases Tongue In Cheek, has started a club mailing list at 22-23 Red Lion Street, Holborn, London WC1R 4PS … The Dance Yard Recording Corporation has also moved to Unit 7, Grand Union Centre, West Row, Ladbroke Grove, London W10 5AX (01-969 2296) … RJ’s Latest Arrival’s import LP is due here imminently (EMI-Manhattan MTL 1035), Najee’s is already out (MTL 1026), as is Gregory Hines’ (Epic 461027 1) … Jeffrey Osborne’s LP is out here next week (Breakout AMA 5205), its first single here being a Gail ‘Sky’ King remix of the, to my mind not that special, ‘One Love – One Dream’ title track … Syn-Dee is touring Stockton’s Mall Tuesday (16), Sheffield’s Leadmill Wednesday (17), Manchester’s International Thursday (18) and Segers Friday (19) … Gordon Mac is Tony Monson’s guest DJ this Wednesday (17) at Chelsea Sloane Square’s Roberto’s … Double Trouble in its roadshow form consists of mainman Leigh Guest with Michael Menson and Carl Brown, mixing it up this Friday (19) at Southend-on-Sea’s Mr B’s … Gerald G Holley is acidic Saturdays at Aberdare’s Deckers (due for a £250,000 refit in the new year) … Jeff Young is so well supplied with pre-releases these days that at his Swansea Martha’s Vineyard gig he earned the nickname “JAY” (to go with Pete ‘Acetate’ Tong’s “PAT”!), his guest appearance at Jeff Thomas’s Monday soul night attracting not only myself but also MCA’s Eddie Gordon, Island’s Nigel Wilton, Jive’s Steve Wren, Virgin’s Mervyn Anthony, Marshall Arts’ Ray Edwards, Kool Kat’s Neil Rushton and Everton Webb, plus a Hotline PA, most of the “taffia maffia” including Barry Island’s Steve Wiggins and megamixing Noise Boyz – one incredulous observer wondering why Youngie attracted so much attention, a question he answered for himself when I asked if he was having a good time, as he replied, “Yeah, he’s playing great stuff!” … NANU NANU!
HOT VINYL
DIAZ BROTHERS ‘Here We Go Again (Diaz Mix)’ (US Bassment Records BM-0073)
Great for DJs in a jam, this instantly exciting 0-112¾-0bpm Craig Bevan creation combines the Lyn Collins ‘Think (About It)’ break beat popularised by Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock and then Roxanne Shanté, Public Enemy’s continuously repeated title line (and some “boyee”), plus Clint Eastwood’s “do you feel lucky, punk?” dialogue (acidic Instrumental), flipped by the Zapp ‘More Bounce To The Ounce’-based 111bpm ‘We Bad (Bad Mix)’ (inst too).
TINA B ‘Bodyguard’ (US Vendetta Records VE-7004)
A&M’s US equivalent of the Breakout dance label features Arthur Baker & David Cole producing Arthur’s wife on a nastily noisy US-aimed (0-)112⅔-0bpm Janet Jackson-ish cranker, but luckily it’s in five mixes and the flip’s samples based ultra funky infectious Vocal Hip Body Mix and Hip Body Beats are just right for the UK, well worth checking.
EPMD ‘Strictly Business (12” Vocal)’ (Cooltempo/Ensign COOLX 172)
Helped immensely by ‘I Shot The Sherriff’ being slotted through it, this stutteringly remixed sinuously rolling (0-)96½-96⅓-0bpm chatting reggae-rap jiggler is in four mixes, due out fully on August 30. Continue reading “August 20, 1988: Diaz Brothers, Tina B, EPMD, Nu Shooz, Johnny Kemp”
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