Let's Get Together

Pam Todd & Love Exchange: Let's Get Together (1977)
Such a great song and such a bad mastering job... The overall sound is not bad, but someone must've bumped on the master volume at 0:39.
Produced by Greg Carmichael, of course.

RIP Mr Magic

I don't really know what's going here. DJ's dying left and right. Mr Magic was a hero to me as he was to everyone who's ever done a radio mixshow. Of course you couldn't hear WBLS here overseas, but I did literally grow up on his Profile compilations.

Here's a great set from 1988 I downloaded from Old School Hip Hop Tapes some time ago. They used to have lots, but the Zshare links are all dead now. This is the only one on Divshare and still up, go get it.

Mr. Magic's Rap Attack / WBLS / 12-23-88

Download here.

Another blog with just incredible WHBI and WBLS posts is Will C. Make sure to check at least this, this and this.

Before I go I'll embed one of his snippets from Mr Magic's Disco Showcase radio show, all the way back in 1981. This is guaranteed to blow your mind if you know your hip hop history at all.



Rest In Peace Mr Magic.

Nuff Respect

Time to head home home after 3 weeks in Philly, LA, San Francisco, Oakland and New York.

Nuff respect, in no particular order:

Tony Tripledouble, Abby Klein, Emynd, Bo Bliz, Sammy Slice, Apt One, Skinny Friedman, Thee Mike B, Eli Epstein, Omar Doom & Bella, Glen Jamn, Danny, Chris Haycock, Jamie Strong, Waldo, dude from Classixx, Travis TK, DJ Pubes, DJ Fashen, DJ Excel, HVW8, Twelvebar, Dam Funk, Dirty Dave, Daniel Terndrup, DJ Tina T, Them Jeans, Dan Oh, Stretch Armstrong, Shecky Green, Pase Rock, Gina Turner, Mighty Mi, Nate Day, Steven Bloodbath, Matthew Africa, Josh B, Platurn, Jr Flo, King Most, Shred One, Vinnie Esparza, Cool Chris, Vinsol, everybody at Pork In The Park, E Da Boss, Eunice, DJ Eleven, Queen Majesty, Chris Cutz, DJ M0ma, Nick Catchdubs, Cosmo Baker, Blu Jemz, Lloyd, Jeff Mao & family, Jared, Jonny, Tom Thumz, Cousin Cole, Dayta, Morsy, Cmish & crew, Love On The Run, Peter Reyes, Sal Paradise, Amir & Josh

And make sure to grab this dancehall jammy while you're here...
Lady G & Home T : Nuff Respect (1989)

Easy Access / This Friday

Nightlife Unlimited, September 2009 Edition

Shout outs to everyone who came to Dance Right last night. I had a brief but very enjoyable time behind the decks.

During my set someone asked about the version of Peaches And Prunes I played. I couldn't recall the details there, but here it is, a really cool take on the timeless Ron Hardy classic. Enjoy.

Nightlife Unlimited: Peaches & Prunes (Special Editions Remix)(2003)

Over the next couple of weeks you can catch me at the following parties in LA, SF & NY. Come say what's up.

Friday September 4 Los Angeles: Bar Lubitsch w/ Thee Mike B
Sunday September 6 Los Angeles: TBA
Tuesday September 8 Los Angeles: Dim Mak Tuesdays @ Cinespace with Love Grenades, Dangerous Dan, Them Jeans and Dan Oh
Thursday September 10 San Francisco: Le Cirque @ Yoshi's SF with
King Most and Shred One
Friday September 11 San Francisco: Treat 'Em Right @ The Elbo Room with Matthew Africa, B.Cause and Vinnie Esparza
Saturday September 12 Oakland: Ta-Dow!! @ Luka's Tap Room with Platurn and B.Cause
Thursday September 17 New York: Fam @ Von Kellar with Chris Cutz, DJ Eleven and Queen Majesty
Friday September 18 New York: TBA
Saturday September 19 New York: Grand Groove @ APT with Chairman Mao

Grand Groove w/ Chairman Mao

This is gonna be a lot of fun.

Today, Tomorrow & Forever

Whenever I'm in NY I try to catch Mr Cee's Throwback At Noon if I only get the chance. Last nite I went as far as stream it all the way from here just because Twitter told me he was doing a killer house classics set. Indeed he was, murdering staples like Gypsy Woman and In A De Ghetto. Towards the end of the set he went into one of my all time faves, Break 4 Love.



The Castle Beat: Today, Tomorrow & Forever (1987)

Break 4 Love is produced by Vaughn Mason of Bounce Rock Skate Roll fame. I don't know what his relation to Castle Beat's Larry Joseph is, but what's clear is that Today, Tomorrow & Forever is the blueprint for Break 4 Love, minus the vocals. Probably he just jacked it. If anyone knows I'd like to know too.

Why did people sleep on Diamond Shell?

I dunno, I always liked dude. I'm definitely trying to play this tonite.
If you didn't know, dude is Biz Markie's cousin. Biz produced the song (and the entire album) and there's definitely something very 'Biz' about the sample too.

Still Going in HKI this Friday

Be there.

Too Through

I gave up going out tonight due to a work deadline tomorrow and here I am, posting random disco songs. Oh well. At least we have a little Jocelyn Brown theme here.
Bad Girls featuring Jocelyn Brown: Too Through (1981)
Shout outs to DJ Kensuke, DJ Kango and DJ Toyo, Club Harlem last night was a lot of fun.

With 1 and a 1/2 Pair Of Pants You Ain't Cool

Boogie Down Productions: Love's Gonna Get'cha 1990
I always thought of this as one of Kris' finest moments. The beat is by the one & only Joseph Longo aka Pal Joey, who also produced early-90's BDP jams like Duck Down and Black Cop. Actually, I think I first remember his name from the Edutainment liner notes, way before I knew a thing about his house music career (producing timeless jams like Dance and Hot Music in addition to running his own Loop'D Loop label.)

BONUS:


Jocelyn Brown: Love's Gonna Get You (8:38 Dance Mix) 1985
Another solid classic by one the biggest voices in disco, produced by Jellybean. Sadly most seem to only remember the samples taken from it. In addition to the BDP above the acapella provided hooks for Chill Rob G's Power, Moby's Go and Bizarre Inc's I'm Gonna Get You. If some of you still want to take a stab at it leave feedback and I just might upload it.

Eli back in HKI TONITE

Bump! The party will be packed and it will be bangin, so get there early.

Here's a little gem from last year you might have missed.
Neon Neon: I Lust You (Eli Escobar Remix)(265vbr)

Facebook

Also, I'll be at Nefertiti in Gothenburg, Sweden, tomorrow Saturday doing a classic disco & soul set. Locals get at me via email for guestlist & whatnot.

And once more for all of you who missed this the first time around, the impeccable Stand Back Remix:

Tee's Happy

Another perfect example of a disco dub just murdering the vocal version. RIP Tee Scott.

This is one the first rips on a new set up I'm testing here, including a vintage Formula Sound PM-90 mixer. I'm liking the results, and included the lossless version for those of you who care. Feedback appreciated as always.
Tee's Happy (1981)
Tee's Happy AIFF

Got To Get Your Love

So I'm on vacation, but of course I'll be doing some record shopping as well. Today I was surprised to find one of these gems for a pretty damn decent price. And hell no, it's not the reissue. I had one already, so it's up for grabs too. Serious offers only...
Clyde Alexander & Sanction: Got To Get Your Love (1980)

Classic Time #43

J.Beez Comin Through Bonus Beats (1989)
To this day this is like the best hip hop instrumental ever. I'm kicking myself for not ripping it earlier.

Feelin This

Miss Banks: Gimme A Chance via Fader
Miss Banks Myspace

That's How We Move it

I kind of always thought Check It Out was the weakest of the three Reel To Reel singles. As much as I enjoyed Puba and Mary, the A-side never did much for me. But I must've really slept on the b-side, cause the remix of That's How We Move It buried there is like the best thing ever. I mean, how could it not be, with Puba in top form over a sample like this?
Grand Puba: That's How We Move It Remix (1992)

BONUS:
Trick Daddy: Take It To The House (2001)

Wow... looking forward to this

The Disco Files 1973-78- New York's Underground Week By Week will be published by DJHistory.com and should be out in April.

I Hate My Job

And I know I'm not the only one waiting for the new album...

Deep In Brooklyn

From rap to dancehall to house, all in all Big Beat was a real solid label through most of the 1990's. Some of my favorite things are the handful of party breaks they put out and as far as I'm concerned the Deep In Brooklyn mix of Kenny Dope's Supa is still one of the dopest in the genre. Dancehall vocals over rap beats always work for me and the Louie Rankin loop here is especially addictive.
Kenny Dope presents The Mad Racket: Supa (Deep In Brooklyn Mix)(1991)

600 Posts

Once again it's that time. Another 100 posts, another 10 classic jams. And since we just welcomed '09, let's go all the way back to '89 for a minute...









This is no "best of" list by any means, just 10 timeless jams I happened to rip lately. I feel they all deserved their own post even, but for now they are here in one zip for your convenience. The link won't stay up forever, so act like you know...
1989 zip / 12" versions @320

One Of My Favorite Blogs part 132

S/FJ, no doubt. Dude's end of the year list is solid too.

Night On Earth / New York

Classic scene from a classic movie. Rosie Perez is just incredible, as always. I just wish they had the Helsinki scene up on Youtube as well.

Marley Marl In Control 1989

I had to post this great Marley Marl radio set I've been listening to repeatedly during last week's travels. Great selection and a super dope freestyle by Kool Keith himself. I grabbed this in a big lot of 80's radio shows a while back, I believe the tape rip is by someone called A to the L. Enjoy!
Marley Marl in Control WBLS July 14 1989 (guests Ultramagnetic MC's & 3rd Bass)

Mos Def, Jay, Prince & Stevie / Marvin Gaye, Led Zeppelin & Biggie

Damn, I used to play this a lot at one point. Now it's been a while and it's sounding fresh as ever again.
Q-TIp: Let's Ride (1999)
(click to preview or righ click save as to DL)



Btw, make sure to check the new jam and the somewhat bangerific Swizz Beats remix if you haven't yet.

Also, a request: if anyone has a high bitrate version of the ancient unreleased ATCQ jam Mr Incognito I'd really appreciate it. My old bootleg 12"'s too damn beat up to rip.

Hi, This Is Carol Williams

Carol Williams: Can't Get Away (From Your Love) Special Club Dub Mix
Some more disco nerdery before we move on. After a few months of club and radio play Carol Williams' 1982 New York hit Can't Get Away (From Your Love) was given a special dub mix by Vanguard's in-house DJ Ray "Pinky" Velasquez . Carol herself added the famous spoken word intro, the remix was pressed on one-sided 10" vinyl and sent out to A-list Tri-State DJ's as an appreciation of their support. All in all, it's one of the coolest special mixes from the era and has been bootlegged once or twice too.

Mansion And A Yacht

Kurious, Sadat X & Mike B: Mansion And A Yacht (1994)
One of the definitive posse cuts of the era, the b-side to I'm Kurious. "Dropping jewels like a thief with a hole in his pocket". I had kind of forgotten how ridiculously good it is.

It Ain't Hard To Tell Large Professor Remix

Nas: It Ain't Hard To Tell Large Professor Remix (1994)

A long time ago I kind of promised to post this and I finally located it. It's just as good as the first time I heard it. And god damn the 12" used to be hard to get.
Also, this reminded me, who's got a 320 of the Blue Jays joint for me? I have no idea where the LP is...

No Guns, No Murder

Ray'von: No Gun, No Murder (Hip Hop Remix)(1994)

Some real classic dancehall remix business right here. This was a joint release between VP and Dope On Plastic, Funkmaster Flex's label. The production is credited to someone who calls himself Da Big Daadee, but as far as I know that's Flex himself on the boards.

Btw, last year I did a little uptempo blend that uses the Ray'von vocals over the Earth People Dance beat, check it out if you missed it back then.

Oh Yeah, Them Records...

So in addition to partying I had to do some record shopping as well (of course!) and in DJ's Delight tradition here's a little something for ya'll to play out too.

One from L.A...
Alfreda James & Billy Ray: Back To Love (Club / Remix Version)(1983)

This here is a very very nice electro R&B jam on a label that went on to release a lot of early West Coast rap. Written by Kashif and produced by Rich Cason (see Formula IV as well) it's kind of an all-star affair. Alfreda and Billy don't really get to sing too much, the focus stays on Cason's synth work and I'm definitely not mad at that.

...and one from N.Y.
Skyy: Here's To You (12" Version) (1980)
I wasn't even going to post this as it's such a classic, but I've been on a bit of a Skyy kick recently so why not? Randy Muller is the man and this is one of his finest moments. The 12" is surprisingly hard to come by and I could never find a clean copy cheap. It wasn't exactly a bargain now, but I got $50 off the tag so I just said fuck it and grabbed it.

I'm Back

So I'm back home in the cold, wet but nonetheless charming city of HKI and finally getting over the jet lag too. LA and NY were both real cool experiences, mostly because I had the privilege to hang out, kick it and dj with some real cool peoples such as
Dave Tompkins, Kohji & BBP & crew, Eli Escobar, Johnny, Jared, Toshio, Asaf, Amir, Doc Delay, Georgia, Dreski, Soulstrut crew, Anit, John Kirby, Monk One, Orlando, Cosmo Baker, Sydney, Eleven, Ayres, Excel, Teddy King, Jessica @ Spectre, Emynd, Bo Bliz, JD, everybody @ LAX, James Pants, Dam Funk, Steve 1der, Chris Haycock, Aloe Blacc, Waldo, Blu Jemz, Lax, Gracie, Glen, DJ Magneto, Arsi, Soatiana, Noelle, Shärki, Juuso, Aksim and last but most definitely not least:
Josh D (damn those aiffs were OFF THE HOOK), Asha (great meeting you), Mike B (the dudest of ALL dudes, I owe you big time) & Chairman Mao (the feedback on my writing was much appreciated lol).

All of the nights were a lot of fun- big up to the promoters who made it all happen- but the most memorable was no doubt The Do-Over on Labor Day Sunday. Great crowd, dancing from early afternoon on, countless pitchers of sangria and hot music all day long... f'real, what more could one ask for?

Steve 1nder killing it, my crappy camera phone doesn't even do it justice...

Shut Em Down

Public Enemy: Shut Em Down (Pete Rock Remix)(1992)

So is this like the best remix ever or what? A long time ago I used to play it as the last song of the night for a while, I guess I could start doing that again.

Crown Heights

Crown Heights Affair: Say A Prayer For Two (12" Version)(1978)
I've been in Crown Heights for a few days now and just had to post this timeless piece of BK disco.

APT Tomorrow!

Me an my main man Chairman Mao will be at APT tomorrow for his long running Grand Groove night. Come check us out if you're in NYC.

Also, last night, fresh off the plane, I did the Wax Poetics Record Rundown with my peoples Josh D & J.Kirby. The podcast is up on the EVR site now. My selections are not listed in the playlist, I have them here now though.

Dolly My Baby

Super Cat feat Notorious BIG, Puffy & Mary J Blige: Dolly My Baby (Bad Boy Extended Mix)(1993)

I don't think this is up there with Ghetto Red Hot as far as dancehall / hip hop remixes go, but the Watermelon beat is hot and the Biggie verse towards the end makes it worthwhile after all. Puffy trying to be all grimy and stuff is kinda annoying, though, so you might want to cue point the notorious one right away. "I love it when they call me Big Poppa, the show stoppa, the rhyme droppa..."

Royalle Delite

How you gonna be sleazy and classy at the same time? Like this, I suppose.

Royalle Delite: (I'll Be A) Freak For You (1984)

I have this on a US 12", but I kinda wish i had the UK one as well because the cover (above) is so dope. From what I've gathered the song was huge there. Originally it hails from New York (kind of obvious isn't it?) and was produced by Lonnie Johnson of Shades Of Love and Marta Acuna fame.

Shout outs to my partner DJ Fiskars who put this on a mix way back and had me rewind it for days.

Together Forever

Exodus: Together Forever (1982)


A loooong time ago I posted the dub version with the accapella parts and got a bunch of requests for the vocal as well and here it finally is. One of all time favorite disco records, with reggae / dancehall singer Tinga Stewart on the vocals. The song's been sampled in house repeatedly, check Joey Negro's Raven Maize version here.

Classic Time #39

So I'm back on my ripping game. I kind of felt I've been playing the same songs all summer, so I just had to do something.
Here's a timeless feel good joint by Randy Muller & them.
Skyy: High (1980)

Classic Time #38

So I've been on this early-90's rap kick lately, playing semi-forgotten bangers like this to prime time dancefloors. I never had doubles of the 12" (translucent orange like whoa), but thanks to digital technology I now have this routine where I do the original version first and go to the remix from the first chorus.
What can I say, there was a time when Kris was not to be messed with.

Boogie Down Productions: We In There (Ali Shaheed Muhammad Remix) (1992)
Boogie Down Productions: We in There (LP Version) (1992)

Youtube

Age Ain't Nothin But A #

I was gonna write something about how the song still makes me smile and stuff, but I need to get going this very minute so I'll just skip all that. Enjoy.
Chi Ali: Age Ain't Nothin But A # (1992)
(direct DL)
Produced by Mista Lawnge of Black Sheep.

Clark's Cool Out Mix

This goes out to my man Dubstrong in Brazil:
it wasn't the Trackmasters remix, it was this....
Chubb Rock: Just The Two Of Us (Clark's Cool Out Mix)(1991)
(direct DL link)
Remixed by Super DJ Clark Kent, of course.

You Ain't Really Down

So for the past couple of days I've had exactly two songs stuck in my head. One is Love Is Wicked, the other is this. I'm definitely not mad at either one.


Status IV: You Ain't Really Down (1983)

Rockin It

MC Lyte: Cha Cha Cha (1989)
The greatest female MC ever, here in top form on one of her classic singles.
Camp Lo: Luchini (Brink Remix)(1996)
The unreleased promo remix of the underground hit.
Jay-Z: Sunshine (1997)
In My Lifetime-era Hova banger. Some might remember the horrible video.
Fearless Four: Rockin It (1982)
The classic old school jam that hasn't lost any of it's charm. The legendary Pumpkin and friends replayed this to create the timeless groove.

Rotten Apple

So I just got this crazy sudden urge to hear this again earlier today and figured I should post it as well. I think I'll just go ahead and play it out tonight.

Royal Flush: Rotten Apple (1996)


I remember how this used to be one of those hard to find rap 12"'s. Blunt put out the promo but never released it commercially, supposedly it was shelved because they couldn't clear the sample.

Burning Hot

Brooklyn Express: Burning Hot (1982)

I was planning to do a big Began Cekic post, but ran into some obstacles (not being able to locate some of the 12"s I wanted to rip to be exact). I had to post one, though. Burning Hot is one of the shady Yugoslavian's famous replayed disco medleys and I think one of the longest ones too, clocking in at close to 15 minutes. The dubby production still sounds fresh and I've found it useful for the right occasion. As many of Cekic's releases, this was remixed by the legend Tee Scott himself.

Btw, Cekic must have been quite a hustler indeed. In addition to jacking a lot of peoples' hits dude managed to license the Brooklyn Express full length for release in then communist Yugoslavia, under state-owned PGP RGB label.

More on Cekic over at Dollar Bin Jams. The links are still up too!

Sail On

Wabiné was a late-70's disco side project of Trini musicians based in New York. They released two 12"s on their Wabiné Productions label, the first of which was The Martian's Visit b/w Sail On. The A side was compiled by Dimitri From Paris a few years back, I always preferred the somewhat cheesy but very catchy flip that some might also remember from this little bootleg.

Wabiné: Sail On (1978)

Just The Two Of Us

This used to be my jam and one of the first records I had doubles of, so I was cutting it up a lot. There's a remix on the 12" that's even better.

Party Groove Bass Mix

Showbiz & AG: Party Groove (Bass Mix)(1992)
My favorite version of this early-90's classic. This has been requested repeatedly after I had it on a mix a while back.

Hip This House

I'm about to leave town to go boating for a few days and thought I'd leave you with something special. What we have here is a cool little triplet of less obvious hip house bangers from back in the day. The futuristic Hip This House is my personal pick of the bunch, but the other two are real solid as well and go well with a lot of current uptempo raps.


Shadows J: Hip This House (1990)
Produced by Leon Lee


Double J: Bless The Funk (1989)
Produced by DJ Mark The 45 King. This was a big record in the early days of the Baltimore club scene and is still getting played.


J.D. featuring Innovator Dee: Poetry House Style (1990)
Produced by The Sample Kings

80 Blocks From Tiffany's (1979)

From a review over at IMDB:
"An intimate look at life on the streets for young teen juvie offenders. Shockingly realistic interviews with gang members of the savage nomads and the savage skulls. Amazingly this authentic documentary does not contain any of the normal pitfalls that befuddle today's more exploitive "gang" investigative films of the " 60mins." type. - the film maker Gary Weis of SNL fame manages to completely let the film speak for itself. A rare glimpse into late 70's New York towards the end of the infamous South Bronx Gangs. The documentary shows many sides of the mainly Puerto Rican community of the South Bronx including. reformed gang members, current gang members, the police, and the community leaders who try and reach out to them. A film like this is simply unable to be made today !"

Part 1 below... follow this link to the rest of the 8 parts.



Shout outs to Ost.

Good Love

Rome Jefferies: Good Love (1983)

Here's a little treat to start your weekend off right... a touch of class from way back when. I had the song on last year's Disco To Get Drunk To #4 mix after I eventually managed to find a copy. I don't really know much about the singer, but I do know producer Greg Henderson is also the man behind Dreamin on Sam and the coveted (overrated?) Master Force record on Rain Forest.
The rip here is from the 12", not the poorly pressed (albeit very good) Disco Strut comp where it also appears.
Btw, now that I'm talking compilations I need to shout out one of my all time favorite series, the original early-90's Mastercuts. The first 30 or so volumes are still untouchable when it comes to selection and attention to detail (strictly 12" mixes all the way!). I was never one to buy CD's really, but sometimes I wish I had them all here to save me A LOT of time. And yes, they too had Good Love on one of them, already back in 1993!
Also, if you're really really feeling the jam here you might want go back in time for a sec and make sure you grabbed this monster of a tune as well.

Hey Boy Edit

Here's my take on Tammy Lucas' very smooth 1986 jam Hey Boy. I used a shorter version in the house mix intro, here's the full thing for playout purposes.

Tammy Lucas: Hey Boy (Anonymous Edit)
Produced by Boyd Jarvis & Timmy Regisford.

J-Live Promo Mix from 1997

Back in 1997 me and my man DJ Didier promoted a J-Live show here in Helsinki. I think dude was the first international artist we had, too. Long story short, the whole thing was a mess and almost never happened, but luckily everything worked out in the end.

To promote the night I did this 30 minute mix that included more or less everything dude had relesed at the time (Braggin Writes, Longevity, Can I Get It, Sheisty etc), as well as a couple tracks by Yeshua of Siah & Yeshua DaPoed who was opening for him. I had kinda forgotten about it, but stumbled on the MD while going through some old recordings the other day. I'm slightly surprised to say that it's actually a cool little peek into the relatively short period of time when the indie rap thing was really popping off.

Enjoy...

DJ Anonymous: J-Live Promo Mix (1997)
(right click save as)

Classic Time #37

I was going to have this on the house mix last week, but decided to leave it out at the last minute. I guess I felt it was too moody, I dunno. A beautiful song, nonetheless.

Satoshi Tomiie feat Arnold Jarvis: And I Loved You (Classic Club)(1990)

The Future Without A Past Singles

Leaders Of The New School's A Future Without A Past was a huge record for me when I was a teenager. The youthful vibe was refreshing, even in a time when now legendary albums seemed to be dropping on a monthly basis.

The singles were bangin as well. PTA was the big hit- at least it seemed like that to me because Yo! MTV Raps was playing it all the time- but I actually liked the second two even better. I never got to play any of them out too much, because at the time I was still strictly a bedroom DJ. I ripped the 12"s the other day and decided to correct that.


Case Of The PTA (1991)
Produced by Cutmonitor Milo


Sobb Story (1991)
Produced by Eric Sadler


International Zone Coaster (Re-Remix Edit)(1991)
Produced by The Stimulated Dummies

House Classics 01

I've been promising my peoples a house mix for a year or so and here it is, finally. What was inititally supposed to be a simple party mix with random classics turned into a two part project in the process, mostly because of the vast amount of incredible tunes I just had to include.


What we have here now is 90 minutes worth of NJ & NY style classics all the way from the mid-80's to the early 90's. Part 02 with strictly Chicago jams is soon to follow. I know I, I know... I should have done them in reverse order, but I'm still waiting for a few choice 12"s (yes!) to round out the Chicago selection.

Enjoy...

UPDATE 1/2010: brand new Soundcloud player and DL just for you:
DJ Anonymous: House Classics 01 (2008) by DJ Anonymous

Alternative Divshare link

Intro (Tribute To Boyd Jarvis)
Trojan Horse feat Romanthony: What $ Love
Dee Dee Brave: My My Lover (Kaoz Again Mix)
Park Ave: Don't Turn Your Love (Tee Scott Mix)
Phase II: Mystery
Blunted Dummies: House For All
Powerhouse 3: Hitten The Bottle
Pal Joey: Runaway
Earth People: Reach Up To Mars
Wild Boys: Do Your Thing
El Barrio: Across 110th Street
Willie Colon: Set Fire To Me
The Castle Beat: Today, Tomorrow And Forever
Basil Hardhaus: Hard For The DJ (Anonymous Edit)
Debbie Gibson: One Step Ahead (MAW Dub)
Underground Solution: Luv Dancin
Lil Louis: You Saved My Life (MAW Remix)
Teulé: Drink On Me (Club Mix)
Charane: Follow You
Dionne: Move Groove
Soundfactory: Understand This Groove
Landlord: I Like It
Freestyle Orchestra: Keep On Pumpin It Up (Anonymous Edit)
Ten City: Whatever Makes You Happy (New York Mix)
Romanthony: Hold On

A quick note to my HKI peoples: House Kiinnostaa returns on Saturday, June 14, at Redrum. More on that soon.

Shout outs to the Helsinki House Underground who teached me everything I know about house music. Also thanks to my brother from another mother, Pablo Steffa, for the artwork.

She Can't Love You

Still amazing...
Chemise: She Can't Love You (1982)

Btw, those who can't stand a little crackle might as well skip this. The 12"s been PLAYED.

UPDATE: shout outs to Breakneck who hipped me to the Beat Electric blog. They got a cleaner rip of Chemise and a very nice blog over all. I can definitely respect their archiving deck #2 steez.

Prelude B-sides and stuff

Prelude is one of my all time favorite labels, period. The amount of amazing releases is unfathomable, after all these years even. The classics are well known and documented, what we have here is a handful of slightly lesser known personal faves you might or might not have heard.

Michael Wilson: Groove It To Your Body (Instrumental aka Francois Kevorkian Dub)(1982)

Linda Taylor: You And Me Just Started (1982)
edit: the link corrected

D-Train: Tryin' To Get Over (1981)

Jeanette 'Lady' Day: Come Let Me Love You (Special Instrumental Version)(1981)
(different mix than the vocal version, has the long intro break)

Dianne Marie: I've Waited Much Too Long (Instrumental)(1982)

BONUS:
This is a true disco classic, but I happened to have it on hand and just had to post it. Powerline is essentially the same group as Atmosfear, this was licensed to Prelude from UK label Elite.
Powerline: Double Journey (1982)

A few more Prelude gems for your pleasure: The More I Get and I Know You Feel Like I Feel.

Btw, I also have a Prelude request to make: if anyone has a quality rip of the Cliff Frazier & Co 12" please hook me up!!!
UPDATE: ok got it, thanks to Antti I.

Uno Melodic Appreciation

I don't think I need to post the famous Sylvia Striplin sides again, instead here are some slightly lesser known jams courtesy of Roy Ayers' short-lived disco label.

80's Ladies: Turned On To You (1981)
Love the horn arrangements on this, the guitar is super catchy as well. Also the group has one of the coolest names ever.
Jaymz Bedford: Just Keep My Boogie (1981)
Had the 12" since forever, never ever played it out but still refuse to let it go. Go figure.
Bobbi Humphrey: Baby Don't You Know (Instrumental) (1982)
The best of the bunch, as far I'm concerned. Some might disagree, but for me the instrumental is where it's at.

Foundation 7

Over the last couple of years some have been going crazy over Compredator, the B-side to Foundation 7's 1992 single. It is good, no denying that, but I always preferred Love Ain't Like That, the storytelling A-side no one seems to talk about.
Maybe Compredator's Rakim stylings combined with Rakim samples are a bit too much, I dunno. You judge for yourself.

Foundation 7: Love Ain't Like This
Foundation 7: Compredator

Btw, I always really dug the label design, the Ruff Kutt logo especially.

The Roc-A-Fella post

The other day I realized my digital game was really hurting in the early- to mid-00's rap department. So I went out of my way for some quality 12" rips, starting with the mighty Roc. Here's a random bunch of solid classics from the label's golden era. Most of these I haven't heard out for years now (might be a local thing), at least a few definitely deserve to be brought back in a big way.

Memphis Bleek: Remember The Roc Freestyle (2003)
Cool freestyle that serves as a little intro, the Just Blaze beat is super smooth.

Freeway feat Jay-Z & Beanie Sigel: What We Do (2002)
Scarface feat Jay-Z & Beanie Sigel: Guess Who's Back (2002)
One of the illest Kanye beats to this day.

State Property: Got Nowhere... (2002)
Another bangin early Kanye beat, from the State Property album.

Cam'ron feat Ludacris, U.G.K., Trina & Jewlez Santana: What Means The World To You Remix (2000)
They actually spell Juelz "Jewlez" on the sticker, no joke. Dude is like 15 here.

Diplomats: Built This City (2003)
Just Blaze & Jefferson Starship, how can you go wrong?
And we're gonna close this with 4 more Dipset bangers over Heatmakerz beats...
Juelz Santana feat Cam'ron: You Oughta Know (2003)

Juelz Santana: Down (2003)

Diplomats: I'm Ready (2002)

Diplomats: Dipset Anthem (2003)

Shout outs to my fellow HKI DJ's and bloggers K2 (the local king of this sound, Soul Clap what what?) and Fyrre (whose tireless efforts turned many a HKI youth into Dipset believers).

Summertime, Summertime

In anticipation of tonight's party and the forthcoming summer here's one of the first freestyle records I ever heard. To this day it's one of the finest.
Nocera: Summertime, Summertime (1986)

Choco The New Harlem Sound

Honestly, The New Harlem Sound is one of my all time favorite records, in any genre. There's something in the combination of quirky Spanish pop samples and classic hip hop beats that I find really touching. The EP was released in 1986 on the very open minded Celluloid label and bootlegged in 2004 due to high demand in Japan particularly. Choco himself is better known as a house music producer and an engineer, over the years dude has engineereed numerous Wu-related albums among others.
These are my favorite two songs from The New Harlem Sound.

I Hope It Rains Coffee (Ojala Que Llueve Cafe)
My Little Donkey (Mi Burrito)

If you're curious about the samples you might want to check this and
this.

Weekend

Have a good one ya'll....

Coldcrush Brothers: Weekend (1982)

Spike Lee & Ed Norton appreciation

From 25th Hour (2002):

King Of The Beats

As far as I'm concerned, King Of The Beats is one of the greatest bonus b-sides of all time. One could also argue that it's one of the best instrumental hip hop tracks ever recorded.
Mantronix: King Of The Beats (1988)

Koooool DJ Red Alert live on 98.7 KISS FM / August 1989

A true hip hop radio legend if there ever was one, over at the Good Records NYC blog.

My Crown

Black Attack: My Crown

I've had people I respect tell me I'm crazy for saying this is the best 12" Rawkus ever put out... Well, I thought so back when it came out and now, 11 years later, still do.

The Big Daddy Kane, Little Daddy Shane overdoers

Smoothe Da Hustler & Trigga Da Gambler: Broken Language (1995)
I got the sudden urge to post this before the winter is over. I just came to think of the fact that while some of us take tracks like this for granted there must also be people who never heard it. To those I can only say that to this day it's one of the sickest duets ever recorded.




BONUS:
Special Ed: Neva Go Back (1995)
Another red cover Profile 12" from the same era that I just happened to pull out. While Broken Language has been a certified classic since day one I always felt this was somewhat underrated.

What U Saying

So I'm back on my vinyl ripping game after some technical re-arrangements and that means more random older things will be posted here as well.

Money Boss Players: What U Saying (1994)
The best song from the mythical Ghetto Chronicle Daily album. Sound quality is so so, but until someone remasters the damn thing that's all we got.

BONUS:
Lort Tariq, Jay-Z & Nas: Analyze This
Another MBP related gem and the only song before Black Republican where Jigga and Nas appear side by side. The song is originally from 96/97, supposedly produced by Pete Rock. And if anyone cares, Nas murders Jay.

Osunlade My Reflection

Osunlade: My Reflection
Now this is no news to anyone staying on top of the deep house game, but I missed it as did many others. And it's definitely good enough to deserve a little crossover attention as well. The guitar line is extra catchy, if you don't believe me just ask Lil Mama, T-Pain & Chris Brown.

Classic Time #33

Strobelite Honey (Maybe We Did Mix / the video version) 1992
Strobelite Honey (Yes We Did Mix / remixed by David Morales) 1992

Ever since Choice Is Yours was played to death ten years ago Strobelite Honey has been the one Black Sheep joint to pull out, for me at least. I always liked a good uptempo party rap jam and back then there definitely wasn't too many of those.
The video version was usually my choice, but occasionally I've gone for the house version as well.
There's another Morales house remix on a different 12", I haven't seen my copy for a minute though. If anyone has a quality rip of the 8 minute "Def Mix" please hook me up.

Rubbabandz

This used to be the shit back in 95 and to this day I think it's one of the best from the era. Also, I always thought the song has a real winter vibe to it so it's perfect to be posted now. Dude was featured on a bunch of Wu-related tracks before and after this release, but other than that I don't really know much about him.
Rubbabandz: Purple Rain (1995)

Shout out to my main man DJ Blah who used to be an even bigger fan of this than I was.

Brooklyn Tour Guide

Just picked up the bangin new Tony Matterhorn tune on Massive B's Go Go riddim. Amazing.
Tony Matterhorn: Tour Guide (256)

Classic Time #28

Donna McGhee: It Ain't No Big Thing (1978)

Honestly, this is one of my all time favorite songs. Donna delivers in a sad but still sultry way and production by the Greg Carmichael-Patrick Adams dream team compliments her perfectly. If your relationship seems to be falling apart the only advice I can ever give is to play this on repeat.

Classic Time #26

A timeless classic and also one of the first house records I really got into, back in the mid-90's when I was still a little hip hop dude.

Raze: Break For Love (1988)

Classic Time #25

Shinehead: Billie Jean (1984)

BONUS:
Shinehead: Lady In My Life (1984)
Shinehead: Mama Used To Say (1984)

Another 100 posts full

So I have another 100 posts full, making it 200 in total. I was planning to post some disco 12"s, house 12"s, whatever, but then got this real nostalgic vibe and started rummaging through stacks of 90's rap 12"s. And this here is what I ended up with: 10 more or less forgotten Wu-affiliated gems from the early days that you absolutely need in you life, in addition to the actual classics of course.
I'm not saying these are the best of the countless off-shoots and remixes, just that most of these I used to play a lot AND still really enjoy today. Some of thems are hard to come by too...
Enjoy!

Chef Raekwon & Ghostface: Rainy Days Remix (1996)
Othorized F.A.M.: Keys & G's (1995)
Pop Da Brown Hornet: Can You Wu-Wu-Wu? (1995)
Pop Da Brown Hornet: Let's Go The Lap (1995)
Pop Da Brown Hornet: G.P. Connection (1996)
Shyheim feat Big L: Furious Anger (1999)
DSA (Dark Skinned Assassin): Lock Shit Down (1995)
DSA (Dark Skinned Assassin): Unholy (1996)
Ghostface feat Mary J Blige: All That I Got Is You (Mighty Mi Remix)(1997)
Ghostface feat Raekwon, RZA & Slick Rick: The Sun (2001)

BONUS: This is more recent, but so good I just had to include it here:
Method Man & Ghostface: No Friend (2003)

Oh and I just realized I should have definitely had the first LA The Darkman 12" up in here, but it's not here now and honestly I don't know where it is. When I find it I'll post it.

3 x Nitty Gritty

So much has been written about KMD and MF Doom that I don't really have much to say. What I can say is that even as far as here in Scandinavia Mr Hood used to blow little hip hop kids' minds. Just like that.
Shirley Ellis: The Nitty Gritty (1963)
KMD feat Brand Nubian: Nitty Gritty (1991)
KMD feat Lord Jamar, Sadat X & Busta Rhymes: Nitty Gritty Remix (1991)

BONUS: some claim the non-album B-side of the Nitty Gritty 12" is superior to the A-side, I won't comment on that as I always liked them both. Plumskinzz ended on Black Bastards later, split into two parts and without Onyx' verse.
KMD: Plumskinzz

Baby Dee

New York's Konk had a bunch of 12"s on famous labels such as 4th & Broadway and Sleeping Bag, put their only ever full length release "Yo" appeared in 1983 on the Belgian Les Disques Du Crépuscule label. Album opener Baby Dee is the absolute highlight and is in my book up there with the biggest classics of the No Wave/Post Punk era.