The Christmas Get Down...

It's coming up to that time of the year again when we all celebrate and remember the life of one of the greatest human beings to ever walk the face of planet earth. That's right party people, December 25th is the date that marks the passing of a true great - the Godfather of Soul, Mr James Brown.

It goes without saying he was one of the most influential musicians of our time and has left us with an immense catalogue of both solo material and production work for countless other artists' records. I own a LOT of J.B. related vinyl yet there is a whole heap more that I still need! The man was prolific as hell and definitely lived up to the title 'Hardest Working Man In Show Business'.

On Saturday the 18th of December, alongside the rest of the Vinyl Veterans and Positivity crews, I will be playing a set of James Brown influenced Hip-Hop down at The Black Lion in Brighton. Golden Era material that lifted more than a fair chunk of funk from the Minister of the Super, Super Heavy stuff. What better way to warm you up and ignite some Christmas spirit?

Kicking off at 9pm and running through til 3am (FREE ENTRY), DJ's Mac McRaw, Rob Life, Matt The Hat, Bobby Boucher, Foly, Southpaw, Tipster, OMC, Extract, Scratchy Muffin and myself will be playing nothing but J.B. related material all night long. That's basically a 100% guarantee for having a good time!

I'm gonna try and get a J.B. mix uploaded on here sometime before Christmas, for now though, to wet your appetites, here's a few cut-n-paste classics I've recorded and converted this morning. All of these records are easily obtainable online and since it's the 'season for giving' I've included links to available copies for sale on Discogs (click the track titles below) . Enjoy!


R.I.P. James Brown (May 5, 1933 – December 25, 2006). Thanks for the music!




Salaam Remi "J.B.'s 40th Anniversary Mix"
(1997, U.S. Promo 12")






DJ Format "Stealin' James (Parts I & II)"
(2007, Limited Edition, U.K. 12")








Norman Cook & Steetsahead "Payback - Final Mixdown"
(1988, Urban, U.K. 12")






Coldcut "The Payback Mix"
(1988, Urban, U.K. 12")






Froggy & Simon Harris "Froggy Mix (Sides 1 & 2)"
(1985, Boiling Point, U.K. 12")

Vinyl Veterans

New night in Brighton.

The Vinyl Veterans are Bobby Boucher, Mr.Krum, Mac McRaw, Matt The Hat & Scratchy Muffin...

Forthcoming guest sets from DJ Format, Daily Diggers, Andy Eldica, Baby Charles, Rob Life, DJ Prone & more…

Facebook: Vinyl Veterans (for further info)

Leo's Sunshipp (Summer Sundays Part 1)

Digger supreme, Kid Dyno, has just dropped a nice selection of B-Boy jams to help get things warmed up for the forthcoming Summer months - go check it out here - I'm 20 minutes in so far and it's been fire all the way!

It's funny how a little bit of sunshine can perk you up and inspire certain listening habits. I always find myself pulling out records that spark an uplifting summery feeling around this time of year and I've spent the afternoon recording some of my favourites. In the good spirit of Summer I thought I'd spread love and share them with you here, all in high quality 320Kbps format. From now until the official beginning of the season, which is July the 21st, I will upload a track on every Sunday that we have good weather. The idea is, that by the time the longest day of the year comes around you will have downloaded enough songs to burn off a nice CD to listen to throughout, what will hopefully be, a decent couple of months sunshine.

The first track I've selected was a recent-ish Boot Sale pick up and a bit of 'no-brainer' really, an absolutely beautiful cut by U.S. Soul-Funk group 'Leo's Sunshipp'. Years ago I remember Nic Bossa harping on about the album this song originally appeared on but I've yet to come across a copy in the wild. As much as I'd love an original pressing of the album I simply don't pay good money for anything other than Hip-Hop so I'm pretty resided to the fact I will probably never own it. I do however have the original U.K. single of "Give Me The Sunshine" which includes "I'm Back For More" on the flip, arguably the best two tracks on the album anyway, and on deep cut 12" grooves - nice and LOUD. If I had to pick a track that I thought best represented the widely thrown around term 'Rare Groove', then this would be it. Beautiful really is the best way to describe this song and it makes for perfect late night listening on those sweaty Summer evenings. Get your download on and enjoy, this is the obvious choice for Track One on your 'Summer Selections' CD, Track Two coming next week, weather permitting!

Leo's Sunshipp "Give Me The Sunshine" (1980 Grapevine U.K. 12")

Royalty checks...

Fairly recently I dug up a couple of obscure records that have very interesting stories behind them, which as far as I know, are not documented anywhere else on the Internet. There's a few brief references to both pieces of vinyl on various sites, but nothing that delves much deeper than the basic acknowledgement of their existence.

Now being from the U.K. it was particularly interesting for me to learn that both these records, which are by U.S. artists and were manufactured in the States, have a link extremely deep rooted within the British Isles, funding being supplied by a most unlikely source. Before I get into all that though, lets kick off with some basic info...

The first record is by a group called The America Poeple (sic) on the Attack label out of Richmond, Virginia. This was the only release by the group and although the small print states both sides are 'from Attack LP 6910', it never saw the light of day (more about that later). Side-A's "Give It Up If You Can't Do Nothing With It" is a funky Soul cut that sounds like it was recorded in a garage. This isn't a bad thing, if like me, you dig that gutter raw production approach. The band aren't the tightest in the world and the singer lacks a certain spark, but the song itself is one catchy number that I find myself playing on a regular basis. The B-Side is an instrumental take (always a bonus) with added party atmosphere - people chatting, laughing, drinking and generally sounding like they're enjoying themselves. This record is one of my favourites from a small batch of very similar 45's I picked up at the Boot Sale last Summer. All on tiny labels and all possessing that same 'homemade' charm. I might write about a few more on a later date but for now enjoy the rips of both sides below, a little crackly I know but hey, that's the world of obscure Funk 45s for ya!


The America Poeple "Give It Up, If You Can't Do Nothing With It"



Prince Charles & The Royal Guards "Funky Bootie"





The second record, again a one off label release on 'Rolls Royce Records' is a Rap 12" by The Two Fresh Brothers featuring Easy El & Chilly D, from 1986. The twelve includes four tracks in all - "She's Fine" (Club, Radio and Dub versions) and "Don't Even Try It". "She's Fine" is an OK-ish sparse drum machine cut, typical of the period with The Two Fresh Brothers trading lines back and forth, sounding like a cross between Run DMC and Black Rock & Ron. This track doesn't do a great deal for me. The subject matter, the odd tale of a supposedly fit girl that eats a lot and then moves on to the next man, isn't particularly interesting and doesn't get any better after repeated listening, but never mind, the bonus flip side cut "Don't Even Try It" is dope. Like the old saying goes, "B-Side wins again". Credited as an accapella, it's actually a Beatbox (courtesy of Easy-El) backed battle/brag rap, with The Two Brothers, again, trading lines back and forth, this time coming off far harder and even more reminiscent of Black Rock & Ron (or The Vicious Four as they were known at that time). Funnily enough one of the lines refers to them originating from Hollis, Queens so the Run DMC influence is obviously close to home.

If you can track down a copy of this 12" then it's well worth copping for the B-Side alone but check out both cuts below...


The Two Fresh Brothers "She's Fine"



The Two Fresh Brothers "Don't Even Try It"




So there you have the records, now here comes the really interesting part, the story behind them. The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed the name 'Prince Charles' credited on both labels, I'm sure however you haven't made the connection yet. 'Prince Charles' is actually the Prince Charles. The Prince Of Wales or, as he's less well known - Charles Philip Arthur George. That's right, just like the also very unassuming snooker wiz Steve Davis, turns out old Charlie boy is a massive Black music lover. Rumour has it that one of the wings in Clarence House was specially converted in the early '80s to house his ever increasing Northern Soul and Funk collection. And even more amazing is the fact that before The Princes Trust got off the ground, Charles was lending financial support to budding musicians across the globe who were struggling to make the break.

At the tender age of 23, whilst serving in the Royal Navy, a brief post in Richmond, V.A, gave him exposure to a bubbling Black Music scene in the underground clubs across the city. One particular group playing regular late night spots caught his attention and a meeting was arranged, the result being the Royally financed release of the America Poeple's "Give It Up If You Can't Do Nothing With It" 45. In honour of the Prince's commitment to the band they decided to credit the B-Side as 'Prince Charles & The Royal Guards' and the label was apparently named 'Attack' as a tongue in cheek nod to a higher ranking officer in Charles' fleet - 'attack' being his favourite phrase when at sea and confronted with unknown vessels. Unfortunately due to a short notice re-posting Charlie was unable to follow through with promotion duties that were lined up and the single sunk without trace, subsequently the planned album which had already been recorded was never released.

Some 25 years later a chance meeting with long time friend Larry Joseph led to another vinyl venture for the Prince who'd been looking to release a 'Rap' record since first hearing 'Planet Rock' on a trip to New York in the early '80s. Much like the America Poeple 45, only brief financial support was supplied before Charles' ever growing family commitments took hold and the group were left to fend for themselves. Despite the Prince managing to attract further financial support from the prestigious UK car company Rolls Royce, the record received poor promotion and minimal radio play, resulting in little more than a very minor local hit. You'll notice a similar reference to Charles on the label credits - 'The Prince Charles Crew presents...'. By the time this was released he was married to Diana with both William and Harry in tow, so the term 'Crew' was adopted, cheekily applied by Chilly D to help give the family's 'street cred' a boost.

So there you have it, the story of Prince Charles, the Funk 45 and the Hip-Hop 12". Who would have thought it ay? Of course it's all a load of b*llocks that I just made up to keep myself amused whilst I'm rained off from work. It does tie the two, otherwise completely unrelated, records together quite nicely though.

Enjoy the music.

Black Fist O.S.T.

After a cold and rain soaked winter, resulting in far too many missed weekends of bootsale digging, my last couple of outings have proved really fruitful. Besides a good lot of highly collectible German Prog Rock, (which I've already shifted on for nice money) the Sunday just gone turned up Les McCann's "Layers" L.P. as well as the Blackbyrds self titled debut (I've wanted this for a long time for the "Me & Him" break). Today I took home the "Joe Farrell Quartet" album on C.T.I. as well as this - the original soundtrack for a film called "Black Fist".

I nearly sh*t myself when I pulled it out of a box of nothingness. I've never seen or heard it mentioned before and the cover ticks all the right boxes for a killer Blaxploitation score, besides maybe the date of 1977 which I was trying to convince myself wouldn't matter. Super cool dude sizing up on front cover - check, independent label - check, promotional copy - check (even better - maybe it didn't get a full commercial release), list of interesting artists - check (including drummer Paul Humphrey, as well as a load of other acts I've never heard of) and great song titles - check. My anticipation on the journey home hadn't been as high for a long time.

So obviously it's the first record on the turntable when I get in and settle down after making a nice cuppa. And after all the initial excitement, guess what? It's a bit of an anti-climax, and if I'm being completely honest, generally pretty disappointing. Paul Humphrey's sole track, "Humphrey's Overture", is exactly what I was hoping it wouldn't be - upbeat disco-tinged averageness, typical of the period. And the the same goes for much, if not, all of Side-A, with nothing being worthy of more than one listen. My concerns about the date were unfortunately being realised. Having said that, Side-B is an 100% improvement, kicking off with a half decent slow track called "L.A. Gray" by Geraldine Kaye. Nothing great or outstanding, but much better than anything on the flip. When track two begins though, with a dope Hip-Hop loop, all is forgiven. Art & Ron's (producer Ron Castle and arranger Art Freeman) "Can't Stop Talkin" sounds like a Ghostface break and is exactly the type of music I was hoping for throughout. Thankfully they deliver the goods again immediately afterwards with "I'm Your Man", another drama style instrumental I'll be recording and burning for repeat listening. Unfortunately that's about it though, the interesting sounding, and looking, artists like Sam & Jus' Us, Velvet Fire, Sam Shabrin, Denise Gordy and Bishop Mounger fail to deliver anything note worthy that I would ever feel the need to play again.

I know I shouldn't complain about finding records like this at my local booty for pence, and although I've got a couple of really nice tracks to come back to, overall, this is probably the most disappointing find I have had for ages. Popsike and eBay reveal going rates and asking prices of far more than I would ever recommend anyone paying. For the cover and the two tracks maybe I'd say a tenner is pretty fair - any more than that and I think, like me, you'd probably be pretty disappointed.

Anyway, check out "Can't Stop Talkin" cause it's a banger. I'm 99% sure this has been sampled and the name Tony Starks is definitely ringing bells, maybe Lewis Parker though. Gonna listen through some albums later and try to locate it...

Art & Ron "Can't Stop Talkin" (1977 Happy Fox Records)

Del Richardson - Pieces Of A Jigsaw

Being snowed in and with no work yesterday finally gave me the opportunity to record this here album which I'd been meaning to for ages.

I picked it up in the summer and on reflection probably turned out to be my best bootsale find of 2009. Initially I slept on it after briefly skipping through the grooves but after repeat listens it's grown on me hugely. A quite unique melting pot of Soul, Jazz, Folk, Rock and in places Funk make this album hard to slot comfortably into a particular genre but one word that does spring to mind is when trying to describe it is - 'beautiful'.

There's not much I can tell you about Del Richardson that isn't already written somewhere on the internet. Popsike reveals that this album is highly in demand and various other online sources suggest it's a very hard record to turn up (as far as I can tell, it was only released in the U.K.). I imagine the fact that the L.P. is pretty tricky to categorise caused a marketing nightmare at the time and therefore probably didn't shift too many units on release.

As I mentioned above, the styles of music vary from track to track but the album retains a great consistency in sound and feel with well thought out track sequencing, making this an easy and engaging listen from beginning to end. Side-A kicks off with the funkiest cut on the album "Do What You Can" which, if I'm honest, is one of my least favourites. It has a very similar vibe to Tower Of Power's trademark Jazz-Funk sound or even vintage Average White Band which I've never been overly keen on. Don't get me wrong, both groups have turned out some fantastic material and I have a good amount of records by both but there's something, I can't place my finger on, that grates on me after a while. I'm sure a lot of people will love "Do What You Can" but it just doesn't do it for me as much as some of the others tracks on here. My personal highlights come in the shape of Jazz-Folk tinged cuts "Gypsy Girl", "Jigsaw", "Good Morning World", "Mama Jane" and "A Song For Two". All possess an ethereal beauty that touches the soul and are so warming to the ear I can't imagine a single person not liking them.

The package comes complete with 'icing on the cake' - sleeve artwork deigned by revered illustrator Roger Dean who produced a heap of classic album covers from the late '60s through to the late '90s. Breaks collectors will be familiar with his work on staple pieces like Babe Ruth's "First Base" ("The Mexican") and Atomic Rooster's "In Hearing Of..." ("The Rock") plus some harder-to-find gems such as Nucleus' "Elastic Rock" or Lighthouse's "One Fine Morning" (the U.K. release on Vertigo). Strangely the actual labels on the record credit the artist as Dell (instead of Del) Richardson and the album title as "Pieces Of THE Jigsaw". The labels are standard company design so I can only assume that someone at M.C.A. supplied the wrong details to either Roger Dean for the sleeve, or the person working at the pressing plant for the labels. Which one is correct I don't know but it does amaze me when big corporations like M.C.A. (who were manufactured by Decca in the U.K.) make f*ck-ups like this!

Enjoy the complete album below - I don't usually do this. The rip was really only intended for digging buddy Nic Bossa who passed by it whilst suffering from a severe hangover one early Sunday morning. After plodding round the rain soaked booty for an hour or so we decided to call it a day. Just as we were leaving I spotted a car with records still in the boot. Nic half-heartedly flicked through a couple of boxes and, I think, pulled out "Troubleman" before giving up. It was in one of those boxes that "Pieces Of A Jigsaw" turned up and was amongst a handful of about eight other L.P.'s I eventually bought, averaging out at around £2.00 each after a 'bulk-buy' discount.

If Nic had been clear headed that morning I'm sure he would have bought it without hesitation and I do feel a bit guilty so don't mind sharing something that, on another day perhaps, I would have missed out on...


"Do What You Can"



"Gypsy Girl"



"Jigsaw"



"Kodjo"



"Road Song"



"Good Morning World"



"Mama Jane"



"A Song For Two"

Julius Brockington & The Magic Force

Will be 'blogging' again properly as of next week. I've picked up sooooo many records at the bootsales over the last month or so and have got loads of posts planned so check back on Monday.

The record you see on the left I bought in the rain on Sunday morning for 20 pence. One of my favourite finds so far this year.

Keep on Rockin' with the...

I mentioned in my last post one of the other records I picked up on my recent Charity shop dig in Bognor Regis, so here it is - the 'Toyota Jazz Parade - Rock' LP. I'm gonna be honest - there's nothing too exciting on this album musically, but the sleeve is amazing! The artwork is uncredited which is a shame because both front and reverse of this gatefold cover feature great illustration work which was the main reason I picked it up the record in the first place.

I love these type of promotional albums - manufactured specifically to advertise products. For a start, they weren't produced in huge quantities so if they do turn out to have anything decent on them you know they are that little bit rarer. As I already mentioned, this particular album isn't that exciting but it did put me onto a record I was unaware of that I now need in my collection.

Featured on here is a version of "The Theme From Shaft" performed by a band called The Generation Gap. Now I'm not really a great fan of this song and probably have over a dozen different covers of it on various albums, but I did like the 'sound' (the drums are hitting hard) produced by The Generation Gap - enough for me to google them to try and find out more. It turns out this track is from their 1972 RCA LP "Generation Gap play the Theme From Shaft and Other Hits". At the time of writing this post there is a copy listed on eBay which includes sound clips to their versions of "Rock Steady", "Family Affair" and "Hallelujah" all which feature very nice drum breaks. The asking price is $39.90 so well out of my range considering I very rarely spend much more than a couple of quid on anything other than Hip-Hop. Still, at least I know about it now and will hopefully come across a copy on my travels one day...

And for those of you who appreciate artwork just as much as music, check out this lovely screen print which arrived on my doorstep last week courtesy of the good chaps at ILoveDust.

Cheers Brucie...

(click image to enlarge)














The Generation Gap "Theme From Shaft" (1972 RCA LP track)

Nic Bossa - Reporting Live From Barcelona...

Here's my very first guest post courtesy of long term friend and digging buddy Nic Bossa. I've known Nic since I was 5 years old, and along with his brother Senor Simon, have spent many, many hours trawling Charity Shops, Car Bootsales, Dumps, and occasionally proper Record Shops, searching for 'the perfect beat'. There's not many people I know who share the same obsessive passion in the pursuit of vinyl as these two and since both of them are now relocated in Barcelona I thought it would be good to expose some nice Spanish wax obscurities. Here's Nic's first post of which I hope there will be many...

"Whilst sifting through the 1 Euro pile at a San Antonio record stall in Barcelona a few years ago I stumbled upon an album called - "La Musica De..." by a group called 'Enterprise'. At first glance it looked like any other mid 70's home grown compilation of rip offs, but upon closer inspection I noticed it included a cover of Harby Hankok's "Chameleon" as well as versions of Tower Of Power, Chick Corea, Barry White and Wes Montgomery songs. So far I've found 3 albums by Enterprise, all on the Spanish Belter label. They recorded a mixture of covers with a light sprinkling of originals, mostly all instrumentals, but occasionally with vocals or backing vocals. The sound of the group is difficult to define, as they do quite a convincing job of the covers they take on - they really sound like Herbie Hancock's Headhunters' on "Chameleon" and the guitarist has got that Wes Montgomery thing down on "Road song". On the original songs they sound more like a CTI or KPM session group. The typical line up of musicians is: G. Martinez (Drums), J. Cubedo (Bass), Quique, E. Diaz & J.M. Duran (Guitars), J. Llobell (Keyboards & Producer), Coco & R. Roda (Percussion), and Alvaro Is (Writer). Although I wouldn't describe Enterprise as bizarre, they are definitely good, and I've been unable to find additional information about them anywhere" - Nic Bossa.

So, with that in mind, enjoy the three tracks Nic has sent, because unless you're living in Spain and have plenty of time on your hands I don't think you'll have much luck turning up any copies yourself!

Thanks for the post Nic, look forward to the next one...




Enterprise 'Chameleon' (1975 Belter Discos LP track)






Enterprise 'Horizons' (1976 Belter Discos L.P. Track)






Enterprise 'If I Ever Lose This Heaven' (1977 Belter Discos L.P. Track)

Working Man's Soul (Live At The Barn)

Coming from a predominantly white populated part of the country, over the years I've learnt to look at the less obvious records when searching for breaks and grooves in the local charity shops and car boot sales. Black music just doesn't turn up that often. Occasionally the odd gem will pop up but generally I find myself sifting through a lot of Easy Listening, Classical and run of the mill Pop sh*t. When I first started hunting for breaks and samples, along with my long time digging partner Barry Styles, I was only really looking out for the original artists, the obvious ones like James Brown, Funkadelic, Isaac Hayes, etc. although having said that, we'd pick up anything with a black musician on the cover (which isn't always a good thing but you learn by your mistakes). I can't remember a specific point, but one day it dawned on us that a lot of these Easy Listening records we were passing by actually contained some great Soul, Funk, Rock and Jazz covers. Huge selling artists such as James Last, Geoff Love, Percy Faith, etc, would occasionally dabble with the funky side of things and sometimes the results were amazing. Of course 99% of their output is complete sh*t but it's finding the good 1% that makes it all worth while. These obvious artists led us to discovering the less well known - records by people like Ray Davies, Alan Hawkshaw, Brian Bennett, Nick Ingman, John Gregory, etc... We'd be picking up anything with a Sly Stone or James Brown cover on but soon realized some of their own compositions were just as good and in some cases, better. Recognizing certain names in turn led to discovering Library music and all sorts of other genres. This was well before the internet took off so our finds were first hand - no Google searches or looking sh*t up on The-Breaks dot com. It's all a bit too easy for the new generation of 'diggers' (I use the term lightly) nowadays. Sorry, I'm babbling a bit now, but you can see where I'm heading...

Anyone that's interested in the artists mentioned above will more than likely be familiar with 'Licorice Soul', a U.K. record label that specializes in unearthing and re-issuing some of the most obscure funky British music recorded. More often than not the titles are by white 'session' musicians recording under a pseudonym or by little known Cabaret acts who just happened to knock out one or two exceptionally funky tunes. In the case of their superb 'Working Man's Soul' compilation it features nothing but Cabaret acts who earned their living performing up and down the country in Pubs, Clubs and Holiday camps. I must admit, when this first came out I was a bit p*ssed off as I had a few of the records they'd included. The sort of records probably only a handful of people know about and you wanna keep secret. Anyway, after the initial feeling of "sh*t, I wish they hadn't exposed that" I figured it doesn't really matter. I've still got my original pressings and at least the artists are getting some recognition and maybe a little bit of money as well. It's not like every Tom, Dick and Harry's gonna go out and find the original LP's anyway 'cause they just don't turn up that often - most of them only had a run of about 1000 and were sold exclusively at their gigs.

Just recently I've picked up a few more of these Cabaret albums so thought I'd put together a little compilation for your downloading pleasure. Big Band Jazz, Soul and some funky Pop. I've included a track listing below but I'm not giving up any other details - yet. Thought I'd run a little competition. If anyone can name all the artists and the albums the tracks come from then I'll post up full reviews of the individual records along with pictures, MP3 downloads and even sort out some goodies for the winner. Don't know what yet, but I'll make sure it's appropriate and worthwhile. I've already written about one of the tracks elsewhere on the blog so there's a little head start for you...Enjoy.




Mr. Krum 'Live At The Barn (Volume 1)'

1. Intro
2. Hoops
3. Watermelon Man
4. Changing With The Times
5. Sunny
6. Dancing In The Street
7. Superstition
8. Why Did You Do It?
9. Taurus The Bull (this is a personal favourite)
10. Get Ready
11. '2001' - Also Sprach Zarathustra
12. Masquerade

Command Records

I recently had a discussion with Kid Dynomite about Command Records and how dope some of the releases are for sampling. I've got a fair few albums on the label by various artists and every one of them either has some nice MPC food or just straight up great music. Besides that, I love the heavyweight sleeves and always pick them up for the amazing artwork. I imagine they're fairly easy to come across at the Thrift stores over in the States but here in the U.K. they don't turn up too often so it's always nice to find one. I've never paid more than £1.00 for any of the records I have on Command, but do occasionally see them priced up in trendy shops' 'Exotica' sections.

To save me writing up a history of the label I've jacked a profile from Discogs which is a very good brief introduction. If you fancy delving a little deeper then this site covers just about everything you need to know.

The Command (originally Command Performance) label was started by Enoch Light and George Schwager in 1959. The label recorded popular, classical and jazz music and was acquired by ABC-Paramount (later ABC Records) in October 1959 along with all of Enoch Light's labels. Command was operated as a audiophile record label producing records with exaggerated separation of the stereo tracks. The albums were packaged in high quality gatefold covers with distinctive abstract designs by Josef Albers. Enoch Light left the Command label in 1966 to form the Project 3 Label. After Light left, the quality of the albums on Command deteriorated until they discontinued releasing new material in 1970. The Command name was used by ABC on quadraphonic reissues and special anthologies until 1976, when it was officially retired.

As mentioned above, a lot of the recordings feature 'exaggerated separation' of the stereo tracks, so make for really useful tools when sampling. Generally, I wouldn't recommend them for loops but creative producers who like to chop stuff will find plenty of stabs as well as a wide variety of percussion sounds. The earlier releases, from 1959 through to the late 60's, feature pretty standard popular songs, all recorded in a very similar style but towards the end of the decade a more contemporary approach was employed. It's on the late 60's releases you'll find the funkier side of the label's output. I've included four tracks below which represents a good cross section of their catalogue. Basically, if you pick up a Command record, the music will sound like one of the following...



I'll start with my favorite from the collection - Richard Hayman's "Genuine Electric Latin Love Machine" from 1969. Great title, amazing cover and some seriously crazy music! "Persuasive Electronics" is a Moog album featuring nine popular hits of the time as well as two originals. The seemingly obligatory covers of "The Look Of Love", "Going Out Of My Head", and a "Hair" number ("Hare Krishna") are all present as well as another cover favorite "The Windmills Of Your Mind", and it's for this track that you need to buy the album. The most bugged out, Psychedelic version you'll ever hear! The eagle-eyed amongst you will recognize the cover from the back of Porn Theatre Ushers' "Me & Him" 12". Check it out...

Richard Hayman "The Windmills Of Your Mind"





Next up is Bob Jung and his Orchestra with "Jung! The Big Band Syndrome", again from 1969 and again featuring some amazing artwork. There's a funny story about this record. I used to own an album by a group called The London Moods Orchestra on a UK budget label called Double Gold. Now, the three standout tracks on it - "Spooky", "Sweet Dick" and "Tripsville 69" - I played quite a lot and was very familiar with so when I picked up this Bob Jung album I was more than surprised to find the exact same versions on it. In fact, the whole of the Bob Jung LP is used on The London Moods Orchestra album - completely uncredited! No licensing notes or anything. Perhaps they were legally licensed, but it seems strange not to credit it. Anyway, I sold on the London Moods LP as the cover was nasty and vinyl quality pretty poor compared with this. I've uploaded "Spooky" - a lovely Big Band Jazz-Funk version.

Bob Jung and his Orchestra "Spooky"





It wouldn't be right not to include an Enoch Light track when talking about Command Records, so here's an early cover of Herbie Hancock's classic "Watermelon Man" from the 1964 album "Discotheque". I really like this version with it's modish Organ, big brash Horns and surf Guitar. In fact the whole album has a surf-pop feel to it and was obviously aimed for dancing as much as listening to, with "The Frug", "The Watusi", "The Swim", "The Wobble", "The Hully Gully", "The Hitchhiker", etc, all being boldly encouraged in the liner notes. Not really one for the sampler but some great music if you like this sort of thing....

Enoch Light and his Orchestra "Watermelon Man"





Lastly I've chosen a good example of the most popular style of music you'll come across in the Command catalogue, and in my opinion the best for sampling. Here the 'exaggerated separation' is best heard and you'll see what I mean by stabs and percussion 'breaks'. "Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)" is from Terry Snyder's 1959 album - "Persuasive Percussion". Joey Chavez sampled it for the "Reservation For One" track off his "After The Heat" EP which I've also included below. I swear I found a J-Zone sample on one of these albums but can't for the life of me find it today!

Terry Snyder and The All Stars "Whatever Lola Wants (Lola Gets)"



Joey Chavez "Reservation For One (featuring Evidence)"

The Black Version

Just been recording some Soul and Funk to burn onto C.D. for the car and realized half way through the day that a lot of the tracks I was converting are covers, or 'versions' of other peoples music. So, I've decided to put 60 minutes worth of these versions together for your downloading pleasure. Nothing mega rare or particularly hard to find on the internet but some nice bits that I've picked up at the boot-sales and charity shops over the years. I was gonna write about each individual song but you can find out anything you need to know with a quick google search. There's a few Bill Withers tunes, some Sly & The Family Stone, a couple of Beatles tracks, and a whole bunch of other artists music. Break spotters will pick up on some of the samples used by Buckwild, Lord Finesse, Rza, DJ Spinna, Dr Dre, and T-Ray. Check back next week for the 'Secret Squirrel' edition where I'm gonna go deep with some crazy 'white boy' versions. You'll have to forgive the odd crackle here and there, all songs are recorded from the ORIGINAL vinyl pressings...


1. The Shirelles "Ain't No Sunshine" (1972 RCA Records U.K.)
2. Ike Turner, Tina Turner & Home Grown Funk "Use Me" (1980 Fantasy Records U.S.)
3. Al Jarreau "Kissing My Love" (1976 Timewind Germany)
4. Gladys Knight and the Pips "Thank You" (1973 Motown Soul U.S.)
5. Clydie King & Brown Sugar "Dance To The Music" (1973 Chelsea Records U.S.)
6. John L. Watson with White Mouse "I Get Lifted" (1975 Spark U.K.)
7. O.V. Wright "Let's Straighten It Out" (1978 Hi U.S.)
8. Brook Benton "Born Under A Bad Sign" (1970 Cotillion U.S.)
9. O.C. Smith "Hey Jude" (1969 CBS U.K.)
10. The 5th Dimension "Ticket To Ride" (1971 Bell U.S.)
11. Melba Moore "Walk A Mile In My Shoes/25 Miles" (1971 Mercury U.S.)
12. Little Royal "Another Woman's Man" (1972 Tri Us / King U.S.)
13. King Curtis "You're The One" (1972 Atlantic U.K.)
14. Jackie Wilson "Light My Fire" (1968 Brunswick U.S.)
15. The Chequers "Get Up Stand Up" (1970 Creole U.K.)
16. Melvin Van Pebbles "Superstition" (1973 Atlantic U.S.)


Mr Krum "The Black Version"

John O'Hara and the Playboys

Initially for this post, I was only gonna write about John O'Hara and the Playboys' "Both Sides" LP, but since it's pretty much a one tracker I've decided to focus on the song rather than the whole album. The track in question is "Why Did You Do It?" by Stretch. A classic mid '70s club tune, which I'm not gonna describe as straight up funk, as it was made by a white Rock group from England. It definitely has a funky groove though and never fails to fill a dance-floor. I always assumed the song was about a cheating girlfriend but after some brief research turned up a more interesting story...

The band was put together on the initiation of Mick Fleetwood, to perform as Fleetwood Mac on a US tour, because of outstanding contractual obligations. Unfortunately, Fleetwood was unable to join the band for personal reasons, and part way through the tour it was realised that there was no original member of Fleetwood Mac in the band. The tour collapsed because the band was declaimed as a bogus Fleetwood Mac. The lyric of "Why Did You Did It?" was actually a direct attack on Mick Fleetwood for his failure to join the band on the ill-fated Fleetwood Mac tour.

The 45 of this track reached No.2 in the U.K. charts and is obviously as common as any other hit single. I've had it for years and see it at nearly every boot-sale I go to, so if you need a copy just head down to your local Sunday morning gathering and grab one for 25 pence or so. A couple of years ago, I picked up another version by South African singer Margaret Singana. Her album "Tribal Fence" features a cover of James Brown's "It's A Man's Man's World" which is what attracted my attention, but it wasn't until I got home and played it that I noticed the Stretch song. And what a great version it is too. All the dance-floor appeal of the original but with a smoother groove and lovely vocals. Turns out this is only fairly well known, so I was pleased to have an alternative version to play out.

Not long after I found the Margaret Singana album, I picked up this John O'Hara and the Playboys set - "Both Sides". Released in 1977 on the obscure U.K. label 'Look Records'. Signed on the back 'To Jean, Reg & Carol...from John O'Hara...be good...XXX'. It was obviously an album they used to sell at gigs, so I always assumed them to be a cabaret act. If you check Popsike though you'll see an early album on Fontana that fetches big money. This record however, was made nearly 15 years later, and by the late '70s it looks like they'd fallen back to the club circuit after some initial success in the big time recording industry. The album as a whole is your typical cabaret selection with everything from light Easy Listening to current Pop hits of the time. There's a version of 'Superstition' (which was why I took a gamble on the album in the first place), but the drum break is weak and the rest of the song isn't much better either. The Stretch cover kills it though. Really raw production and a great instrumental workout in the second half. It's also quite amusing to hear John's Scottish accent creeping through at times. Licorice Soul included a version of "Funky Nassau" by the band on the superb "Working Man's Soul" compilation a couple of years back but I've yet to find the album it originally came from.


So there you have it, three different versions of one classic song. If you know of any others, let me know...


Stretch "Why Did You Did It?" (1975 Anchor U.K. 45)



Margaret Singana "Why Did You Do It?" (1977 Jo'Burg African L.P. track)



John O'Hara and the Playboys "Why Did You Do It?" (1977 Look Records U.K. L.P. track)

XXX Rated Funk

This morning I picked up two battered copies of this here 12" - a record I had never heard, or heard of before. Only 50p a piece so worth a shot. At best I was hoping for a nice Disco-Funk tune, maybe a break, but definitely wasn't ready for what I was about to hear. I suppose the warning on the label was a bit of a clue - 'RESTRICTED FROM AIRPLAY - X RATED'. And Madam Funkyfly is without doubt, one X-Rated b*tch. Millie Jackson's got nothing on this little hoe. 'The Crazy Mule Saloon' is a tale of, well, basically just down and dirty f*cking. Profanity, purely for the sake of it. Blowfly is obviously a big influence here with that loose, street rap delivery, set to a sleazy laid back Funk groove. You'll tire of this after one listen, maybe two depending on your sense of humour, but give it a go...it's pretty funny if you've got nothing better to do.

Madam Funkyfly 'The Crazy Mule Saloon' (1980 T.K. Disco 12")

Skip to my loop...

A couple of years ago a friend of mine studied Sound Production at a University down in Australia. During a conversation on MSN one night, I half heartedly asked if they had any 'Library' LP's, and after briefly explaining to her what they were, Sarah replied, "oh yeah, they've got hundreds". So I gave her a list of composers and a rough guide of the type of titles to look for and asked if she thought it was possible to 'borrow' any. On her return at Christmas I was more than surprised to receive a nice little stack of KPMs. And not a batch of the shitty titles either. Nope - these are some of the heavy hitters from the 1000 series.

Amongst them was 'Beat Incidental' (KPM 1043) by Keith Mansfield and Alan Hawkshaw - a killer album that includes some well known breaks and club tunes. Anyway, after briefly skimming through them all I settle down to a more in depth listen - this album being first off the pile. Side A's all good, loads of samples and above all some really great music. Side B kicks off with 'Funky Fanfare', a very well know Library cut that's been comped a few times over the years. Nice. I'm now on to track 3, 'Funky Flight', which is basically an uptempo variation of 'Funky Fanfare'. I'm working on the computer at the same time and after a while notice something a bit strange. Library cuts are normally only about 2 to 3 minutes long yet this had been playing for well over 10 minutes! I get up to inspect the grooves, and, there it is - the needle skipping on every rotation about half way through the song, creating a damn near perfect loop! Normally I'd be pissed with a skip on a record but on this occasion I found something quite satisfying about it.

Check it out...


Keith Mansfield 'Funky Flight' (1969 KPM L.P. track)