Kurious (Summer Sundays Part 4)

First post for two weeks! The weather's been too good to be stuck inside writing about vinyl. Thought I'd best drop another Summer tune though for the three or four people who are interested...

This is the radio edit of Kurious' classic "Uptown Sh*t", fittingly retitled "Uptown Hit". It's a bit of odd one really. They took the time out to re-record the vocals, yet couldn't be bothered to switch up some of the lyrics, instead relying on the old 'reverse' option for selected curses. The chorus has obviously been changed but the singing on the outro remains as 'Uptown Sh*t'! Must have caught a few Radio DJ's off guard on first spin - quite funny though, whether deliberate or not.

Don't know if it actually was/is a New York Summer anthem, but the track definitely conjures up images of the Big Apple around this time of year, for me anyway. Vintage Beatnuts production utilising a Roy Ayers sample, layered with echoed horns and snappy drums - perfect driving music for the hot Summer months. Kurious' crew, The Constipated Monkeys also make an appearance on this one.

Enjoy...I'm off to spark up the BarBee...


Kurious "Uptown Hit" (1993 Columbia U.S. 12")

Nomad Soul (Summer Sundays Part 3)

A day late with this post but never mind, yesterday was still pretty good weather wise, so here's the third installment of Summer Sundays. This is a 12" cut by U.K. producers Dobie and Howie B, who were collectively known as Nomad Soul. I'm pretty sure this is the only record they released under that moniker although they did produce a few remixes using the same name, most notably London Posse's classic "Jump Around" as well as Boo Ya Tribe's "Psycho Funk". I've got a fair few of Dobie's solo 12"s and of course, another London Posse classic which he also skillfully crafted - "How's Life In London". The guy's a gifted and highly underated producer in my opinion.

Now if you're familiar with the records just mentioned, which you should be, don't expect anything too similar from this track. It's hard to categorise "Candy Mountain". The beat I guess could be described as Hip-Hop (Steve Park's "Moving In The Right Direction" looped up over the Honey Drippers' drums) and although it's laced with sweet Female Soul vocals (courtesy of Diane Charlemagne), I wouldn't call it R&B. Don't know what you could tag it as really. No matter, it's not all that important, just file under 'good music'.

Whenever I play out over the Summer months I usually give this record an airing and more often than not get asked what it is and who it is by. All types of people seem to love it. It took me ages to find a copy back in the early '90s, after initially hearing about it, I think, through an older local DJ called Greg Tipper (although it might have been Mex, I can't remember for sure. If you read this Greg, hope you're doing well). Eventually one turned up at the bootsale in Croydon's Multi Storey Car Park for next to nothing. And the good news is, for those of you who might also want a copy, it can still be found today, nice and cheap, on Discogs and in plentiful supply. There's actually three different pressings listed but oddly none are the same as the one I have. They all include the Radio mix though which is the only version you need anyway.

Here's the MP3. Enjoy...


Nomad Soul "Candy Mountain (Radio Mix)"
(1991, Island Records, U.K. 12")

The Cyrkle (Summer Sundays Part 2)

Seems I jinxed the weather after last Sunday's post - been p*ssing it down all week here! After a slightly overcast start this morning the clouds broke and it's been a fairly decent day in all. Picked up some decent Hip-Hop and late '70s Soul at the early Boot Sale, nothing at the afternoon one.

Anyway, since the sun has had his hat on today, I'm gonna post track two for the "Summer Selections" compilation. This is from the album "Neon" which I picked up a month or so ago at my local Record Shop. Paid £5 for an ORIGINAL SEALED copy (of which he had multiples). I did previously own this LP but it got ditched along with 1000 or so other records shortly after I split up from my children's Mum (can't remember if I've mentioned that tragic tale on here before. Heartbreaking at the time, I'm over it now though).

"The Visit (She Was Here)" is another beautiful song, with that kinda, Psychy, drifty, U.S. 'Sunshine Pop' sound. Everyone's favourite dead producer, Jay Dee, sampled it for Tribe's "Get A Hold" although it's not an instantly recognisable break, so listen closely. I had it recorded on tape from years ago and, for some reason, always associate it with Summer. It's one of those songs I never tier of no matter how many times I hear it.

So this is track two for those of you that can be bothered to download. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do...


The Cyrkle "The Visit (She Was Here)"
(from "Neon". 1967 Columbia, U.S. LP)

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")