The Rapologists - The Hip Hop Beat

I don't know about you but I thought the Streetsounds UK Electro LP was pretty dire. I only bought it to complete the collection but rarely played it all except for this track. I eventually got this copy from good ol' Beat Street records in the late eighties. I must admit it does sound a little dated and there's not a lot of expression, if you like, in the way the lyrics are delivered but it's still a decent 12". The UK scene was still in it's infancy in '84 and I would say it went on to much greater things, particularly in the '88-'92 period. I don't think this is any different to the UK issue on Billy Boy but please feel free to let me know if you own a copy.

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Newcleus - Automan

Not much to say other than this is my fave Newcleus cut and there's not even any rapping. In 1984 I was a bit of a purist and any singing or musical instrumentation, in my eyes was a bit lame so I guess this was a guilty pleasure. Incredibly catchy tune though and I was a little disappointed with their version on the recent Street Sounds reunion DVD but what the hey, I still have this.

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Crazy Eddie & Jazaq - Come On Party People

I traded something for this around '86-'87, can't remember what but an excellent trade don't you think? My mate (at the time; stole my PE 'Public Enemy no.1' 12" and a compilation video of stuff I'd recorded off the telly) got it off someone he knew and I ended up with it. I'd like to know the provenance of it as promos were really not around much due to there being no internet and what have you. I don't ever remember buying one in the shop so I'd say this is a pretty scarce piece of wax. And a killer track too with some firin' vocoder action to boot. There's also a glaring typo but let's not discuss that.

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DJ Red Alert - Hip Hop On Wax Volume 2

I wasn't that keen on this at one time. DJ Red Alert wasn't a big deal for me. Chuck Chillout's effort was much better, the cuttin' and scratchin' much heavier and harder, more to it altogether. I would have even said that this was slower and less interesting but I would be wrong. It has a darker sound to it, what with the sirens and that sinister sounding BT Express bass line he keeps dropping in. I love that. It was in the crate for a heck of a long time until I heard the P Brothers 'Zulu Beat' mixtape and I got an urge to spin it again. And I would say that both volumes are roughly the same tempo. Funny how you remember things. We use to b-boy to this one in my mates basement in '84. Didn't get my own copy until about 2003 and then I nearly didn't due to a dodgy ebay seller trying to tell me it had been 'on a shelf in the post office' where he'd mailed it and 'they'd forgot about it'. What kinda story is that?

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Roxanne (Fly) Shante - I'm Fly Shante

Kids these days think they know big beats but they've no idea. I don't think Marley Marl even made a beat as big as this. Earth shattering. Had it on my ipod on the walk to work this morning. Killer. Steady B makes an appearance too but he's not credited on the label, at least not with his b-boy name. It's a bit crackly in parts but it'll still knock your socks off, especially if you've not heard it for a while.

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The Russell Brothers - The Party Scene

The most recent bootleg to hit the streets is this one and about time too. At least I think it's a bootleg as I can't see it being re-issued after all these years. I'd like an OG copy one day but until then this'll do. Being my second favourite track on the streetsounds LP, 'Crucial Electro 2' (second only to 'One For The Treble' by Davy DMX) I feel it's a welcome addition to my collection of golden oldies. Nothing more need be said about this true electro classic except I thought I knew all the lyrics but apparently not.

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Twilight 22 - Electric Kingdom

I was never the poppin' and lockin' sort. This tune is perfect for that kinda thing. A friend of a friend 'back in the day' used to cite this as being his all time favourite (and this was in '83). He was pretty decent at the old poppin' and lockin' thing but something always bothered me about him. He used to hang his keys on one of his belt loops on this jeans and he was fairly expressive shall we say whilst electric boogalooing and they used to jangle like hell and really irritate me. Not to mention actually hanging them there in the first place. And why do you need so many keys at your age? I had one key. I was about 13 or 14 and it was always in my pocket. This is the 7" promo version by the way which I got off ebay about 5 or 6 years back for a quid. Never had the 12" but it's probably the same tune only shorter. I have loads more keys now I'm a grown up so there's only one thing I can think of doing as an homage to someone I didn't really know. In fact let's all do it.

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Lil' Jazzy Jay & Cool Supreme - B Boys Style

I think I mentioned in a previous post the after school club I went to when I was a wee boy to practice my b-boy moves. Well that's where I heard this for the first time. I had stopped going because in my mind I was approaching the end of my dancing 'career' and the music itself was becoming the most important thing. An obsession some might say. Some people did, (hi mom). Anyway I started going back 'cos there was a new guy in town, from the West Midlands I think 'cos we thought he talked funny. Absolutely no offence intended at all to any folk from the Midlands but it was the eighties, we had no cash and we never went anywhere except Skegness or Bridlington so I guess we were 'sheltered' somewhat. Anyway he had a tape. A different tape. Rubbish quality but new tunes on it all the same. I remember this one being a stand out track and also 'Don't Fess' by Sha-Quan. He had the whole of 'Don't Fess' on there, bonus beats and all which was great. My brother eventually got a copy of the tape off this new kid as he was in the year below me, as was my bro and I was obviously overjoyed. I then made it my life's mission to get this 12" and I did. For nowt. My house music loving mate let me have it 'cos he'd played it to death. He got it off Beat Street Records, (remember them) in the late eighties. I obviously went for it too but he beat me 'cos his postman delivered way before mine did. Still, not to worry, eh..

On another short side note I used to play on a pirate radio station in Sheffield called Sheffield Community Radio (SCR 101.5FM) and the guy I was paired up with, (I didn't know him until then) also had a tape with this record on it and because you almost never got a track list with any tape he thought the voice on the vocoder was saying...

'Keyboards, Keyboards'.

(It does sound a bit like that. If you didn't know.)

The Boogie Boys - Break Dancer

Another classic old school banger that I bought from Beat Street Records around 1987-88. I saw the excellent Mancunian b boy crew Broken Glass dancing to this on the telly, (I'm pretty sure it was the early evening news) when I was an aspiring breaker myself and wanted it so badly it almost hurt. Now you have to try and imagine a time, if you aren't as 'mature' as I, before the internet, before CDs and before I had enough money to even buy a record never mind travel to Manchester or London in order to get 'em. So when I saw Broken Glass's single in my local record store on Morgan Khan's Streetwave label I figured it had to be that tune so I bought it. Without listening to it first 'cos they didn't let you do that until later on. And I was gutted. No disrespect to Broken Glass intended in any way whatsoever because they were one of the best crews around at the time but their attempt at a hip hop tune paled in comparison to the The Boogie Boys' superior drum machine sound hammering the hell out of your eardrums and making you want to break. That's maybe why they chose it to dance to on TV. Rather than their own record. I don't have that one any more. I still have this one though.

On a a side note there was a jam in Nottingham around 1990 ish called 'The Old School Reunion' and I went with a few mates and Danny from Broken glass was there too and did around 30-40 windmills like he was still about 16 years old. Don't know if anyone else might have been there but it was a great day out, DJ Pogo was there 2wice the Trouble, Goldie, Trix from Nottingham's Rock City Crew was the MC and I remember he offered a tenner to anyone who would get off their arse and do something and it was Deano from Sheffield's Positive Force who was the first to bust a move. And he gave him the tenner. A few beer tokens later and it fully kicked off and everyone, me included just got loose and did their thing, maybe for the first time in 4 or 5 years for some of us. The last time I 'windmilled' was about 12 years ago at my brother's wedding. I'd had about 7 pints and a three course dinner so it wasn't a happy ending. My suit was ruined.

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Fearless Four - Dedication

Re-up, re-ripped it too at 320kbps. Have a nice day now.

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Fantasy Three - The Buck Stops Here

When I first heard Streetsounds Electro 5 I couldn't decide whether I liked 'B Boys Breakdance' or this the best. Volume 5 is filled with classics and is arguably the greatest of the whole series. I had every one of those on the 12" vinyl format at one time or another but the aforementioned two beauties are the pick of the bunch for me. It's the B-side again too. The A-side track, 'Summer' is almost the same but has a bit of singing and is a bit less heavy. I didn't appreciate singing on hardcore b boy tunes in 1984. I'm not too bothered nowadays either but I've mellowed a little. We probably all have. It's these kinds of records that bring 1984 back though. Spinning around (not like Kylie) on a piece of cardboard on the side of the road while your 'JVC vibrated the concrete'. Everyone was into it and it was great. There's only me left now and you lot of course. Everyone else fell off and started listening to Boyzone or Elvis. I can't do that. Apart from wanting to stab myself in the eardrum I don't feel anything when I hear groups like that. This is a regular on my ipod along with all the early eighties classics and I never get tired of hearing them. It's in me all the time and I'm certain it'll never fade. Happy days.

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Fresh Gordon - Gordy's Groove

I had to order this from the counter. I didn't know you could do that. My mate informed me when I was checking the import box in Virgin and there was nothing I wanted to buy. I went down the next weekend and the guy behind the counter, who was getting to know me a little as I was in there every Saturday, (usually when they had just opened for business), told me my record had come in. What, it only took a week? Sure I was surprised and maybe a little excited (I was about 15 or 16) and it was still sealed. I know the majority of records come factory sealed these days but when you bought them back then most of the time the seal had been broken already as folk wanted to hear a snippet before parting with their 6 quid because the internet hadn't been invented yet. Neither had hip hop radio, apart from Sir Jonathon Peel of course but he didn't have everything so you had to spin a few before purchase as you could end up missing the freshest slice of wax and it would be another week or maybe even two before you had enough for the next one and, well you get the picture. Times were hard. And my mate who I met every week outside the shop on the High Street never bought a damn thing. Ever. Except for a Simple Minds tape. But I mentioned him before..

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Ultimate Choice Feat. Finesse & T.L.C. - You Can't Front

I got this mid last year and for a very reasonable price too. Been on my wants list for a heck of a long time after playing it to death on and old Mike Allen tape and I can't really afford to pay hiked up ridiculous 'random rap' prices so let it slide for some time until I got lucky. It's these kinds of records that you just couldn't get a hold of when they first dropped unless you lived in that London place or traveled there every week and there was no chance of that for me being an honest Northerner with limited cash available. There still isn't. So thank goodness the internet has made the world a smaller place and I don't have to get off my arse and go hunting for wax any more. And neither do you. I hope it's been worth the wait 'cos I think it's a dope slice of true hip hop that hasn't been shared much, if at all, in it's entirety and at the time of writing there's none on ebay but five on discogs, the cheapest being 40 euros which is about 30-35 English pounds that also being more than I can allow myself these days to spend on records per week. Anyway, happy new year, sorry it took me so long and I do hope it's not an anti-climax because it really shouldn't be. Long live real hip hop.

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Hardrock Soul Movement - Double Def Fresh (Get Stupid Fresh Remix)

This is my personal fave of all Hardrock's releases, ('Elaweaser' being my least favourite; what the hell was that?). Nothing much more to add really except Max and Dave were the first UK hip hoppers who truly made some stompin' drum machine driven electro tunes in the early to mid eighties and if you've not heard this for a while the progressive intro complete with Monty Python scratch will make your Christmas. No, it really will. I've had it on heavy rotation since re-ripping it and it really bangs and also triggers memories of the time which a lot of this old wax does, for me anyway. The title alone says 1986 is the years we had some great slang that not many folk understood and once again I think we should bring some of these back 'cos some of the new ones are shite and my mom uses some of 'em. Anyway, have a good Christmas and I have something I think is quite special for the new year which I'll try and get up here by the 31st December.

Get Stupid

360 Degrees - Pelon

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Freddy B & The Mighty Mic Masters - Coolin' On The Ave.

The Tuff City label rocked. Back then you could just about buy anything on that label without having to spin it first. I didn't buy this one though. I was given it by my house music loving mate I may have mentioned before. He use to play records to death and get fed up within a few weeks and either trade, sell or give them away. I may have mentioned that before too. He'd usually trade, sell or give them to me. I got lucky this time. He bought it brand new. I've had this since he gave it up about two or three weeks after he bought it. I played it again for the first time in years last week. I put it on my fave three list over here. You should pick your fave three and get in on the action too. B-side wins again? I think so. A def record if ever there was one.

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The Triple Threat Three - Scratch Motion

Not too long ago before the internet was invented sometime around 1988(ish) I was put on to and ad in Hip Hop Connection magazine for a mail order company called Beat Street Records. I ignored but a mate sent for the free catalogue and when he let me see his copy I nearly fell through the floor. Loads and loads of old school stuff that we couldn't buy as kids because we had no cash and also because no one in our town stocked U.S. imports. After my first order I received a monthly list and spent almost my entire weekly wage on records from B.S.R. After a while I started to fax my order from work and they'd fax it back with a reservation confirmation assuming they were all available. I didn't get them all as my mate's mail arrived before mine and he'd ring up and reserve his over the phone before I'd even got my list. That didn't matter though as he always played his stuff to death until he was fed up of it and he traded with me or sold it to me for less than he paid for it. I have to admit that it was fairly exciting anticipating the new list and what would be on it and when this one was delivered to my door I rang my mate to tell him I had it and he didn't and he'd just had his delivered before me. Still, I've got mine and he sold his some years ago on ebay as he's in to house music now the knob. I mean that in the nicest possible way of course. I don't know if Beat Street are still trading now and they did have a website eventually but it was crap. The stuff on it i mean. Nothing like the old days.

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D.ST. - The Home Of Hip Hop

I hated this record when I first heard it. I didn't like hearing rock style guitars on hardcore hip hop records, felt it softened it's edge slightly. I've matured since then and opened my mind a little and it's now one of my all time faves. D.ST. has always been a solid musician by rights and I wouldn't be the first to realise that he was way ahead of his time as far as skills on the turntable are concerned. I'm sure everyone would agree with that. I think when I was a lot younger the only thing I wanted to hear was the biggest beat around and loads of cuttin' & scratchin' and that's it. This record offers so much more than just that and I'm glad I wised up and gave it a second chance. (The second listening wasn't recently, it was a good 20 years ago). Some of the lyrics are great too, 'We say yes y'all before we talk' and 'real hip hop ma man' of course but the line that made me think a bit when I ripped the vinyl last week was this one; 'Just think, 1975, one whole decade has gone by..' 1985 and he's already talking about the old school talent. A fad it was not and like punk rock the new jacks have destroyed something that was once life consuming, for me at least and I don't know about you but I still can't get enough now and even though my life isn't quite as consumed with hip hop as once was these are the kind of records that I'll keep for ever.

just think, 1975, (nearly) four whole decades have gone by...

High Fidelity Three - B Boys Breakdance

I had a wander through my old neighbourhood last weekend. Saw my old house(s), the avenue I played football on with the meighbourhood kids, (can't do that any more, double parked cars all the way along, only used to be two on the whole street in 1976) and the newsagent's forecourt where we use to break on cardboard boxes taped together. Eventually we upgraded and got friendly with a future master graff artist who lived over the back of where we use to hang out and he let us in to his basement now and again and we could plug in the 'ghetto blaster' or 'boom box' or whatever you want to call it and save on batteries. We had it all worked out. Anyway, his older brother was friendly with some big hitters on the b-boy scene and he had a tape or two, one of which had the vocal version of this very slice of wax which I'd never heard before. The instrumental version was a firm favourite already thanks to Streetsounds Electro 5 so I had to have that tape. It took me quite a while to blag a copy and even longer to get the wax, 1989 if I remember rightly and it's mint and still is so enjoy this 320kbps rip if you can. 1984; what a year.

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Captain Rock - Cosmic Blast

I purchased the Street Sounds UK Fresh reunion DVD just a few weeks ago as I wasn't able to attend and have tio say I was a little disappointed with the Captain's performance. Not sure what I was expecting after all these years (how old is he now, in his late 40s or early 50s?) but he came on in his captain's uniform and ended up up bare chested after strutting around the stage rapping along to his old classics, (and let's face facts, they are classics) including this one, my own personal fave of the bunch. I didn't actually buy this until probably around 1987-88 as US imports were hard to come by and also I was just a kid in '84 and had zero cash most of the time. The Street Sounds Electro series of LPs were a godsend to UK heads like myself and 5 & 6 were on constant rotation, this 12" being on volume 6. Ripped the wax almost immediately after watching him and I was blown away almost like hearing it for the first time. And I can still remember all the words. Stone cold classic business right here, 320kbps rip.___ p.s. don't be put off buying the double DVD; if you're 40 something it's feckin' awesome to see the B-Boys with Chuck Chillout, Newcleus, Arthur Baker and the Captain amongst others. Not too keen on the new electro stuff though, sounds too much like house music to me..

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Lakim Shabazz - Need Some Lovin'

Lakim Shabazz sans the 45 king = not a bad record really. Shabazz himself undertakes production here and does pretty well it has to be said and even throws in a remix on the flip for good measure. Anttex contributes his two penn'orth (or two cents if you prefer) but the lead track is the strongest I think. A 320kbps rip of a piece of vinyl I seldomed played way back when is a good send off as I sold it last week for a paltry 99p. A bit of a disappointment but a sign of the current times. Now I need some lovin'..

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Most Wanted - Calm Down

Been quite busy of late but I managed a fresh 320 kbps rip of this monster classic which has been getting some steady ipod time I can tell you. I think I may have 'over-bassed' a touch but it still sounds def.

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Gang Starr - 2 Deep

What more could you want on a Sunday morning, eh? I bought this new in 1992 and fancied a listen but lo and behold it wasn't in my mp3 collection so as to put on the old ipod thingy so a def 320kbps rip was in order. I also decided to share it with you too. This was a UK only release and the title track alone is worth the asking price but with the half decent 'City Lick Mix' adding to the uniqeness and the thumping 'Take It Personal' and jazzy stylings of 'Now You're Mine' on the flip you have here a quality 12" that first dropped almost 20 years ago. 20 years. Hard to comprehend. Seems like only yesterday...

Consider It A Privelege To Hear This

K-Rob - I'm A Homeboy

After DJ Cheese won the DMC World Mixing championships in 1986 and pretty much turned the whole competition into what it is now he became an instant celebrity. Because of this, (I would imagine) he also 'guest scratched' on quite a few of Profile's releases in '86 and if you look you can see his name on the label in much smaller print the K-Rob's name which was the order of the day back then as emcees held a stronger position than the deejays even though they started it all off in the first place. But you already knew that. What you might not know is that Cheese himself made an appearance at the now demolished Limit club in my home town in 1986 and someone filmed it as they showed it on the incredibly small TV they had on the wall on subsequent Saturdays. (It was mainly a punk and indie type place but opened on Saturday afternoons for b-boys to hear new stuff and break on the rather large piece of linoleum. It was 50p to get in I think and the music they played was and still is the loudest music I ever heard, almost frightening how loud it was). What I'm hoping here is that someone must still have the tape as it is obviously a priceless archive that some of us would love to see again. It's highly unlikely that somebody from Sheffield frequents this blog but you never know. Oh, and this record is not too shabby either.

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MC Eric - Before We Get Started

I got this in a second hand record store for 50p a heck of a long time ago. It's a promo release and hand numbered on his own label and mine was number 87. I say was because I recently parted company with if for 60p during the vinyl purge I'm undertaking just now. I'm unsure as to why I bought it, probably 'cos of the price and I used to buy allsorts back then if it was cheap enough. When I got back home and put it on I must say I was pleasantly surprised as MC Eric had acquired a bit of a rep as being wack in some people's opinions (and probably my own) due to his appearances on some of Technotronic's earbashing house records. Which, from where I'm sitting, really were the wackest of the wack. And if you are one of those people who ignored his solo stuff for that reason I would encourage you to please try and ignore the name of the artist and just listen to 4 tracks of really quite decent hip hop music from the early nineties.

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