JVC Force - Big Trax 12" (1992)

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A1 - Big Trax (Vocal)
A2 - Big Trax (Instrumental)
B1 - 6 Feet Back On The Map (Hardcore Mixup)
B2 - 6 Feet Back On The Map (Instrumental)
B3 - 6 Feet Back On The Map (Bedside Manor)

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Public Enemy - You're Gonna Get Yours 12" (1987)

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PE really broke new ground on this single with Rebel Without A Pause, recorded after Yo! Bum Rush The Show. The most notable part of the song was Hank Shocklee's sample of the trumpet glissando from The J.B.'s The Grunt and is easily one of the most memorable sounds on the planet. A quote from an interview with Shocklee reveals some interesting tidbits behind the making of the track: "’Rebel’ is interesting because that was originally done with the only sampler that I had at the time which was the Mirage. And the Mirage, if you know the Mirage, it’s a 4-bit sampler that gives you three seconds of sample time and that’s it. And it was [as if] the stars lined it up for me. I was doing this thing again, and I was trying to catch it and I caught the right piece of it in three seconds. Because one thing about the Mirage is when you have three seconds, and you know you only got three seconds, and your piece is really three and a half seconds long, but you really want to catch the best three seconds out of that, well, you got to keep doing it until you catch it right the way you want it". Another very interesting fact is the drums. At first listen it seems like just the Funky Drummer chopped up a little with another programmed beat for the chorus. "That record has four different beats, one is the change beat, one is the original verse beat, the other is the short verse beat, and the fourth being the ride on the beat. And it has ten different turnarounds, all those little kicks, all that stuff is programmed, you know, each one does not repeat itself. So it gives you the illusion of the record is constantly getting better as opposed to it just staying linear". Also noteworthy is Terminator X's rock 'n' roll scratch (yes that's really him this time). "When he first did that piece, you know, the Rock 'n' Roll part, when Chuck said: ”Terminator X“ I was expecting, something (shows something huge with his arms). And then he came in and he would - (makes very small moves with his hands) and then he came up with ’tchgtchgtch’ – I was disappointed when I first heard it. You know, I took it home and I listened to it. And then I said: ”There is something in here that I like but there is something that I didn’t like about it.“ And so, when I went back to the studio, I had the engineer pull off the bottom on it because there was a lot more bass in it. And it just sounded muddy to me. Once Steve pulled the bottom of the whole shit popped out like crazy and it was my favorite piece in life. And even to the point when he took the ’Pee Wee Herman’ ’Get-a-get-a-get’ (scratches in the air) to give it a extra like (waves with his arms) – oh shit – I thought that that was probably the most brilliant piece of scratch work on a record to me ever".

Quotes from the Red Bull Music Academy interview with Hank Shocklee

A1 - You're Gonna Get Yours (Vocal)
A2 - You're Gonna Get Yours (Dub/Terminator X Getaway Version)
A3 - Miuzi Weighs A Ton (Vocal Mix)
B1 - Rebel Without A Pause (Vocal Mix)
B2 - Rebel Without A Pause (Instrumental)

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Leaders Of The New School - The International Zone Coaster 12" (1991)

A1 - The International Zone Coaster (Re-Remix Edit) Remix - Stimulated Dummies
A2 - The International Zone Coaster (Remix) Remix - Stimulated Dummies
A3 - The International Zone Coaster (Ultra Shandilere Tango-Trixx Mix) Remix - L.O.N.S.
B1 - Too Much On My Mind (Vocal)
B2 - The International Zone Coaster (Zone Flight Z9ZU Mix) Remix - L.O.N.S.
B3 - The International Zone Coaster (Radio Edit) Remix - Stimulated Dummies

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Lord Alibaski - Lyrics In Motion / Top Gun

Excellent effort from a relatively slept on flavor unit emcee and produced by you know who. I heard 'Top Gun' on a 45 king comp originally and I picked this copy of the 12" up a couple of years back for £2.99 and it was sealed too. I passworded the file, you need 'tothebreakofdawn' to get in there.

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3XD - Greatest Man Alive 12" (1988)

Won this on ebay last week, 99p was the winning bid and you can't sniff at that. I'd buy almost anything for a quid. B-side wins again though, 'Straight Up' is a corkin' tune, proper heavy hip hop beats.

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Big Daddy Kane - Raw / Word To The Mother (Land) 12" (1987)

A1 - Raw
A2 - Word To The Mother (Land)
B1 - Raw (Dubapella)

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Intelligent Hoodlum - Back To Reality 12" (1990)

A1 - Back To Reality
A2 - Back To Reality (Marley's Mix)
B1 - Back To Reality (UK Remix)
B2 - Back To Reality (UK Dub)
B3 - Live & Direct From The House Of Hits (Feat Craig G)

This single is worth grabbing just for the non-album track Live & Direct From The House Of Hits with Craig G. It's one of my all time favorite tracks. Grab it!

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Futura 2000 - The Escapades Of Futura 2000

The Clash were my favourite band when I was a kid, heck, they probably still are. They met Futura in New York when they went over to play the now famous 17 gig stint at the Bonds club, or casino as the flyers said but it was just a club, (I think they added the casino moniker in an attempt to add a touch of class), as it was oversold. 'A' graffiti artist made a banner for the show (I assume it was Futura but can't be certain) and they obviously got together to collaborate on this gem of a 12". The Clash did make a couple of attempts at 'crossing over' and doing the hip hop thing and could possibly be the first white non American group to record a rap record but we'll discuss that another time. Overall, I would say that this is one of the best hip hop records ever made by a group who's primary musical genre wasn't hip hop and an emcee who isn't an emcee. Note: The band got Futura to reproduce the lyrics on the inner sleeve of 'Combat Rock'.

Escapades

Run-DMC - Hollis Crew

I would credit 'sucker mcs' as being the record that got me into hip hop music back in 1983. I used to break (thanks to break machine!) before I knew rap music existed. I remember seeing the video to 'The message' on top of the pops but I never thought much about it, (I do now o' course), but run dmc were the best hands down in my opinion. I bought streetsounds electro 4 just for 'sucker mcs' as US imports were impossible to get a hold of in the north of England. This, however is my fave record by them. I'm not sure but I think it's a promo only 12" single and I only bagged a copy about 18 months ago for a fiver off ebay. The B-side is listed as the instrumental but it's slightly longer than the vocal version and is more of a dub style affair.

Hollis Crew