Radio Crew - Breaking And Entering

Released as a limited press in 2005 - said to be 100 on blue vinyl, 100 on clear and 100 on pink (the pink one being the one I was sent out of pure luck or misfortune whichever way you want to look at that) - this is a gem of a bootleg which I discovered completely by accident whilst browsing an excellent online retailer. Classic old school west coast electro ensues as soon as the needle hits the record and I have to say it's not something I'd normally listen to as I would tend to warm to the harder b-boy beats a la Marley Marl or early Mantronik. There's no track list but if you click somewhere up above in the text there's a discogs link and of course I've named them in the file. That's all I can say really except that the original recording was made in 1983 making these tunes 30 years old already and I dug it out in order to sell it but changed my mind after hearing it again. First time I've played it since 2005 an'all. How time flies when you're (approaching) middle age..

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G-Force (Feat. Ronnie Gee & Captain Cee) - Feel The Force

The perfect antidote to a particularly rough day.

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Run DMC - It's Like That/Sucker MCs

Re-up.

Download that, 'cos that's the way it is..

Rock Master Scott & The Dynamic 3 - It's Life (You Gotta Think Twice)

When I used to shop at the Virgin record store on the High Street most of the time you had to get in quick or lose out. Some records however were in the import box for months on end and I used to see them each week and pass them up for more desirable slices of dope wax. Anyway, after I started making a bit of money, (got my first job when I was 17 and was paid the handsome amount of 65 quid a week after tax) I could get some of the 'unwanted' records that were doing some serious time in that box. One of which wasn't this 12" but it was the first volume of Mr. Magic's Rap Attack and this was on it. I'd only ever heard 'The Roof Is On Fire' before and wasn't that keen on it really and I still think this one is the best they did. I eventually copped the 12" from good old Beat Street Records so here it is in full 320kbps glory. I'm pretty sure Beat Street never used to mention if there were markings on the labels in their monthly catalogue but that's never really bothered me too much as it's the tunes I was after but this one used to belong to some nightclub, the name of which I can't quite make out.

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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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Solo Sounds - We're Chilly

Some old school party style pressure for you now. My poor quality mp3s were deleted forever in favour of a fresh 320kbps rip of this re-press after it hit the streets a few months ago. There was an original for sale on ebay at the time (went for $85.00) but that's way too much for my budget so buying this was a no brainer. There's only the two cuts one here, vocal and dub and I can't really tell you anything about Solo Sounds that you can't already find out for yourseves so we'll leave it at that. It's only ever about the music anyway. For me at least.

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Run-DMC - Sucker MCs / It's Like That

It's 1983, school holidays I think. I leave my house to see who's out and about. We all seem to congregate around the newsagent's shop at the top of the road as there's lots of room for b-boying (the new thing that's taken over from the BMX craze for a lot of folk). No-one's there. I can hear music so I start to walk and eventually see the son of the owner of the newsagent on the other side of the road singing along to the whatever song it was on his 'ghetto blaster'. He had the largest portable hi-fi system on the street. Massive it was. He was loaded too. Always got the newest stuff, best BMX, best trainers. His dad even built a mini BMX track but we were all allowed to use that, which was nice. He himself was massive too. He was a year younger than me but he was freakishly tall, stood 6'6" and had size 12 feet when he was 13 years old. I asked him where everyone was and he blanked me totally and just sang along to the record that was on. I pulled a face and watched him as he looked straight forward, never acknowledging my presence for a second and I became impressed as he appeared to know all the words. And he wasn't singing, he was rapping. 'champagne, caviar and bubble bath...' 'take that and move back, catch a heart attack...' I turned my attention from him to the music and was immediately hooked. I fancied myself as a bit of a drummer (I had two old cricket stumps that I used to hit my bed with in time to my punk records) so the pounding beat mesmerised me. I was already heavily in to breaking, hadn't ridden my bike for weeks but this was my first taste of hip hop music. I sneaked a peek at the tape and it was 'streetsounds electro 4' and that was my first purchase at the record stall in the market when I mustered up enough cash. No more punk records for me. A transition had occurred and there was no looking back.

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Junior Gee - Caveman Rock

I probably mentioned elsewhere on this blog to not really knowing about the existence of rap music until 1983 when this record was released and even then it was just the b-boying thing; the undying interest in the music didn't come until the year after. I bought this only last year for a fiver and it's fine example of the influences US hip hop music was having on us lot on this side of 'the pond'. It's a long 'un too clocking in at just under 11 minutes for the vocal track which is really just vocal and instrumental tracks joined together to make one long disco party cut with a proper instrumental on the flip credited to the Funk Masters whoever they are. I remember seeing him performing live on the Electro Rock video and as far as I'm aware the only other record JG went on to record was 'The Terminator' in 1987 which is alright. I've got a copy. And a copy of the remix too.

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Cutmaster DC - That's Life

The mighty Cutmaster's debut 12" is not his best but worth a listen. It was released in 1983 and I would say that is is exactly what you'd expect a rap record from 1983 to sound like. The first record I bought of his was 'Night Before Christmas' and I will admit to only really purchasing this to complete my Cutmaster DC 12" collection. I do like his rap style though. At least he put some effort in to it and keeps to the beat, not like nowadays with these young 'uns.. Just a vocal and instrumental on here although there is an official release with a picture sleeve knocking around, not sure if there are extra versions on there. Pass is 'tothebreakofdawn'.

That's Life

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