Cold Crush Brothers - Fresh, Wild, Fly & Bold

My second CC4 12" and the only other one I ever owned and it's my all time fave. I remember seeing a the best b-boy crew in the city, Smac 19,  on the local evening news around '84 which is when I was still breakin' but the interest in the music and desire to get the records was beginning to take over. They were dancing to 'Cold Crush: It's Us' and it blew me away, loved it instantly. Didn't cop this copy until I got a job and was earning though, probably around '87 or '88 courtesy of Beat Street records and I still have it today. 1984, what a year.

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Roxanne Shante - Roxanne's Revenge

I watched that Netflix drama about Shante's early life, rise to ghetto stardom, etc and I thought it was ok but I wouldn't watch it again, kinda like an early evening drama that might appeal to soap opera fans maybe but I remembered I had a copy of this which is supposedly the version recorded in Marley Marl's bedroom as depicted in the movie. UTFO or their record company complained due to copyright infringement so they re-recorded it as the version we all remember that was on Streetsounds Electro 6 (what a record that is!). This here was recorded directly from Mr Magic's radio show and is certainly not a home recording as you can hear Mr Magic start to speak on the fade out at the end. Not the best version but worth having if you can pick up a cheap copy and also if you're a fan of here early stuff and that I am.

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Divine Sounds - Do Or Die Bed Sty

A few posts back I briefly mentioned the devestatin' DJ Cheese and his use of this record in his world championship winning set from '86 so I did a fresh 320 rip for y'all. It's tucked away on the b-side of a really mediocre and irritating a-side cut too and it wasn't mentioned on the Beat Street Records list I bought it off many years ago now, around about '87 or '88 I would think so I just chanced my arm and was fortunate enough to hit the jackpot. One of my all time faves, love it.

Check out Mike Music on the funky scratch...

Daniel Sofer - One Hundred Speakers

Mega tune from '84, always loved this one. This is my second copy as the first kept toing and froing between me and a couple of mates and after a while I never managed to get it back. Still, all good things and all that. Get your tracky on and relive the good old days.

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C-Jam & Kid Frost - Commando Rock

Bank holiday Monday in England. Pissing with rain as usual. No way am I visiting any garden centre or diy store. This day was made for listening to fresh electro jams from commando rockin' '84. While you do the ironing..

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Newcleus - Computer Age (Push The button)

I remember playing this on the radio and got complaints for talking over the end bit. Not this time though.

Computer age is now...

M.C. Flex & The FBI Crew - Rockin' It

Here's another Beat Street Records purchase and the first time I heard it was at the youth club at a school on Myrtle Road. There were some guys who lived further up the road than we did and they used to come down and battle us at first before we kinda teamed up and there was this one guy who had a tape with stuff I'd not heard so I had to be impressed with his breaking skills in order to get the tape that had this on it from him. I was successful in doing that but having said that he did have some skills on the cardboard, the windmills were his specialty as I recall but I had more variations, you know, hands on your chest, hand on your knees, behind the back, etc. Oh, the glory days when I was young. And thin(ner).

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Fat Boys - Can You Feel It

How about some Fat Boys? I still have their first album which is great as it was the first long player I ever bought by a hip hop group and this tune in  particular was and still is one of the highlights.

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CD III - And You Know That

My second fave CD III track and once again it's a b-side jam. This is the Canadian release and as you can see, they spelled the crew's name wrong. The a-side, 'Summer Jam' is ok but forgettable and has never really had a regular spot on the mp3 playing device. Still, this is a memorable one from a tape I had in my mid teens and I like it a lot.

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Aleem - Release Yourself

Another classic from the NIA label and Streetsounds Electro 5 which still sounds fresh today. I never actually owned Electro 5 until years after it was released but I recorded a copy off a mate, ('Home taping is killing music' - sorry Morgan but we all did it) a few days after he bought it in '84 and that particular mate at that particular time thought this was the best record he'd ever heard. I disagreed as 'The Buck Stops Here' and 'B-Boys Breakdance' were harder sounding what with me being a b-boy and all but I still bought a copy as it is an astoundingly good record.
p.s. I'm currently ripping a couple of Cutmaster DC Christmas tunes so get ready..

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CD III - Success

I remember a mate of mine at the time singing the 'buying closets full of leather jeans' line to me while we stood at the hip hop rack in the record shop 'diggin' as you'd call it nowadays in an attempt to jog my memory and I couldn't remember this tune for the life of me. Until I got it home and played it of course and was most pleased. I think this can go down as my favourite CD III tune with 'And You Know That' coming a very close second. One of the best electro tunes of the year in my opinion and also Hitman Howie Tee's first group in case you didn't know although on here he hadn't taken on the 'hitman' moniker just yet and he's referred to as 'DJ H.T.'

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Awesome Foursome - Funky Breakdown

I replied to a comment a while back now and mentioned hearing this blasting out from someone's back garden while we were playing football on the field next to the scout hut near where I lived and I just stopped playing and listened and wanted it pretty badly. So I got one.

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Great Peso & Mr Nasty - It's Time To Rock

Another stone cold classic from '84 and one which always reminds me of Beat Street for some reason. Nothing more to say really, just one I've been feeling a lot over recent weeks.

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Roxanne Shante - Roxanne's Revenge

Classic electro 6 business and the first time I ever heard Shante rock the mic. I got this and three other Shante 12"s from a record fair held at the Leadmill in Sheffield and all four cost me 12 quid and they were all sealed too, which was nice. This would have been around 1987 I think and I still have 'em all today. I was still breakin' in '84 and this tune and 'The Original Human Beatbox' by Dougy Fresh were the biggest tunes around, for us at least, at the time. Happy days..

'I met this dude with the name of a hat'

Dynamic Force - It's Not Right

I was in a b-boy crew called Faze 4. I might have mentioned it before. It's members were my two brothers, a kid from up the road who we went to school with - he was in to breaking before any of us - and me. We did get around a little bit and battle other crews. Challenges is what we used to call them back then. One evening we ventured up to a youth club in the Norfolk Park area of the city and took part in a battle with a local crew from around there. It was nothing fancy - I'd personally only just learned the basic windmills and most if not all crews had at least one member who was capable of doing them - so it was almost all humiliation tactics from both sides and Shaun (he was a last minute stand in for my youngest brother) really upset the biggest bloke on the opposite side by removing his cap and flinging it into the small crowd which enraged him big time and we had to do a runner. We all survived of course but I just remember them having this tune on the tape we were battling to. Under rated I think.

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Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde - Fast Life

I wrote a whole load of bollocks about Streetsounds Electro 5 and how it changed my life but then I thought, who the hell cares and just uploaded another firin' tune from '84.

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Imperial Brothers - We Come To Rock

More classic b-boy business. I don't think we need to discuss the freshness of this jam. '84 was a fine year..

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High Fidelity Three - B Boys Breakdance

Re-up. Classic business.

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International Wrecking Crew - Born To Break

Well, it's snowing like a mofo outside so I'm glad I'm indoors sipping a hot cup o' tea from my Hardnoise mug.
 This is the kind of record that makes me feel that nostalgic kinda warmth, not that I ever had or had even heard it when it came out in '84 but definitely one I'd still have now if I'd bought it then, if you get me. Solid beats, party atmosphere, good clean rhymes, makes me almost want to dust off my Mileta tracksuit, (remember those?) and break like I was born to. I had a a sky blue one with dark blue trim. There was a rather large kid at school, Ian,  who had the same one and he took a dim view of me sporting mine at school. I could break though and he couldn't so in my mind I was more worthy. I didn't tell him that though; I'm no hero now. Some of his mates told him to give me a seeing to but he kind of pretended to punch me 'cos he wasn't really the kind of person to bray the shit out of anyone for anything really and I kind of knew him since junior school.
 Me and my crew were challenged to a battle with him and his cronies one afternoon at school as the snow was coming down big style and we were summoned to the assembly hall before they decidedbeing sent home. We got on the stage all ready to entertain the masses but the headmaster came up and stopped us and announced the school was closing because of the weather and their blushes were spared. They were all talk anyway, had no idea about b-boy style and we'd have burned 'em and made 'em look like the fools that they were.

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Douge Fresh - Just Having Fun

Back in my b-boying days we used to wander the streets looking for something I guess but I couldn't tell you what. I remember one of the crew - we chose the moniker 'Faze 4' -  having a decent ghetto blaster and he'd carry it almost anywhere. I think it would be weird to see a load of kids bollockin' about the streets these days with a large carryable object pounding out loud music but we did it and I am not ashamed. I only mention this because you know when sometimes you remember odd stuff for no known reason and it's not really a significant memory? Well I just remember him saying one night mid Streetsounds Electro 6, 'Shall I rewind to the Roxannes or fast forward to the beatbox?' You can guess what I suggested. Tune.

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