LONX 25

when i see 2 copies of something i want (and they're cheap) i've got to have them. i know i should leave spare copies for other people but i'm the one who dug 'em out, so they're going home with me. this is some serious u.k. boogie action from steve harvey. there's an instrumental on the b-side if you don't like his singing, but either side is ace. i hope people don't think i'm showing off by saying i scored 2 copies of something. the whole point of this blog is to show what's out there if you're prepared to make some time for yourself and have a look. sure, you can trawl ebay/discogs all day and night but nothing beats the buzz of finding something you really want for next to nothing. you don't even have to pay postage or leave feedback! anyway, keep your eyes peeled for this killer record. you won't be disappointed.

VS 509-12

i went to the second hand shop on saturday and had a flick through this week's bits'n'bobs. some fella had dumped a load of 90's u.s. house (none of it good) and another had brought all his 80's 12"/7" singles in. i dived in and came up trumps. over at my other blog i posted about a baldelli compilation some time back. the b-side of the above record is on it. "murder rap trap" was a cosmic classic and, thankfully, is available for pennies compared to some of the tracks baldelli championed (eg. phil & friends "this man", which changes hands for £200). it's only when you have a copy of the culture club record you realise he had it pitched up around +4/+5. i was playing the cd and 12" together to find the right pitch (much to the annoyance of mrs s). once again, i've probably flicked past this so many times. how many other gems have i missed over the years? best not to think about it and just start catching up instead.

1-25123

from that caravan (see previous post) comes this 1984 effort by reggie griffin. like his suit, most of it is bloody awful. however, on side two is a real monster called "lock it up & rock it (the wild thing)". it's basically him talking about wanting to lock up his woman's love so she can't love anyone else, whilst also incorporating the basslines from "the message" and "cavern". an honourable mention should also go to "no humans allowed" on side one. apparently no humans are allowed but party animals and robots are. so there.

TKR 82514 & TKR 6009

double bubble time again. they were sitting in the same pile of records and had just come in from some old geezer who had about a thousand, in a caravan, in his garden! the album (on the left) and the 12" came out in 1977 on TK records. the album was originally released on the Drive label and called "a fantasy love affair", but when it was signed to TK they changed the name. some versions of the 12" have the dub version "burning love breakdown" (big at the paradise garage, apparently) on the b-side. my u.k. copy is the same as the album, a 9:13 version incorporating elements of both tracks. it starts off quite pleasant then it slips into "burning love breakdown" which is quite sleazy, and then back to how it started at the end. three quid for the pair can't be bad, except the b-side of the u.k. 12" is rubbish. so now i'm on the hunt for a copy with the dub version. wish me luck.

TENX 330

i've seen this record so many times over the years, but when i wanted it i couldn't find one. then, just like buses, two come along at once! i've been looking for it since i heard the excellent groove armada "AnotherLateNight" mix cd a few months ago. "feel the vibe" (b-side, track 2) is a fantastic downtempo chugger. the sort of thing you put on very late at night or very early in the morning. some fella says "play it on your radio, let the vibes flow through", the bass goes "bum bum", the cymbals go "tst tst", there's a james brown sample and...er...that's it. groove armada say it, "sounds like something they had hanging around on DAT; out of kilter bass and a strange little radio sample. that's why we love it."

PSLP 204

i originally found this record a few months ago but dismissed it. went home, checked on it and couldn't find it on my return the next day (serves me right!). a couple of weeks ago the vendor says have a look in his sale box. he's never had one before so i take a look. heh heh, all the more satisfying because this cat is quite a well known dealer and usually up on this sort of thing. either he's missed it or he thought it was rubbish. you can't blame him. mista charge is a shit name, the cover is shit because it's made of paper, it looks like a poorly drawn comic, a search on the internet only throws up a youtube of the b-side ("show me what you're made of") which is awful. so you can see why i dismissed it initially. the a-side, however, is funky as fuck. another pound well spent.

FLY 009

i found this sealed and had to open it to hear it (obviously). only one decent tune on it, the title track. it was released in 1976 on the butterfly label in the u.s. and canada. this lp is from 1978 and there was another single off it ("midnight madness"), but like i said only the title track is worth listening to. the 12" disco version is 13 seconds longer than the album version, but i don't care (it's ace as it is). it's funky as fuck, the lyrics are bloody awful , the cover picture is ace and the back picture is even better. seems like she wrote all her own material as well. once again, a great record i found after searching through piles of shit.

edit: 5th may 2010 - faze action have just released a version of this track.

PRL 32253

you wouldn't believe how many records i had to go through to find this. it's not as though i was looking for it, it's just that i couldn't find anything in the shop and, getting frustrated, dived into a pile of allsorts (about 1500 deep). all good things come to those that wait or are inclined to get on their hands and knees. the cover is a bit tatty but the contents came up near mint after a clean. it looks like a dog has chewed the top left corner but i'm not bothered. "hot mixes by francois kevorkian" is enough to satisfy me. it contains 6 tracks, and only 1 is rubbish (d train's "walk on by"). there's another d train track, 2 from sharon redd, 1 from the strikers and 1 from the nick straker band. not bad for a quid. it goes for about a fiver on discogs, but i'll be hanging on to it.