Tuesday 24 August 2010

Ain't Nobody...


Date: 4th August 2010
Found: Soul & Dance Exchange, Notting Hill Gate, London


Price: £2 

Rufus & Chaka Khan (Remix Version / Hallucinogenic Version)
WEA Internation Inc, 1989 

1. Ain't Nobody (Remix Version)

1. Ain't Nobody (Hallucinogenic Version)
2. I'm Every Woman (Dub Version)

I'm gonna skip talking about the A side, pretty standard remix of the original, in fact if it wasn't labelled "remix", I wouldn't have thought it was one.

The B side is where things start to get interesting, the Hallucinogenic Version, is a wonderful drawn out Frankie Knuckles remix, the vocal doesn't kick in till about the last third of the song. Lots of lovely "hallucinogenic" piano, a nice contrast to the original which just seems a bit too camp in comparison.

I wasn't going to bother listening to the dub of I'm Every Woman because I hate that song, it makes me think of French Supermarket radio and large packs of women roaring the lyrics on a Hen do. However I was very pleasantly surprised to hear a sophisticated disco re-work of the original.


Monday 23 August 2010

Krushhhh




Date: Saturday 21st August 2010
Found: Families Relief Charity Shop, West Ealing, London 
Price: £1 

Krush - House Arrest
Club Records, 1987

A
1. House Arrest (The Beat is Law)
2. House Arrest (Blue Murder Mix)

B
1. Jack's Back
2. Back Beat

My only decent find this weekend (the others we shall not speak of) and quite lucky really considering how reluctant we were to dig through the huge, dirty crates at The Families Relief Project, probably the mankiest charity shop ever. It looks more like someone has crammed the contents of their house into one room and has refused to throw anything away for 50 years. They always seem to have the same stuff in stock year in year out.

House Arrest was a massive hit when it was released in 1987 and I can see why, it errs on the cheesier side of acid house but I still like it. A very English response to the American house style of that time - or "exclusive American Fashion" as quoted on the sleeve. This is essentially a fun pop song which got House music into the pop charts in the UK. I enjoyed the B sides on this record too. Less of an assault on the ears, Jack's Back is a mellow, instrumental house tune, which still sounds very different to the American House style.

Interestingly, the members of Krush went on to bigger and better things with Rob Gordon become a founding member of Warp Records - producing this and Mark Brydon becoming the producer of Moloko. Vocalist Ruth Joy went onto work with Kurtis Mantronik on solo projects.

See below for the House Arrest video and B side Jack's Back.


Thursday 19 August 2010

Break 4 Love


Date: 28th July 2010
Found: Discogs
Price: £1 

Raze - Break 4 Love 
Champion Records, 1988 

1. Break 4 Love
1. Break 4 Love (Caught in the Act Mix)

A beautiful song from Vaughn Mason (who was responsible for Bounce, Rock, Skate, Roll) with a sublime vocal from Keith Thompson. I didn't really realise how much I love this song until I bought it. I remember playing Grand Theft Auto with my little brother and always choosing the radio station that had this song! It's a subtle enough song to just listen to and relax, but still has the power to get people dancing in a club.

The Caught in the Act Mix is much deeper and more drawn out. I think I like both the same, the original is more poppy but the B side is a nice darker alternative.

Watch the two videos below for the Original & the Caught in the Act Mix.




Where is My Man?



Date: 4th August 2010
Found: Soul & Dance Exchange, Notting Hill Gate, London 
Price: 50p

Eartha Kitt
Record Shack Records, 1983

A
1. Where is My Man? (Vocal)

B
1. Where is My Man? (Instrumental)

An absolute One Pound Vinyl favourite from Catwoman herself! (RIP)

This was such a bargain find (50p!?) and quite a surprise, Pac was very jealous after leaving me to rifle through all the bargain soul 12"s  on my own. I love this song, it always make me want to get up and disco dance around the room. Eartha Kitt's voice is amazing and bizarre, she actually sounds like a cat - rolling those Rrrrrs. Brilliant record!

Watch the video below for the Vocal version and to see Eartha Kitt acting mental around lots of leopard print and mirrors.



Cool With Nature






Date: 28th July 2010
Found: Discogs
Price: 99p 

Carlton - Cool With Nature (Promo)
FFRR Records / 3 Stripe Records, 1990

 A 
1. Go Beat Mix
2. The Nature Mix
3. Drum and Bass Mix

 B 
1. The Time to Rhyme
2. Cool with Nature - Go Beat Instrumental

I came a across this song by accident whilst idly browsing a sellers stock on discogs and almost didn't buy it but I am pretty happy I did as I now listen to it almost everyday.

The Nature Mix is the one, The Go Beat Mix is the reason I bought this record originally but in comparison it's just okay. The piano and bass guitar add a lot more soul to this recording and are much more complimentary to the fragile, sweet vocal than the heavy drums and slightly sinister tinkling keys on the  The Go Beat Mix. The Drum and Bass Mix is not the drum 'n' bass you might be thinking, just a more boring version on The Go Beat Mix. 

On the B side there is a confusing song called The Time to Rhyme that samples Dawn Penn and has a weird slightly faux-patois rap on it - it's just a bit lack-lustre, no real energy to it. Cool with Nature - Go Beat Instrumental is worth a go though, kind of a combination of all the tracks on the A side sans vocal. 

See below for a Youtube video version of The Nature Mix.



One Pound Vinyl is BACK... Again.

The best Charity Shop ever.

Fear not, the hiatus is over! Well kind of, this is just me making a promise to myself that I will post more bargain vinyl finds on this blog.

The lack of posts is probably due to that fact that we now both have (proper) jobs and can't spend our days trawling the ever fruitful charity shops of London's greenbelt area. Charity shops only seem to be open when people are at work, and in turn us having jobs has meant that we don't need to pop into charity shops as often in search of records as we can now afford to visit real record shops (and discogs - no stress over P&P) and buy expensive shiny records (£80 for a Patrick Cowley remix anyone?)

Still I have realised that there is something missing from my life - Charity shopping, I have missed the most of the Carbooting season and neglected Deptford Market whilst the students are away! So this weekend I have made a pact with myself to try and buy some One Pound Vinyls.

In the mean time I will be retrospectively posting up some of my most interesting circular finds over the past 4 months. Keep your eyes peeled...