Westwood - You Absolute Arse

Just flicked on the radio - well digital channels on the tv - to catch a bit of Westwood on BBC Radio 1. Not to listen to any of his music you understand but to see if he would mention Derek B.
Well, after this man dj-ed in and around the same circles in the 80's as Derek and even featured together on Night Network's N-Sign Radio in 1988 both making and promoting British hip hop, this absolute arse of a man gave the grand total of 10 seconds to dedicate his feelings.
I say feelings but that's wrong. Completely. He merely passed on the news. He didn't express his sadness nor did he feel compelled to play one of Derek's tracks.
Now, I only listened to the last 15 minutes so maybe he did more earlier in the show. But from the sound of it the way he gave the news was that he had only just announced it there and then.
This guy is dispicable. Does he have absolutely no morals or ties to his original people? Does he think that now he broadcasts to a mostly different audience that they wouldn't be interested in hearing this news? Does he not think that by having so many people looking up to him that he should announce the passing of a legendary figure?
Or is it that he just couldn't care less?

I've lost a lot of respect for Westwood over the years and maybe I should've expected this but it still doesn't excuse it.

On the flip I've got to give big props on The Beat Genius for providing 2 hours of solid UK old school hypeness in the form of his weekly show on www.playvybz.com as well as playing homage to Derek the way it should be done.
And big shout to Waxer who was in the chatroom where we both had a good time wagging our chins to some choice music.

Derek B - Bullet From A Gun (1988)

As a mark of respect here is Derek's debut LP, Bullet From A Gun.

Bullet From A Gun	5:41
Bad Young Brother	3:58
Power Move	4:05
Human Time Bomb	5:21
All City	4:21
Get Down	5:36
We've Got The Juice	4:37
Alright Now	5:00
Good Groove	5:52
Success	4:49

Breaking news....Derek B Dead

Unconfirmed reports coming in at the moment that one of Britian's pioneering rappers Derek B (Derek Boland) has passed away in hospital from a heart attack.
This is devastating news for any hip hop fan and mostly for the UK b-boys who grew up with his records.

Song I.D. Needed!

I was sent this mp3 from RUSE ONE who is trying to identify the track.
I've no idea myself. The only clues we have are that it is from a Westwood show from 1989.
At one point there is a Marley Marl scratch but it doesn't sound like him on the mic.
Someone must know this. Leave a comment with any knowlwdge you can drop.

Short Kuts 2

Some more 4-track fun from my Juice mag again. This is Short Kuts 2 and is a faster tempo than the first one. Samples from Hijack, Michael Keaton, Uncle Jamm's Army and loads more.
If you can work out some of the more obscure ones then let me know but I garauntee that you won't!

Short Kuts 1 Mix from Juice #5

Back in the early 90's (92/93) I used to produce a hip hop mag called Juice. It was a very basic black & white photocopied 'zine but had an added bonus. And that was a free mix tape with every issue.

I invited bedroom jocks from anywhere in the world to send in their efforts and was constantly surprised by the sheer amount. I had stuff from a lot of UK guys as well as Sweden, USA, Africa, Russia and Australia.
The reason for this post is that I was going through some old tapes and came across some of my mixes I hadn't heard for a while.

This track below is Short Kuts 1 and is taken from Issue #5 with a front cover by the writer Scenes who now runs a great blog himself.
Very Steinski-inspired as was most of my early output, hell even my recent stuff still seems to be an ongoing homage to the man.
My mixes were all made on a Fostex X26 4 track recorder well back in the days before music editing was an affordable practice on a home pc. Countless over-dubs were done time and time again to achieve my personal level of perfection with many rewinds and flipping the tape over to get particular timing issues sorted.
And when it came to the mixdown there was no automation, it was done live, baby! Slight adjustments to volume at certain points during the track, manually panning a sample left or right....I miss those days!

Now listening back, there are a few pieces of audio I wish I could remember where I got the sample from. Such as "Hello, I'm June Whitfield" or "There was a man he went mad, he jumped into a paper bag". Where did I find them??!

Itchiban Scratch & Batman?

A few of us have been chatting about original sound samples ("the cuts not the breaks") over here at oldschoolhiphop.com and one of the subjects that came up was Chris 'The Glove' Taylor's "Itchiban Scratch".

First Irish Craig mentioned that he'd love to know the origins of the track adding that he thought "a Jan & Dean surf record is in there somewhere". After a bit of research he comes back with a pic of the album cover of "Jan & Dean Meet Batman", feverishly posting it twice in his barely uncontrolled excitement.
Hmmm. Soon enough, the man Ramses hits us up with a little taster from the album in a track entitled "The Joker Is Wild" where we can witness
our first sample sans The Glove. Kapow!
I pick up the baton and give it big legs by getting busy on the internet like Broderick in War Games and sniff out a cheeky little link to the aforementioned album.

I smack the oshh bitches up with my proud linkage before I've barely heard the album myself. Then I proceed to have a man-cry whilst hearing a wealth of hidden beauties such as "Henry", "Have a cookie", "Hoshneecoeedo, doyshnot!" and many others whilst listening to the album soon afterwards.


I recommend getting yourself over to this particular thread because it's one of those 'where have I heard that movie dialogue before' things that you can learn from and importantly expel your own knowledge to.


Listen to "Itchiban Scratch" below and download it here




Listen to "The Doctor's Dilemma" from Jan & Dean Meet Batman. Spot the samples!



Download the rest of the Jan & Dean album here

Further reading: http://www.jananddean.moonfruit.com/#/meet-batman/4514844070

F- - - - The Police - The PC Version

Adam Buxton (of The Adam & Joe Show) provides a new take on the classic NWA song.

THE OLD SCHOOL RADIO HOUR

These podcasts are well worth spending some time listening to. Your host is "TG-The Analog Master of Disaster" who you may have met over on oldschoolhiphop.com which is where I know him from.
Have a look at the archives for shows with Mr Magic, Melle Mel, Jazzy Jay, MC Chill and others.
The first one I went for was a special on Beat Street and Breakin' with special guest co-host, Fast Break (who appeared in Beat Street).  

Check the archives here.

Also TG has made a video for Bon Rock's "B-Boy" song from 26 years ago. A strange choice, but Mr Rock seems happy enough to appear. The little b-boy - Little Vicious - is pretty fantastic as well.

Streetsounds Electro Volume 16 & 17

Remember #17 with the gatefold cover? Did you get you or your 'posse' name on there? Quite a memorable sleeve I think which further propelled the music out of the technical, space-age that it had so far been living in and into the harder, urban streets.

The album begins with LA's Wreckin' Cru and they've moved on from their electro roots of Juice or Surgery and have embraced sampling technology with Cabbage Patch. And the always futuristic productions of Mantronik are on show here with Cold Gettin' Dumb II.

The Classical Two recruit the help of Teddy Riley in a song which more than demonstrates the origins of the New Jack Swing sound he would later be crowned the king of.

ELECTRO 16 (1987)

Tracklisting:

A1 World Class Wreckin' Cru - Cabbage Patch
A2 Classical Two - New Generation
A3 King Tee w/ Keith Cooley - Payback's A Mutha
A4 Just-Ice - Cold Gettin' Dumb II (Remix)

B1 Ultramagnetic MC's - Travelling At The Speed Of Thought
B2 MC Shy D - Rap Will Never Die (Part II)
B3 2 Live Crew - 2 Live Is What We Are
B4 Marley Marl - He Cuts So Fresh
B5 Faze One - Pleasure Seekers

"Step back off my track, my mellow"






ELECTRO 17 (1987)

Tracklisting:

A1 Kid 'N' Play - Last Night
A2 M.C. Chill - Nightmare On Chill Street
A3 Rooftop - Caught Out There
A4 Masters Of Ceremony - Cracked Out
A5 Newcleus - Huxtable House Party
A6 Tray-Bag M.C. - At A Jam
A7 2 Live Crew - What I Like

B1 MC Mitchski "The Rappin Comedian" & M.B. "The Human Radio"- Brooklyn Blew Up The Bridge
B2 7A3 - 7A3 Will Rock You
B3 King Tee And Mixmaster Spade - Ya Better Bring A Gun
B4 C.I.A. - My Posse
B5 Spoonie Gee - The Godfather
B6 Doc Ti - Block Party
B7 B.O.S.E. - Bass Overdrive

"Your hair's so bald, I can read your mind!"