Track Of The Day #2

I finally managed to find a good copy of The Escapades Of Futura 2000 on mp3 the other day which means that I can listen to it digitally at last. My vinyl version can be safely tucked away and be given a rest from the 1200's.

I don't know why but this song is one I find myself continually drawn back to year after year. The phrase 'stick to your day job' comes to mind when Futura raps as his style wouldn't win any awards. That said, his unique delivery is one of the charms of this record.

What else makes this song so good is the fact that it was produced by The Clash who provide a really strong groove which screams old school - well it was 1982.

Here it is anyway. If a few of you are interested in the dub as well then let me know.

Beat Street Volumes 1 & 2

Oh yeah, this is what I'm talking about.

"Open the door, Lee, open the door"
"I got a rocket in my pocket"
"So what's up with that, punk!"
"Damn Spit!"
"One talkin' paint, the other one money and they're so fulla shit that it ain't even funny"
"Maybe I'll catch me a female"
"Look, a white one!"


So many classic quotes in this film. So what if it was a little bit 'Hollywood', it brought hip hop to little English towns and no doubt the smaller European provinces.
Who doesn't chapter-skip to the b-boy battle at The Roxy with Breaker's Revenge?
Who doesn't chapter-skip past the toddler-with-a-spray-can 'graf' on the train by RAMO ("Hip hop ya don't stop").

Directed by Stan Lathan (Def Comedy Jam, The Bernie Mac Show, Hill Street Blues), who was 39 years old at the time and possibly didn't fully understand the culture. There are some cringe-worthy scenes and the Rae Dawn Chong love interest sub-story didn't need to be there. But then we get the killer 'dance-off' (I hate that term, sorry) with Rock Steady's finest, Crazy Legs.
While we're on the subject, is Crazy Legs now spelt with two 'g's as in Crazy Leggs as I've seen recently in print? And also when the fluck did Grandmaster D.St become DXT? When? Why?

Here's the tracklisting for the soundtrack.

1 Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five - Beat Street Breakdown (6:48)
2 The System - Baptize The Beat (4:25)
3 Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force + Shango - Frantic Situation (5:08)
4 Juicy - Beat Street Strut (4:57)
5 Sharon Green Lisa Counts & Debbie D - Us Girls (3:55)
6 Cindy Mizelle - This Could Be The Night (4:51)
7 Arthur Baker - Breaker's Revenge (4:52)
8 Jazzy Jay Son Of Beat Street (4:06)
9 Juicy - Give Me All (4:32)
10 Tina B - Nothin's Gonna Come Easy (4:50)
11 The Treacherous Three - Santa's Rap (6:09)
12 Jenny Burton - It's Alright By Me (5:14)
13 Rockers Revenge - Battle Cry (4:53)
14 Ralph Rolle Phony Four MC's-Wappin (Bubblehead) (6:13)
15 La La - Into The Night (4:27)



Link here

And here's the password written small cos I likes to mess withs ya..... repo136saysyoubettereatyoureggsbeforeIbreakyourlegs

B-Boy 80's Adverts

Found these little gems on YouTube the other day.
Anyone remember any?

**Don't forget to pause the Player at the bottom of the page first**


Weetabix Breakers





Right Guard B-Boy




Hersheys Chocolate Breakdance commercial circa 1984




Michael Boogaloo Shrimp Chambers Aqua fresh Turbo Ad





And lastly this one which can't be embedded so here's the direct link to YouTube.

K-Tel breakdance Commercial
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qgZfH5xKWc4

Mantronix (The Deluxe Edition)

How can you make a great album even better? By making it a Deluxe one, that's how!

I'm a sucker for rehashed products and constantly buy the same thing again even if it's only got a slightly different colour or bonus remix included. But with this classic Mantronix LP you get a whole barrage of unreleased shaznay.

If you bought all the 12" singles when they first came out then an O.G. such as yourself may already be familiar to the tracklisting. However if cd's and mp3's are the instigators of your musical whimsies then you are about to experience a series of spontaneous pelvic convulsions.

Radio mixes, Alternate mixes, A Capella versions, they're all here.

1.1 Bassline
1.2 Needle To The Groove
1.3 Mega-Mix
1.4 Hardcore Hip-Hop
1.5 Ladies
1.6 Get Stupid "Fresh" Part 1
1.7 Fresh Is The Word
1.8 Bassline (Club Version)
1.9 Needle To The Groove (12" Version)
1.10 Fresh Is The Word (12" Version)
1.11 Ladies (UK Remix)
2.1 Bassline (Radio Version)
2.2 Bassline (Instrumental)
2.3 Needle To The Groove (Alternate Version)
2.4 Jamming On The Groove
2.5 Needle To The Groove (Live Version)
2.6 Ladies (Live Version)
2.7 Ladies (A Capella)
2.8 Get Stupid "Fresh" Part 1 (A Capella)
2.9 Fresh Is The Word (Radio Version)
2.10 Fresh Is The Beat
2.11 Fresh Is The Word (A Capella)

Download here but remember if you ain't giving up props first, ABU ain't giving up the password. Alternatively, become a hallowed FOLLOWER of the blog/b-boy junkie (see right, near top of page) and get the pw mailed straight to you whether you like it or not. Huzzah.

Fresh for 85, kickin it live, you sissyyyyyy

Obama Gifs

With thanks to b3ta

Original Wedding First Dances

There have been quite a few 'surprise' first dance wedding movies turning up on the t'internet as of late. You may have seen the 'Dirty Dancing' one or even the Sir Mixalot Baby Got Back dance?
Well here's a few which are designed for the ABU crew in mind.


This guy can still throw down, although some more uprocking would've done it for me.






If only I had had the nerve to use Bam in my wedding dance.






And here are a couple of real ageing b-boys. My hat is well and truly doffed. 40 years old and still going strong.

Manhunt 2 Out At Last

So I finally got my copy of Manhunt on the PS2. I ordered it through play.com well over a year ago but due to the Ratings Board banning it the first time around I've had a looooong wait.

Was it worth it?

I''m not sure yet having only played one and a half levels in.

Firstly the audio is brilliantly effective and as creepy as it was in the original. If it has similar in-game bizarre and surreal comments from the other nut-bags as before then I'll be happy.

What I'm most peeved about though - and I was expecting this - is the fact that Rockstar have had to tone the 'killings' down from the finished game. What we're now given is a strange, messy, vibrant almost psychedelic cut-scene each time you perform a hit on someone.

This takes away from the fluidity of the game and makes the experience a little odd to say the least.

Anyway it's early days yet so I'll reserve further judgement until after Xmas when I'll have hopefully finished it - I'm not the world's fastest gamer any longer what with wife, kids, college and that to keep me busy.

What I love about Rockstar is the way they incorporate a lot of GTA references. For instance, looking at the game booklet, you'll note that the guy you control (Danny) lives in San Fierro, SA. Seem familiar? A quick shufty back to GTA San Andreas will rock your noggin.

Similarly in the original Manhunt game, it was based in Carcer City which had several mentions in GTA III, some during the in-car radio news reports ("....police chief Gary Schaeffer was cleared of corruption charges in a controversial decision by the courts. Let's hope those missing witnesses turn up safe and sound.").

Any fans of Manhunt/GTA feel free to add some comments. Even if you hate the game and think they're for sickos, then please tell me!

Hijack - The Horns Of Jericho (1991)

Arguably the best British album ever (although some might say that title goes to the London Posse's Gangster Chronicles - not me though, I'm all over the Southside crew like a cheap suit), Hijack upped the game with their long-awaited debut elpee back in '91.

Now this could possibly be due to Ice T's influence, or that they were signed to a major label, nay major American label, or maybe it's because they were just shit-hard. Look at 'em! They've got knives and balaclavas and that. They're saying, 'Buy this album, you spotty, white geek or else we'll come round and kick down your door and use our loud, shouty voices to scare you to death with tales about South London and Brixton hard nuts'.

How about that intro to the album? Gives me shivers each time I hear it. Weird, emotive, manic stuff.

My pick is Hijack The Terrorist Group which is a real rousing ball-cracker of a track which gives me the same feeling I experience when listening to PE's Welcome To The Terrordome.

What happened to them? They came, they conquered, they got dropped from Warners/Syndicate, and then started releasing effing crappy Garage bollox that's what (Do You Really Like It? 2001- chorus refrain "we're lovin' it, lovin' it, lovin' it" - yes, you know it. You do love it, too).


You want a tracklisting? I got ya tracklisting right here, Jack:

A Side
1 Intro / Phantom Of The Opera (4:50)
2 The Syndicate Outta Jail (3:46)
3 Daddy Rich (Part 1) (5:59)
4 Back To Brixton (3:38)
5 Airwave Hijack (Part 1) (3:31)

B Side

1 Hijack The Terrorist Group (4:52)
2 The Badman Is Robbin (3:03)
3 I Had To Serve You (3:12)
4 Don't Go With Strangers (3:38)
5 Brother Versus Brother (3:01)
6 The Paranoid Schizophrenic With Homicidal Tendencies (1:22)
7 The Contract (Featuring - Huntkillbury Finn , The Icepick, Shaka Shazam) (4:19)

Download the album here .
Password repo136isabadmuthashutyomouth

The Home Of Hip Hop Is In Doubt

The building popularly known as the 'birthplace of hip hop' has been bought by a New York City property developer.
1520 Sedgwick Ave in The Bronx, N.Y.C. was where DJ Kool Herc threw his first parties which introduced his style of mixing breakbeats.

Who knows what will become of the building now? A new office block? Car park? A Spar?

Anyone with an interest in British dance music knows the score about a similar situation. The Haçienda nightclub in Manchester which was, to all intents and purposes brought into existence by the late Factory Records supremo, Tony Wilson in 1982.

This was a legendary building which saw the cream of Manchester's musicians get their first break and showcased many others. It was also a brilliant nightclub which benefitted greatly from being able to draw the crowds from the massive Acid House boom as well as the 'baggy', 'Madchester' scene with acts such as The Happy Mondays.

What's this doing in old school hip hop Blog though, I hear you shout? Er, well, New Order famously went to New York to record with Arthur 'Breaker's Revenge' Baker in the early Eighties and after having all their equipment stolen decided to go all 'Electro'. Love - 15 to Benzini.

Anyway, the upshot is, Manchester had bad men with bad haircuts who shot everyone with big guns and brought their gats into the Haçienda thus it was closed down by po-po. And in 2007 it was turned into luxury flats. An ill feeling was had by all.

©Benzini 2008