Back to some more Tone Loc from 1989 and a re-release of his debut single. Cheeky funk samples abound and that distinct rap delivery makes this a fine example of late 80’s hip-hop. Produced by Matt Dike and Michael Ross the drums have a nice “real” feel to them and more cowbell. The Wild Boys (Thomas Gesell and Willi Grossmann) manage to blend bits of his track “Wild Thing” into their remix as well adding more funk samples.
Shhhhh! This was kindly shared by Winx and it’s on one of those shiny silver things. Forgot to post it up so apologies in the slight delay. Very, very rare indeed. It is both very inventive, atmospheric and quirky for 1987; with Eddie Hind featuring on 3 tracks with his dramatic vocal style.
Sampling Kraftwerk’s track “Numbers” this was from 1989 and the debut release from this collective. Mixed by Gene Griffin and Teddy Riley. The “A Cappella” is a rawer hip-hop track, just vocals and beats. The 12″ mix reveal a big party tune with horns and all!! (A nice long list of shouts too) Bonus B-side is a reggae/dub hip-hop called Kilomanjaro Style , great mix of styles.
A double A -side and a bit obscure as it only got a US and German release back in 1988. Yes, this is a cover of the Steppenwolf track and it is more sung rather than rapped as original vocalist John Kay joins in!! Born before Run DMC/Aerosmith and Public Enemy/Anthrax it’s a bit of a crowd pleaser. Chep Nunez does the editing on both the remixes which are superb, giving them more of an edge. “On The Strength” shows how good a rapper Melle Mel was and is less a gimmick, solid old skool the title track of the album of the same name. (their second and last album!)
Freestyle from 1988 and the girl group trio, Sweet Sensation. This got a limited release in Europe only coming out in Germany. Original line-up was Betty Lebron and back-up dancers sisters Margie & Mari Fernandez. Latin beats with Steve Peck on the main mix. Madonna must have been fuming.
The Edits (as opposed to remixes) are the things to listen to “Omar’s Dub” by Omar Santana shows mixing desk mastery, an “Editing King” Charlie Dee Diaz does the other longer dub/edit, not as experimental but just as mad in places.
Going back to 1986 now with a later release from Whodini, adding some bass guitar to the mix and generally being er…..funkier. Slightly repetitive with some pretty soft drums it still rattles the old speakers. Produced by Larry Smith (Kurtis Blow, Run D.M.C.) and mixed by Bryan “Chuck” New, they more entertainers than street hardened gangsters. but way, way ahead of their time.
The trio were Drew Carter (Grandmaster D), Jalil Hutchins and John Fletcher (Ecstasy) and had considerable success beforehand so we get the obligatory megamix of the previous hits as a B-side. Short snippets shoe-horned together.
So going quite obvious with this ’89 offering from Tone Loc (still no swearing but more risque) melding the guitars and the beats this includes 3 tracks, showing he just wasn’t a one track wonder but keeping the rock/hip-hop vibe. Produced by one Dust Brother, Matt Dike and Micheal Ross it still sounds mighty fresh nowadays. The remix by Dutch duo Soulshock & Cutfather is nice and different, adding some extra beats, overdubs and an extra bass.
Some wax kindly donated by Mr. Tony Shep, a close friend and exceptional bass player. Early UK Electro Jazz Funk from the legendary Wally Badarou. Released in 1985 it nods to Herbie Hancock. There is very little difference between the 2 mixes. Paul “Groucho” Smykle was in charge of the remixes with Leroy Williams adding the percussion. It appeared on the soundtrack of “Kiss Of The Spiderwoman”
(Because it was a well loved piece of vinyl I’ve recorded both sides twice; one in the very raw state (VRAW) and the other with some noise removed (Treated) so there you go)
More commercial sounding Hip-Hop with a rock edge. Think all those Rock/Hip-Hop hybrid tracks and this was one of the first, from 1988. L.A. Dream Team seemed to be a bit of a manufactured posse mostly from Cleveland. Included are Chris “Snake Puppy” Wilson and his mate Rudy Pardee, Lisa “Miss Rockberry” Love and The Real Richie Rich (who went on to do a lot of other collaborations) The main track has a killer Salt N Peppa type groove with some meaty guitar coming in remixed by Keith Cohen and is actually nearly 8 mins long, not 4 something as the sleeve mentions. The B -side track is quite synthy but rather cheesy (in a Sparkie the Piano way) a the vocoder ballad called, “Stop To Start” more R& B than Hip Hop.
So many thanks for Winx for this, he has shared with us this bundle of early, Germanic EBM. A side project by Luca Anzilotti & Michael Münzing. This was prompted by my recent post from the band Up which featured the duo plus Sven Väth on vocals.Sven even does some vocals on their debut single “Where Are You?” Heavily influenced by Yello with a little bit of DAF in there.
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