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Random Influences On iTunes

by on 25. Nov, 2011 in CD’s / Digital, Hear, Radio, Random Influences, Records, The Seventies, The Sixties

Very pleased to inform you that all 12 episodes of Random Influences are now available on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad via the Radio ditto app, downloadable for free from iTunes...

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Time Capsule

by on 10. Nov, 2011 in Black Culture, CD’s / Digital, DJ / Club Culture, Magazines, Records, The Seventies

In December 2005 I wanted to do something to mark the 30th anniversary of when I made my club debut, on December 6th 1975 at the Chelsea Reach in New Brighton, and I came up with the idea of compiling a selection of 25 singles that I was carrying in my record crates at the time (we used to use old wooden drinks crates, which were the perfect size for 7” singles – the 12” not making its appearance until the following year).

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Sir Jimmy Savile

by on 29. Oct, 2011 in Manchester, Radio, RIP, The Eighties, The Fifties, The Forties, The Nineties, The Seventies, The Sixties, TV

Seminal British Disc-Jockey Sir Jimmy Savile died today, two days before his 85th birthday.

Leeds born Savile claimed to be the first DJ to use two turntables, in the late 40’s. Although this remains disputed, there’s no doubt that Savile was a pioneer when it came to playing records in dance halls, most notably in his home city and across the Pennines in Manchester.

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Whatever Happened To The Soul?

by on 27. Oct, 2011 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, DJ Appearances, Hear, Records, Remixes / Edits, The Eighties, The Seventies

Earlier this month Leftside Wobble shared an edit of Man Friday’s ‘Love Honey, Love Heartache’ on his SoundCloud. I left a comment highlighting the history of this track, which read as follows:

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My Favourite Number 1

by on 21. Oct, 2011 in Black Culture, Hear, Merseyside, My First / My Favourite, Records, The Seventies, The Sixties

Without ever properly considering this question I’ve heard myself instinctively tell people, on more than one occasion, that mine is ‘Double Barrel’ by Dave & Ansil Collins, which claimed the top spot on the UK chart for 2 weeks in May 1971, when I was 11. Like everyone else, I assumed Dave & Ansil were brothers, but Dave was Dave Barker, who’d had previous success in Jamaica as a solo artist working with the great producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. For ‘Double Barrel’ he’d been brought into the studio by another producer, Winston Riley, and asked to add a talking voice to Ansil’s backing track (Ansil was really Ansell, also sometimes credited as Ansel – I’ll stick to the spelling on the single I owned). Dave was encouraged, as he told Lloyd Bradley in ‘Bass Culture’, to “t’ink big like some big giant man. Like Hercules or James Bond, Double-O-Seven, or somet’ing”. Taking up the challenge he toasted the unforgettable line “I am the magnificent, I'm backed by the shack of a soul boss most turnin' stormin' sound o'soul…”

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Shoutout

by on 13. Oct, 2011 in Art & Design, Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, Documentaries, Fashion, Film, Misc, The Nineties, The Seventies, The Sixties

Just wanted to make you aware of a project my former Invisible Players colleague, Don Letts, has been commissioned to produce, focusing on the clothing brand, Fred Perry, and its cultural relevance in the UK from the Mods in the 60’s to Britpop in the 90’s, and right up to date via their association with Amy Winehouse, whose designs for the brand continue to be released, with the full blessing of her family, following her untimely death last July.

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Sylvia Robinson

by on 30. Sep, 2011 in Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, Hear, Records, RIP, The Eighties, The Seventies

Sylvia Robinson, dubbed ‘the Mother Of Hip Hop’, died yesterday.

Along with husband, Joe, she founded All Platinum, one of the leading black music labels of the proto-Disco era, before going on to carve their names in Hip Hop history via their Sugar Hill company, which, along with many other influential recordings, would release a trio of truly seminal singles - ‘Rappers Delight’ by The Sugarhill Gang, the first rap hit in 1979, ‘The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel ‘ by Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five, the herald of turntablism in 1981, and another Flash & The Five track ‘The Message’, presenting rap with a social conscience in 1982.

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Jerry Leiber & Nick Ashford‏

by on 24. Aug, 2011 in Black Culture, Records, RIP, The Fifties, The Seventies, The Sixties

Two black music greats died this week. To name but some of the songs they co-wrote with their partners:

‘Ain't No Mountain High Enough’, ‘Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing’, ‘California Soul’, ‘Don’t Cost You Nothing’, ‘Hound Dog’, ‘I’m Every Woman’, ‘Is That All There Is?’, ‘It Seems To Hang On’, ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘Kansas City’, ‘On Broadway’, ‘Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)’, ‘Spanish Harlem’, ‘Stand By Me’, ‘Surrender’, ‘There Goes My Baby’, ‘Yakety Yak’, ‘You're All I Need To Get By’

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Seven Summers

by on 11. Jul, 2011 in Articles, Black Culture, Dance, DJ / Club Culture, Hear, Records, The Eighties, The Seventies

Recently found this piece I did in June 2007 for the now defunct magazine One Week To Live, where I listed a track per year from the summers of ’74 through to ’80. It’d be good to hear your own memories of summers gone by if you’d like to post a comment.

Wishing you fun in the sun in the months to come.

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Living To Music – Bob Marley & The Wailers ‘Exodus’

by on 01. Jun, 2011 in Black Culture, CD’s / Digital, Hear, Living To Music, Records, The Seventies

This Sunday (June 5th), at 9pm, you’re invited to share a listening session with some likeminded souls, wherever you might be. This can be experienced either alone or communally, and you don’t need to leave the comfort of your own home to participate.

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