It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Let's have some early Warp in the form of Coco, Steel and Love Bomb.

Initially released on Instant Records in 1991 and subsequently picked up by Warp the following year. This is a sparse, minimal, House classic which does not sound dated even now. There were so many bloody good records coming out at this time not least on Warp by the likes of Nightmares on Wax, Kid Unknown and the like.

Have a good weekend people.

Coco, Steel and Lovebomb - Feel It

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Back to 1987 today, well it was actually released in 1986 but it came to my attention the following year, for what has to be one of, if not the best sounds to come out of that period of early House Music.

Move Your body for me is synonymous with Saturday nights spent in the Sloe Club in the RGIT Union in Aberdeen getting off my face and trying to dance to this new wonderful music. It was the tune that was hammered each and every weekend for god knows how long.

Jefferson would go on to produce some of the best records coming out of Chicago for the likes of Ce Ce Rogers, Ten City etc. But for me nothing can beat this track with it's simple piano loop and repetitive vocals from Curtis McLean. There is something about it that just makes you want to get up and make a twat of yourself on the dance floor.

"Lost in house music is where I want to be" - indeed.

Have a good weekend people

Marshall Jefferson - Move Your Body (House Music Anthem)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

By Christ, that was a quick week. I most certainly have over indulged in food, alcohol not so much, although I did manage to arse a bottle of Foxdenton 48% London Gin and very nice it was too.

This Friday sees us back to 1993 and a bit of Gospel tinged House courtesy of the 50 strong Sounds of Blackness with a little smattering of the genius that was Sasha before he disappeared up his own arse. I apologise for the crackles but this was played quite a bit and I think that 1993 was not a very good year for quality vinyl as a lot of the 12" singles I have from then sound worse than they should do.

Have a good weekend people.

The Sounds of Blackness - I'm Going All The Way (Sasha's Chuff Chuff mix)

It's Friday . . Let's Dance

1994 this week and another sub genre of the every splintering music that I call dance music ie anything from about 1985 onwards, Tribal House.

Love and Happiness was absolutely fucking huge, everywhere you went in 1994 this track could be heard. Uplifting, spiritual house music didn't get much better than this well apart from (Who?) Keeps Changing Your Mind.

Written by India and Louie Vega, produced by Vega and Kenny Dope Gonzalez and originally released on Strictly Rhythmin the States and Cooltempo over here. The version posted comes from the remix 12" and was tinkered with by x-press 2 in a Junior Boys Own stylee.


River Ocean featuring India - Love And Happiness (Yemaya Ochun) Junior Boys Own Super Dub

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

A few weeks ago, I foolishly stated that I didn't really care to find out that much about the artists producing the tech house and other dance music that I was buying at the moment and that Rising High were correct when they labelled it all "faceless techno bollocks".

Well, that old proviso be careful what you wish for came into effect last week when i bought a couple of brilliant 12" singles. Somebody is definitely taking the piss as both of these twelves come in generic white inner sleeves and hand stamped, one with Voyage Direct series and the other with fb06#.4.26. and that's your lot,  the sum total of the information I have on these slabs of vinyl.

Now I know I said that I wasn't that interested in the artist that much but is giving a name to your tracks too bloody much to ask for? Jesus.

Anyway, here is the first track on the second side of the Voyage Direct single, with a little investigation I have ascertained that the record was produced by Dexter and it's called Not The Only Girl ep. As for the other twelve, I can't even be bothered but it is magic.

Dexter - Not The Only Girl Side B 1

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

First posted 06/03/2009

As I mentioned before during the late 80's I had a few scooters and was part of a scooter club. At that time there were 5 or six clubs within a twenty mile radius of where we lived with numbers ranging from 7 to 8 (our club) to some with more than 20 members.

Every so often clubs would organise dances if they could find a venue willing to host one of these nights. Not as easy as you would think , as these functions fuelled by testosterone and beer frequently ended up in violence between rival clubs, NF skins or more often than not locals looking for a rammy to end the night and scooterists being what they were, only too happy to oblige.

I was in Aberdeen at the time when a friend called and asked if I fancied coming down for the weekend as our club was organising a dance, oh and could I bring some records as I would be djing.

I had been to a few scooterist nights and knew enough of their tastes to know that I had the soul, punk and 80's indie records covered but would have to borrow some psychobilly to keep the nutters happy.

The night was going well I had dropped the relevant northern stompers, punk classics and a couple of Meteors and Cramps tunes. I decided it was time to delve into the box of the latest things I had been buying, which I had been played at the Pelican Club in Aberdeen and educate the scooterists. Bad move. Within a minute of the song that I am posting today starting I had cleared the dance floor and was being pinned against the wall by a particularly upset Globetrotter (an infamous scooter club from Glasgow who prided themselves on their thuggish reputation) who told me in no uncertain terms what would happen to me if I didn't get "that gay pish" off.

Needless to say no more House music was played that night or at any other scooter nights I attended until about 18 months later when the Madchester hype began and the nights were full of baggy anthems and selected House tracks.

Marshall Jefferson - Move Your Body (House Music Anthem)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

How come when you're off the week flies by but when you are at work it crawls? Back in 1988, I couldn't wait for the weekend to come and get out and blow my pittance of a wage ( I had recently jacked in Uni and started an apprenticeship as a joiner) on a few new bits of vinyl, going clubbing and getting out of my head, good times.

Today's track is one of the best British made Acid House tracks of 1988, produced by T-Coy, whose members included Mike Pickering, Simon Topping (A Certain Ratio) and Ritchie Close, who were also responsible for another of the best early British house tracks, Carino . Both of these tracks were early releases on the soon to be huge deConstruction  label.

Annette - Dream 17

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Today it's time for my favourite acid track of them all, Acid Over by Tyree.

I pulled out the 12" single the other week and by the state of the vinyl, i must have played it on a few occasions as there are more crackles in the first minute than in huge bowl of Rice Crispies and it is actually quite painful to listen to. So I have posted a version, which is good but not quite as good as the one I had originally planned.

Acid Over was first released on Underground records in the States in 1987. My copy is on FFRR and was released over here in 1988. The track had a huge effect on the evolving acid house scene in the UK and became an anthem over here. It is rumoured that Tyree (Cooper) called the track Acid Over as a statement of intent as he was sick of all the acid tunes coming out of Chicago and this was to be that sound's death knell. Didn't quite work out like that, well not in the UK anyway.


Tyree - Acid Over (Tyree's mix)

It's Friday . . . Let's Dance

Today's track comes courtesy of one of the pioneers of early British House music Mark Moore.

S'Express came to the attention in the UK in April 1988, when Theme From S'Express was released and reached number 1 in the UK charts. I love Theme with it's Rose Royce and Gil Scott-Heron samples but thought that everyone would have the track.

So here is the follow-up single, Superfly Guy, in it's Fluffy Bagel remix form which is a 303tastic acid remix by Mark McGuire which I think still sounds great today.

More acid to follow in the coming weeks.

S' Express - Superfly Guy (Fluffy Bagel mix).

I'm off down south for a do this weekend, so there will be no communication from the kitchen table until either Sunday night if I'm feeling up to it but more likely Monday.

Enjoy This Trip

Tabloid Hysteria and The Second Summer of Love.

1988 saw house music go overground and a new term was coined for the sounds which were evolving, Acid House. There are various often conflicting versions of how this term came in to common usage, some to do with the use of LSD other say the term was used to describe the sounds produced by the TB303 which was being pioneered by Chicago producers. Where ever the term came from, Acid House caught on in the UK and spread across the country like wildfire.

Inevitable the meedja jumped on the bandwagon,  first embracing the music wholeheartedly, featuring the sounds, fashions and running ads for smiley t- shirts. However as the year progressed the tone in the tabloids, especially turned. Whereas some of the style bibles and and music papers were renaming 1988 as the "Second Summer of Love", the red tops began focusing on the use of illicit drugs, largely Ecstacy and LSD hyping up the alleged use to epidemic proportions and led the campaign for this music to be banned from the radio, TV and some rather stupid retailers who wouldn't stock a copy of We Call It Acieed by D Mob but would happily stock cigarettes and sell them to minors.

At this time I was having a ball. After deciding that I wasn't cut out for penury and starvation, I jacked in Uni and got a "real" job. I had money to spend on such fripperies as records again, dungarees and wallabies. I attended a few illegal parties in warehouses, went down to Manchester a couple of times to the Nude nights at the Hacienda and generally had a good time.

During the tail end of 87 a few home grown house tracks started to appear by the likes of M/A/R/R/S and Krush. The following year more and more UK house tracks started to appear by S'Express, Bomb The Bass, T-Coy and countless others although some of these tracks sound dated now at the time they were new and exciting and making people up and down the country dance like dervishes whether on one or not.

M/A/R/R/S - Pump Up The Volume (Ultimix)

T-Coy - Carino

Brandon Cooke Feart Roxanne Shante - Sharp As A Knife

Psychic TV feat Jack The Tab - Tune In