I was on the hollertronix bulletin board discussing various views I had on hardcore, et cetera, and a guy called Steve PMX got in touch with me (this is he) about the excellent loveliness of my blog and we started shooting the shit and then . . . boom. He's hosting a guest post on my blog!! Mostly I decided to let him post a cassette because he had this gif on his myspace.
He's a back in the day throwin parties from DC (as in crack mayor DC) kind of guy and has a radio here. So here's his selection and writeup.
Street Jams - Electric Funk - Part 4 (Rhino Records 1994)
This silly looking Rhino tape comp fully represents the underestimated magic of the 99c tape bin. Most people walk right by these tape bins, but there are gems to be found once you take a second to dig through the membrane of Meat Loaf and Joan Jett tapes on the surface. It's called Street Jams, and it's basically a VERY quirky compilation of dope 80s Freestyle/Electro/Pop(?) tracks created for the neon-lit 80s nightclubs and cardboard on the streets/sidewalks alike.
I was too young to experience the neon nightclubs, but I *definitely* remember the ghetto blasters and street dancers on cardboard mats in the early-mid 80s. One day in particular that stands out is going to see Breakin' 2 in some movie theater in Washington DC when I was 8 years old. Went with my mum and older brother, and after the movie let out I remember seeing this mad scene on the streets with tons of kids breakin on cardboard mats - battling and shit. It was so surreal and like "futuristic" - in retrospect I'm convinced that particular day dictated the direction my life/musical obsession would eventually follow. So without going too deep, this tape brings that feeling back when I hear it. Standout tracks for me are both the Freestyle joints, 'Rock The Planet' by Megatrons, 'Computer Power' by Jamie Jupitor [aka Egyptian Lover] and 'Dance' also by Egyptian Lover. 'Dance' kinda reminds me of Skinny Puppy a little, as far as the percussion and moody synths in the production. I've always seen a big link between Electro/Freestyle and Industrial music, and you can really hear the similarities here.
'White Horse' by Laid Back (pictures above) is another great tune on this compilation, which apparently got alot of support from Prince (weird); and 'Technicolor' by Channel One [aka Juan Atkins/Cybotron] gets points for paving the way for 'Baby Got Back' 6 years later (peep first 16 bars)....
Side A
1 Freestyle Don't Stop The Rock (5:29)
2 Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam with Full Force I Wonder If I Take You Home (Extended Version) (6:40)
3 Laid Back White Horse (5:43)
4 Connie Rock Me (5:23)
5 The Megatrons Rock The Planet (6:21)
6 Jamie Jupitor Computer Power (6:57)
Side B
1 Channel One Technicolor (Long Mix) (6:48)
2 ABC How To Be A Zillionaire (Wall Street Mix) (7:32)
3 Egyptian Lover Dance (5:31)
4 Freestyle It's Automatic (5:51)
5 World Class Wreckin' Cru Juice (6:39)
6 L.A. Dream Team Rockberry Jam (5:14)
6 comments:
This blog is amazing! Its a great idea! I've been in that Oxfam in Dalston quite a lot and I know theres some gems in there if you can wade through and fight off the nutters.
Nice one!
there is rarely competition for the tapes, surprisingy :)
everytime I go past on the bus I'm tempted to go in and look... but then I remember the wonder of yr blog and don't want to deprive the rest of the world.
So thank you!
The 99c tape bins at Tower are very soon-to-be extinct. I guess I'll have to switch my game up to find the real winners online/ebay :(
que paso dalston!?
wow that tape has some cool tracks (especially 'computer power' and 'laid back'!)
Thanks for sharing
Many thanx for this marvelous Tape!
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