After the shake-up...

Here's an early solo single by the Talking Heads' frontman David Byrne. WARNING: Intense Groove Action! Mark Kamins, one of the producers, also happened to discover Madonna.



David Byrne - Big Business (Dance Mix)

FREE ECSTASY!!!

ec·sta·sy [ek-stuh-see]
–noun, plural -sies

1. rapturous delight
2. an overpowering emotion or exaltation; a state of sudden, intense feeling
3. the frenzy of poetic inspiration
4. mental transport or rapture from the contemplation of divine things
5. street name for methylenedioxymethamphetamine


6.

Let me kick some ballistics

Now, we're not really in the tradition of reviewing other blogs around here, but a blog dedicated to old vinyl rips and rarities should keep its readers informed of exceptional content elsewhere on the internets, no? To that effect, I recently learned about a great blog called Normal Bias, which, not unlike DJ Stretch Armstrong's Konstant Kontakt blog, is offering mp3 rips of old college and other independent radio shows. The curator apparently has a whole fuckload of tapes from his radio-listening and radio-hosting days, as well as a smattering of demos. Great site.

Normal Bias's material spans the majority of the 1990s and hits on a bunch of genres, but I'd like to focus on the WPRB rap shows from 1990-92. Now, many of our readers are probably familiar with 103.3 WPRB, Princeton University's radio station. WPRB's signal reaches Philly and NY, and can thus be heard by our entire staple of contributors. Despite the fact that WPRB is affiliated with the hoity-toity Princeton, it's actually a pretty damn good radio station- informed by the scenes in New York and Philly. Numerous respected colleagues in the Philly area have passed through there.

Take a listen to Normal Bias's selection of WPRB rap tapes to hear appearances and drops from luminaries Ed Lover, Cosmic Kev (of Power 99), Jay-ski, KRS-One, listen to on-the-spot reviews of movies of the time (Boyz in the Hood), hear from NJ-PA-DE-NY acts now lost to history and Dollar Bins and catch jams from Main Source, X-Clan, Masta Ase and more. It's college radio, so don't expect insane mixing or anything, but do expect to be taken on a journey through time. GREAT SCOTT!!!

The two WPRB shows featured on Normal Bias are Club Crush (1990) and Raw Deal (1991-92). I'm not familiar with either of these shows, having grown up far away from WPRB's range, but the shows hearken back to a simpler time. Not only does it recall a time when you could just loop a sample the Honeydrippers and talk about your haircut but it also reminds me of my days as a DJ at the now-defunct WHRC in Philadelphia and my guest forays into the studios of WRCT in Pittsburgh and KWUR in St. Louis. Being a college kid rocking wax on college radio is about as fun as it gets.

For Philly rap afficianadoes, there is also a rip of a 1990 WIBF Krush Radio show with Mike Elliot, who along with the legendary Lady B later founded Strictly Hip Hop, by some accounts the first national hip-hop magazine.

So be sure to DL these WPRB shows, and dig around the blog for more oddities and rarities.

[NormalBias.org]
[NormalBias.org : WPRB Hip Hop shows 1990-92]
[NormalBias.org: WIBF Krush Radio 1990]

Shout to Digs Darklighter for putting me up on this cool discovery. If you don't know about Digs, read about him in URB Magazine here and keep your ear to the ground for some simmering Apt One - Digs Darklighter collabos in the works.

Dollar Bin Politico Electronico

In response to the City Council Committee on Technology and Information Services' recent hearing (and post-hearing panel sponsored by Media Mobilizing Project) that served no other purpose than to grind Wireless Philadelphia* for its complete and utter failures, I turn to ARPANET. For those of you unfamiliar with the origins of the Internet - and I'm not speaking of Al Gore here - ARPANET was the Internet. I'll spare you the boring details - suffice it to say that - early work on packet switching networks was developed at MIT and UC Berkley, and later found its home at the US Department of Defense. Fortunately for us, ARPANET was also a side project by Detroit electro pioneers Dopplereffekt.

This track sends my mind spiraling through digital fiber-optics back to a time when AOL 2.0 forced me to sit, patiently, anxiously awaiting connectivity. Modem Music - as we should be inclined to refer to it - plays a special role in my childhood. Quite frankly, I listen to this record with equal amounts of anxiety as I had while logging on then. Maybe it's just me, but there is something to be said about the bleeps and electronic syncopations that approximate dial-up tones, and there is likewise something to be said about a driving, momentous drum machine that counteracts its presence: they collectivey work to increase my heart-rate to 56k. Total nerdery, I know.

Following ARPANET you will discover two versions of the same track by Dopplereffekt (essentially the same outfit). This track should come with a disclaimer - keep in mind, I'm rather Semitic. I wanted to say something about the digital divide in relation to these MP3s next to one another. Something about these MP3s in relation to the failures of Wireless Philadelphia and the absence of digital inclusion in this city. About how, in some imagined world where only rich people have access to the Internet, actual sterilization of low income families takes place if they aren't granted equal opportunities to log on. But that's just crazy - I'll keep it to myself!

And finally, two über rare tracks by Le car for good measure, both ripped from my über rare promotional 12". I heard the CD is impossible to find, nah mean?

* Click here for a full report entitled 'The Philadelphia Story: Learning from a Municipal Wireless Pioneer' by the New American Foundation




Arpanet-Ntt Docomo




Doppelereffekt - Sterilization Version 1




Doppelereffekt - Sterilization Version 2



Le Car - Aluminum Rectangles




Le Car - Warm Humans

Blue Christmas

Excluding Motown, Donny Hathaway and Peanuts...hands down the Best Christmas Song Ever.



Tom Waits - Christmas Card from a Hooker in Minneapolis

Big Ten Inch Record

These lyrics are awesome!!! Thanks to NPR for this find.



Bull Moose Jackson - Big Ten Inch Record

Dollar Bin Jams Mix Series: FOX 50 aka Josh Dunn

It's well known that I rep Pittsburgh hard even though I live in Philly. For a while, I thought I might be the only one out there (with the exception of Skinny Friedman) with such a fierce and dogmatic nostalgia complex about a city that I decided to leave. Well, I don't feel so alone now that the homie Josh Dunn aka FOX 50 has uprooted himself from the big Detroit city and moved to Brooklyn.

Here's how real Josh keeps it:

For starters, if my memory serves, FOX 50 is a Detroit television station. Second, Josh is a proponent of "Strong Songs," an homage to Detroit's WJLB radio, which broadcast electro sounds over the Detroit-Ann Arbor-Windsor area in the 1980s. Josh (who moved to Detroit from Flint, home of the whoadie Mateen Cleeves) partnered up with our own Mike Tee (who hails from Detroit) to drop all the throwback bangers that they grew up with back in the day. Watch the following vintage TV ad to get a taste of what the mid-1980s was like in Detroit (no Robocop):



Big up to Alexander Robotnik!

Anyways, I put out a call for submissions for the Dollar Bin Jams Mix Series, and Josh stepped right up. Within two days, he was at a gig of mine in NY with a CD of Strong Songs, ready to go. And I have to say, this is an absolutely killer mix- the product of what is no doubt super deep record knowledge and a veteran's knack for selection.

The mix is, in Josh's words, "a total late night subway ride. I got the name from a 1976 movie made in Brooklyn about a Kung Fu master that's sick of all the gangs, so he raises a demon that takes the form of Zombies that climb out of the subways in NY."



Download the mix here:

Dollar Bin Jams Mix Series Vol. 2 - Gang Wars (The Devil's Express) - Josh Dunn aka FOX 50 (zshare)

(I've noticed some problems with divshare's buffering speed, especially recently, so this one is just zshare for the time being)

Josh provided the following play-by-play, complete with label scans.

01. The End (Assault On Precinct 13) - John Carpenter
1983 ZYX Records

John Carpenter has a huge influence on me with both his films and unmistakable soundtrack work. This tune was a rendition of "The End" made for Disco's in the early 80's. The original version of the soundtrack to this 76' masterpiece wasn't released until 2003. Highly recommended.



02. Check Me Out - Infinity
1981 Rota Enterprises, LTD

Leave my front door and head East on Church Ave and you'll find the former neighborhood of Rota; East Flatbush. Infinity is one of the many outstanding disco tunes on this label. Go Brooklyn.



03. Love So Deep - Toney Lee
1983 Radar Records

Listen to that bass! This tune is so great. Mastered by Herb Powers Jr. and it shows. Powers mastered and cut lacquers for a considerable number of classics on Prelude and West End. Not to mention one of my Emergency favorites, Kano. This record booms and it's a tribute to Herb's craftsmanship. Dance floors say thank you.



04. (Money) No Love - Bo Kool
1981 Siamese Records

This is the US press of the UK disco group Funk Masters. This side features Bo Kool on vocals. Amazing. Bo can explain this tune better then I can.



05. On The Floor (Rock-It) - Tony Cook & The Party People
1984 Half Moon Records

This one is a beast, and sounds great in a club. I once heard this on a Farley Keith mix from WBMX in 84'. I believe it's floating around the internet somewhere. Must hear. I don't think there is a record on Half Moon that I don't like. But this one takes the cake, and stays in my DJ bag.



06. Sharevari - A Number Of Names
1982 Quality Records

I wish I could say that this came from the 81' Capriccio version. Anyone reading, I'm hot after that record and will pay handsomely. This tune was picked up in 82' by Quality and pressed in Canada after extreme popularity in Detroit. What started as two east-side teenagers making a track for their party has grown into legend. Allegedly The Electrifying Mojo was playing the tune off of a tape far before he was playing Cybotron, making Sharevari the city's first techno song. The song and parties were named after a New York clothing store named Charivari. Charivari was selling clothes by Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, Prada, Yohji Yamamoto and Matsuda well before those designers had their own boutiques in Manhattan. The chorus was based on Detroit DJ's playing doubles of Kano's "Holly Dolly". (Holly, Holly, Dolly, Dolly) I can't write enough about this one. Absolutely one of my most favorite records.



07. Down - Aaron Carl
1998 Metroplex

Nasty. This 98' Detroit masterpiece is pure fire. Released in 98' on the Legendary Detroit techno label, Metroplex. JACKIT REQUIRED. The most contemporary tune on the mix, yet it seems to go so well with stuff from the early 80's. This one has always reminded me the next record which is...



08. I Need A Freak - Sexual Harassment
1983 Heat Records

Really? Do I need to say anything about this one. Classic.



09. The Duke Arrives/The Barricade - John Carpenter
1981 Varese Sarabande

Another John Carpenter great. This song is from the Escape From New York OST. This is my favorite soundtrack and was the spark behind American Nights. This is from the scene where Snake, Brain, Maggie, and Cabbie are leaving the library and the Duke of New York arrives. Chandellers on the front of your car. ILL. I love this movie so much. Look out for Italian remakes. (Thanks to Chung's Cinema) Shhhhhh.



10. Stop - Valery Allington
1983 Emergency Records

Another Herb Powers Jr. mastering job. This tune rules. Produced Sangy aka Maurizio Sangineto. In the early 80's Sangy worked with US soldiers stationed in Vincenza, Italy to form italo-funk groups Firefly and The Armed Gang.



11. Les Visiteurs - Gino Soccio
1978 Celebration

This tune is in Fellini's "La Città Delle Donne" translated "City of Women." There is a crazy driving scene in which they are listening to this song. Wild. This tune isn't on the films soundtrack.



12. Set It Off - Strafe
1984 Jus Born Records

This is a classic in so many genre's from house, to disco, to rap. Mixed with love by Walter Gibbons. If you're a DJ and don't know about Walter Gibbons, it's time to get an education. As a DJ Gibbon's pioneered disco mixing techniques in 70's. Galaxy 21! Set It Off was championed by Larry Levan and an instant Garage classic.



13. Dirty Talk - Klein & M.B.O.
1982 Zanza Records

This track had a huge impact in both the New York at the Garage and house music in Chicago. Be sure to check the YouTube video. Yussss.



14. In The Heat Of The Night - Da Posse
1988 Future Records

Great, lat 80's Chicago house out of Harvey Illinois, Jack of Jackit.



15. Ride The Beat - Civi
1987 Basement Records

So rough so nasty. This tune pumps. For some reason the 312 area code on the label isn't the only tip off that this one is from Chicago.



16. It's Time To Party - Nasa
1987 Express Records

What begat "The Percolator." This one is so late night. Disjointed and so very Detroit. On the legendary techno label, Express Records. This record was engineered by Juan Atkins. Nasa is Lou Robinson and Sherard Ingram.

Lou is the lead of Scan 7, mysterious techno group with ties to U.R. Lou also did considerable work with Terrance Parker in the early 90's.

Sherard Ingram is a member of Urban Tribe. In addition to Ingram, Urban Tribe consists of Anthony Shakir, Carl Craig, and Kenny Dixon Jr. (Moodymann). What a line up! Essential listening: "The Collapse Of Modern Culture" Mo Wax 1998.

Dope.

Josh also runs the fantastic 100 Limousines Disco blog. It's a great place to catch favorites and re-edits, complete with photoshop mockups of printed record label credits for each edit. Great stuff. I recommend you put it in your RSS feed so you can get the Strong Songs as soon as they hit the internets.

Previously:

Dollar Bin Jams Mix Series Vol. 1 - Relative Q

Billy W - Robotique After Midnight Mix

If you'd like to submit to the Dollar Bin Jams Mix Series, email us and we'll talk.

Can't Get Out the Game

You know Nicole Wray, you just don't know you know Nicole Wray because the only reason you know Nicole Wray is because she sang the hook on Missy Elliott's "All N My Grill." If you're a little intrepid, you may recognize that she also sang the hook on Cam'ron's "Family Ties."

Well, she also did this track called "Can't Get Out Of the Game" with Beanie Sigel. I don't know what it's from, but it's a very deep portrait of assorted people who cannot escape their hustles and struggles to a better life. The beat is a wholesale rip of the first minute or so of some epic Barry White-sounding shit. Beanie's verse is subdued and mopey, which matches Beanie's mood for late 2005, when shit was so bad for the dude that Tom Breihan wrote an article called "Status Ain't Hood Is Worried About Beanie Sigel." True story.

I was at Botanica on Friday night to see my dudes Josh and Delay spin, and Josh threw down this Japanese record which turned out to be the sample from "Can't Get Out Of the Game." I don't know what it's called.

Nicole has had some other notable moments. She did a pretty ill club track with Peedi Crakk in 2005 or so called "If I Was Your Girlfriend." And she did a smokin r&b rework of "Still Tippin" which you may have heard on Diplo's Fabric mix. But "Can't" is the jam and I want you to have it.

Nicole Wray f/ Beanie Sigel - Can't Get Out the Game

Thank you Sweet Jane!

Sweet Jane's opening night was beautiful, with excellent vintage and vinyl scores to be had by all. Being of the vinyl persuasion, I was delighted to finally find a copy of Gloria Jones' Tainted Love. I'm especially thrilled that it's a 12" with a longer version of the song. This is a big score for me, so be sure to enjoy this one everybody...

Gloria Jones - Tainted Love (12" Mix)
Gloria Jones - Tainted Love (Instrumental)

UPDATE:

Reposted in August, 2012 here...  

http://dollarbinjamsonline.blogspot.com/2012/08/tainted-love.html

Robotique After Midnight

Here's a new mix that covers a lot of ground in about 70 minutes; electro house, new-skool Chi-house and some techy stuff thrown in for good measure. Enjoy.

Tracklist:

30hz feat. Yolanda – Daddio (Miles Dyson Remix)
Hoxton Whores – Friday Sautrday Love (Calvertron & Will Bailey Mix)
En Masse – Lime
Henrik B. feat. Terri B.- Soul Heaven (Micky Slim Remix)
Dusty Kid – Plumbi
Joey Mazzola & Mike Balance – Chaak Treatment
Deadmau5 & Jelo – The Reward Is Cheese
Tocadisco – Morumbi
Mauro Picotto - Contaminato (Meganite Mix)
Bodyrox feat. Luciana – What Planet You On
Filthy Rich – Calling All Freaks (Ed Kane’s Dirtbag Remix)
Mark Ronson feat. Lily Allen – Oh My God (Chris Lake Remix)
Will Bailey – Intergalactic
Joey Youngman – Devil’s Groove
Count Funkula – The Answer May Surprise You
Grant Nelson – Seasons Of Jack
Dave Spoon – Drum Box
Joey Youngman – Brixton Bump
Bryan Jones – Back Again
Kenlou – What A Sensation (Sensational Drums)
PUZIQUe – Don’t Go!



Robotique : Late - Mixed by Billy W.

Italians Do It Better

2007 has been a great year for an Italo comeback, but nothing beats a dago in his mid-20s. Here's some sausage and gravy to whet your appetite for Robotique tonight. The original 12" from 1983 is pretty rare, but a 2004 reissue (which includes remixes from Bangkok Impact and Putsch '79) has made these killer tracks somewhat more accessible.



B.W.H. - Livin' Up



B.W.H. - Stop

it's coming...

Dollar Bin Politicos Electronicos

In response to the City Council Committee on Technology and Information Services' recent hearing (and post-hearing panel sponsored by Media Mobilizing Project) that served no other purpose than to grind Wireless Philadelphia* for its complete and utter failures, I turn to ARPANET. For those of you unfamiliar with the origins of the Internet - and I'm not speaking of Al Gore here - ARPANET was the Internet. I'll spare you the boring details - suffice it to say that - early work on packet switching networks was developed at MIT and UC Berkley, and later found its home at the US Department of Defense. Fortunately for us, ARPANET was also a side project by Detroit electro pioneers Dopplereffekt.

This track sends my mind spiraling through digital fiber-optics back to a time when AOL 2.0 forced me to sit, patiently, anxiously awaiting connectivity. Modem Music - as we should be inclined to refer to it - plays a special role in my childhood. Quite frankly, I listen to this record with equal amounts of anxiety as I had while logging on then. Maybe it's just me, but there is something to be said about the bleeps and electronic syncopations that approximate dial-up tones, and there is likewise something to be said about a driving, momentous drum machine that counteracts its presence: they collectivey work to increase my heart-rate to 56k.

Following ARPANET you will discover two versions of the same track by Dopplereffekt (essentially the same outfit). This track should come with a disclaimer - keep in mind, I'm rather Semitic. I wanted to say something about the digital divide in relation to these MP3s next to one another. Something about these MP3s in relation to the failures of Wireless Philadelphia and the absence of digital inclusion in this city. About how, in some imagined world where only rich people have access to the Internet, actual sterilization of low income families takes place if they aren'y granted equal opportunities to log on. But that's just crazy - I'll keep it to myself!

And finally, two über rare tracks by Le car for good measure, both ripped from my über rare promotional 12". I heard the CD is impossible to find, nah mean?

* Click here for a full report entitled 'The Philadelphia Story: Learning from a Municipal Wireless Pioneer' by the New American Foundation








Arpanet-Ntt Docomo








Doppelereffekt - Sterilization Version 1




Doppelereffekt - Sterilization Version 2






Le Car - Aluminum Rectangles




Le Car - Warm Humans

Oh My My My

(solar winds pic borrowed from APOD)

Assorted Wu-Tang Memories:
I got $500 in Blockbuster Music gift certificates for my Bar Mitzvah (not at once, like everybody I knew gave me $20 to Blockbuster) and because I craved my older brother's approval, I copped him Enter the 36 Chambers. I remember having no fucking idea what to make of rap about Kung Fu and skits about torture, which was ironic, given that generally my whole steez at that point in my life revolved around playing Mortal Kombat.

I remember my brother telling me one of his friends was writing up his will because he was going to see Wu-Tang in 1995. He was only half kidding. There were gonna be metal detectors at the show! So nobody could bring in guns!

I remember changing Cappadonna's verse on "Winter Warz" to "I'm too ill/I represent Squirrel Hill" even though I lived in Point Breeze.

I remember playing the shitty Wu-Tang fighting game for PlayStation 2 while drinking a lot of Southern Comfort freshman year, while arguing with my best friend's roommate about U-God.

I remember reviewing Masta Killer outrhyming Afu-Ra on his own shit and writing about it.

I remember hearing about how [redacted] smoked dust with the Rza, which was far and away the best thing that had happened in his life thus far.

Etc.

This is a track called "The Sun" and it's an outtake from Ghostface's somewhat overrated Bulletproof Wallets. Ghost, Rae, Rza and Slick fuckin Rick appreciate the gigantic nuclear furnace that powers our global steelo, word to They Might Be Giants. It makes me very happy in a way the somnambulant new Wu album does not.



Ghostface f/ Raekwon, Rza and Slick Rick - The Sun

Beatmaxing pretty little skulls and hips

Peter Dragontail has been beatmaxing pretty little skulls and hips on Philadelphian dance floors all of his life. However, up until recently he has been unable to use a computer, due to unfortunate limitations imposed by standard keyboard sizes and his talons. But we all know that technology is moving very fast (some would say too fast) and thanks to remarkable advances in the field of Dragon Sized Keyboard Studies, Mr. Dragontail has finally been to sit down behind a computer and breathe out some tracks that were stuck in his head.

Here we have two examples of typical Dragontail production, free to you and anyone else who wants them.

The Daft Punk - Human After All remix is totally an OhHellYesItaloHouse banger. OhHellYessItaloHouse? Yes! Let me explain: the first part of the song is flavor drenched with disco, the second part is total 2007 electro house. All of it is so orgasmic that dance floor patrons cannot help but to scream out "Oh Hell Yes" as they are dancing to it.



Daft Punk - Human After All (Peter Dragontail Remix)

The Klaxons Mania! is a delightful electrocandy playland romp. Surprising, yet natural, its a totally Dragontail take on what has become an electro - house standard.



Peter Dragontail - The Klaxons Mania!!!

- Jeff Fry on behalf of Peter Dragontail

20 blissful minutes

I'm listening to this at work and you should too.

Jason Carr - Man, FUCK gluten (Seattle Mix)

More than just the rent

Gwen "The First Lady of the Paradise Garage" Guthrie got less credit than she deserved. She sang with Aretha, Madonna and Stevie. She wrote songs for Ben E. King, Roberta Flack and Gary Glitter. She kicked it with Larry Levan. Can't Love You Tonight is one of the first songs about AIDS. But she's best known for Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But the Rent, which isn't a bad thing, but it's not even close to a decent representation of her awesomeness.

I'm posting her first single, It Could Have Been You, an ill Sly and Robbie joint, it's mixed by Larry Levan. It came out first on Island later re-released on some of those 4th and Broadway electro comps.



Gwen Guthrie -It Should Have Been You (320)

Good news, everyone!

In honor of Futurama being back on the air, I'd like to share the inspiration behind its theme song--the 1967 track composed by French electronic music pioneer Pierre Henry called "Psyché Rock." I wish I knew more about the video accompaniment because it too is pretty awesome. Check it!



Pierre Henry - Psyche Rock

Funky Friday

Cymande - The Message



Cymande - Bra

DJ'ing 101 - a new toy for Billy

I hope you like it since I name dropped you in the title.



Kerri Chandler - The World Is Yours (Deeper Mix)

More Pet Sounds

We've been focusing a lot on beat-heavy music here at DBJ--not that there's anything wrong with that. But you'll notice our lovely logo includes one genre that isn't quite like the others. So, I think it's time we put the spotlight on a sound that's affectionately known as Sunshine Pop. Haters will probably call this the last refuge for WASPy syncopation-less elevator music, but I'd like to set the record straight with a few of my favorite cuts.

At it's best, Sunshine Pop is an emulation of Pet Sounds/Good Vibrations era Beach Boys. So let's kick it off with just that--a track from Gary Usher's 1968 brainchild Sagittarius. Not only was Usher one of Brian Wilson's earliest collaborators, but he filled this band with Beach Boys regulars, such as backing vocalist Bruce Johnston, Brian Wilson's touring replacement (and Rhinestone Cowboy) Glen Campbell, as well as famed session musicians Hal Blaine (drums) and Carole Kaye (bass)--both of whom were featured on Pet Sounds.



Sagittarius - My World Fell Down

The next selection is an offshoot of Sagittarius--a veritable supergroup of studio musicians and songwriters called The Millennium. The principal leader was Curt Boettcher, Gary Usher's co-producer on Sagittarius and perhaps the most renowned figure in the Sunshine Pop genre. Their lone album Begin was also released in 1968 and at that point it was known to be the most expensive album ever produced by Columbia records. It has since become one of the most legendary cult albums of all time. I highly recommend listening to the full LP. But here are a couple tracks to whet your appetite. [Hot Beat Alert: Note the unheard-of hip-hop drumming that start of "Prelude"]



The Millennium - Prelude



The Millennium - To Claudia on Thursday

Next up is a band named after a song by early Beach Boys rivals Jan & Dean. The song Yellow Balloon first appeared on their 1966 attempt at a Pet Sounds-like album--the results of which will be discussed later. As for the band The Yellow Balloon, they were led by Gary Usher cohort Gary Zekley, who, according to AllMusic.com, "produced sessions that rivaled Phil Spector or Brian Wilson for big sound and teen spirit." Hear for yourself...



The Yellow Balloon - Stained Glass Window



The Yellow Balloon - Yellow Balloon

Here's the story on the above mentioned Jan & Dean album. After Jan was left paralyzed from a car accident just miles from Dead Man's Curve--a treacherous stretch of Sunset Boulevard that Jan & Dean ironically wrote a song about just a few years earlier--Dean embarked on an album he hoped would lift the duo from teen popster status into the ranks of progressive experimentalists like their good pal Brian Wilson. Say what you will about the lyrics, but the production and arrangement is certainly more challenging than anything found in their more famous surf songs.



Jan & Dean - Lullaby In The Rain

If it isn't clear yet, the Sunshine Pop scene of the 60's was rather incestuous. Every band is less than three degrees related to Brian Wilson. Most likely that's because everyone was hanging out in the same LA recording studios. Not true, however, for this next and final selection. Billy Nicholls hails from across the pond and his 1968 album Would You Believe? was billed as the British Pet Sounds. Don't get too excited, though. It's not nearly that good. But it certainly has its moments, thanks largely to the production of Rolling Stones producer Andrew Loog Oldham.



Billy Nicholls - Would You Believe?

Hollywood sayin

This might be the only song I've ever heard that is a first person story about the experience of going to see the band actually playing the song- the implication being, of course, that the person singing is not actually in the band.

I remember
Not too long ago
I went to a theatre
And I saw the Kool and The Gang show
I always wanted
To fit into a band
To sing my songs
And become a bad piano playing man

WTF?

To avoid the inevitable existential crisis that may arise from listening to this song, think pleasantly about the songs that sampled it while listening- DJ Kool's Let Me Clear My Throat, Too $hort's Money in Ghetto (classic!). But don't think on that Ma$e song that sampled it, that might give you some sort of audio brain herpes.



Kool & The Gang - Hollywood Swinging (320)

DJ'ing 101

...Well, not exactly. But here is a great tool that I use often. Works live as a great transition. Not enough DJ's make use of these sorts of tracks to enhance their sets. Personally, I love when records include a drum track or a capella. If you're going to work the dancefloor hard, you may as well be creative. You can thank none other than Masters At Work for this little gem.

Now, get to downloading and get to work!



Kenlou - "What A Sensation (Sensational Drums) - 320kbps