Annual post time again, for this year I’ve scanned the Record Mirror Club Chart from 36 years ago.
And if you can’t read my scans, the lovely folk over at World Radio History have the full issue here in PDF.
So, on to the chart, I’m going to pick a few things out and we’ll see if they’re available on youtube. Not ideal, but fuck Spotify. I hope everyone in leadership at that company dies horribly.
I don’t remember this at all, but it appears to be a cover of a Roy Ayers track championed by Ben Liebrand. Shrugs.
Right, now we’re talking. It’s a Italian cover version of something else. European cover versions of chart bothering hits were rife in this era, especially from Italy. In this case it’s a cover of Kraze – The Party which retrospectively doesn’t really seem the sort of thing that set the dancefloors on fire as it’s a very silly piece of music with a piano loop nabbed from something else and a wideboy complainer. The past really is a different world.
Ralphie Rosario, sampled by The Mixmaster – Grand Piano. Again some Italian masters at work, Groove Groove Melody are probably going to reappear soon but for now let’s concentrate on this. Apparently in GTA V? I don’t think I noticed but I really disliked that one and didn’t progress past the bit where one of the leads (Michael?) smokes weed. Anyway, going to stop typing for a bit, as these next few tracks are absolute bangers.
I don’t know why this credited to “& Louie” but maybe I’m missing something. A slowed loop of Marva Whitney’s Unwind Yourself, simple but a cultural touchstone. Remixed by Chad Jackson into “Hear The Drummer Get Wicked” in the UK, but on release credited to Chad because it used the original loops or something. Again, I’m missing some background but that is kind of a reverse Italian cover version where Chad threw a bunch of bits of other tracks on top of DJ Mark The 45 King’s loop and I assume one didn’t want anything to do with the other. And somehow this track appears twice in the chart.
Electribe 1.0.1. (sic) Billie Ray Martin has an astonishing voice, but it’s a bit too buried in this particular mix.
I don’t think Baby Ford ever really got the acclaim they deserved, this was the sound of the future to me in 1988.
A carefully chosen sample loop of Talking Heads, bit of Eric B & Rakim. A bit whiny, but that’s probably indicative of the time.
Anyway, that’s 10 for today. Let’s see if I come back here in a week and pick another 10 or if I just post about crisps from now on instead.