copy

earth wind and fire – reasons (1975)

a confusing one, basically this updated an alton ellis song from 1970, which itself had already been covered by marcia aiken.

a year after this was released, the mainstream caught on to a new version of this song by althia and donna, and ‘uptown top ranking’  was born.

more recently, sean paul has updated ‘i’m still in love with you’…basically what i’m trying to say is, this is the version to get, especially if you like both althia and donna and sean paul’s tracks. it’s like a mashup that predates the originals.

trinity – three piece suite (1977)

now, this probably wasn’t anything like the sound of majorca in 1985, let’s be honest.

in 1985 in spain it was still about 1977 by other standards and hotels were shaking to the sounds of brotherhood of man, boney m, ottawan and the bee gees.

fair play to the art of noise for trying to bring spain into the 80s. it hasn’t worked yet, mind.

art of noise – majorca (1985)

unmistakeably british sounds from the last really significant uk scene. i don’t think grime is sufficiently different or has penetrated the mainstream in quite the same way…

mcing over tracks in a cockney accent was not a new thing: mc mikee freedom did a fine job setting the benchmark in 1991 with nomad’s track ‘i wanna give you devotion’.

ten years later, the vibe was completely different. warehouses vs slinky clubs. vicks vs veuve cliquot. global hypercolour tshirts vs burberry.

reflex and viper – put your hands up

sometimes the wrong tracks get single releases, especially in the case of new artists.

mokenstef had this lush, tinkly midtempo on their debut, but pandered to the mid 90s obsession with catfighting (‘he’s mine’) and bump and grind (sex in the rain).

much as i enjoy those tracks, who knows, they might have made it to a second album if they’d made a classier choice.

mokenstef – it happens (1995)

bump and grind classic becomes blaring, shifting jungle anthem.

probably not as ubiquitous as it could have been if it hadn’t smack bang in between the two jungle bpm ranges, rendering itself unmixable.

wayne marshall is a ragga stalwart. to my knowledge, all of his subsequent releases have also been about sex.

wayne marshall – g spot (1994)

ok i admit it, the lauryn/nas version was the first i heard.

kurtis blow started a novelty christmas rap act, but got signed by a major label after execs realised that hiphop was not a fleeting fad.

seriously.

kurtis blow – if i ruled the world (1983)

maybe the best example of tinkly, aquatic 80s synth soul there is?

the fact that loose ends are uk born and bred just enhances it’s appeal.  usually male/female duets are unbearably cheesy but this one is so cool you barely notice.

just goes to prove that you didn’t have to wear a silk suit and greasy jheri curl to make good soul music in the 80s.

loose ends – hangin’ on a string (1983)

one of my first 7″ singles in transparent electric blue vinyl and a rainbow polka dot cover.

amazulu were a uk pop reggae band who also covered tracks by tommy james and the shondells (mony mony), the chi-lites (too good to be forgotten) and bobby bloom (montego bay).

didn’t realise this at the time and with the possible exception of ‘tgtbf’ i prefer amazulu’s versions!

amazulu – excitable (1985)

a cafe del mar stalwart since it’s release in 1994, this dj remains something of a mystery having only released one other, very rare, track..

might turn out it was actually jose padilla under a pseudonym.

metaluna mutant – blinky blue eyed sunrise (1994)