1
- Madness - The Nutty Boys 12" EP (with free comic)
The first record I bought. Always on the lookout for getting value
for money, this record came with a free comic, and I am told is
now the most valuable Madness colletors item, being worth a hefty
£20. I went into Woolworths in Middlesbrough on a Saturday
morning and said to the shop assistant 'Can I have a copy of that
record please'. A process that I have now repeated every week for
the past 20 years.
2 - Pink Floyd - any record from
1967 - 1974
I don't care what people say, this band made several records, all
of which are great, and provided the soundtrack to my life in my
early teenage years. I listened to them all over again a few weeks
back, and enjoyed them all immensly.
3 - Alvin Cash - Keep on Dancing
The first old funk 45 I ever heard. John Peel played it back in
'88 on his Radio 1 show off one of those rare groove comps. I was
into indie music at the time and pre-'60s oldies, and hearing that
piece just blew me away. I was like 'WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!?!'
and so the journey began...
4 - Miles Davis - Kind of Blue
- Columbia
Always prostituted as the 'best jazz LP of all time' I heard it
again the other day. It quite possibly is. And certainly a record
that can get even the most dismissive and musically-illiterate of
people into jazz.
5 - Roy Ayers - Ubiquity - Polydor
I found one of these in the US on my first record digging trip in
1990, when I first started selling records in Camden market. It
was THE record to have in those days, and the attention it drew
made me see the potential in the business and give me the incentive
to carry on, even though it was hard work, and it still is!
6 - Sahib Shihab - Companionship - Vogue (Germany)
I thought I had joined the big boys when I laid out big $$$ for
this. I got it from Brian 'Jazz Doctor', a mysterious bag boy of
some notoriety who used to sort out the likes of Gilles Peterson
with his tunes. After I had broken the psychological barrier and
spent all that money on one record, it wasn't hard to do it again,
and again, and again... but what a record. Of all the 1000s and
1000s of records I have heard over the years, this is most certainly
one of the best, and certainly worth every penny.
7 - Library - Rhythmes - Telemusic
(France)
Back in the mid-'90s this was the first library record I ever heard,
and what a record to start off with! Having heard 1000s of libraries
since, this still rates as one of the best, and got me into the
whole thing of library LPs and their peculiar charm. This record
also has some incredible drums & breaks etc, and was very influential
in bending my ear towards listening to beats and samples.
8 - Kathleen Emery - Sometimes
I Feel Like a Motherless Child - Love
Love it or hate it, I took a gamble when I reissued this record
on the totally untrendy 7" format. Nobody was doing 7"s
in the '90s cos nobody bought them, especially obscure & oddball
records like this one. But some people liked it, bought it, and
now they have a nice little collectors item as a reward for their
curiosity and good taste.
9 - Carleen & the Groovers
- Can We Rap - CJP
The funk 45 that all others will be judged by. Faultless in all
departments, one hell of a record, and I am lucky
enough to have just got one back after having traded the copy that
I had a few years back.
10 - Sahib Shihab - The Danish
Radio Jazz Group - Oktav
My collection of records by my favourite jazz artist was made complete
by securing an original copy of this record. It cost me more money
than I have spent on any other single record, but some things have
just got to be done.
city you live in?
Camden Town, London
how long you have been collecting?
Records about 20 years in general, soul & jazz etc more like
15
most heart stopping find on a digging
session?
Without a doubt Mickey & the Soul Generation unreleased album
master tape. I sunk to the floor on my knees and mouthed words to
Malcolm (Catto) who was with me, but no words came out, just gibberish.
In terms of LPs it was quite nice to find a Roy Porter 'Inner Feelings'
LP in a US record store a few years ago for $5, and then spotting
another copy immediately behind it. There was a Jackson Sisters
LP in that place too, for $8. Ah yes, the thrill of the heart stopper.
For 45s, unearthing a copy of the Highlighters 'Funky 16 Corners'
while in Indianapolis was a most pleasant heart-stopping experience.
Top spots for record hunting?
USA where else?
ebay. good or evil?
Can evil be good and good be evil? Discuss
motown or stax?
Motown. I always thought Stax was well over-rated
sneakers or shoes?
Trainers. Shoes are for Essex boys
creole or gumbo?
Gumbo, but none of those shrimp things in it please
favourite tipple?
Belgian Stella - not the English shite! I made the mistake of buying
2 crates of the stuff on the way back from Utrecht. I didn't notice
the fatal writing in small print 'Brewed in the UK' - blurgh!!!
Otherwise vodka + red bull, sometimes it just has to be done. Jagermeister
to finish it all off.
where can people see/hear you play?
All over the place. I don't have any regular gigs, just where ever!
anything to add?
Aren't records great?
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