I hope you are all enjoying the Shindiggit grooves. I wanted to let you all know that I've also got a special mix happening over at Fleamarket Funk. Suffice it to say, it's a privilege for me to be a part of the guest mix series being hosted by the mighty DJ Prestige as he continues to celebrate a whole year of blessing us with the 45 rpm heat. Here's what I brought to the table for your consumption:

Introspeak-Happy Anniversary Quintet from The Flintstones Modern Stone Age Melodies
01 Kool And The Gang-Kool & The Gang (De-Lite)
02 Do The Boomerang-Jr. Walker & The All Stars (Soul)
03 Get Out Of My Life Woman-Lee Dorsey (Amy)
04 Watusi Jump Pt. 2-Lou Donaldson (Blue Note)
05 How Come?-Monk Higgins (Checker)
06 Sophisticated Funk-John Roberts (Duke)
07 Super Cool-Black Heat (Atlantic)
08 Win Lose Or Draw-Brother Jack McDuff (Cadet)
09 Ain’t No Sunshine-The Sweet Happenings (Tee)
10 Double Barrel-Dave And Ansil Collins (Big Tree)
11 Funky Rubber Band-Popcorn Wylie (Soul)
12 Hum Along And Dance-The Temptations (Gordy)
13 I Can’t Dance To That Music You’re Playing-Martha & The Vandellas (Gordy)
14 I Get Lifted-George McRae (TK)
15 Missing You-O V Wright (Back Beat)
16 What Can You Bring Me-Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band (Warner)
17 It’s Instrumental To Be Free-The 8th Day (Invictus)
18 Get Up Get Into It Get Involved Pt. 2-James Brown (King)
19 Love And Happiness-Earnest Jackson (Stone)
20 I Can Dig It-The Daley Diggers (Marmaduke)
Exitus-Happy Anniversary Quintet from The Flintstones Modern Stone Age Melodies

Please drop by and grab yourself a plate of my latest 45 rpm exercise and as always, be sure to show your love.

I'll be back on Thursday with another holiday double shot, including a visit to The Right Side Of Funky so don't go far, 'k? I'll see you all then.

Peace and blessings.

I've got a lot of ground to cover here so I won't waste any time...

I know it's been a staggering two weeks since we last got together. Not to worry, I used the time wisely. Even with the blistering heat and having to move ol' Bessie to a cooler part of the domicile, the record digging retreat is going very well, in fact a little too well because I will be VERY busy sorting through even more 45s and another crate full of LPs. Yes, big, BIG ups to my fam back at the house for FINALLY letting me sift through their crates. I've only been pestering them about it for about twenty years, but now we come to the payoff. It was just like I envisioned it as a child, only this time I didn't get scolded for browsing. Instead, I took on the task of ripping all these records for them and putting them on CDs. See, their education and my persistence paid huge dividends once and for all. It's a classic example of the student showing the teacher a thing or two... Here is where I send a BIG shoutout to the Four Brothers Beats team, not only for being one of the premier places to check out super-rare stuff, but for allowing me to contribute to the cause with a few of my new scores. I will be making contributions to their ever-increasing archive from time to time so be sure to check 'em out and as always, show your love.

Now for the surprise that I've been saving...

After seven years, my beloved Leslie and I will be getting married!!! No, that ain't us in the image above. In fact we don't even plan to get all gussied up like the couple in the image above. We chose to have a small ceremony with a few friends and family which will take place at the local courthouse here in town this coming Friday. Afterward, we are off to our summer place for a honeymoon/much needed vacation which for me will last ten whole days! I trust you know what that means... To my esteemed colleagues who I have not sent a personal email announcing this event, I humbly apologise, but as one would expect, there's been so much going on the past few weeks. I'm managing my time fairly well though, and still with a seven day work week... damn!

Now I will be back in the saddle next week with another tasty recipe to take you through the upcoming holiday. I've got two thoughts that have been running through my head so it looks as though I'll have to flip a coin and see which one gets posted. Now if you can't wait that long, then I urge you to head over and visit my friend Jason at Shindiggit. I promised to contribute a mix for his long running blog some time ago and now it has come to pass. Click on the image below for the whole skinny.

I must also get another shameless plug in there for the mighty DJ Bluewater who dropped a lovely surprise in my inbox yesterday. For those of you who are in the know, you know where to go...

Well, I need to rush off to the store and pick up some Old Bay so's I can make dinner and I also need to put another record on the fire... I will be back once more before the big day so until then, have a good one and as always, be safe.

Peace and blessings.

Toda vez que passo em frente a uma Jukebox eu fico vidrado, acho o conceito da máquina fascinantemente rudimentar e ao mesmo tempo genial. Numa época em que não havia televisão e muito menos vídeo clipes, foi feito o máximo para valorizar o simples ato de reproduzir uma música, adicionando luz, cor e movimento, usando-se a pouca tecnologia existente à época. Era algo que tinha tudo para ser substituído assim que um equipamento mais moderno chegasse, certo? Errado! As Jukebox se tornaram clássicas e são fabricadas até hoje no mundo inteiro, só que agora estão mais incrementadas, ao invés de vinil, tocam CDs e o som chuviscado deu lugar a cristalina reprodução digital do laser e do MP3.

Em uma busca rápida pela internet é possível encontrar várias ofertas de Jukebox, inclusive usadas, em sites de leilões e classificados, mas as que mais me chamaram atenção pela qualidade e beleza são as das fotos acima, da Jukebox Brasil. São peças artesanais, feitas em madeira com revestimento em embuia, acrílico e acabamento em metal, em detrimento de muitas que vemos por aí feitas em plástico e MDF. Todas elas têm entrada para aparelhos de MP3, reproduzem CDs, possuem rádio AM/FM com sintonizador digital e memória, equalizador, controle remoto, painel digital e 4 canais de 70W RMS, ou seja, versatilidade e potência faltam.

Na foto acima você vê, à esquerda o modelo 1941 (R$13.000,00) e à direita, o modelo 1947 (R$14.000,00). Existe ainda o modelo 1938 (R$9.500,00), que toca discos de vinil 33, 45 e 78 RPM. Você pode conhecê-lo no site da empresa, assim como ver mais fotos e ouvir músicas da época.

Onde comprar:

no site da Jukebox Brasil, via e-mail ou pelo telefone 11 5542-9998

Another weekend is fast approaching but before I go any further, I must apologise for my premature commentary last week. I really don't like to let my personal issues get in the way of the blog but as it stood, I wasn't in the best of spirits for a number of reasons. Would you believe in the course of a few short days, my mood went from sour to sweet with the acquisition of about 100 or so new 45s that came from several different places. Suffice it to say, the Guru gets big ups for coming through once again with the heat, but I must also give a big shoutout to the proprietor of Then And Now Records located in downtown Arbutus for directing me to the somewhat secret stash as well as giving me first dibs on the new arrivals. Big shouts must also go to Bill's uncle who I had the pleasure of meeting last week. After a few hours of conversation (and a bottle of Chardonnay) he managed to make my jaw hit the floor by offering to contribute his extensive record collection to the Fufu Stew experience. So far I've only scratched the surface of what he has to offer so as far as I'm concerned, the sky's the limit... Anyway, enough of my rambling on. I'm going on record now to say that I will continue to serve up new batches of Fufu Stew. Thanks to some of the issues that I alluded to earlier, I won't be posting as often as I'd like, but as long as my iPod and the in-dash CD player in lil' truck still work, I will continue to make mixes and bring them to you as often as I am able. I want to thank my friends and colleagues who offered words of encouragement and concern last week. It really means a lot to know that  I am still bringing joy to all of you and I will continue to do my best not to disappoint. With that said, it's time to get back to business and play a bit of catch up with this, my latest all 45 rpm exercise which ironically enough is called

01 Oh Yeah-Joe Cuba Sextet (Tico)
02 Live It Up-Dusty Springfield (Philips)
03 Percolatin'-Willie Mitchell (Hi)
04 Ain't It Good Enough-Nu Sound Express LTD (Silver Dollar)
05 The Charge-Bronc Glows (Bull City)
06 Get It-Sam And Dave (Atlantic)
07 Explosion In You Soul-Soul Survivors (Crimson)
08 Oh Po Pa Do-Skip Easterling (Instant)
09 Go Go Train-Jackie Paine (Jet Stream)
10 Handwriting On The Wall-Frankie & The Spindles (Roc-Ker)
11 I Can't Convince My Heart-The Free Movement (Decca)
12 Broken Hearted Fool-Inez Foxx (Symbol)
13 Give the Drummer Some More-Little Hooks with Ray Nato and the Kings (Enjay)
14 Go Head On-Chris Montez (A&M)
15 Let's Do It Together-The Fantastic Johnny C (Kama Sutra)
16 Cat's Got Her Tongue-Joe Tex (Dial)
17 Satisfaction Guaranteed-Duncan Brothers (Capitol)
18 Don't Be Sore At Me-The Parliaments (Revilot)
19 New Love-The Fantastic Johnny C (Phil LA Of SOul)
20 Boss Love-Lee Rogers (Tuff)
21 In The Midnight Hour-The Mirettes (Revue)
22 He's Not That Kind Of Guy-The Tangeers (Scepter)
23 Good Guys Only Win In The Movies-Mel & Tim (Bamboo)
24 He Who Picks A Rose-Edwin Starr (Gordy)
25 Sweet Things You Do-Eddie Floyd (Stax)
26 Shing A Ling Baby-Willie Bobo (Verve)
27 Black And Blues-Chollo Rivera & The Latin Soul Drives (Cotique)
28 Doin' The Ali Shuffle-Alvin Cash (Mar V Lus)
29 Back Lash-George Kerr Orchestra (All Platinum)
30 One More Time You All-Nu Sound Express Ltd (Silver Dollar)

Please download and enjoy The Soul Chef's Finest Catch Up, 72 MB

Here's the link to the mp3 file
Here's the link to the zip file

I will bring the label scans back soon...

The next time we meet I will have a VERY BIG bombshell for you but now I am going to spend the bulk of the weekend troubleshooting with this new high definition monitor. Yeah, the folks at Verizon came through at long last. Now the fiber optic experience is complete! Ol' Bessie and the cable box are on board, but the DVD player is waiting patiently to join in on the fun. Before I toddle off to bed, I do want to give a shoutout to the team at My Favourite Sound for continuing to fight the good fight. Nothing but love for all of you! Let me also welcome and introduce you to the newest members of the Fufu army...

Rarin' To Go
Retro Remixes
45 & 12
Musicmeiho

Be sure to drop by and show your love... and to the readers of those fine blogs, glad to have you aboard!

There's still more 45s to play and mix so stay tuned... and to those who I promised guest mixes to, I still have you covered. Thanks for being patient and trust me, I'll be sure to bring the heat.. Have a great weekend and as always, be safe.

Peace and blessings.

That said, a few random thoughts

- The other day I saw a man pissing on the street. Not a side alley way, not a darkened corner, but a street with traffic and people walking up and down it. I guess it says something about me that I didn't even find this behavior abnormal. I actually thought the man had balls. I would have shook his hand had it not been otherwise busy.

- People who pun on the word Seoul and Soul bother me.

- Why do foreigners always stare at each other like we're marking our territory?

- Myths about Koreans we can officially discard: they are efficient and they can't hold their liquor. They do however study lots.

- Again, Seoul - Soul? Do you really think you are being clever?

- The other day was teachers day here in Seoul. This meant I received 30 cards with messages like this

From the philosophy 101 class:

Dear Teacher. Today is teachers day. You are teacher. Today is you.

From Paul, future hairdresser:

Hi Matthew Teacher. My English name Paul. Very very very thank you. I love you.

Some try to say more than they are able to:

Hi Methu. My name is UnJohng, Methu, very, thank you, teacher, health, please, bye bye

Some just need to be posted so everybody can enjoy:

Today is teachers day. Do you know? So...teacher!

And some seem to overestimate their place in my student - teacher letter hierarchy:

Dear teacher, I love you. How are you? I'm good because UMMMM....Not think! haha. And please my letter is NOT TRASH!

To Shellina

From teacher

That last one was my personal favorite. At first I thought it was to me, but then I realized it was From me and I was supposed to give it back to Shellina, so I sent it to myself...and then I got bored...

I really did appreciate the letters though, I'm glad they can write anything in English. Furthermore, considering Rachel can't stop laughing anytime I write in Korean I guess that makes my students and I just about square.

- 45 rpm is making me rethink lots of my previously held notions about Korean music...are they an anomaly of creativity or is this the future? I have my own theories, but like every other topic I have in my head it's being added to my upcoming series of posts.

Here's another installment of Come On In My Kitchen for your hungry ears... This time around I bring to you another of my favourite selectors representing the Great White North, Shindiggit's own Jason X. He was gracious enough to put together a nice bag of all vinyl "riddim" to usher in the warm and sunny weather. Around these parts, that could be a little premature according to the weatherman as he is predicting a weekend full of rain. So far it's been rather nice outside, and since I really don't trust weathermen too much, I'll take the sunshine and hope that it continues. If the weather isn't up to snuff in your part of the world, then let this delightful mix brighten up your day...

1. Jackie Mittoo - Groovy Spirit (Summus)
2. Byron Lee & The Dragonairres - Here I am Baby (Dynamic)
3. The Maytals - Feel So Good (Trojan)
4. Dandy Livingstone - Reggae In Your Jeggae (Trojan)
5. Desmond Dekker & The Aces - It Mek (Trojan)
6. Ethiopians - Train To Skaville (Record Corner)
7. Eric "Monty" Morris - Sammy Dead (Kentone)
8. Prince Buster - Rough Rider (Prince Buster)
9. Peter Tosh - Them A Fe Get A Beatin' (Attack)
10. Heptones - The Magnificent Heptones (Attack)
11. Mad Lads - Ten To One (Coxsone)
12. Augustos Pablos - Lover's Mood (Hot Shot)
13. Augustos Pablos - Lover's Rock (Hot Shot)
14. U Roy - King Tubby Skank (Jackpot)
15. Derrick Harriot - Brown Baby (Trojan)
16. Ken Boothe - Is It Because I'm Black (Wild Flower)
17. Adoms Treo - Reggae Exrence (Nu Sound)
18. Max Romeo & The Upsetters - Chase The Devil (Island)
19. Jennifer Lara & Soul Vendor - Tell Me Where (Coxsone)
20. Roots Radics Band - CHART (African Museum)
21. Hortense Ellis - I Don't Have A Wooden Heart (Imperial)

I think you'll find I've managed to throw a lot of different styles in there. I hope you SHINDIGGIT!

Keep The Faith!
Jason X

please download and enjoy Everyting's IRIE, a 320 kbps mp3 file, 137 MB, and be sure to visit and support Shindiggit!

I'm off to finish watching the Flyers game... Tonight is a must win so I hope they do well... Have a good weekend and as always be safe.

Peace and blessings.

Time once again for another installment of Come On In My Kitchen. Lucky number thirteen to be exact, and how appropriate because I am indeed lucky to have the next selector join us. I like to call him the eyes and ears of the Soul community, but you all know him best as Colin Dilnot. There's no denying that he really stays all over the latest Funk and Soul findings and brings it straight to the masses with In Dangerous Rhythm. And that's not all. For now, let's all enjoy this exclusive selection that features some of his favourite Detroit sides from 1972-1976.

1. Eddie Robinson-The Door Is Open (Myrrh) LP Reflections Of The Man Inside
2. Vee Gees-Talkin' (Jump Off)
3. The Bitter & The Sweet-I Won't Have No Babies For You (Anything Everything)
4. Ronnie McNeir-You Better Come On Down (Prodigal)
5. Sandra Richardson-Don't Let me Down (Innersoul)
6. Eddie Parker-Body Chains (Prodigal)
7. Four Real-The Man (Flying Eagles)
8. Smith Brothers-Payback Is A Drag (Sound Dimension)
9. Flaming Emeralds-Have Some Everybody (Fee)
10. Fugi-Revelations (Chess) (Unreleased version)
11. Bobby Franklin-Whatever's Your Sign (Babylon) (Long Version)
 
Please download and enjoy Colin's special guest mix, a 56 MB mp3 file, and be sure to visit and support his fine family of blogs...
 
In Dangerous Rhythm. This blog is a soulful diary - reflecting my day to day involvement with music - featuring news, reviews often with audio samples, links to articles, short mixes, single tracks, videos, playlists etc
 
Dark End Of The Street. Soulful conversations - my in-depth interviews, conversations with soul artists, photographic record of meetings or reviews of shows I have attended.
 
Keeping Soul Alive. Dedicated to longer mixes often featuring sides mentioned on In Dangerous Rhythm or Dark End Of The Street. A new mix is posted every Monday and in the next month I will additionally be featuring guest mixes from DJs and friends some of whom have never posted on the Net before.

and if that wasn't enough, he's got massive amounts of live clips and even more interviews over at the all new Soul Mish Mash. I told you, this cat's got his soul together...

I'll be back soon with an all new all 45 rpm exercise and a bit of a surprise. Until then, have a good weekend and a wonderful Mother's Day. I'll be doing dinner on the ground for my mom. She really goes for shrimp on the barbie... Whatever you have planned for the weekend, be sure to be safe.

Peace and blessings.

I've hit the big time (or at least I like to think I did at any rate)... Thanks to the mighty DJ Double K, I am now a part of the growing family of podcasters currently on iTunes! Be sure to head over to the Parkdale Funk Show and dig into my latest all 45 rpm exercise simply called

here's the playlist...

introspeak from Monty Python's Flying Circus
01 A Joyful Process-Funkadelic (Westbound)
02 Gimme Some More-The JBs (People)
03 Marvin's Groove-B.W. Souls (Round)
04 I Can't Stand Myself When You Touch Me Pt. 1-James Brown (King)
05 Soul Party Pt. 2-Bobby Williams (REW)
06 There'll Be Some Changes-Maskman & The Agents (Dynamo)
07 I Been Watching You-South Side Movement (Wand)
08 Bo Did It-The Hidden Cost (Marmaduke)
09 Finders Keepers-Chairmen Of The Board (Invictus)
10 Jungle Fever-The Chakakas (Polydor)
11 Smell The Funk-The Inner Drive (Zodiac)
12 Walt's First Trip-Ohio Players (Westbound)
13 Pucker Up Buttercup-Jr. Walker & The All Stars (Soul)
14 Hunk Of Funk-Brother Jack McDuff (Blue Note)
15 Hook And Sling Pt. 1-Eddie Bo (Scram)
16 Sophisticated Sissy-The Meters (Josie)
17 Mod Squad You All-The Mod Squad (Tangerine)
18 Twine Time-Alvin Cash (XL)
19 Shake Your Tambourine-Bobby Marchan (Cameo)
20 The Frog-Kool & The Gang (De-Lite)
21 The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg-The Parliaments (Revilot)
22 Impeach The President-The Honeydrippers (Alaga)
23 The Stretch Pt. 1-Detroit Sex Machines (Soul Track)
24 Truck In-Midnight Movers Unltd. (Renee)
25 Black And White-Young Holt Unlimited (Cotillion)

You can listen to this exclusive mix by clicking here, or subscribe to the free podcast where you can find hours and hours of great mixes from great DJs. Being the armchair DJ that I am, it's a real privilege to be among such good company... Mad props and thanks to Double K for the invitation and don't forget, he also came into the kitchen. His selection is still up and ready for your aural consumption. Always good to be here and even better to have you here. Thanks for dropping by.

Peace and blessings.

First up a bunch of work by Dosar. Took a while to find a canvas with a clear tag on it. So long in fact, entirely forgot to get a photo of the pieces themselves, duh! They're really good though, will try to grab a shot another time to show you all.

There's a bit of one of the Dosars on the top left there. The main three here though are by Slam, another London head. Tidy. Bit of a crap photo though annoyingly.

So, four really lovely pieces from Acerone of the TCF, all of well known people if you're into those scenes, this one's of Million Dan.

This one's of a break dancer, didn't catch the name.

Previewed on Let Them Hang before, this is a lovely China Mike. As it says on that site "It's so tight it hardly looks like a painting, but it is; gouache, pen, and indian ink on card", to which i can only add it looks better in the flesh.

Another China Mike, yet again so much better in the flesh. One of the best pieces in the show to my mind, but it's so varied, you'll have your own too...

Remember how Cheo turned a paint pen into an airbrush at Weapon of Choice a few months back? Well, he's done it again, and this is a really ace piece, makes a change from the usual bright and colourful stuff too.

Thought this was pretty cute too...

Always with the different packaging approach isn't he, you'll have to go along to see what's in these ones!

Now these surprised me, Lokey, on very fine form indeed...

...another couple in the same vein. Tidy.

Everywhere these 45RM owls now, aren't they. Here's some for this show, hanging out with a couple of their turtle friends too. No little owl canvasses this time round though sadly...

Is there anyone now without numbers in their name? These are by SPZER076, very, very tight pieces.

Loved these doods especially...

Another major painter up and down the Gloucester Road/Cheltenham Road/Stokes Croft at the moment, Sepr.

Those aren't eyeballs, they're skulls. Cool. Go check out his work in 'Start the Bus' on Corn Street too if you're in the area too.

More and new Simon Mills, he's going to be prettying a bit next to the gallery soon too i hear.

There's always got to be one name you forget when taking photos hasn't there? Dammit. Really nice piece though.

These are very cool, of the De Beauvoir Estate in Hackney by ICB1(again with the numbers in the name!). Funny pieces, they're small, but look better and more atmospheric from afar than close up. Reminded me of Xenz's 'Cities in the SKy' pieces in a way.

For those of you still chasing down any Nick Walker piece you can lay your hands on, here's a Vandal print for you. To think you could buy a hand sprayed canvas triptych of one of these for £150 for the set not three years ago. Bonkers.

This one had just been unwrapped, and was hard to get a good shot of through the glass, but a beautiful Mr Jago silk, one of the best i've seen. Doubt it will stay unsold for long...

Next to it, again through the window, a Flx piece in a totally different style from his other work. It's of Fela Kuti, and the text behind it is the lyrics of his song 'Water No Get Enemy'. It's wicked, and to see the whole thing, you gotta go up there and see it for yourself.

So, there you have it. Cheba's got some bits that will be there for the show apparently, a couple of stencil based pieces and a board, but they may not be dry yet as this is written.

This may also be the last show at the current Guerrilla Galleries, as the summer could see a change of venue. So, if you've not been along to check it out yet, then this show's a great one to give you just that excuse.

This is pretty cool, an Andy Council piece on Paeckert Butchers (technically Cheltenham Road, just)

Head a bit further up the Gloucester Road, spin round and you'll catch this big 45RPM owl quietly minding its own business

Bit further up and on the right this time, a big Ziml piece on the awesome veg emporium that is Alex's Fruits.

and finally, Cheba gets the Pound Saver, pretty much opposite the big piece on the flyer i blogged last week.

Edit: And Song gets the other half of it, knew it wasn't just Cheba!

Will keep you posted as and when more turn up!

First up, there's the new show at Guerrilla Galleries this Thursday (8th May), featuring loads of different artists, including Cheo, China Mike, Deadgirl, Ghostboy, Mr Jago, BS51, Lokey, 45RPM, Sepr and many more. Going to be bringing you preview photos of that one in advance all being well, check back here in a couple of days...

The very next day, Friday the 9th May, there's a night down the Thekla that, amongst other things, will bring you live painting from Lokey, Cheba and Nikill, check the flyer.

If you've still got anything left, then head on over to the Tobacco Factory on Saturday the 10th May where, as part of a wider load of events Cheba, Lokey (and possibly Cheo too) will be doing yet more live painting from 3pm til 7pm. Weapon of Choice resident Betamax will be on the wheels of steel for that one too. Can't think of many better ways to spend a Saturday avo.

Speaking of Weapon of Choice, that's rolled around again this month too, the following Tuesday 13th May, usual bizniss, this time Seza and Soker doing the honours with the paint pens.

Ain't Bristol cool?

By the way, for those of you after some work by the ever painting Mr Cheba, his wicked little print, Chebastein, is now available from Tangent books too..

Sports Donga is trying to set itself apart from the other ajusshi driven sports newspapers by teaming up with the club of the moment, Circle to host their relaunch party. The online site and newspaper have a new logo and faster site.

Celebrities who came:

Bugakingz

45 RPM

Cha Hyun-Jung

Han Young

Ha Suk-jin

Jang Geun Suk

Jewelry

Jun Jin

Kim Jung-eun

Kim Rina

Lee Jin

Lee Young-eun

Maya

Park Jin-Hee

Park Si-yeon

Son Dam-Bi

Son Ha

TOP

CREDITS:Popseoul.com

Got there later than intended, and saw the first of the shutter pieces i'd heard were being done. A big 45rpm owl...

checked the queue at, what, 6:45pm. Bonkers.

Went and met some mates on Jamaica Street round the corner, found these Cyclops, S.W.A.T. and LPA bits on Hillgrove street, bonus. Have seen 'LP' in the same style round before, not 'LPA' though, will do more digging, is distinctive. Not seen a new S.W.A.T. for a while too, at least not knowingly. Old skool tag tho...

Joined the queue, check how long it was. It got longer before the doors opened!

and really, within a minute, or maybe two, of the doors opening, this was the queue to buy pieces. Does anyone else think this has got a bit out of hand of late?

So, stepped outside into a courtyard style place, and saw this SPQR piece on the wall, free advertising huh? Love the image though, lots.

The rest of this space wasn't exactly shabby either though...

So, to the rest of the pieces. Not necessarily going to cover everything here, as covered some of them in the preview blog, so here's what wasn't around before, starting with good Mr Graham Paris.

Next to him, Herr Das Mudwig. Couple of prints as well above, that i'd love to bring you, but, for various random Mudwig reasons, i can't right now. He's the artist, innit.

Above that, on this wall of Wet Sshame, some lovely Eko pieces. Watch these Wssk people people, it's real Bristol art, long very underecognised. Who in the queue when this was taken was queueing for this stuff?.

I think, if memory serves, another Kunstterroist.

A Motorboy print, summing up the theme of the show i guess, despite the fact he'd put loads of work into making it happen...

Cyclops, meets Joy Division, meets Disney. Ace.

This is the Sweet Toof that you only saw the very edge of yesterday, the other two big pieces are in that post if you wanna check them out.

But this is what pretty quickly happened to them once the doors opened...

Some Will St Leger pieces there...

As mentioned before, my very favourite SPQR piece. Ace idea. But having heard the guy's story tonight, it reconfirmed my thoughts on the current art scene.

Some K-guy, the bottom piece is marble you know, for those of you who live in Clifton.

K Guy again. Yeah kids, we don't need them guns...

Not the image for the show, but certainly the sign for it, by SP38.

Cyclops and Mau Mau meet. Pretty cool huh? To be fair, any meeting with either of them is gonna be pretty cool...

SP38 again.

Guy Denning again. Getting photos that weren't ruined by glare was almost impossible. Here's one that worked.

Realised i missed getting a photo of this last night, a big old Rowdy. For those that know Bristol, it's the view from the Kingsdown flats, Armada Place to be precise. Funny thing is, he's included the derelict buildings (to the left), but missed off his own hugely visible piece that's been on them for yonks. Also missed off the Xenz piece that's on the bottom left wall there, but who could recreate that?

Now these were freaky. Evol and Pisa from the sign, i think, but hell, correct me on the name, and far more besides if you would.

(Text L to R) 'Hello, i was your mother', 'Hello, can i shit your hat?', etc. Those crazy artists huh?

Here's a Cyclops piece, on top of a Lucie Akerman light box. The Cyclops piece was £2,750. It sold within minutes.

This piece was a bit odd, apparently by a somewhat unknown collective originating in Nottingham. Forget the name, but this piece was titled 'Can Can (Can't Can't)'. It certainly raises far more questions than it answers. It also plays with the concepts of style, culture and, i think, correct me if i'm wrong, Wednesday. It's certainly up there with the outer reaches of the avant garde.

Bit steep perhaps?

There was an upstairs too, but not that much going on there really. Other than toilet queues.

A shot of the back half from some stairs, including the Guy Dennings there to the right a bit.

Another random crowd shot.

The Will Barras pieces. I got chatting to a mate about them. They got sold. C'est la vie...

Edit: Bit of an update, didn't cover in this post originally the C215 work, but it's caused a bit of debate, cos it was getting pulled off the wall as it was bought. Apparently, this was because keeping track of which was which got difficult in the busyness of the buying queue, nothing else was taken down on the night or since, so it's all still there for you to see.

Edit part 2: Photo now gladly removed, see comments below!

And finally the SPQR print that, it seems, sold out on the spot.

A bonkers night. You have to go and see this show. Apparently pieces were getting pulled off the wall as they were bought though (Edit: see explanation above). Didn't see any of that myself, it was all still there that i saw, but still, go see it. Go check out the new pieces on the Gloucester Road too that stem from it.

Hell, just go and bloody enjoy the free street art in this city dammit. This show has caused people from across the country to come and check it out. People across the globe are watching it. So let's all just enjoy what we have going on here.

Cos it's really rather good.

Time to start another week (haven't we heard that before)... a perfect time for another installment of Come On In My Kitchen. My apologies first of all, I've been a bit lazy (and a little stressed) so the program is just a bit off schedule. Not to worry because that will be rectified sooner than later I assure you. In any event, let's bring in the next selector. Representing the Great White North, I'm pleased to present DJ Double K who runs the mighty Parkdale Funk Show. If you haven't subscribed to his free podcast yet, I urge you to do so post haste... Double K came through last week with a solid hour of Funk 45 power just for you so get your plates ready!

DJ Double K - The Fufu Mix

Playlist:

1. Bob And Earl - Harlem Shuffle (Marc)
2. Bobby Rush - Done Got Good To Me Pt. 1(Sedgrick)
3. The Classetts - I've Got To Space (Ultra-Class)
4. Rocky Brown - I'm Mad (Toxsan)
5. The Lumpen - Free Bobby Now (Seize The Time)
6. Ike And Tine Turner - Bold Soul Sister (Blue Thumb)
7. Ten Wheel Drive w/ Genya Ravan - Tightrope (Polydor)
8. Tammi Lynn - Mojo Hannah (Cotillion)
9. Choker Cambell & The Super Sounds Ft. Lloyd Williams - Show Me The Love (Attic)
10. Bobby Williams - Funky Superfly Pt. 1(MTVH)
11. A.C. Reed - Talkin 'Bout My Friends (Nike)
12. Wilson Picket - Engine Number 9 (Atlantic)
13.Debbie Hines - Get Off Your Butt (Keck)
14. The Temptations - Psychedelic Shack (Gordy)
15. King Curtis - Memphis Soul Stew (ATCO)
16. The Fabulous Sahalimars -  Funky Line (Rack)
17. Herbie Thompson - Let Your Love (Big Hit)
18. Dorothy Ashby - Soul Vibrations (Cadet)
19. Brian Auger & The Trinity - Bumpin' On Sunset (ATCO)
20. Irving Music Co. - Outa Space (Avant)
21. The Soulful Strings - Burning Spear (Cadet)
22. Larry Carlton - Moon People (Uni)

please download and enjoy DJ Double K's Fufu Mix, an .mp3 file, 56 MB

 
I'm awful busy this week, but there's always time for bringing the funky heat to you kids. I've got my answer to Double K's mix in the works now so keep those eyes and ears peeled. I've also got some surprises in store so don't go far, 'k? Have a good week and as always, be safe.

Peace and blessings.

To make a very long story very short, it's been a real hard couple of weeks. I won't bore you with the details, but I will say that this post is brought to you in part by the fine folks who make IBUPROFEN... and I am damned glad of that fact.

I almost forgot the fact that it was one year ago today that I launched the fabled AntiDivas series. In keeping with the tradition, I created yet another installment chock full of the funky and soulful goodness that you have come to expect with absolutely no frills. I want to send this one out to all of my Soul Commune friends, you know who you are. Here we go with the program.

01 Mama-Annette Poindexter & Pieces Of Peace (Twinight)
02 I Got Hurt (Trying To Be The Only Girl In Your Life)-The Supremes (Motown)
03 Good Feeling-Margie Evans (United Artists)
04 You're Good My Child-Diana Ross (Motown)
05 Anti love Song-Betty Davis (Just Sunshine)
06 Let Me Be Your Lovemaker-Betty Wright (Alston)
07 Groove Me-Fern Kinney (Malaco)
08 It's My Thing-Marva Whitney (King)
09 Run And Tell That-Denise LaSalle (Westbound)
10 As Long As He Takes Care Of Home-Candi Staton (Warner)
11 Ann Sexton - You're Gonna Miss Me (Seventy Seven)
12 And This Is Love-Gladys Knight & The Pips (Soul)
13 What About Me-Honey & The Bees (Josie)
14 Strange Things-Millie Jackson (Spring)
15 Live In Maid-Bit Of Honey (Shout)
16 Recycle-Diane Jenkins (Creative Funk)
17 Genius II-Valerie Simpson (Tamla)
18 You Gave Me Soul-Andrea Davis (Chess)
19 It Was A Very Good Year-Della Reese (ABC)
20 Baby Cakes-Maxine Brown (Wand)
21 One Monkey Can't Stop The Show-Paula Lamont (Loadstone)
22 Free Me From My Freedom-Bonnie Pointer (Motown)
23 If You Ever Need A Friend Remember Me-Laura Lee (Invictus)
24 Maybe-Three Degrees (Roulette)
25 Lean On Me-Melba Moore (Buddah)

Please download and enjoy AntiDivas No. 8, 73 MB

Here's the link to the mp3 file
Here's the link to the zip file

and now for the closing commentary...

As always, many thanks to Lou the Pusherman and all the usual suspects... and an extra special thank you to Ms. Merising for the Andrea Davis track (see Uchenna, it didn't take long :-), and to Bill for donating a set top CD writer to replace the two of mine that bit the dust last week. I know, but I still prefer digitising my vinyl the old fashioned way. In so many ways, it's much easier but that's just one opinion. Next week I can return to business as usual and make good on more promises, including spring cleaning... Well, it's back to work kids. Continue to enjoy your weekend and as always, be safe

Peace and blessings.

So, as ever, here's the traditional blank 'canvas' shot at the start of the night.

China Mike's up first, during an awesome dub act, DJ, MC and trumpet player, nothing more, worked really, really well.

45RPM steps up next, going high.

A nose shaped thing and a heart shaped thing...

Close up on the nose, China Mike filling in some detail.

Surprisingly quickly, the nose turns into a head, with ears and a gas mask, and the body emerges too.

The whole dog, and the heart shaped thing to the left taking on a new form.

China Mike fills in the Dog with a fat marker, again really fast.

The dog gets black ears, and 45rpm's piece is now clearly an old skool hot air balloon.

45RPM fills in the detail on the balloon...

...whilst China Mike breaks out the brushes and paint.

The balloon pretty finished, 45RPM disappears for a bit whilst something grows from the dog's back.

Glory be, it's a tree!

45RPM steps back up with some of that damn fine What? Collective trademark style, curvy, dripping, filled and shaded, love it.

And like that's not enough, out come the awesome letter forms.

Meanwhile China Mike cracks on with a piece coming out the dog's foot.

Back up to the tree, and down for some more perfect circles, uncannily drawn totally freehand, really.

More tree detail goes on.

China Mike gets back to the foot piece, whilst 45RPM starts on some more awesome signage

Can y'tell what it is yet?

Sadly in a way, by this point, the night has gone crazy, everyone loving the DJ's, dancing their fashionable socks off, and basically invading the stage. Kinda made getting photos difficult i'm afraid. Didn't make painting any easier too.

Did get one though of 45RPM valiantly braving the hordes and getting a signature owl done.

Grabbed a shot of the previous letters more done too, a shout out to the night. Yes, that is a Cheo bee on there, Cheo having drawn a familiar owl on his piece last month...

So, well after midnight, i have to flee the carnage. A really cool night, but a different and slightly more edgy vibe from previous nights. Next up is Soker and, i think, Seza, though don't quote me on that, it was all a bit manic.

Here's a finished owl, an apt way to finish a very late night.

Another installment coming your way. While I have a few minutes to de-stress from what was a very taxing day in the salt mines, I will be posting heavy once again. Not to slight any of the fine guest mixes that have graced this space in recent days (be sure to check 'em all out), but I have a couple of treats to lay on you which will be ready to serve tomorrow. While the pots are simmering, let me bring the next selector in.

As I stated on Monday, this is another special treat for me. For those of you who have been with me since the beginning, you know that I owe a huge debt of gratitude to this cat. When it comes to freeform exercises, no one does it better than the mighty Adam Weatherhead, better known in the land of blog as Diddywah. When he agreed to come on board, I was quite elated and anxious to see what he would bring to the table. Well, as one would guess, he didn't disappoint. Enough of my rambling on though, let me get right to the heart of the matter and get you to give it up for one of the true veterans...

Having enjoyed Vincent's tasty treats for quite some time I was honoured to be invited into his kitchen to serve up my own dish.

Cookin'

Serves 45

What you need:

1 Australian soulcover
2 freakbeats, peeled and chopped (preferably European)
2 big N'awlins bangers, sliced
4-5 wheels of modfloorfiller
a large handful of perfectly ripe soulheartbreakers (Northern)
a pinch of freshly grated fratrock
a bunch of originalversions
4-5 tablespoons of funk
The Stroke

Making It
Boil the freakbeats for about 10 minutes then drain and toss them in some funk and frat rock. Roast for 15 minutes (or until the freakbeats are golden and the fratrock crispy). Build the bangers, with wedges of soulcover and boiled soulheartbreakers, on plates. Toast one side of The Stroke under a grill then turn over and toast the other side very lightly before placing some modfloorfiller on top. Grill until the modfloorfiller is melting, golden and a little bubbly (careful not to burn The Stroke). Scatter the roast freakbeats and crispy fratrock around your bangers then top with the modfloorfiller covered Stroke. Dress it up and dig in.

The Hombres - Let It Out (Verve Forecast)
Andre Williams - The Stroke (Checker)
The Strangers - California Soul
The Five Du-Tones - Shake A Tail Feather (One Der Ful)
Elvis Presley With The Jordanaires - Spinout (RCA)
The Three Caps - Cool Jerk (Atlantic)
Alvin Robinson - Down Home Girl (Red Bird)
Joe Tex - Papa Was Too (Dial)
Georgie Fame And The Blue Flames - Preach And Teach (Imperial)
J.J. Barnes - Don't Bring Me Bad News (Ric Tic)
Darrow Fletcher - The Pain Gets A Little Deeper (Groovy)
Timebox - Beggin' (Deram)
Tom Jones - The Lonely One (Parrot)
Professor Longhair - Big Chief Part 1 (Watch)
Don Fardon - Dreamin' Room (GNP Crescendo)
Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons - The Night (Philips)
Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich - Hold Tight! (Fontana)
The Shocking Blue - Hot Sand (Colossus)
Jacques Dutronc - On Nous Cache Tout, On Nous Ditrien (Vogue)
The Flirtations - Nothing But A Heartache (Deram)
Little Royal And The Swingmasters - Razor Blade (Trius)
Richard Berry - Louie Louie (Flip)

Please download and enjoy Cookin', an mp3 file, 73 MB

Once again, I thank you Diddywah for showing me that the preservation of freeform is not only important, but it's a way of life...

I'll be back quickly with some much needed fixes... and Devil Dick just came through a few minutes ago with that patented fuzzed out shit, so get ready for yet another power packed installment of Come On In My Kitchen. I hope you can stand it. As always, have a good day and be safe.

Peace and blessings.

Here's to another really busy week here in the Fufu Stew kitchen. I'm posting heavy today so that I can enjoy the Soup Bowl Derby on Sunday. For those in the know, that would be the latest NASCAR event (yes, I AM a closet NASCAR fanatic although I call it "NAS(ty)CAR" these days) being held at the Bristol Motor Speedway. I just dig the action...

The next installment of Come On In My Kitchen is coming very shortly, but I had to give you kids my latest offering first. I've been going on and on about the latest digging excursion, so it's finally time to make good on my promise of another all 45 rpm exercise. The bulk of the 45s used in this recipe are from said excursion, but I didn't want to blow my wad all at once, so I added a couple of tried and true classics from the crates. I also added an extra special bonus 45 that I scored from the mighty (and unfortunately defunct) Funk And Soul blog a couple of years back. Big shouts to the Neopolitan Funk team for the blessings as always... Without further ado, here we go with

 

dig the nifty slideshow presentation... 

!!!

01 Check Me-Willie Mitchell (Hi)
02 King Of The Horse-Delights Orchestra (Atco)
03 Funky Thing-Ted Taylor (Ronn)
04 Coffee Is The Colour-Roy Ayers (Polydor)
05 Run It On On Down Mr. DJ-Bohannon (Dakar)
06 LC Funk-Lee Williams And The Cymbals (Rapda)
07 You'll Soon Be Gone-The Precisions (Drew)
08 Can't Get Over Losing You-Delfonics (Philly Groove)
09 Money-Don Covay (Mercury)
10 Funky Granny-Kool & The Gang (De-Lite)
11 Get Aboard The Soul Train-Dorothy Norwood (GRC)
12 You're What's Happening In The World Today-Marvin Gaye (Tamla)
13 I Turned You On-Isley Brothers (T Neck)
14 Devil Woman-Clarence Carter (Atlantic)
15 interspeak by Elizabeth Hurley and Brendan Fraser from the motion picture "Bedazzled"
16 It's A New Day Part 1-James Brown (King)
17 Boom Boom Boom-Tony Alvon & The Belairs (Atlantic reissue)
18 Get Back Baby-Al Green (Hi)
19 Chicken Strut-The Meters (Josie)
20 Generated Love-BW Souls (Round)
21 Runaway People-Dyke & The Blazers (Original Sound)
22 Back Up-Manhattans (DeLuxe)
23 Give Me Love-The Foundations (UNI)
24 Anyway You Wanta-Jr Walker & The All Stars (Soul)
25 Follow The Wind-Midnight Movers, Unltd (Renee)
26 Keep On Dancing (Extended Cut 'n Paste Edition)-Alvin Cash & The Scott Bros. Orch. (Toddlin' Town)
27 Trackin' Down Jody Pt. 1-Darker Shades, Ltd. (ACR Inc.)
28 Patty Cake-King Curtis (Atco)

Please download and enjoy Fussy Eater, 71 MB

Here's the link for the mp3 file
Here's the link for the zip file

If this ain't enough 45s for you, then head over to see my friend Rich the Cratedigger. I did another guest post for his fine blog this week. I told you I've been busy...I want to send a HUGE shoutout to all my Soul Commune friends. For a list of all of 'em, check out my page. There's also some tunes there that you can download with the latest version of Real Player.

I'm forgetting a bunch of folks that I've met over the past couple of weeks, but unfortunately ol' Bessie has been suffering from heat exhaustion so I didn't bookmark their sites like I should have. If you are one of those folks, please accept my apologies. Having an antiquated PC with all the innards replaced is not the way to go, but it's all I've got for now.

Big Big ups to the Funky Disposition, My Favourite Sound  and the Four Brothers Beats teams for accpeting my small tokens of gratitude last week. Look for my extra special contributions...

Big ups also to Ms. Merising for donating the last piece of the Rotary Connection puzzle. I've been listening to it for days now and it's the most amazing thing I've heard in a very long time. I'll share it with you in a future post for sure. She also hooked me up with some links to some cool sites that I'll get up in the blogroll post haste.

I know, I really need to get over to Fufu Snax real soon. Come On In My Kitchen has proven to be more of a success than I ever imagined so I kind of abandoned the other blog for a while. I hope to devote a great deal of time to putting up some new eclectic pieces and some other things that I find enjoyable.

Don't go far because next on the guest list is none other than the mighty Planet Mondo! I'll see you all back here in a few hours...

Peace and blessings.

Here's some snaps for those as couldn't make it...

As ever, the blank piece at the start of the night

After a bit of discussion, Cheo's first up, whilst Lokey gets ready

Cheo starts rocking out this big head

and continues whilst Lokey gets started

Lokey's work is more the stylised piece tonight

All starts taking shape

Few more stokes and the head takes on a personality

Hadn't seen this before, Cheo slaps a little adapter on the paint pen to turn it into an airbrush

Cheo then heads across to the other side to draw another dood

Can really see it start coming together now

Working across the space, Lokey takes his work higher

Then starts bolding up those lines, really careful precision here that was cool to watch

Meanwhile the MC's have started, this guy was really, really good, and brought his own crowd of admiring ladies down the front

Both get back to it

Cheo starts painting in the spaces with fat paint

Loved this, Cheo built in some props to another artist in the crowd tonight...

... a little owl, recognise it?

More paint pen airbrush action from Cheo

Doesn't look like it's heading towards the end, but it was getting late, and things were quieting down

So here's the final shot, taken late, 1am or so, and think the piece had some way to go, but sad to report dear reader, i had to be off.

Awesome night though, just what these things should be.

Word has it the next one will be 45rpm painting alongside China Mike. Oh my gosh, awesome!

I kinda knew that having the legendary Larry Grogan come on in my kitchen would get you. Thanks once again to Larry for dropping by, and to all of you for helping me to break yet another attendance record!

Now let's get back to basics and bring in the next guest. I have a great deal of respect for Rich the Cratedigger in that he always provides a simple sensibility when it comes to bringing the funky soul. I also dig the fact that each time he posts a mix, it's done live without the safety net of a computer. Not that having a computer is a bad thing considering all the fine blogs out there, but that's something that I really need to get back into now that I am looking for a venue (club, bar or otherwise) to play my 45s. So as not to digress, without further ado, from the windy city give it up for my man Rich the Cratedigger!

Deep from the depths of Cratedigger Labs comes the latest mix entitled Dig Out! in reference to the massive amounts of snow that have graced us here in the Chi IL area.

I would like to give a HUGE shout out to Vincent The Soul Chef for letting me into the kitchen with my Technics and my records. It is a true honor to be among the soul blogging cognoscenti. Many more years of successful digging and blogging to you, my friend.

Tracklist:

01 Good Old Music-Parliaments (Revilot)
02 You're Getting A Little Too Smart-Detroit Emeralds (Westbound)
03 The Whip-Pal & The Prophets (Phil La of Soul)
04 Do The Dirt-The Meters (Reprise)
05 Hooray For The Salvation Army Band-Bill Cosby (Warner Bros.)
06 Jungle Strut-Ramsey Lewis (Columbia)
07 Boo Ga Loo Baby-Tommy & Cleve (Checker)
08 Groove Me-King Floyd (Chimneyville)
09 Since The Days of Pigtails and Fairy Tails-Chairmen of The Board (Invictus)
10 The Baby-Blackbyrds (Fantasy)
11 You Say It-Al Green (Hi)
12 Escape-ism Pt 2&3-James Brown (People)

This mix was made up from original 45s gathered in the field, excepting the Ramsey Lewis track which was pulled from his Sun Goddess LP.

And now some stream of consciousness notes and thoughts about the tracks that I threw into the mix:

I really can never get enough of early George Clinton and the Parliaments, check out the fuzz guitar riff on "Good Old Music." Taking it a bit further groove to the Detroit Emeralds track. I pulled it back a bit with "The Whip," by Pal & The Prophets. Taking it south with The Meters is always a good thing. The lazy strut that the guitar line provides pushes the track along with the call and response vocals. The Cos makes an unlikely appearance to Mr. Hendrix' signature tune flipped in an homage to The Salvation Army Band. Sort of odd, but I have always been a fan of 60s and early 70s Cos... I am becoming more of a sucker for Ramsey Lewis in his early 70s groovy phase. I dig him before he became all Smooth (not Smoove) and then a morning drive DJ. This is a fonky, weirdo synth driven track. Analog synths are the best. Back into the Soul Zone we go with Boo Ga Loo Baby, awesome vocal workout contrasting with the guitars leading into the sax break. "Groove Me" has an excellent southern style vibe with a guitar chiming under the vocal. Great shouts and channeling of Soul. Moving further we go with The Chairmen of The Board for a more full sound. Lots more production here to provide a contrast. The hi hat slaps do it for me on this one. The Blackbyrds bust a groovy very 70s sound that is hypnotic as well as stirring with the cymbal taps combined with the synth groove. Listen for the break. It is sort of jarring. I think I could listen to that over and over. The jazzy riffing over it is killer. The guitar on "You Say It" is quite a counter to the previous track. Excellent tone and it provides an excellent base from which Al Green can do his thing. I will leave you with The Godfather. Nuff' said.

I hope you groove on Dig Out! I had a blast putting it together.

Cheers,
RB

Please download and enjoy "Dig Out!", an mp3 file, 52 MB, and be sure to visit and support cratedig.blogspot.com...

and now for a bit of closing commentaryfrom me as it has been a real busy couple of weeks personally... I am feverishly working on that all new all 45 rpm exercise. I put a HUGE dent in that stack so it won't be much longer. I promise it will be pure fire! Have a good weekend and as always, be safe.

Peace and blessings.

Once again, I am pleased to bring you all another installment of Come On In My Kitchen. I want to thank DJ Bluewater for those phenomenal blessings last week, and let you all know that he has agreed to return to do it again! Keep your eyes and ears peeled as he told me he is up for the challenge of doing that brutal funk 45 set. I'll have more details on that when they become available.

The next selector is certainly no stranger to those of us who travel around the land of blog. His is the stuff that legends are made of so without further ado, it is my distinct honour and privilege to bring him on in to the kitchen to serve up a heaping helping of "Outta Sight" funkiness. Give it up children for Funky 16 Corners and Iron Leg's own, Mr. Larry Grogan!!!

Outta Sight aka Mancini King of Monsters!

Playlist

Eddie Harris-Mean Greens (Atlantic)
Enoch Light-Theme From Shaft (Project 3)
Soulful Strings-Coming Home Baby (Cadet)
Bob Thiele-Light My Fire (Impulse)
Doc Severinsen-Cleopatra's Asp (Command)
Henry Mancini-Police Woman (RCA)
Roger Coulam-Ode to Billie Joe (Contour)
Keith Mansfield-Soul Thing (Pronil)
Woody Herman-Memphis Underground (Cadet)
Jimmy McGriff-Charlotte (Solid State)
Moe Koffman-Sunshine Superman (Kama Sutra)
Henry Mancini-Pick Up the Pieces (RCA)
James Last-Power to the People (Polydor)
Enoch Light-Pass and I Call You (Project 3)
First Hippie (aka Bob Dorough)-Good Company (ABC TV)
Cal Tjader-My Little Red Book (Skye)

Listen / Download 70MB MP3

Listen / Download 57 MB ZIP FILE

Greetings all.

When Vincent the Soul Chef asked me to bring a hot dish over to Fufu Stew, the original plan was to put together a little something along the lines of the Digital trip podcasts from Iron Leg. Of course fate intervened and during a recent digging trip I scored some very tasty Now Sound stuff, and so (pushed along by inspirado) things ended up somewhere on the road between Iron Leg and Funky16Corners.

The mix opens with the title cut from one of Eddie Harris's finer albums, "Mean Greens". When Harris recorded the tune in 1966, he was one of the leading (and more creative) practitioners of the soul jazz movement with his Varitone saxophone (though he doubled on keyboards on this album) and a holster full of righteous tunes. "Mean Greens" is one of those.

If you're not hip to Enoch Light, then get (hip, that is) because behind the facade of a fairly straight looking cat (and his nerdy hi-fi aficionado record covers) was a man with his ear tuned to the hip zeitgeist. Along with regular contributors like keyboardist Dick Hyman (a God among Now Sound collectors) Light made some very cool records in the 60s and 70s. His take on the "Theme from Shaft" takes a hard left turn from the very beginning, pairing the traditional wah-wah guitar with tablas (played by Tonight Show drummer Ed Shaughnessy). Very groovy indeed.

Next up is a cover of Bob Dorough's "Coming Home Baby" laid down by Richard Evans' mighty Soulful Strings (head over to Funky16Corners for the scoop on them).

Though Bob Theile is best known as the man behind both the Impulse and Flying Dutchman labels, but he did make a few LPs under his own name over the years. "Light My Fire" is from an Impulse LP that paired Theile with Tom Scott (and his group at the time the California Dreamers) and Gabor Szabo (a fixture of Impulse at the time).

Heading back over to the Tonight Show bandstand, I bring you none other than trumpeter Doc Severinsen. Known as much for his loud, hipster wardrobe as for his skilled work as a high-note artist, Doc brings a little Eastern flavor with "Cleopatra's Asp".

I didn't subtitle this mix Mancini: King of Monsters for nothing. Henry Mancini was one of the truly great composers of film and TV music, and his albums are often filled with hidden treats for beat diggers. One such treat is his take on the theme from Angie Dickinson's 1970s TV show "Police Woman", which opens with a very tasty break by Harvey Mason.

Roger Coulam is best known for his work with the UK group Blue Mink, who had a number of hits in the 70s. He also recorded some very nice easy stuff on the Hammond, some of which was also funky. His cover of "Ode to Billie Joe" doesn't disappoint.

One of the giants of library music, pianist/composer/arranger Keith Mansfield made some dynamite records in his day. One of these is his original version (covered to great effect by Tony Newman) of "Soul Thing". Here, Mansfield's piano (replaced by organist Alan Hawkshaw in the Newman version) takes the lead, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't love the break that opens the record.

Woody Herman is one of the true giants of mid-century jazz, but by the 1960s he was struggling - in the face of modernism and a dwindling market - to keep his band together. He recorded a couple of very nice (and funky) albums in the late 60s with Richard Evans for the Cadet label. His version of Herbie Mann's "Memphis Undergound" manages to stand up nicely next to the original.

I couldn't very well put a mix like this together without throwing some extra Hammond into the pot. "Charlotte" is one of the funkier sides that Jimmy McGriff did for the Solid State label.

Moe Koffman spent most of the 60s and 70s playing jazz flute and sax, and managing to stay fairly current at the same time. His albums for Jubilee and Buddah are all worth tracking down. His take on Donovan's "Sunshine Superman" is from the album Curried Soul.

Henry Mancini is back (with many of the same players) with his smooth take on the Average White Band's "Pick Up the Pieces".

James Last isn't well known here in the US, but the German king of Easy is a pretty big deal on the Continent. Starting in the 60s and continuing to the present day he has recorded scores of albums of his arrangements of pop tunes. When I heard his version of John Lennon's "Power to the People", I knew I had to include it here.

We return to Enoch Light (and some more breaks of course) with his adaptation of Bach's Passicaglia, entitled "Pass and I Call You" (heh..I get it...)

One of the biggest finds form me in my most recent dig was an LP of radio spots promoting the 1967 fall season for ABC. Though I expected it to be a feast of samples and drops, as I dropped the needle from tune to tune I soon discovered a very familiar voice on a couple of them, that being the great Bob Dorough. I don't know how Dorough came to be involved with The First Hippie's Last Stand (though his connection to Schoolhouse Rock was through an advertising agency), but his bit promoting a talk show featuring F. Lee Bailey visiting and interviewing celebrities in their homes (!?!?!?) called "Good Company" is a prime example of why Dorough was the master of a certain brand of jazzy wonderfulness.

Things come to a close with an intersection of two great streams of coolness, those being Burt Bacharach (songwriter) and Cal Tjader (performer). Tjader's cover of "My Little Red Book" (previously performed by Manfred Mann and Love among others) is a groovy way to bring things to a conclusion.

Thanks again to Vincent for the invite, and here's hoping you'll drop by Funky16Corners or Iron Leg sometime soon.

Peace

Larry

...and now for the closing commentary, which I do plan to make brief as I am staring at literally hundreds of 45s in preparation for my next few offerings...

I've been listening to this really eclectic selection for a few days now and I have to say with pure certainty that this is another shining example of why Larry is held in the highest regard all over the land of blog. I for one HIGHLY recommend copping both the mp3 and zip on this one! I want to thank Mr. Grogan for this extra special blessing, as well as for his tremendous support over the past year. Let it be known that you are always welcome here... any time!

I plan to return at week's end with another power packed edition of Fufu Stew that is sure to have you loosening your belts. I am also ready to head over to Planet Mondo's place where I plan to once and for all unearth some of my favourites from my "Gothic Hippie" days. It's a guest post that shouldn't be missed. More details to come. Finally, I want to send a shoutout to the Funky Disposition team for dedicating their latest offering to me. Thank you, Pretoria, I am indeed honoured!

Have a good week everybody, and as always, be safe.

Peace and blessings.

Anyway, dropped in on Guerilla Galleries to see how the opening night of the show went. Quite comedy, beer bottles everywhere and a somewhat groggy owner, apparently the night was ace, and really rammed, causing various purchasers to stand guard over their pieces lest they get crushed in the throng!

Here's the first of two Ghostboy pieces, as mentioned only done on the day of the show, and still wet when they arrived.  This is a nice big 'hoochy cool girl' if memory serves, quite an old Ghostboy image,not seen a new one for a while now.

This is another 'toffs love claret' original, bought as soon as the show opened.

Here's a better shot of the Simon Mills work, like it, piece top right is kinda like Micallef to my mind.

The Dicy canvasses, the roses at the top sold straight away, cans and buildings still available i think.

This was the funniest bit though, the 45RPM owls had been decimated, many having flown the coop that night, and half of the rest of these orange dotted for collection by their new loving owners soon. Comedy.

By the way, spent yesterday with those students i mentioned who are doing a film project on Bristol, graf, Banksy and all that. They're good blokes and genuinely interested, but have received a bit of a cold reception from some people in Bristol. Shame really, and interesting that it seems to be the 'fans' who are more aggressively disapproving of what they're doing than the actual artists themselves. If you do want to help them out, give me a shout.

Happy leap year day first of all. Outside the weather's frightful, inside it's so delightful... since we have no place to go, you better come on in my kitchen!

Here's the next installment... I've been stoked for this one all week as it features quite frankly one of my all time favourite selectors, DJ Bluewater, who I will still affectionately call Lou the pusherman. Ever since the first installment of DJ Prestige's Asbury Park 45 Sessions last spring when I first discovered his very extensive archive, I was sold hook line and sinker. The mere fact that he agreed to do this mix for me just speaks volumes. Enough of my rambling on, let's get right down to it, shall we?

Now I was thinking that I'd get a mix of some of his brutal funk 4