Mike Allen-sampled track

 DJ Jazz T

I've had this great Mike Allen-inspired mp3 for a little while now and thought I'd share it.

"Where I'm From" is by Guildford's Diversion Tactics crew and is produced by The Last Skeptik and the UK ITF Champ, DJ Jazz T.
As you'll see, it's a great tale of yesteryear with a chorus from The Great Man himself.

Podcast Update

Due to weather conditions here in the UK, the Podcast has had to be put on hold for a short time.
There are various ways in which both Waxer and myself can make this happen but have no fear this is not over. Not at all. This is on like Donkey Kong and will definitely be worth the wait.

I know there are a lot of people holding tight for this and I speak for us both when I say we appreciate your patience.

Disco Scratch V. Ageing B-Boys - The Xmas Podcast

" I reminisce for a spell, or shall I say think back...."

Yes, yes, y'all, in one week's time the mighty Waxer from Disco Scratch shall be meeting the equally stupendous yours truly, Mr Repo from Ageing B-Boys Unite! to collaborate together on the first of hopefully many Disco Scratch Podcasts.
Being the holiday season and all expect the jingle jangle of sleigh bells, the chomping of many mince pies and possibly a special guest appearence from Santa himself* as we delve deep into the crates and bring you a selection of hip-hop classics from yesteryear and chat about the history of hip-hop from a UK perspective. Expect some nerd-like trainspotting as we dribble excitedly over codes and cryptic messages etched on run-out grooves and the redeeming points of The Phantom Menace.
Imagine the trailer to Rocky IV if you will. The bit where the two gloves come smashing together - one East, one West. POW POW! Who's who? That's not for me to say, but I'm already dashing about in the snow, doing pushups on  a wooden floor and sawing wood in freezing temperatures to bring you, the audience, tunes in their peak performance.

This will be recommended to all fans of the blog young and old. Well, not too young as some of the lyrical content may need parental advisory action. And not too old either as NO, WILL NOT TURN IT DOWN. Ageing B-Boys rock things at the drop of a dime, baby.

We need some interactivity from you heads on this in the form of feedback afterwards, too so get involved. And no moaning about the lack of freebies and competitions, either. Ageing B-Boys are thrifty mofo's, too.

If you have any requests feel free to let me know. Of course we will pay no attention to them and playwhatwelike cos Ageing B-Boys got it like dat, ya get me.

*will not actually happen.

Xmas News

Just a brief note to say there is something very exciting on the way between Ageing B-Boys Unite! and Disco Scratch.
More news soon but keep checking back as we've got a nice Christmas present coming for you.

But in the meantime here's the Audio 2 with A Christmas Rhyme from '85.

Westwood - You Absolute Arse

Just flicked on the radio - well digital channels on the tv - to catch a bit of Westwood on BBC Radio 1. Not to listen to any of his music you understand but to see if he would mention Derek B.
Well, after this man dj-ed in and around the same circles in the 80's as Derek and even featured together on Night Network's N-Sign Radio in 1988 both making and promoting British hip hop, this absolute arse of a man gave the grand total of 10 seconds to dedicate his feelings.
I say feelings but that's wrong. Completely. He merely passed on the news. He didn't express his sadness nor did he feel compelled to play one of Derek's tracks.
Now, I only listened to the last 15 minutes so maybe he did more earlier in the show. But from the sound of it the way he gave the news was that he had only just announced it there and then.
This guy is dispicable. Does he have absolutely no morals or ties to his original people? Does he think that now he broadcasts to a mostly different audience that they wouldn't be interested in hearing this news? Does he not think that by having so many people looking up to him that he should announce the passing of a legendary figure?
Or is it that he just couldn't care less?

I've lost a lot of respect for Westwood over the years and maybe I should've expected this but it still doesn't excuse it.

On the flip I've got to give big props on The Beat Genius for providing 2 hours of solid UK old school hypeness in the form of his weekly show on www.playvybz.com as well as playing homage to Derek the way it should be done.
And big shout to Waxer who was in the chatroom where we both had a good time wagging our chins to some choice music.

Derek B - Bullet From A Gun (1988)

As a mark of respect here is Derek's debut LP, Bullet From A Gun.

Bullet From A Gun	5:41
Bad Young Brother	3:58
Power Move	4:05
Human Time Bomb	5:21
All City	4:21
Get Down	5:36
We've Got The Juice	4:37
Alright Now	5:00
Good Groove	5:52
Success	4:49

Breaking news....Derek B Dead

Unconfirmed reports coming in at the moment that one of Britian's pioneering rappers Derek B (Derek Boland) has passed away in hospital from a heart attack.
This is devastating news for any hip hop fan and mostly for the UK b-boys who grew up with his records.

Song I.D. Needed!

I was sent this mp3 from RUSE ONE who is trying to identify the track.
I've no idea myself. The only clues we have are that it is from a Westwood show from 1989.
At one point there is a Marley Marl scratch but it doesn't sound like him on the mic.
Someone must know this. Leave a comment with any knowlwdge you can drop.

Short Kuts 2

Some more 4-track fun from my Juice mag again. This is Short Kuts 2 and is a faster tempo than the first one. Samples from Hijack, Michael Keaton, Uncle Jamm's Army and loads more.
If you can work out some of the more obscure ones then let me know but I garauntee that you won't!

Short Kuts 1 Mix from Juice #5

Back in the early 90's (92/93) I used to produce a hip hop mag called Juice. It was a very basic black & white photocopied 'zine but had an added bonus. And that was a free mix tape with every issue.

I invited bedroom jocks from anywhere in the world to send in their efforts and was constantly surprised by the sheer amount. I had stuff from a lot of UK guys as well as Sweden, USA, Africa, Russia and Australia.
The reason for this post is that I was going through some old tapes and came across some of my mixes I hadn't heard for a while.

This track below is Short Kuts 1 and is taken from Issue #5 with a front cover by the writer Scenes who now runs a great blog himself.
Very Steinski-inspired as was most of my early output, hell even my recent stuff still seems to be an ongoing homage to the man.
My mixes were all made on a Fostex X26 4 track recorder well back in the days before music editing was an affordable practice on a home pc. Countless over-dubs were done time and time again to achieve my personal level of perfection with many rewinds and flipping the tape over to get particular timing issues sorted.
And when it came to the mixdown there was no automation, it was done live, baby! Slight adjustments to volume at certain points during the track, manually panning a sample left or right....I miss those days!

Now listening back, there are a few pieces of audio I wish I could remember where I got the sample from. Such as "Hello, I'm June Whitfield" or "There was a man he went mad, he jumped into a paper bag". Where did I find them??!