The whole thing started with an invitation from the great Manchester Shop OI POLLOI to do a mix for their PICA SOUNDS Series of Cds. We ended up doing a killer mix for them of all Rudebwoy Ska which is now available free with orders over £100 on their website http://www.oipolloi.com/oipolloi/shop/home.php.
By doing the CD and making links with some of the Oi Polloi folks we ended up being invited to come play with GUIDING STAR sound at their HOT MILK night…When we saw that our pals, THE TIGHTEN UP crew were having their TRASH & READY session the same week in London…we said HELLS YEAH and Booked our tickets!
After a quick six hour flight, a delayed check in at the hotel and an introduction to the classic English breakfast of Heinz baked beans, eggs, grilled tomato, tinned mushrooms and lots of Bangers we headed off through the tube to South London where we were scheduled to be guests of Keith Lawrence’s reggae show on London’s COLOURFUL RADIO (http://www.colourfulradio.com/weekday/). I had met Keith a year earlier in Kingston and had been pleased to find that he is a multi talented veteren of the South London Hip Hop / reggae and pirate radio scenes. He is a great producer, a great Deejay, a killer radio presenter and an all around good gent! Here’s his website: http://www.muzik-ed.com. We had a whole heap of fun playing tunes and talking history. You can check the interview here: http://podcasts.colourfulradio.com/keithlawrence/ (check the 2010-02-10-2200 edition!) Here’s me and Keith in the Studio!
The next day I was invited to check out Brixton with DJ , reggae fiend and skydiving fanatic, Loic Deniro. Brixton seemed like the Brooklyn of London – lots of Yardies, good food and a sweet vibe. Loic took me round to MUSIC TEMPLE records in the Brixton Market where the owner, Simon showed me a ton of killer roots twelves and his partner Russ played me some new UK Roots that I actually really liked. Music Temple is a great shop – nice vibes and tons of good tunes.
After picking up about six SERIOUS tunes, Loic took me to Supertone Records which is THE historic record store of Brixton. It has been there for years and the owner Wally is a wealth of knowledge. He let me in the back and I found some nice nice nice pieces. Big Ups Wally!
After eating some nice fish, we headed off to THE HOOTANANNY (http://www.hootanannybrixton.co.uk/) to hear Promoter/Selector Cecil Reuben drop some serious UK Roots music. No dissapointment there. He and his Mcs played great and got a really nice, vibey audience plus the club itself is very cool – combing a very old school pub experience with some, nice heavy duty bass culture! Also, the bartenders and promoters were very cool – so thanks Hootananny Massive!
On Friday we jumped aboard a clean and fast Virgin Train to Manchester! It is a city I had never been to and I was looking forward to it like WHA! The only things that I knew about Manchester was that it had once been the Industrial Capital of the world, Joy Division and New Order were from there and Manchester folk had eaten A LOT of Ecstasy in the 90s! That and the fact that people from Manchester REALLY seemed to have great love and pride in their city. Well, Manchester did not dissapoint – I found it a beautiful city with all sorts of amazing 18th and 19th century industrial architecture mixed in with some really crazy modernist pieces. In any case we checked into the only hotel EVER that did not have phones in the room! Bloodclaat hotel had a Room Service menu and NO PHONE! That’s not room service, that’s walk down to the lobby and order some food and run back upstairs with it service! So, given the no food, we went out and ate some REALLY good Indian food and headed out to the club.
Every Second Friday, GUIDING STAR HI FI throws the party called HOTMILK at the ROAD HOUSE so we were invited to come play. (Here’s the Hotmilk Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=17804442856 ) Selectors Joey B and Irish Mash and the promoter called Sam niced up the place like maaaaaaaaad! The bar itself was a wicked bashment space…low ceilings and packed with nice & decent people…in fact, more than packed – nice line going around the block! In any case, Guiding Star Hi Fi threw down a nice mix of 80s classics, some nice roots and some heavy digital and built up the vibes perfectly. Their Mics Men Mega Ras and Country Culture did a great job to liven up the spot. Then we got up there and busted tune after tune after tune to great response! The Manchester massive were super nice and appreciative and seemed to not just enjoy Jamaican music but to enjoy following where the selectors were taking them…So NUFF RESPECT in every aspect to all Manchester Massive and the Guiding Star and Hot Milk families to linking us up with such a fun show! Absolutely KILLER!
Here’s some photos from the night taken by LUKE CHASE! Check his website www.lukechasephotography.co.uk
And here’s a little tempo for YA!
The guiding star guys also do a revive night at Dulcimer in Chorlton on ever 3rd Saturday…so go check em out!
On Saturday we decided to spend the day taking in the sites in Manchester so started off by going to OI POLLOI and saying thanks for hooking up everything with the CD. OI POLLOI is a great shop with a real sense of vision and purpose and Manchester is lucky to have it. I also picked up some great gifts for my son at Fred Aldous (http://www.fredaldous.co.uk/) and some cool stuff for my wife at Magma Books (http://www.magmabooks.com/). Then we went off to meet Joey B and Irish Mash a.k.a. Eoin a.k.a. the King Of Oi Polloi art design! In Chorlton for some beers and food! We drank the splendid ales of Marble Brewery at the Marble Beer House and ate some decent Mexican / Spanish food and then headed off to the West Indian Cultural Center where there was an oldies dance featuring the legendary crooner Barry Biggs. The scene at the Cultural Center was nice with everyone dressed as sharp as possible for the Valentine Vibes. After a bunch of Soca selections and the like, the man Barry Biggs got on the stage and belted out some Lover’s classics.
We left Joey B to vibe with Mr. Biggs and headed off with bags of beer and tequila to a house party. We arrived at a deeply cozy home and were warmly greeted at the door by the birthday boy himself who led us to a kitchen chock full of delicious, homemade foods! Everyone at this party were beyond nice and were super gracious to us visiting Yanks…and the birthday boy turned out to be the great Manchester DJ / recording artist/ tea seller MR. SCRUFF (http://www.myspace.com/mrscruffofficial) who was not only a nice guy but a Deadly Dragon customer as well!
We woke up hung over as shit having drunk an enormous amount of beer, wine, and assorted hard liquors and headed back to London to link with the TIGHTEN UP CREW!
For those that don’t know, the Tighten Up crew has been lighting up England with their revive dances for years and well as hosting one of the best reggae blogs around – the Hi OCTANE Dance Crasher Blog -- http://www.dancecrasher.co.uk/blog/ -- Dance Crasher writes about Jamaican music as should be written about with equal doses of humour, excitement, love and knowledge. Their ongoing list of the 100 greatest rock steady tunes is an inspiration!!!!! So when they asked if we could join them at Catch for their TRASH & READY party we were honored. Sometimes you just know that some people are going to be like family and that’s the way it was with the Tighten Fellows Tim P and Mistah Brown. We got to the bar and they were killing with some nice, early 80s rub a dub and some killer digital including a Willie Williams so massive that I actually turned GREEN with envy for a good 10 minutes! Well, the place ended up getting ram with all sorts of folks including a bunch of customers and fans who were really nice to meet in person – Big Ups Felix Hall and Crew! Big Ups Akinola and Faruk! Big Up Loic and Dasha! Big ups t o MC Champian, Professor Mark and Clappers Priest who lived it up! All in all it was a REALLY fun night and I was thrilled to be a part of it. For full audio of the evening check: http://www.dancecrasher.co.uk/blog/?p=3180
Here’s TIM P with the MAJOR Willie Williams
Here’s some photos from the night
And Here’s Champian inna Fast Chat Style!!!
The next day I wanted to take in a bit of East London so I met up with a friend of ours, the great East London Poet, Editor, business consultant, record collector and seriously sharp-dressed man Tim Wells (http://www.myspace.com/12caesars) at the GOLDEN HEART PUB.
I first met Tim at our shop and was impressed both with how well dressed he was (trust me record collectors are not often known for their sartorial elegence!) and how thick his accent was. I figured as Tim’s poetry so totally evoked East London, who better to have a pint with and gain some history of the neighberhood. Tim did not fail me and I had a great afternoon with him and his pals from the band Kaiser Chiefs (www.kaiserchiefs.co.uk/) who dropped by to have a coupla pints with us. So Thanks Tim Wells for hanging out!!!! And for those of you who like a great read, check his books -- A Man Can Be A Drunk Sometimes But A Drunk Can’t Be A Man, and If You Can Read This You’re Too Close and Boys' Night Out in the Afternoon and RISING, the Poetry magazine he edits.
And then we flew back!!!!
It was a great trip and thank you so much to everyone we met and everyone we played with! The UK treated us great and we hope to go back soon!!! Nufff Respect England!!!
It was a great trip and thank you so much to everyone we met and everyone we played with! The UK treated us great and we hope to go back soon!!! Nufff Respect England!!!
