Vile Charity Shop Harridans - Pt 1

There is a crime committed in this story. But under the circumstances totally justified.

Charity shop digging. The art of searching for good shit amongst the general SHIT of a charity shop. My field of expertise is vinyl. Using the golden rule: If you've never seen the label before and it looks interesting - Buy It Anyway (and of course using the wonders of Internet phones as a back up) i have a pretty good success rate with my areas charity shops.

For the last 6 months or so i check my immediately local shops roughly once a week and then once a month on a Saturday do a tour of all the shops in my triumvirate of local towns.

Rewind to last Saturday. Nothing much going on. Phone call made to my friend Matt (a local DJ and producer) and a time is set to meet up and start our tour of duty. The first couple of shops are bereft of vinyl and it is only when we head a bit further out that a few random record are purchased (an old Prelude disco 12" and a Gladys Knight and the Pips LP from 1973 in good nick). Just before we catch the bus to the next town we pop into another shop in town and bingo what do we have here. Next to the old and unmoved stack of vinyl that we have gone through many times before is a large cardboard box of 7" records. On closer inspection it doesn't look good. The records are virtually all without sleeves and the condition is generally not very good. Nonetheless out the records come and are split between us to look through. The quality of the records generally matches the condition but i manage to pull out an old Stax 7" and look over at Matt and he is holding a record with a drawing of a fist on the centre label asking if i know what this as it looks interesting. I immediately recognise the label and the small logo in the bottom left that reads - PAMA (turns out it was this record). I immediately tell him he's a lucky git and he better be taking that as its vintage reggae.

Suddenly our quiet perusal is interrupted by the most foulest of all creatures that reside in a charity shop. The middle aged female manager. Old ladies you can wrap round your finger. Young woman you can flirt with or act dumb. Men are no problem. But theres something about bored semi-retired middle aged women that think they personally own all the shops stock that turns my stomach.

"What are you doing" she nearly crys out.

"Erm just looking through some records" I say (In hindsight maybe a more menacing opening would have been better like "We're from the Charity Shop Siphoning Agency, just checking you're not skimming the profits") but unfortunately my honest answer wasn't the best of choices.

"You shouldn't be looking at them records"

"Oh. Why not?"

"My man has been through them yet" This refers to the so called "expert" some Charity Shops have who go through the donated records to in effect take the best ones for themselves and leave the dross for the general public (am i being too cynical here?).

"Oh. Well sorry but how were we to know this. The records are on the shop floor so we thought they were for sale"

Not wanting to argue anymore she started grabbing the records back and putting them back into the box. I thought it was wise to mention that the records weren't in very good condition anyway (as i said before most were without sleeves).

The reply that came back summed up the sheer witch like evil stored in these odorous crones

"Good!"

So on that note i nodded to Matt. He stashed the 7" he found in his coat and we exited post haste.

Moral of the story? I doubt it!

PS I went back in there this week and spent some money. Im not a complete cunt!

Another successful mission

It was a quiet afternoon at work. Nothing much happening. My mobile sat silently in front of me propped up against my second monitor.

Brr ring Brr ring (well not exactly that noise). The caller name pops up on the screen. Dave Shop.

I smile as this is normally good news. It turns out to be very good news. For those of you that don't know Dave is my regular (for the last 12 years) record dealer. Ive spent more than i care to remember in his shop and also am one of the lucky few to on certain occasions to get access to his house to look through record collections before they are brought to the shop.

It turns out that he is picking up some records from a guy i know who used to work in another local record shop. I know immediately that these records will be firstly unplayed and secondly rare as i've had the good fortune to buy 1000's of records from this source in the past. Theres a catch. The records will be in the shop the next morning.

I have work the next day. Shite. A hasty email is sent off requesting holiday and i'm then i'm free. All i have to do is get to the shop before 10.00am to beat off the other regular record buyers before they get their mitts on the tunes.

Luckily i'm there early and even before Dave and help carry the records into the shop. The other record hunters turn up and i've already taken 90% of all the 12" and virtually all the dance LP's leaving them to fight over the indie, rock and 7"s. Job well done. And i'm £223 skinter. And probably 223 pounds heavier as i struggle out the door with 2 record bags, a full record carry case and one plastic bag full of vinyl.

So what did i buy? Well ill post a full list shortly but to cut a moderately long story short it turns out my choices are spot on as usual (special thanks goes out to my Internet phone once again) and a good profit is guaranteed with the addition of some nice gems to my own collection.

02/12/08
Ok heres the list -

Stuff for sale:

Moodymann - Black Mahogani II
Moodymann - Black Mahogani
3 Chairs - Three Chairs 3
Moodymann - Silence In The Secret Garden
Moodymann - Forevernevermore
Moodymann - Mahogany Brown
Moodymann - Silence In The Secret Garden
Rick Wilhite, Kenny Dixon Jr. & Theo Parrish Present Three Chairs* - Three Chairs
Norma Jean Bell - Dreams / Mystery
Moodymann - How Sweed It Is
3 Chairs - Three Chairs 2
Jill Scott - Slowly Surely (Theo Parrish Remix)
Moodymann - In Loving Memory
Moodymann - Long Hot Sex Nights / The Dancer
Moodymann - Don't Be Misled!
Rick Wilhite - What Do You See?
Moodymann - Don't You Want My Love
Moodymann - Amerika
Norma Jean Bell - One Of Those Nights (Late Night Mix)
Norma Jean Bell - I'm The Only Queen
Kenny Dixon Jr. - Don't You Want My Love
Moodymann - Analog:Live
Andrés - Untitled
Moodymann - Shades Of Jae
Moodymann - Nmywagon
Jello - Lungbone EP
Michael Jackson - Is It Scary (Deep Dish Remixes)
Moodymann - U Can Dance If U Want 2
UNKLE - Berry Meditation
Thom Yorke - The Eraser Rmxs
Broadcast - Haha Sound
Niobe - Voodooluba
Antony And The Johnsons - I Am A Bird Now
Antony And The Johnsons - The Lake
Michael Gira - Songs For A Dog
Laurent Garnier - Astral Dreams
UR* - Presents The Return Of Acid Rain "The Storm Continues"
Glenn Underground - Secrets Of C.V.O. EP
Glenn Underground - C.V.O. Elements EP
Boo Williams - 12 Tribes
Dave Clarke - The Wolf
Home Video - Citizen EP
Samim* - Heater
DJ 3000 - Drumë EP
Woody McBride - Comedy:Tragedy
DJ Apollo - Trainwrecker
Various - The Mile High Guy
London Elektricity - The Strangest Secret In The World / The Mustard Song
Jerome Sydenham & Dennis Ferrer - Kòkò / Jehlaz
Romanthony - Hold On
Planetary Assault Systems - Planetary Funk Vol. 4
D-Train / Teddy Pendergrass - Keep On (Dub) / The More I Get, The More I Want
Home Video - That You Might
Shazz + StGermain* Feat. Derek Bays - Muse Q The Music
Congos, The - Congo Man (Carl Craig Edits)
Arc-En-Ciel - The Juice
Yoshinori Sunahara - Journey Beyond The Stars
Native Element - Brazil Minus Six
Cyrus - Enforcement
Dave Clark* - Red 2
Nova Nova - Ex EP
Moodymann - Dem Young Sconies / Bosconi
Recloose - So This Is The Dining Room
Recloose - Spelunking EP
Porter Ricks - Port Of Nuba / Nautical Nuba
Mutts, The - C'mon, Come Up, Come In / Excited
Algoritmo - Indus EP
Nuyorican Soul - It's Alright, I Feel It
Scan 7 vs. Scan X - Final Destiny / Transit
UR* - Actuator
Cybotron - Clear
Martian, The - Cosmic Movement / Star Dancer
Martian, The - Journey To The Martian Polar Cap
Basic Channel - Q 1.1
David Spaans - 3D Bingo


And heres what i kept for myself:

Wamdue Project - Resource Toolbook Volume One
Carl Craig - The Album Formerly Known As...
Aquanauts, The - The Titanic EP
Remote (5) - The Swarm
Chaz Vincent - Dream Zenith
Various - NSC 1-4
DJ Sneak - EP
Theorem - Mantra One
Marl Chingus - 6 Months Earlier
Fusion - Never Forget It
Urban Tribe - Eastward
Jaydee - Plastic Dreams
Leftfield - Song Of Life (Remixes) / Release The Horns
Kurtis Blow - The Breaks
Bad Company - Inside The Machine (Album Sampler)
Elegia - I Am Not Worried Anymore... A Deal With God
Yanu - Volume 1 EP
Aux 88 - Aux Quadrant
UR-043 - Condition Red
Logic - The Warning / The Final Frontier
Various - Acid House For All. 1
Cyrus - Inversion
Mark Taylor (2) - Vintage Future
DJ ESP - I Like To Get Down
Urban Tribe - D-2000
Nuyorican Soul - Mind Fluid
Brian Harden - The Nubirth Project (Vol. 2)
Kid Acid vs. DJ ESP - Shagadelic
Jeff Mills - Metropolis
Various - Post Detroit Techno
Dave Clarke - Red 3
Porter Ricks - Nautical Dub (Tidal Mix) / Port Gentil
Substance - Scent / Relish Sessions
Various - Geology - A Subjective Study Of Planet E - Volume Two
Callisto - The Paradigm EP
Norma Jean Bell - I'm The Baddest Bitch (Remixes)

Plus a red/white coloured 12" by a band called Isis and a one sided 12" by Athlete which arent on discogs yet.

Its been nearly12 months now and so far i've managed to sell 49 of the 12"s and 8 LP's to make back £719.0o so im well in profit now and still have 18 more records to sell.

Don't You Love It When A Plan Comes Together

3 unknown records. Unknown 3 in particular.

I'd had the mix for 2 years on mp3. DJ Premier live on W.B.L.S. Radio from sometime in 1994 cutting and scratching up some of the finest mid 90's hip hop records id never had the pleasure of owning (yet). With the help of a few people i'd identified quite a few of the tracks but there were 6 that were still eluding me. I made some sound clips and posted on a few music discussion websites earlier in the year. The replies were few but 3 of the tracks were id'ed and i purchased the ones i could and put the others on my evergrowing wants list. The final 3 would be tough i thought to myself and then other things got in the way and they were briefly forgotten.

Fast forward to yesterday. I had joined a new Hip Hop website recently called DWG (Diggers With Gratitude) and the guys here seemed to know their shit. I dug out the link to the clips and wrote a short post to see if anyone could help me. I was particularly after unknown 3.

10 minutes later i had ordered and purchased the record. You see the main thing about hunting records down is actually knowing what they are. Ive had a few websites over the years dedicated to identifying unknown records that really need a place in my collection from old mix tapes i have. Many times a track is id'ed and i think back to all the record shops i've been in and recall seeing the track more times than i want to remember.

The reply to my post on DWG had been 5 minutes in arriving. Its simply read:

1. The Edge - Do Ya Dirt
2. Brother Arthur - Watcha Gonna Do?
3. Justice System - Dedication To Bambaataa

I instantly jumped on discogs (no time to type my thankyou's yet) and searched for the records to see what was up for sale.

1. The Edge - Do Ya Dirt turned out to be this. 2 copies for sale at $30.00 and $45.00. A good track but one to go on the wants list for the time being

2. Brother Arthur - Watcha Gonna Do? turned out to be this . No copies for sale and looking at the 39 people who had it in their wants list not an easy one to find. Which made the mint copy that sold on discogs on the 29/07 for £10.00 a bit of a bargain. Another one for the wants list.

3. Justice System - Dedication To Bambaataa was my next call and it popped up on a few releases. In chronological order - A double LP from 1994 and more importantly a promo 12" and a regular full release 12" from 1995. 3 copies of the full release 12" were the only ones up for sale. Two near mint copies from England for £6.00 and £6.99 and a sealed copy for $9.99 from a seller id bought from before. Not wanting to trust that the English copies were over graded i plumped for the sealed copy and prepared to cringe at the ridiculous pound to dollar exchange rate.

I could only find a pic of the promo 12" but the tracks are exactly the same on the full release. Boasting production from Diamond D and The Beatnuts on the remixes and containing the original LP version to boot a fan of mid 90's hip hop can't go wrong.

I managed to locate a clip on YouTube of the original LP mix but when i receive the record through the post i will try to upload the mix i wanted id'ing as it is better in all aspects. What you have here is a super jazzy beat with MC's reminiscing about the early days of hip hop in the late 70's and 80's and paying tribute to one of the pioneers of this old school age - Afrika Bambaataa. An age where violence was put on hold and all the mattered was finding that rare breakbeat to spin to the crowds, pulling the best breakdance move or coming up with best rhymes to rock the party. At the height of the gangsta rap movement of the 90's this record not only bucked the trend but harked back to better days. Enjoy.

Justice System - Dedication To Bambaataa

Thanks to the knowledgeable guys at DWG for being so on the ball.

Fingers Inc - Never No More Lonely

Fingers Inc were arguably the first house music super group and this their first LP dropped into the UK's (and the Rest Of The Worlds) consciousness in February 1988 by way of a small independent UK label from Luton - Jack Trax. Primarily known for its series of Jack Trax compilation albums which collected together hard to find (and expensive at the time) imported house records mainly from Chicago where the house scene was going stratospheric this LP was in hindsight a major coup for the label being the first and only LP from Fingers Inc - comprised of Larry Heard (Producer) and Robert Owens and Ron Wilson (Vocalists). In reality it was most likely the massively expanding UK house scene and with it the certainty of getting paid that led Fingers Inc to sign the deal. They had badly been burned 2 years before after their first single - Mystery Of Love sold 30,000 copies making the DJ International label rich but apart from a their advance payment the group saw no more money from the deal and even had to record a follow up single to leave their contract.

The album contains many classic moments including the monumental Can You Feel It, Bring Down The Walls (taken from various Mr Fingers 12" on the Trax Record label) and spacey deep house anthems like Distant Planet but the track i have chosen to highlight is Never No More Lonely. Featuring Robert Owens on lead vocals this is a classic love song (aren't all songs in a way about love) about a man finding his one true love and being saved from loneliness. All the right ingredients are here. A tough 808 beat, an elastic sounding bass line, deep synths, beautiful deep strings (check them out at the 2:25 minute mark) and a catchy piano after the halfway mark which leads leads the track out. Put this together with Robert Owens joyous lyrics and there you have it a deep house masterpiece.

Apart from the album which goes for around £25.00-30.00 in mint condition this track was released on a very rare 12" (£50.00+) and the fifth Jack Trax compilation (£10.00) making it fairly accessible but hard to get a loud pressing to play in clubs.

Fingers Inc's association with the Jack Trax sadly went pear shaped after a few more 12" were released when against Larry Heard's wishes they released a follow up LP of instrumental versions of his biggest tunes but thankfully the UK had been already turned onto deep house with this classic release.

Fingers Inc - Never No More Lonely