The infamous stamped white label.
Back in the late 80's and early 90's bedroom producers churned records out by the 1000's. The arrival of cheap samplers, cheap home computers (Amiga and Atari ST to name two) and the burgeoning rave scene and the enthusiasm that went with it helped catapult countless non-musicians music into the psyche of raving hordes. I say non-musicians as on a parallel to the earlier punk movement which predated the rave moment by roughly 10 years you didn't need to be able to read or play the music to enjoy success. All that was needed was a good ear, a creative mind, a little bit of money to get your record pressed and the ear of a few DJ's to get your tunes played out.
I stumbled on the above white label probably back in 1996 or 1997 when i was first starting to really travel to London to dig in the dusty basements of the famous Music & Video Exchanges spread through the capital. I remember clearly pulling this record out of the Notting Hill basement for either 50p or £1.00 just because it looked old and could be an old breakbeat record. When i got home i got evil looks from my friends as they immediately recognised the tune from their old 1992 rave tapes. Ive since only ever found 1 other copy cheap for about £5.00 with a full release label which i think i swapped at the time for another rare record i was after.
So to Insomnia. Who were they? From the label and the 2 other records (although the Nocturnal Grooves E.P. could potentially be another Insomnia) they released back in 1991-2 we can ascertain their names were C. Rossi and J. Holloway and that their engineer was John Gould. We can also locate them to central London by the 071 telephone code. Now if i had more time it would be worth trying to track them down to see if they had a spare box of this record lying around as it currently goes for £50.00 + in mint condition. But alas like many other producers of this era they are lost to the sands of time leaving only their music as a legacy.
Have a listen to the record below. It ticks off virtually every element required for a classic breakbeat tune. Piano. Check. Huge bassline (you may not get this from the YouTube link but believe me the bass on this record is insane). Check. Strings. Check. Tough breakbeats. Check. Female vocals. Check. Ragga vocals. Check.
Now everyone time to raise your hands in the air and blow that whistle!
Insomnia - Nostalgic
PS The A-side is pretty good as well.
