Victory is mine

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Delgado

I work at an Oakland Public School. I am rewarded daily knowing that I have the best students in the world, and that students who graduate from my school shape the world (I’m looking at you, Huey, Ron, Frank, Kev, etc). My job, unfortunately is not usually rewarding materially. Until last week.

I was brainstorming how to make this year extra special and I realized it… I needed a record player for my office. But not just any record player… I needed a classic… the kind I remembered from my OUSD youth. I knew they were out there.
I’ve mentioned my nose for vinyl… it also works for vinyl accessories. Look what I found buried in the library closet, amongst inferior discarded technology.

That’s right, wipe the drool from your keyboard. It’s a genuine Califone 1845k. That means it plays 4 (pitch adjustable) speeds and powers an attached 100 watt speaker. In fact, the speaker and turntables can be snapped together to form a beautiful light blue 30 pound suitcase. It also has a microphone input, separate bass & treble controls, and an auxiliary input and output. It’s basically the highest tech durable turntable science could provide. And it sounds good, or at least it sounds loud. Hell, I remember doing a dance to a fat boys song in front of a packed house for my 6th grade talent show using one of these things.

An innocuous suitcase… unless…

What’s this on the side?

Turntable and speaker inside!

In action, playing a 78…

Oh, still think that doesn’t make up for the lowest education salaries in the Bay Area?
Note how blurry the above photo is… yes, that is a 78. Our esteemed music teacher (if you can get Jr. High students to play at Yoshi’s, you are esteemed) found a box of 78s that an old student’s great grandfather had given him. Look again at the picture above. That’s Muddy Waters on the Chess label. On 78. Playing in my office. Just another reason to love my job in OUSD.
Check the video.

I’ll put up more info about the vinyl that I found soon, don’t worry!

dig of the week: The POLICE white label

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Delgado

In the antiques world, I’ve heard there is a type of person called a “divvie” who is able to feel the presence of important or valuable antiques. I was introduced to that term by a family member when I was in high school because I somehow knew that there were worthwhile records buried at a garage sale a few blocks from my house. To this day, I can smell worthwhile records at garage sales within a few blocks of me. Unfortunately, fewer and fewer worthwhile records are being sold at garage sales, and I had wondered if I had perhaps lost part of my gift. Today I proved I still got it.

I saw ads for a neighborhood sale weeks ago, and somehow knew I had to go. Digging through piles and piles of records by Heart and Billy Idol, I thought maybe I was just over eager. Then I found this:

B side with Next to You, So Lonely, Miss Everyone, and Walking on the Moon

“C” side with Bed’s too Big, Message in a Bottle, and Roxanne

It is evidently a White Label of a Police concert in New York at, which was broadcast live on WNEW. Crazy, huh?
Obviously the records was never released, and you can occasionally hear station IDs. Judging by what Sting is saying between songs, it appears the concert was in support of their Regatta de Blanc album, released in 1979. At one point, the announcer says the show is live at the Palladium, but other sources seem to say that the show was at the Bottom Line.

I did rip the album, but I haven’t posted it yet because I’m not sure anyone who reads this blog would be interested in downloading it… if you are, leave a comment below and I’ll put it up!

DJ Homer Simpson

Posted on July 20, 2011 by Delgado

Well, this made my day. As some of you may know, I am a huge Simpsons fan (it’s the only thing I will watch on TV besides sports). Check this out… recorded for this year’s DMC championship by dj Fong Fong.

Copyrights and digital music

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Delgado

Recently a few popular websites that many djs relied on for remixes were taken down, and there has been outrage in the DJ community. Additionally, many websites that host or point to possibly illegally downloadable music have been targeted for advertising revenue by an agency called GroupM, and copyright laws are the minds of those of us in the music business once again.

Remix sites were a place where accomplished DJs would post their remixes and edits of popular and classic songs, and they could be bought by other DJs. Most sites tried to cover themselves by demanding that users were professional DJs, but the reality was that they were in sketchy legal territory. That being said, many of the remixes were quite popular in clubs (and on the radio), to the point of being promoted by the original artists and increasing sales for the song by getting it more attention. Looking at them as simply copyright infringement also short changes the work put in by the remixer, whose creativity can completely change a song. None of this matters much to the record labels, of course, who are literally just in it for the money.

A fascinating new (theoretically) legal remix service offers a truly different method of delivering remixes and being sure that all people involved get paid—including the original artist and label. Legally, you can make as many copies of any musical work you own (meaning you can have a song on your computer and on your iPod), and you can also alter those works for your own benefit. The new site, called Legitmix, offer you a chance to buy the remix—with the original sample taken out—so that you can recreate the remix on your own computer (well, the software does it automatically). Legally. The site also allows you to buy the original song if needed, which guarantees money for the artist (or whoever owns the rights—usually not the artist). Check it out!

Legitmix Empowers Artists from Legitmix on Vimeo.

Special thanks to DJ Platurn for pointing out the service and DJ Audio1 for keeping his remixes alive and available!

pretty plastic

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Delgado

Saw a cool thread on the serato board, started by my boy Dub Cowboy, about all the pretty vinyls. I have a bunch, these were the first ones I ran across since they were in my reggae section. Not too much money is usually spent on reggae pressings, so these are no doubt pretty rare.

Gotta start with the above Black Uhuru Red on red vinyl. A fancy pressing of my all time favorite album!

This one sounds great, too, it’s got an extended version of “One Love/People Get Ready” and “So Much Trouble in the World” and “Keep on Moving” on the flip side.

Side A, 12″ single of One Love (extended)

B side

Barrington Levy’s “Under mi Sensi” on green vinyl. It has four remixes of the tune pressed to this 10″ (and none of them are very good).

A weird/random Bob Marley interview picture disc.

Reggae Gold ’95 form VP records. I played the shit out of this record, it is incredibly quiet now. One thing I remember the most about this vinyl (besides the tunes) is that I had a hard time telling where tunes started and ended because you can see the grooves on both sides.

A real score: orange vinyl of Kung Fu Meets the Dragon by Lee “Scratch” Perry. Sweet.

Clear purple vinyl for a 45 on the “1999″ riddim

Clear blue 45 of Wyclef and Spragga on the same label. This was on the “Night Rider” riddim (or at least that’s what it should have been called).

Another very random Bob Marley Picture disc…

I’ll post more as I run across them… hoping to re-organize my non-reggae soon.

Records and Organization

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Delgado

“The answer” playlist… whenever I have a question about what to play

To be honest, I’ve DJed with tons of DJs—some of the best DJs alive in my opinion. If you listen to them, you can learn what songs they have (especially in the vinyl days) and what scratches they could execute, and you can see on stage what equipment they prefer. The trick, however, is to step inside their mind/soul and learn how they experience it. One very interesting way to look at it is by looking at their music organization system. Every time, it is a surprise.

Continue reading →

All time tune

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Delgado

As a kid, I would always spend my time reading the music magazines while my mom was doing grocery shopping. I remember in the 80′s leafing through Rolling Stone and seeing reference to the album Red by Black Uhuru. By 1989, I had reached hard-core music addiction and saw the reference again, this time as #23 on its list of best albums of the 1980′s. At that point, I had already given up on most genres of music represented by Rolling Stone at the time, and headed to Rasputin’s where I found the cassette used. Best purchase ever.

I went on a road trip that spring with the family, and I was glued to my genuine Sony Walkman the entire trip. This Uhuru album was the first time I’d really deviated from mainstream reggae like the Marley family, Jimmy Cliff, UB40, and what Burning Spear was releasing at the time. It was a breath of fresh air.
I remember gazing at the blue sky out the back window of our family’s Subaru station wagon as the now familiar guitar lick of “Sponji Reggae” finally penetrated my consciousness. It was a very different sound from what I’d been hearing of reggae, with the urban edge I had embraced in hip hop and a more contemporary sound than what I’d heard from so much of the 70′s stuff I had. The interplay of the bells, bass, and guitar gave me chills. Additionally, it was my first real exposure to Sly and Robbie, and I imagine most of us can remember our first exposure to them (if you can’t, wait a few more weeks and I’ll do a post on them!). Over all, my mind was blown and I’ve been hooked ever since.

Years later, I also happened to catch a Cosby Show episode where the song was played, much to my utter astonishment.

I spent most of high school and college making sure that I had every recording by the Black Uhuru lineup that featured Mykel Roze, Puma, and Duckie. I made myself the promise to also be sure to buy every copy of Red that I came across (which wasn’t that many, to my surprise, I guess even casual reggae listeners love it… or of course it wasn’t pushed by the label!). See below to see what I’ve found, and download some of the rare copies of Sponji Reggae I’ve digitized!

UK 7 inch single

Download this version of the tune!

12″ Sponji Reggae single as released in USA

Black Uhuru Red USA Version

Black Uhuru Red Vunyl UK limited pressing

Sponji Reggae UK 12″ single version… 10 minutes long!

check out the UK 12″ version of the tune! 10 minutes!

Lastly, my favorite version of the tune!

Here is an old review of the album Red that Island posted on its website.

Elephant Treasures

Posted on March 10, 2011 by Delgado

Every year, The Oakland Museum has it’s White Elephant Sale, which I have been enjoying as a visitor since the late 80′s (before that, I just got the toys and books from Dad). It’s definitely one of the best annual events in the entire Bay Area, and if you like digging for treasure this is the spot. Look below to see what I found, listen to it, and learn about it! It’s vicarious crate digging!

So, this year I got there a little late, and I already know I missed some great music (because I know that Odiaka grabbed it!). But here are a few of the gems I still came up on… out of about 50 records I bought.
I didn’t get any electronics this year (for a big change) or any bikes, but I added a couple books to the final tally before going home well satisfied.

This year I was inspired by Joe Quixx‘s set at Fresh Jamz as well as mix I’ve been listening to a lot by Matthew Africa. I realize there are a lot of late 70s souly/disco records that I have overlooked because of my on–again/off–again obsession with the Stax/Volt labels and because they weren’t played much on KDIA. That is the gap in my collection I was hoping to fill on this mission, but of course this is not exactly the venue for that, and every digging adventure has a huge element of serendipity.

Top left is a live Pointer Sisters‘ album. They’ve been favorites of mine for years, and that feeling has only increased since I’ve learned that they went to the Oakland middle school where I work. It’s a two record set of a show at the SF Opera House from 1974. It’s probably the only record by the sisters that I didn’t have, and covers their early career, with a bunch of their “boogie” stuff from very early on. This performance was the first contemporary music performance at that venue.

The next record over is a set of speeches by JFK, released shortly after his assassination.There were a few copies, this was the least scratched. No doubt it has great samples, hopefully I’ll get a chance to use some.

I got three Mills Brothers‘ albums that I didn’t have, one is a cool re-issue of some recordings from the early 30′s when they were less vocalists and mimicked instrument sounds (on the back it lists the brothers by “instrument,” as in “first vocal trumpet”). If you’re not familiar with the Mills Brothers, they are a great group that my grandparents introduced me to and well worth checking out—definitely one of the most enduring vocal groups of the 20th century (2000 recordings, 50 million copies sold)! Download a super classic tune here.

The next album is just a Jazz compilation originally put out by Lucky Strike cigarettes as a promotion in the 50s. Some great artists on there with some crucial tracks, and I feel like compilations are the best way to grow a collection in any genre. My Jazz collection is great (thanks Dad!) but my attention span is terrible (thanks Dad!) so I rarely listen to entire albums of a particular Jazz artist. Here’s one of the tunes here.

On top of that one is a 7″ of Huey Lewis‘ “If This Is It,” complete with ridiculous cover picture and all the lyrics on the back cover. I forgot how funny the video was until I was writing this, but I will never forget the line “you’ve been thinkin’/and I’ve been drinkin’.” Classic.

Below that are some other great 7 inch singles (always the best way to buy music!). One is Hall & Oates “Out of Touch,” one of my all timers from the 80s. One is B.J. Thomas “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” which is a huge score. Another is Earth Wind and Fire with “Getaway,” with the instrumental on the back (!).

One is quite weird, a group called Pseudo Echo with their cover of “Funky Town.” There were a few records by them floating around, and that surprised me a bit, I’ve been digging for used records for decades and it wasn’t a group that I recognized. Then again, a lot of rock from the 80s did not penetrate Oakland. This group was actually the “second biggest rock group in Australia behind INXS” (not sure what that really means). Their version of Funky Town actually somehow cracked the pop charts in America, but was one of the few of their songs that crossed the ocean. Strangely enough, they actually re-re-did Funky Town in 1999. Check out the version on the 7 inch here.

Rick Astley, “Together Forever.” Need I say more? If you notice the awesome dot-matrix label at the top of the cover, it was part of a lot that was evidently donated by some fitness place. Each one is hilariously labeled with what part of the workout it would be good for, and even what specific area of the body should be used—this one is recommended for cool down & glutes and hamstrings. My fitness nut wife is currently testing the quality of their recommendations, but I just love the idea of a bunch of folks with leg warmers on working out and a vinyl nerd in the back of the room getting his workout by digging out the right Rick Astley album to play.

Keith Sweat, “Make It Last Forever” with an extended edit on the B side. Larry Graham—great picture eh? I have a poster of him up in my office and all the kids think he’s Damon Wayans (whom he really looks like!). If you don’t know, he is the Oakland-born inventor of the slap bass. Billy Ocean, “Get Out of My Dreams, Get into My Car.” Another one from the gym, one of quite a few Billy Ocean songs I picked up.

Lastly, the Gap Band, IV. Yes, this is the one with “Outstanding” and “You Dropped a Bomb on Me.” Sweet, huh? Looking forward to seeing what other tracks are on there as well.

As I mentioned, DJ Odiaka beat me to the sale, and picked up quite a few gems as well, which inspired his awesome top ten list for the week. Head over to his site to check it out & download tunes!

Here’s Odiaka’s version.

See you there next year!!

My all timer

Posted on March 4, 2011 by Delgado

I remember in middle school, it was very important to have a “favorite song,” and through out high school I used to make lists of the top five records that I would want with me if I were stuck on a deserted island. Like many East Bay teens in the 80′s and 90′s, I would read other people’s top five lists from the Tower Records magazine while I was downstairs at LaVal’s having a slice of pizza.

But no matter how many lists I made, this song was always at the top. The beat is great, it gives a few sample bars from all East Coast Rap Royalty from the time, and it has a positive message without being cheesy—something that is long gone from the industry today. It was the brain child of KRS-1 after he lost Scott La Rock and had a fan die at a show, and produced by KRS and D-Nice. Check it out:

I first remember hearing the tune on Yo! MTV Raps, and knowing I had to have it. Luckily, mom had a trip to JC Penny’s planned so we headed out to Eastmont Mall and I picked up my first copy of the album at T’s Waoozee (sorry, I’m having a hard time spelling that). I wore that thing out memorizing the lyrics and the subtleties that D-Nice put into the beat. When I started DJing for real, I snuck it into sets as much as possible, infuriating more than one promoter.

Of course there’s a sad part, and that’s that my original copy, bought with my allowance, was stolen when I was doing a show at Pitzer College in 1998. Yes, I do know who did it and the statute of limitations does not expire when it comes to record jackin. But, one does get a lot of jealousy over records when you have a chance to buy them when they are first released… and for many DJs, especially the new jacks that were getting into it when Kurt Cobain died and they traded their guitars for turntables, stealing was easier than digging.

In addition to hopefully leading to more peace amongst the hip hop community, the proceeds of the recording went to the National Urban League. I’d have to say, it also went a ways towards modeling that even highly competitive rappers can get along… the scenes in the video where everyone is sitting on benches together, just nodding their heads to the beat, are priceless.

Samples

Most of these samples you recognize from many places, that is in part why it is such a great song.

It’s built around this sample, a classic James Brown lick (of course). It’s the “Watergate” sample.

this one you may also recognize also from “slam” by Onyx.

This is the classic “Funky Drummer” sample, and yes I know you know that. D-Nice (who produced the track at age 17!) laces it into the beat when Public Enemy takes the mic, which is perfect beacuse it was a sample that Terminator X used a lot. (Because it is awesome). The sample comes on late in the song, but like always James Brown is enjoyable to listen to while you wait.

Here is another classic James Brown Sample, which comes in with Heavy D‘s lyrics. A tribute to a big man in the rap game in those days (figuratively—when MC Hammer did a star crossed show at the Oakland Coliseum, Heavy D was the headliner).

There is a piece before Doug E. Fresh come on that is near to my heart for the multiple samples that slap you in the face with their beauty and randomness. This is from Gil Scott Heron, it’s just the guy saying the numbers en español, but since it’s Gil, it’s worth checking out.

Then D Nice breaks out the “heaven and hell” reminder from the 20th Century Steel Band, which was also used previously by Doug E. Fresh. The beatbox is dope, of course.

The song inspired quite a bit musically, as well. KRS-1 released two follow up singles with different casts (well, MC Lyte was on one of them) in 2008 and 2009.
Most famous, however, was the “West Coast version”—”We’re All in the Same Gang,” featuring Dr. Dre on the beat, and most of the popular West Coast artists at the time. Although I am a huge West Coast guy, this one just didn’t quite cut it. Dre does a nice job of changing the beat around a bit, but it was right in between when he was an awesome new comer (think Straight Outta Compton) and when he was an legend (think 2001).
Stylus Magazine compares the two, and calls it a draw. You decide.

What do you guys think about the West Coast version? XXL recently did an interesting “where are they now” piece on the tunes as well.

My 1st love

Posted on January 7, 2011 by Delgado

Wow! Bet nobody expected that picture! Or at least I hope so! Above is Maynard Ferguson, whose version of MacArthur Park I used to lie and bed and listen to as my father played it in the next room. It was the first time I learned that music can capture an emotion so well that you feel it every time you hear it. I was probably 5 or 6 years old, and the soaring thrills of the trumpet solos alternating with the mellow and cool refrain was exactly how I understood life to be. It still is.

When you listen, see if you can imagine it being the first song recorded for adults you’d ever really heard. If it helps, I was on the top bunk, and my father was reading philosophy and drinking Special Export.

There is some dope video of him playing live as well.

Sweet, eh? Seven years later, it was later covered/ruined by Donna Summer (where the hilariously bizarre lyrics are exposed), but that wasn’t Maynard’s fault. Of course, he did the same thing to some other songs as well.

It was of course sampled, although surprisingly rarely. Here’s one song that used one of my favorite parts; in fact, it was this little sax part that made me stick with the saxophone all through school, even though I sucked.

The song supposedly refers to MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, which led me to visit that park in 1995. Actually, I was in the neighborhood for a completely other reason, but decided to go through the park anyway since I loved the song. I convinced my friend to go through, despite his observations that it was clearly not a nice park, and in fact made Sobrante Park in 1995 look organized and well–heeled. As soon as we walked in, a police cruiser drove over the grass towards us, barely missing people sprawled on the lawn. They were certain we were there to buy crack or heroin or weed or something, but couldn’t actually guess why two college kids would be in that park. Still, they tried a very b-grade good cop/bad cop routine, but the fact was I was from Oakland, and my homie was from Long Beach, and that’s what it said on our IDs. It really didn’t make sense that we’d go to downtown LA for drugs. And maybe there really was a great song by some guy about that park. They were thoroughly confused but also out of ideas to keep harassing us for. Which is too bad for them, it would have turned out interesting.

Musings from the DJ Booth

Thoughts from an old school DJ in a new school world…

Tag Archives: nerdy stuff