ID: Jon Doe

TITLE: Ooh Ooh the Dragon - Parts 1 and 2
ARTIST: Marvin Holmes and the Uptights
LABEL: Uni

A pretty little ninety-nine cent 45 courtesy of my favorite record shop in Nashville. This jammy starts out with a nice little group shout session telling all of you diggin dorks to watch out for the dragon. These guys must have obviously meant the drums. This 45 just doesnt stop. Nice, funky breakdowns everywhere, and the total clean break count clocks in at the magic number three. Not mention the horns and furious soul-clapping that gets you rip-roarin and ready for the break on part one. My only question iswas this released previously, and did UNI pick it up after some initial buzz? UNI has some more jammers like this one too, just as funky.

TITLE: Honey Pot
ARTIST: Bob Collins and the Fabulous Five
LABEL: The Jokers Three Productions, Inc 197?

Anyone, anyone? A great cover of the Mar-Keys classic. This one was turned up while surfing through 45s, clocks and moonshine with my man Egon and Cut Chemist in North Carolina. Ole Bob and his cohorts give this joint a slighty harder edge by bringing out the drums a bit more in the mix, as well as splicing in a 4-bar bass and drums breakdown smack dab in the middle of it. Who knows where in the hell this came from.

TITLE: The Hen Parts 1 and 2
ARTIST: Louis Chachere
LABEL: Paula Records

You cant fuck with this record. I dont think I have EVER heard a 45 that can compete with the sheer mix down and overall sound quality. That, combined with that fact its just a DAMN good track, makes this one a personal all time favorite. Plus, you drop this at party, and shit could get a little out of hand. I have never seen ANYONE not shake their ass to this little gem. Even the hard rocks gotta do the running man to this one. EVEN if theyre madand why are they mad? Well, because all of the ladies are giving I wanna do you stares to the dj that blessed the house with The Hen.

TITLE: Horse with a Freeze Parts 1 and 2
ARTIST: Roy Ward
LABEL: Seven B 197?

Man, you cant beat it when the company you just got hired by sends you to New Orleans for a week long, job-related conference. Why, you ask? Well, what else do you think there is to do in New Orleans, after youve completed the days tasks? Besides wander Bourbon Street in a drunken stupor and watch people take their clothes off (for some beads that arent worth shit), what else does New Orleans have to offer? Records, you say? You guessed it. Roy decides hes gonna start this one off with twelve bars of drums, and then proceed to ask one of the band members if theyre ready to ride this proverbial horse. Actually, now that I think about it, thats all Roy is doing in this song. Why? I dont know. Remember, this is New Orleans.

TITLE: Psychadelic Hot Pants Ome amd Two
ARTIST: York Wilburn and the Psychedelic Six
LABEL: Prestige 197?

Another all-time personal favorite. I like the weird shit. These guys flipped the script with this one. A 45 that will rattle those bones for sure. I cant even describe this one. If any funk 45 will make a person go crazy, its Psychedelic Hot Pants. Some think its TOO weird. And everyone thinks they have heard it before, because York freaks this espionage type theme throughout the song. Hell, even I thought I had heard it before. I get nervous just playing the damn thingone, because the shit is just scary, and twowell, lets just say I got some serious grip for a spare copy of this treat. I would almost bet well see this one pop up on something soon, whether it be a comp, mixtape, etc. Ill fight you til the death for this one. Gotta to say whaddup to one of THE coolest, most down-to-earth dudes I have ever met, Mr. Lee Anthony, founder of True Soul Records in Little Rock, Arkansas.

TITLE: There's a Break in the Road
ARTIST: Betty Harris
LABEL: SSS International 197?

Talk about some head-knock shit. Egon left a particular tape in my car for week or so, and it had this joint on it. If that portion of the tape still has audio on it, I would be surprised. Thank goodness I scored my own copy. This Allen Toussaint production is the definition of the New Orleans funk he practically designed. With backing by the Meters (gotta be), Betty Harris just spills all over this track. I dont know what this woman looks like, but after hearing her on this one, I dont care. Id marry her in a heartbeat if I got to hear her sing this every morning. And Modelistethat guy is sick. No clean breaks, but the drums will make you puke on your best Sunday shoes. Hes the M.O.P. of drumming. Yeah we like it raw.

TITLE: Let's Live
ARTIST: James Rivers
LABEL: Eightball 197?

This is another 45 that New Orleans blessed me with. James has a couple of LPs as well, but I wasnt really feeling em that much. However, I had to pick up this particular vinyl donut. And man is it sweet. An all instrumental track, on some soundtrack type shit almost. Dramatic strings at the beginning, and then it drops into a nice, smooth flute ride, and the strings rejoin him a few bars later. If Im ever a hero in a movie, this is my pick for the music. Anyone up for a sequel of Im Gonna Git You Sucka! starring a white boy with some records and a portable turntable?

TITLE: Everybody's Bag
ARTIST:Norsemen
LABEL: Norsemen 1970-71

Time to get off of those 45s, and dive into a little high school band record that I have virtually no information on. They didnt even name the record label. From what I can tell, its a high school band (The Hillcret Norsemen, they bill themselves asdorks) from Memphis. This LP isnt particularly funky, but is a smorgasbord of genres, and they pull it off pretty well. To be honest, I thought this shit looked too good to be true. I mean, look at the front and back covers. And then theres the track listinga sampling: Hobnobbin, Meet a Cheetah, H2O So4 Watermelon, Grandmas Chitlins, and my favorite, Soul Lady, which even indicates there is a drum solo on it! Well, it didnt necessarily live up to the initial hype, but this is a solid record for the high school band genre, and producers would eat this shit up. And the kid actually comes through with the drum solo on Soul Lady.

TITLE: Breakdance Electric Boogie
ARTIST: West Street Mob
LABEL: Sugar Hill Records 1983

Can you call this electro? Probably not, but with a fly ass robot voice so proudly proclaiming Breaaaaakdaaaaaance over Apache, who cares what you call it. This is hip-hop right here, ladies and gents. My favorite Sugar Hill record next to Mosquito, which was also banged out by the West Street Mob.

TITLE: Rock at Your Own Risk
ARTIST: Planet Patrol
LABEL: Tommy Boy 1982

While skimming through the record shops one day in my new home of Atlanta, I come across an Arthur Baker LP from say, the mid to late-eighties that I had never seen before. Suffice to say, I wish I had never seen it. Because after hearing it, I had to run home and pull out this masterpiece and replace bad Arthur Baker with good Arthur Baker. My favorite electro record of all time. Boogie Down Bronx by Man Parrish come in at a fighting second, but just doesnt cut it. I tend to stay away form the vocal side of this one, titled Play at Your Own Risk. Speaking of Man Parrish, check out his website (http://www.manparrish.com) for an ill story regarding our fair friend Arthur and the making of this and other electro classics.