Hip-Hop News

Dynamite Cuts 45s series is so excited to be releasing another rare-groove club classic by the Voices of East Harlem. “Can you feel it” part one – is a mid-tempo sexy soul groover. On the flip for the first time is Part two, this sensual laid-back, hand clap vibes super funk, and a must for the 45s collectors. Both tracks arranged by the soul vibes master Leroy Hutson.

Dynamite Cuts releases for the first on 45 this wonderful rare groove soul gem. “Lovely lady” massive club track and long awaited 45 releases. On the flip “Joy and Pain” special edit on the flip. Perfect Dj's mix edit, includes break edit mix. A must have 7” for all good music collectors.

Dynamite Cuts is proud to reissue these amazing super funky grooves from this iconic funk & soul legend Carl Sherlock Holmes. This release is a 7” gatefold version, with a Q&A with Mr. Holmes on the inner sleever, about this iconic band.

Includes Breaks, rare groove clubs’ classics and a wonderful little soul gem.

Star Trek to soulstress - Lieutenant Uhura aka Nichelle Nichols was a groundbreaking actor, singer and trailblazer and these two standout tracks sound as sweet as they did over 50 years ago.

A valuable collectable must for Soul, Northern fans & well as any true Trekkie...original copies are changing hands for £250+.

Remastered and reissued on 7 inch with large / dinked centre hole in Epic generic paper sleeve.

Dynamite cuts, has put together the all time B-BOY dancer and for the first on 45 the vocal version which is by Reuben Howell “You made your bed” This ALL time banger is a must have double. Perfect Djs tool, includes one of the greatest drum bass breaks of all time!!!

The cover album to end all cover albums. Aptly entitled "On Top of The Covers," T-Pain is back with his first full-length release since the 2019 album, 1UP. Delivering his own rendition of iconic songs such as Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come,” Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’,” Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me,” & Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life,” the singer most well known for popularizing autotune approached the album au naturale, allowing his vocals to be the star of the show.

Lifted From Hubbard's Lauded 1979 Lp 'the Love Connection', This Sublime Piece Of Melodic, Deep, Soul/Jazz Will Have Ears And Minds Open With It's Instantly Recognisable Opening String Sequence.

Used To Devastating Effect On Pepe Bradock's All-time 1999 Deep-house Classic 'deep Burnt', Those Sweeping Strings Capture Us And Lead Us Into A Epic Journey With The Wondrous Vocal Stylings Of The Legendary Singer Al Jarreau.

This Is Prime Early Morning Music, Pushing All The Right Buttons & Spreading Light Wherever It Is Played, A Beautiful Beautiful Record Indeed! What Is Essentially An Extended And Rearranged Version Of Hubbard's 1967 Original, The '79 Version Of 'little Sunflower' Boasts A Sumptuous Arrangement & Production From The Mighty Claus Ogerman (Ben E King, Mel Torme, Bill Evans, Antonio Carlos Jobim & More).

A Truly Wondrous Piece Of Music, Reissued On A Single Side In It's Full 12" Length Of 9+ Minutes From The Source Archive Audio. Fully Legit, Licensed And Reissued With Love By Above Board Distribution And Columbia Records/Sony Bmg For Record Store Day, 2019.

repressed !

After so many emails badgering for a repress, we got 500 for you here, grab em quick!

Undisputedly one of the best, across the board crowd and D.J pleasing rare Disco 45s ever cut to vinyl, two sides of AAA grade party smashers. Cut as loud and Deep as we could manage , this fully licenced 45 won't be around long, it sells itself, don't hang about, no repress.

Transparent-Red vinyl 1xLP (500 copies hand-numbered)

Another classic hip hop banger, with the tune that sampled it on the flip - this time a rare library number!

Killer funk compilation full of highlights from the music archives of Josef Weinberger Ltd. in London, pulled from the most famous library albums on labels like JW (Josef Weinberger/ Theme Music), IA (Impress) or PM (Programme Music). First selection of 16 lost tracks by Toni Campo, Midas Touch, Trevor Bastow, Sidney Dale or Vick Flick, oscillating between jazz-funk, soul music, proto techno and eastern-tinged disco, with open drum breaks, fat bass lines and plenty of horns/ wah wah/ organs/ vibes/ flutes/ electronic effects. Recorded from the master tapes, restored and mastered 2016 for 6-Page-Digipack-CD and limited vinyl LP, comparable to the best works of KPM, De Wolfe or Bosworth.

James Enard was raised in Lafayette and got his start with the Ohio based group "Perfect Element". This all happened during the groups session time in Louisiana recording with Jimmie Mouton and Michael Lockett (Two essential figures form Louisiana).

James played an important role with the group and actually wrote their song "Let Me Be The One For You

" while he was laid up in the hospital. He parted ways from them after the group made it clear they didn't want to tour even turning down a gig to open for Prince in New Orleans. He linked up with a fella named Kennith and started Kingdom Records and released "How Close". James and Kennith had a falling out over creative differences and as luck would have it James was invited to play at the Apollo with a group "For U2 See".

Words by Mr Big Happy

Special thanks to Mr Big Happy (Check out his killer NTS Show) and Daniel Mathis (Check out his 'Reachin' Out' show on wyxr.org)

Expansion Records and PIR have got together for a series of souvenir 7” single releases to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the iconic green label. There will be 500 pressed of each. Profile is huge around the PIR around the anniversary with PIR’s Kenny Gamble interviewed on Radio 2, Jazz FM, Smooth FM and in The Telegraph, Mojo, Blues & Soul and Manifesto. There’s also a “Philly 40” film being uploaded to social networks featuring interviews with Kenny Gamble and Tom Moulton around a series of commemorative releases. The 7” series focuses on the label’s most currently in vogue dance floor records and includes one previously unissued recording by The Jones Girls taken from the company’s Philadelphia vaults. Special PIR 40 logo and design will utilised for the label and 7” range sleeve for this collectors series. More to follow.

Born to Die" follows Lana's first single "Video Games" which began its life online in July accompanied by a video created by Lana. Since then "Video Games" has amassed over 8 million hits and on release has hit i-tunes #1 position in 9 countries including the UK, Australia, Holland and France and is currently #1 in Germany. Also a massive critical smash, it has recently been hailed as the #2 track of the year by Q Magazine, with Q Magazine also awarding her the "Best New Thing" award at the Q Awards.
"Born to Die" is a suitably noir follow up to "Video Games" and is coming with an incredible video conceived by Lana and Directed by Woodkid. A Remix EP will also be released, including mixes from Damon Albarn, Woodkid and Clams Casino.
"Born to Die" the album is a collection of tracks about which Lana says "The songs I've written are an homage to true love and a tribute to living life on the wild side." Album tracks include "Million Dollar Man", "Off to The Races", "Blue Jeans" and "Carmen".

Originally released in 1975 by RCA via its subsidiary Midland International—and recorded at the legendary Sigma Sound Studios in Philadelphia—these two tracks have never since both been released on the same single up until now, appearing once in unison on an acetate reference recording, copies of which have never sold on Discogs and are believed to be in the hands of 4 collectors worldwide.

Touch of Class effortlessly blend together the classic Motor City Sound and Philadelphia’s hard-driving disco groove in one fell swoop, records that sound like they have been produced from both the Gamble and Huff and Dozier playbooks, while retaining a unique register exclusive to the group.

Aretha Franklin’s twelfth studio album, released in early 1968. It was her third R&B chart-topper and reached number two on the Billboard 200, tying with I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You for her highest-charting album on the pop chart. The album also included some of her biggest hit singles: "Chain of Fools", and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman".

Aretha Franklin’s twelfth studio album, released in early 1968. It was her third R&B chart-topper and reached number two on the Billboard 200, tying with I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You for her highest-charting album on the pop chart. The album also included some of her biggest hit singles: "Chain of Fools", and "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman".

The beatmaker Moar finally presents on record a project that started to exist live more than 10 years ago. It took a world-wide pendency to finally take the time to settle down in the studio and put on tape the beatmaker's Mellow & Jazzy beats, accompanied by the excellent jazz guitarist Rémi Schnell and Jean-Louis Potin (Moar's father) who has been accompanying him since his first EP on saxophone.
In the end, an instrumental album oriented jazzy beat & chill with the soft jazz-soul ambiences of a George Benson (here Rémi on guitar !!) accompanied by a Grover Washington (here Moar's father !). 14 sweets to listen to without moderation.

After three years of work, Nigerian-born neo-soul singer Wayne Snow returns with a new album Figurine. Written between Berlin and Paris, this album is based on a simple question: "Who is the real you?" - and leads Wayne Snow to explore renewal, individuality and his origins. Produced by Crayon - an artist signed to Roche Musique - with the participation of jazz guitarist Oscar Jerome on the track "Magnetic", Wayne Snow uses a range of sounds that showcase his songwriting talent. Preceded by the singles "Seventy", "Nina" and "The Thrill", the album Figurine will be released on Roche Musique on September 24, 2021.

Izo FitzRoy's third album 'A Good Woman' explores life as a single woman, railing against convention, battling depression, wrangling shame, and having a more embodied connection with herself. It's a masterclass in soul music, touching on elements of gospel, folk, and rock. Production comes courtesy of Kraak & Smaak's Oscar de Jong, who takes her song writing into a new territory (and he's no stranger to creating quality hits as an artist himself). The result is vibrant and ecstatic musically, with lyrics ranging from introspective and soul searching to uplifting and empowering.

Three quintessential Krewcial variations on this absolute all-time classic. From stripped back intimacy to peaktime dancefloor anthem, made using the original multitracks.

From a previous album dedicated exclusively to Soul music by the Roman producer Nerio Papik Poggi, this new project in the artistic name 'The Soultrend Orchestra' was born in 2017. The album titlereleased that year, '84 King Street', definied the musical genre to which it is dedicated. In fact, the address is that of the legendary New York club Paradise Garage from where Disco music in the late 70s was definitively launched all over the world by deejays David Mancuso and Larry Levan in the first place. So Soul and Disco are the predominance of this first album which has had great success in the sector so much so that the band has performed live in important European festivals.

This new album entitled Live For Funk starts from where the first left us musically to enter much more on the Funk sound, especially the English one of the early 80s and the American one linked to jazz musicians such as Donald Byrd or Roy Ayers who have been re-evaluated so much in the years starting from the Acid Jazz scene from the 90s onwards.

15 songs in total, including three covers, all three already released as digital singles. The three covers are remakes of cult songs from past
years in the Disco Funk world and exactly Get Down Saturday Night by Oliver Cheatham, Outstanding by the Gap Band and Act Like You
Know by the Fat Larry's Band. In the project Nerio Poggi brought with him his historical musicians such as Alfredo Bochicchio on guitars, Peter De Girolamo on keyboards, Massimo Guerra on trumpet, Fabio Tullio on sax, Simone 'Federicuccio' Talone on percussion and Luca Trolli on drums. In addition to a dozen other guest musicians also 8 different singers among which the names of Alan Scaffardi, Al Castellana, Kenneth Bailey and Danny Losito of Kaigo stand out

Miles Away Records are extremely proud to introduce our latest single by the incredible Howard Lemon Singers. You Are Somebody and For The Children are two blinding tracks cherry-picked from the incredibility rare 1977 album Seasons released on the legendary TK Records subsidiary Gospel Roots.
Both sides of this 45 are oozing with positivity and good sentiment, a fine example of the harmony between sacred and secular sounds, and the experimentation taking place, during the late 1970s as gospel artists were modernizing the soundtrack, and lyrical content of gospel music..
You Are Somebody is a gorgeous modern soul heater. Accomplished vocalist Esther Smith's sublime voice delivers her vocal lines with such confidence and assurance that the words seem to strut over the funky basslines and drumming support. Flip it over and For The Children is a more mid-tempo burner, but don't let this fool you - it's "stop-you-in-your-tracks" good. Smith's vocals once again shine brightly and are delightfully accompanied by the Nile Rodgers-esque 'wacka-wacka' guitar of Lester Snell throughout. Musicianship is of the highest quality as Howard Lemon, group leader, called upon some of the best musicians from STAX Records – Willie Hall and the aforementioned Lester Snell were key components of such groups as the Isaac Hayes Movement and the Bar Kays.
These two nuggets are presented here for the first time on a 45 and complete in our customary teal green labels and sleeve. Remastered and cut by Timmion.

Started as a reggae band, Chequers were formed by the Matthias Brothers, John & Richard, in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire in 1973. Inititally releasing in the early part of the 1970s (with their first single Rudi's In Love charting in the UK) their sound then developed to also incorporate Philly soul influences in the mid-70s, then releasing a rare but solid LP 'Check Us Out', in 1976. The group eventually evolved into a seven piece funk outfit in the late 70s, playing shows to larger and larger audiences and touring throughout the UK & Europe.

1980 saw the birth of the Matthias brothers' own small independent outlet for the group, Matthias Records. The press release of the new label's first single declared that their "roots in the reggae and soul music of the last mod era" were being brought up to date, now embracing "the music of today and tomorrow...". That 45 (the cheeky pop-punk meets ska cover version of Midnight Hour, backed with the uptempo instrumental funk of Move Up) didn't necessarily come good on that promise. 3 years would then pass until this 45 showcased the throughly-updated & stellar electro-boogie sound of Hard Times and it's equally strong b-side If You Want My Love.

Following this neither Matthias Records nor Chequers as a group ever released anything further - the record's scarcity (and hideously inflated prices on today's secondhand market) hint at low sales and potential distribution problems upon it's original release, perhaps leading to the label and the group calling it a day. Conjecture aside, there's really no denying this record slaps, and with discogs prices reaching beyond ridiculous levels there is only one option - get it before it's gone!

Sometimes it is meant to be. I remember years ago Ian Wright (a notorious 45s collector, not a footballer) played me Marion Javius, it was about $1 at the time. I really love the record, but the "sshumwere" vocal in the chorus and the cha cha at the end of the bars did my head it a little.

Roll on 15 years and I was speaking to my record fiend and friend David Haffner who helps with releases on AOTN. It turned out he had been sitting on the multi-track tapes for Marion Javius for some time and was cool with us doing a 45. Having multi-track was an opportunity for me to fix the little bug bears with the OG mix. On first listen, I was delighted to hear a vocal take without the "Shamwooon" on the chorus, so myself and Linkwood got on the case to rebuild an ECLA version without the Game Show bar ends and "Shamons" that had been haunting me for years.

So here we are, the ECLA version, with the OG on the flip in case you think I'm talking rubbish.

"For many decades, if you wanted to listen to great music all you needed to do was one thing...switch on your television!TV and film soundtracks were often the work of absolute masters of their art - such as US legends Lalo Schiffrin & Quincy Jones, and their Uk counterparts Ronnie Hazelhurst and Alan Hawkshaw, provided the soundtrack to the 60, 70's and 80's at a time when film and TV music was unashamedly groovy and featured the ensemble of choice for the jazz arranger: The Big Band! The Andy Tolman Cartel captures the spirit and musical excitement of that style with a collection of epic tunes, composed, arranged and recorded for Big Band by bass player, composer and bon viveur, Andy Tolman and produced by the projects drummer, Nick Van Gelder.As a tantalising taster of the sounds encompassed within the forthcoming full length album Cypher - this absolute kicking single kicks off with a thundering, stomping cover version of Janis Joplins' Move Over - with award winning singer Jo Harman on vocal duties (Jo recently hit the BBC Radio 2 playlist with her own single When We Were Young which features the Doobie Brothers Michael McDonald as special guest) The flipside - album title track Cypher - contrastingly is a brilliant, spy movie style scorcher with disco flourishes - banks of blazing horns, squelchy synthesizers, super tight drums all coalesce into the greatest soundtrack currently searching for a TV show to be the theme for!"

The much acclaimed city pop masterpiece with flavors of boogie-disco, funk and fusion and the soulful voice of Eri Ohno. Originally released in 1981 and repressed on vinyl for the very first time from the original master tapes.

Limited edition.

Jimmy's 1982 Disco-Boogie anthem !!

GRAMMY® Award-winning singer-songwriter Joss Stone has worldwide sales in excess of 15M albums and is without question among the most iconic soul singers of the modern era, with remarkable career that now spans two decades. Produced by Bay Street Records founder Dave Stewart (Eurythmics) and co-written by Stewart and Stone, the duo wrote every song for this record on acoustic guitar at Bay Street Studios in the Bahamas and then recorded them all at Nashville’s famed Blackbird Studios. The project marks Stone’s first full-length LP in more than five years as well as her first new music with Stewart in over a decade. Describing the new music, she says, “You know - think of Dusty Springfield, Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick - those kinds of classy, timeless songs. Think long gloves and a dress.”

The diminutive Peter Barclay was guy in early '90s Oakland, the eccentric with the most style, the most talent, the local magician. This self-taught musical wizard recorded at home and produced two barely-released albums, 1990's dreamlike Acceptance and 1992's synth pop What Kind Of World, winning over the few who heard them. But fame outside his small circle was not to be, and Barclay was lost in the late-'90s crest of the AIDS epidemic. Rediscovered for a new generation, this is queer music at its finest... Welcome to the world of Peter Barclay.

Six Nine Records Ltd. UK proudly presents Terrill Paul’s first release
on the label with the two stunning tunes “This Time” and “Heaven Sent”.
“This Time” is written and produced by prolific musician and composer
Stone Paxton and is an uptempo cut destined to fill dance floors around
the globe. On the flip you’ll find the smooth and groovy mid-tempo gem
“Heaven Sent” which instantly gives you the vibe of cruising and swaying
along in the Californian sunsets.
Definitely not to be missed as it is a limited UK press with full colour
printed picture cover!

The 1990s were a time when hip-hop infused with R&B became pop music, and at the forefront of this movement was En Vogue. Their most commercially and critically successful album, Funky Divas, stands as one of the best pop/R&B albums to emerge from that time, incorporating soul, hip-hop, pop, dance, and rock to create one of the era’s most diverse, dazzling, and exciting pieces of work. The album scored no less than five hit singles, three of which became Top 10 pop hits. It includes the unstoppable “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)”, which was one of the biggest hits of 1992 and additionally the remake of “Giving Him Something He Can Feel,” “Give It Up Turn It Loose,” and “Free Your Mind”.

Funky Divas is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on purple coloured vinyl and includes an insert.

The godfather of soul found himself dipping into jazz on this classic but lesser-known album, Soul On Top (Verse By Request Series). Now getting a proper reissue treatment it is sure to convert many new fans to his abilities across the six sizzling tracks from this 1969 album, which includes the classic 'It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World' and a new version of 'Papa's Got A Brand New Bag'. Brown provides the vocals to a 18-piece big band set up that was led by drummer Louis Bellson and arranged by Impulse! star Oliver Nelson. Brown always said he was a jazzman at heart and this goes some way to proving that, with saxophonist Maceo Parker adding plenty of vital swing.

It may have snowed yesterday in New York, but summer is on the horizon. Yung Bae, whose real name is Dallas Cotton, wants to kick off the summer a little early with his new studio album: Bae 2.

Get ready for an explosion of disco, funk, hip-hop and soul with this album!

A session of electrifying and groovy hits. From track to track, it's a celebration of rhythm and dance. Tasteful samples that are blended into something new, and unique from their origin in this album.

Fans of late 70s British TV show The New Avengers (where we first saw Joanna Lumley) will rejoice as Dave Lee dons his AC Soul Symphony cap and renders out a funked out version of the iconic theme song. It’s all grooving clav, wurlitzer, funky drums and the all important symphony of strings transporting you back to the golden days of both TV themes and symphonic disco. If MFSB had recorded a version of The New Avengers then it might have sounded something like this

On the flip a special 7'' version of one of the most popular tracks from Dave Lee’s Produced with Love II album 'If You Ever Need Somebody', a super classy mid tempo modern song featuring the silky vocals of Tiffany T’Zelle. Ideal for your next roller disco jam!

Dynamite cuts 45s series is proud to release two gems from the Perception label both First time on 7” vinyl. Taken from the hard to find John Bartel LP which was released 1971, these two bangers, needed to be part of the DC series, classic and unknown drum samples.
A - “Boogie” is super heavy funk n Jazz dj dancer.
B - “You’ve just been bitten” Great mid-tempo vocal funk groove, with lots of drum break