First Visit To A New Spot...

Bill Cosby was a comedian. He also recorded some albums. They were mostly a hybrid of comedy and funky, soulful, jazzy recordings that I find particularly dope. BILL COSBY IS NOT HIS SELF THESE DAYS features some slow soul and is really dope, but with comical lyrics, as found on the standout song "Yes, Yes, Yes". There's also the SILVER THROAT record which charted a top 40 single and is pretty easy to find. There's a second tier (so to speak) of Cosby's musical records that are a bit more difficult to find. It includes HOORAY FOR THE SALVATION ARMY BAND! which features a dope, playful version of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band", "Sunny", and "Reach Out I'll Be There". He's backed on this album by the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band which is DOPE, and although its got some of Bill's comedic presence in it, its a solid funk release.

AT LAST BILL COSBY REALLY SINGS is a gem too. Released on STAX in 1974, its got a couple of joints that if haven't been sampled yet, would make some of the hottest Just Blaze beats in years. Namely, "Take Your Time" and "It's Strange". The record's title implies that he's belting out arias and challenging Ms. Ripperton to falsetto contests, but its not quite that. He is singing though. The liner notes imply that the Cos' vocals were recorded in one afternoon following a tennis match and a cigar. Could be. It's good to have for collection's sake but its a far cry from the Badfoot Brown records - none of which I've ever seen. If I find it ever, I need two as Dwine would be entitled to one. He put me on.

Once upon a time there was this group called Little Brother. The cats were dope. Still are. They're still around, actually. Their first record, my good friend executive-produced, and although I didn't know that at the time, I fell hard for it. Frankie did the art, 9th did the beats, and I did the buying. The title track of the debut ("The Listening") featured a sample from the diana of "Sunny" by the incomparable Melba Moore, found on her album, I GOT LOVE. The HOORAY... record by Cosby also features a cover of that song. 9th found another gem to use on that album. The single "Whatever You Say" featured an interesting lift from Cleo Laine's "I Believe You".

To your immediate left, you'll see the record from which that song came. "I Believe You" was my introduction to ms. Laine, and until I found this cover, I thought she'd be a glammed-up smooth jazz vocalist with a tiara and pearls and shit. The sneakers and t-shirt were kind of fly when I saw them. Her sound is far more classy than she gives off. It looks uber-casual. The sound is strings, bells, light electric piano and some sultry vocals.very Sunday morning. I'm gonna find me some more of her better albums here in the near future. I'll share feedback and all that good stuff...

So what could be better than finding samples used for a post-mid-nineties but classic-sounding hip hop record? Finding a donut, of course. I'd had it on CD and I'd had it on a BEST OF joint, but man, for some reason, when I found this LP last night at a super-dope, yet-to-be-dug-out, dusty ass dust spot, I was lit up. "Stop" has always been in my top 5 donuts list, rotating its place with the likes of "Two Can Win", "U-Love", "One Eleven" and "Donuts (Intro)" and i've now got the 3rd of 5 of those. I'm still hunting down "Two Can Win" and "Donuts (Intro)". Known for performing songs penned by the illustrious but oft-cheesy and over-accessible Burt Bacharach, Warwick's "You're Gonna Need Me" was authored by the historic songwriting team of Holland, Dozier, and Holland. You've memorized dozens of their songs. Beyond writing "Baby Love" for the Supremes, "Jimmy Mack" for Martha & The Vandellas and most of the Four Tops' catalog ("Reach Out, I'll Be There" also covered on the above Bill Cosby Record, HOORAY...), they wrote some non-chart-toppers that were actually incredible r&b songs. This would be one of them. Hooray for Motown.

The Donut Shop & The Purple Box

Okay, so back in early January, I found two jukeboxes on craigslist for $100 total. Not each. Total. That's $50 each. Not total. Each. Anyway, I bought them for myself as a bit of a project that I'll be working on for what will likely be the next year of my life. I'm excited. Before buying, I had the boxes assessed by a box-builder who told me that I'd be nuts not to purchase the pair. They came with enough spare parts to build two more boxes as well. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited. The plan is to work with the box-builder to get them fully-functioning. He thinks it'll take an afternoon or two to knock it all out.

After that, I'm going to fix both boxes cosmetically, customizing them both, thematically, to reflect their future contents. We'll have to see how successful I can become at finding the needed records, but my intentions are to make one of the boxes a Prince collection. 45s from Prince, The Time, Apollonia 6, Vanity 6, and all of the other Paisley, Minneapolis-based groups and solo acts that the purple one penned.

The second box is going to be a hard but rewarding project that I like to call the Donut Shop. It'll include 45s from the belated J Dilla as well as 45s that he's sampled over the years. I've got about 25 so far including Jerry Butler's "Just Because I Really Love You", The Trammps' "Rubber Band", Luther Ingram's "To The Other Man", and L.V. Johnson's "I Don't Really Care" among others. I have found it far more difficult than I'd hoped to find 45s from DONUTS, so the new plan is to open it up to other songs that Dilla had used for the likes of Slum Village, Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest, and the other numerous artists that he'd produced for since the mid-1990s.

I feel as though I should be able to get through at least half of the box's slots. Each box holds 50 45s if I'm not mistaken. There are 80 slots for tags but only 50 slots for 45s. The boxes are not here with me. I need to go back and check them at, but I think that's right. I'm going to take off all of the removable panels - the square sides, the frames for the tag displays, and will also customize the wooden sides and speaker-clad fronts. It'll be a whole new box. I can't wait. I've started to put some art together for the Dilla box. It looks like this:

Other portions of the art will include other releases, of course. This is what I've got so far. Thoughts? Oh, and if you've got any applicable donuts to share for the greater good of the box, you can send them to:

Donut Boy Recordings c/o Dominic
1130 3rd Ave. #306
Oakland, CA 94606

All donations are charitable gifts and are not tax-deductible.

Three For Love

Rufus - STREET PLAYER, "Destiny". So I put out this record last year called MOONLIGHTING by Tanya Morgan. It's a dope indie hip-hop record. I can't lie. I really like it. Mad charisma on it and shit. Produced entirely by the group's own Von Pea (aka The Beatmaker) and Brick Beats. Brick did a cut called "Ode 2 Tanya" which I'm particularly fond of. It's a holler-at-a-chick record with a twist - the guys all hate on one another in the process. It's brutal. The melodic backdrop comes courtesy of Rufus and the incomparable ms. Khan. I had had some trouble locating this one. Too much MASTERJAM and RAGS TO RUFUS to sort through, I guess. I found it though. It's such a nice cut. Pick it up if you can. The rest of the album is okay. Nothing as memorable as their big hits or "Destiny", but nice all the same.

Don Blackman - DON BLACKMAN, "Holding You, Loving You". The joint? Hell to the yes. You've heard it. And you've found it on your 1980s Soul Compilations, but haven't seen the album it came from. That sucks for you. The whole album is bananas. In the same vein as Bernard Wright's 'NARD which I just picked up and Tom Browne's classic "Funkin' For Jamaica". By the way, Browne's "Midnight Interlude"? Oh my god. I gotta step this blog up a bit and include links to this stuff. If nothing else, just so I can link my damned self.

Bobby Caldwell - "What You Won't Do For Love" heart-shaped 10". An audio classic. Now a collectible. I found this guy for pretty cheap at GROOVES in San Francisco the day after Valentine's day. I probably got caught up in the moment, but I copped. I love Bobby though. Obviously "The Light" was cracking a few years ago, but he's got more shit that's been used too. "My Flame" was Biggie's "Sky's The Limit", "What You Won't Do For Love" was The Luniz "Playa Hata" and probably about 20 dozen more joints. I don't know. Bobby is one of those enigmas, to me. I wasn't really UP on him until after the fact, but he seems so quiet-spoken. He plays a lot of jazz festivals and whatnot. Like, hippified suburban white folks just beyond their mid-life crises will drive up to a river and watch Bobby belt out his three greatest hits ever summer. And then I imagine he just goes home and chills for 11 months. I have no idea though. He's someone I'd love to meet. He and Boz Skaggs. SILK DEGREES is fuckin' banging' yo!

Diggin' In Somebody Else's Crates

So among all of the other gems that I picked up at Rooky Ricardo's last weekend, I purchased a 5-disc set of rare 45s compiled, in appropriate groupings, from less-than-famous soul, r&b and rock singers of the 50s and 60s. The discs are: Girls On The Edge, R&B Girls, Soul Girls, Classic Girl Group Sounds, and Teen Trauma.


I've only made it through Teen Trauma and Girls On The Edge but so far, its super dope. "I Won't Be Your Fool Anymore" by The Gibralters is my new song right now. I'm eager to hear what Soul Girls sounds like. With groups like Teacho & The Students, I'm sure that I'm in for a treat. These cuts, although all rare and void of any reknown, are all equal to or better than the songs that I grew up listening to from the same era. It is a great indication of how tough it can be to break a group of any kind, and a good lesson that even some of the dopest records ever never really grow their wings.


It put a lot in persepective. I know that DJ Shadow has talked about mountains of records and the realization that anything you ever put out will eventually add to the millions of crappy records out there, but this is a good look at the other side of that. A reminder (not that I really needed one), that although I've got favorite artists and niche genres and whatnot, there is still plenty for me to discover out there. I'm looking forward to this weekend as I'll be spending one full day, (or at least most of it) at Rooky's. I think there is a lot of untapped potential for me to find things there. I want to knock some of it out this week.


If you get a chance, swing by Rooky's and pick this up. It's $40 for the 5-disc set or you can by them individually for $10 each, without the cool little case. Makes a great gift. Also slices and dices and folds laundry!

All I Want For Christmas...

The Maytones - ONLY YOUR PICTURE featuring Vernon Buckley's "Save Us Jah"

Eddie Kendricks, PEOPLE, HOLD ON featuring "My People, Hold On"

The Escorts, 3 DOWN, 4 TO GO featuring "I Can't Stand To See You Cry"

Gap Mangione, DIANA IN THE AUTUMN WIND

Bloodstone, DON'T STOP featuring "I'm Just Doing My Job"

Rainbow Chasing (No Homo)

I'm by no means a great digger. Not at all. I have a very rudementary idea of what I'm doing when I'm out buying records, but really, I'm a follower. I have a fascination with records that have been used more than those that can be used. Perhaps because I'm not one to actually produce anymore, that part of the game has lost interest. What I like more is finding the obscure stuff that has been used to make some of the doper cuts in recent years. Its this that gets me into record stores multiple times per week. Trying to chase the rainbows - "That Ain't The Way You Make Love", "When I Die", "Light My Fire" (Africa), Gap Mangione's DIANA IN THE AUTUMN WIND... The list goes on and on. It's the thrill of the chase though. I can remember when I was looking for Apollonia 6's "Sex Shooter" for like a year. Or Bob James' ONE. These, by all standards, are relatively easy to find. It's kind of cool to go back and see how far I've come.

I've chased down some more rainbows today. Again, not that these records are impossible to find, but somewhere between Apollonia 6 and Gap Mangione, I've managed to finally find HURRY UP THIS WAY AGAIN by the Stylistics. The title track was used for Jay-Z's "Politics As Usual" from his debut LP, REASONABLE DOUBT. It's a classic. I found it at Recycled Records on Haight St. in San Francisco. Between hitting that spot as well as Rooky's Records (also on Haight), Groove Merchant (also also on Haight), Rasputin (Berkeley) and Amoeba (Berkeley), I came up with a few other goodies.

I snagged THE HIT MAN and LOVE KEYS by Eddie Kendricks. I have yet to cross paths with PEOPLE, MOVE ON, but I have a new friend, Dick at Rooky's Records who will be keeping an eye out for me. I also was able to find "I'm Your Pusher" by Ice-T. Outside of the greatness of that track and the 12"'s cover, the b-side was Von Pea's stomping grounds for his remake of "L.G.B.N.A.F." which is a favorite of mine (Von's version, that is).

I've come across some new Chi-Lites records lately. Well, not new new. Just new to me. As in, I haven't seen them in record stores. Or if I have, they hadn't caught my eye. I found HAPPY BEING LONELY which seems pretty solid judging by the crazy afro/mustache combinations on the cover photo. I've gotten my hands on "Are You My Woman", used for Beyonce's "Crazy In Love". This one I haven't heard yet. Its from 1976 though. Should be good.

I also got some Shirley Bassey of "Diamonds Are Forever" fame. She did a lot of soundtrack/scoring work for United Artists (I think. Gotta double check that) and has some really cool stuff. I got the I, CAPRICORN album and THE BEST OF, which I usually frown upon, but for 99 cents, it'll be a good primer.

My splurge for the week was this record from Young Holt Unlimited, .....JUST A MELODY. Its one of those "rare" records that if you can find in a store, will likely never be found in a dollar bin because it is... well, its the shit, really. I mean, it's got a crazy cover of "Light My Fire" and the album's closer, "Young And Holtful" is very very dope.

Speaking of "Light My Fire", we'll probably have to do a "Light My Fire" cover post one of these days. I've come across many a great version lately and although I'm not much of a Doors fan, I'm loving what I've found in the way of covers. Here are some of the 45s that I picked up this week:

"More, More, More" pts. 1 and 2 - Andrea True Connection (doubles)

"To The Other Man" b/w "Love Ain't Gonna Run Me Away" - Luther Ingram

"Sixty-Minute Man" b/w "Scrub-Board" - The Trammps

"Just Because I Really Love You" b/w "Only The Strong Survive" - Jerry Butler (again)

"Make It With You" b/w "Stray Woman" - Ralfi Pagan (thanks, Filthy)

"Stay In My Corner" b/w "Love Is So Simple" - The Dells (Beatmaker sample)

"Pray All You Sinners" b/w "Rubber Band" - The Trammps (again)

"Want Ads" b/w "We Belong Together" - The Honey Cone

"Killing Me Softly With His Song" - The Glen Burton Experience

"The Champ" b/w "Give Me Some" - The Mohawks

"1999 Riddim" b/w "Gal Dem Request" - Spragga Benz (dancehall cover of "1999")

"Tryin' To Love Two" b/w "If Sex Was All We Had" - William Bell

"Clean Up Woman" b/w "I'll Love You Forever" - Betty Wright

"Pass The Dutchie" b/w "Give Love A Chance" - Musical Youth

BOMB SHELTER EP - Yesterday's New Quintet

More digging to do tomorrow as I visit Record Man in Redwood City for the first time ever. What joy.