Back in the pre interweb days when music was disseminated through the radio, TOTP and borrowing your mates new purchases, play and record was common parlance. Thats because when I were a lad you had to burn to cassette and literally hold play and record to start the recording. There was no burn to MP3 bollocks or setting the quality and high speed dubbing was something your posh mates had.
This was all still highly illegal so it was a bit risque to tell your listeners to press play and record as you were about to drop a new exclusive on your radio show. But that was what one of the cooler DJs used to do as he brought the freshest releases to the whole nation, sometimes using his 3 hour show to play whole albums or sick mixtapes he’d picked up in New York.
Most of you have probably guessed who I’m talking about by now. But if you’re the kind of person who gets down to your 90′s hip hop at ‘Work It’ with your Nathan Barley fashionista mates dressed in colour co-ordinated Kurt Cobain lumberjack shirts, then I’m on about Tim Westwood. Yes that Tim Westwood. Big dawg Tim Westwood.
Before it was socially acceptable, and then later trendy, to be into hip hop in the UK Westwood was using his Radio 1 show to feed the hip hop hardcore with equally hardcore beats from the NY underground. There were no commercial tracks played, plenty of b-sides, always the explicit versions and tons of rap royalty would pass through the studio. Westwood’s show was the only source of new hip hop for many people who weren’t fortunate enough to live in the big smoke.
So let’s take a small moment of time to remember a guy who did his bit for UK hip hop and helped a bunch of US artists make it big. He may’ve turned into a total prick later on and a caricature of himself but his place in history is well earned.
It also illustrates the point that you can ‘quick study’ music nowadays and become an expert on a genre in a night thanks to torrents, wikis, discogs etc but back in the day you had to really love music to get your hands on anything that wasn’t mainstream chart or NME/Melody Maker fodder.
That love would extend to saving cash to buy analog recordings, recording radio shows through the dead of the night, stealing from record shops or convincing your mates to buy something then burning it off them.
To mark that tumultous rant here are a few mixtapes that I got my hands on back in the day by fair means or foul but usually by that tried and tested method; Play and record.
First up is one of my all time favourites which is quite a claim for a mixtape. This has 5 of the best DJ’s of the time mixing some of the biggest vinyl plus some innovative blends and an old school section from Premier. It doesn’t get more classic than that.
download it here DL
Here is the tracklist:
PF Cuttin:
5 Deadly Venoms Of Brooklyn – Intro
Verbal Hoodz – I’ll Be Damned
Dr Dre & B-Real – Puppet Master
Breeze Evahflowin – Forsaken
Busta Rhymes & Q-Tip – Wild Hot
Camp Lo – Say Word
The Dutchmin – Surrounded
Powerule – Bright Lights Big City
Mister Cee:
Zhane – Request Line (Mister Cee Blend)
KRS One – Raptures Delight
Yvette Michelle – Not Feelin You (Mister Cee Blend)
The Veterans (Brucie Bee, Luvbug Starski & DJ Hollywood) – The Medicine
The Notorious B.I.G. – Hypnotize
Frankie Cutlass, Kool G. Rap, Mobb Deep & M.O.P. – Know The Game
Mobb Deep – Young Luv
Tony Touch:
Tony Touch – Deadly Freestyle
Steele Kat One & Lil Noc – Freestyle
Freddie Foxxx – Freestyle
Sunz Of Man & Makeeba – Freestyle
Guru – Freestyle
Channel Live & Benny Boom – Freestyle
Jeru The Damaja & Lil Dap – Freestyle
Dj Premier:
Grand wizard Theodore & Kenny-Kev Rockwell – Military Cut(1982)
Busy Bee vs Kool Moe Dee – Live at The Harlem World (1981)
Double Trouble – Live At The Amphitheater L.E.S. (1982)
Cold Crush – It’s Us (Live 1982)
T La Rock – It’s Yours (1984)
LL Cool J – I Need A Beat (Jazzy Mix 1984)
Malcolm McLaren & World Famous Supreme Team – Buffalo Gals(1983)
MC Lyte – I Cram To Understand (1986)
Divine Force Crew – Holy War (1987)
DJ Premier – Ending Interlude
Evil Dee:
Black Skavengers – Poison Pill
Jeru Tha Damaja – Me Or The Papes
M.O.P. – Downtown Swinga
Krumb Snatcha – Gettin Closer To God
Shamus & FLU – Tight Team
AK Skills – East To West
Shades Of Brooklyn – Calm Under Pressure
Next up is another straight classic this time wholly handled by Premo featuring some of the rarest joints from 1997. Just reading the tracklisting will drive you down memory lane as sadly most of the names on here have been slept on ever since. This tape still stands up against anything out today just for the sheer dilligence in Premiers crate digging selections and also the unobtrusive hosting of graf artist Haze.
download it here DL
here is the tracklist:
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Edited: July 15th, 2009
