Records on my radar – episode 01

Welcome to Records On My Radar

My regular roundup of records I’ve purchased, acquired or need in my collection. The stories behind them and my though process (very random tbh).

The prized picks from the latest influx of records to land on my doorstep.

Have a read, have a listen and don’t forget to have a comment afterwards!

Records on my radar

I’m Going Down by xxxxx/xxxxx

Well this one took me by surprise. I’ve only ever known this track as a Mary J Blige banger. I had no idea it was a cover of a Rose Royce original. Not just a cover though, but more of a faithful rendition.

Initially I wasn’t sure whether this was respectful or lazy, I’m going to go with the former and put it down as a mark of respect and a nod to the brilliance of the original.

As per I’d love to hear your thoughts or memories of the track in the comments below!

Janet Jackson – Got ‘Til its gone…

A familiar one with this record that should be waiting for me on my return from working away. A social media scroll, I think Q Tip posted it and the lightbulb goes on, followed by “I haven’t heard this years, so dope” followed by an eBay search, yes eBay and no its not a rude word and I’ve received hundreds of records from this resource with very little issue.

Now, with eBay and in fact any resource, I’m not a slave to mint copies for a couple of reasons. 1. Price and 2. Life has surface noise so what’s wrong with records having a little? I know the purists have long since navigated away from this blasphemous page already. Anyway I love this track and I’m pretty sure I haven’t got it so the plunge was taken for a VG+ copy from a seller with 100% feedback and many sales.

The song wasn’t without its controversy though with Des’ree the British singer suing over the song being close to her song Feel So High. She was successful in securing an out of court settlement entitling her to 25% of the royalties for the Janet Jackson, Mos Def and Joni Mitchell track.

A Tribe Called Quest – We The People –  on 7″ single

One of my favourite hip hop bands of all time with their classic album Midnight Marauders being in my top 5 made a long awaited return back in 2017 (I think it was). A solid album with some nice work on it. My top pick on the LP was We the people so imaging my pleasure when a cheeky little 7″ single popped up for sale.

A few things to note here. No1 I had no idea it was available. No2 it is la lot more than I usually spend on a little single (but it’s Tribe so…) and No3 I think it’s some kind of Japanese release, but I may be wrong.

You are probably starting to realise I buy records to play, not to learn about. However I am trying to meet somewhere in the middle and take more time to learn a bit more about the music I play.

What’s you no1 pick of the album “We got it from here”? Let me know in the comments.

Liquid – Sweet Harmony 7” XL Recordings

I have this on 12” already of course being an old rave dj from the early 90s but this popped up on the radar on a little 7” single so I thought thank you very much. Another step closer to having enough hardcore/rave/jungle tunes to play a decent 45 set of that genre.

What’s your favourite XL recordings biscuit? Mine has to be Your Love by the Prodigy.

Keep your eye out for episode 2!