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Greetings Sorry Staters. Thanks for tuning in. Hopefully, you are doing well. I must admit that I’ve been down in the dumps the last couple of days. That’s nothing new, ha ha, just more than usual. Those of you who follow football (soccer) and don’t support Liverpool are probably having a good laugh right now. If you read my section of the newsletter, you’ll know that I am a lifelong Red and so us getting humiliated at Anfield by Real Madrid on Tuesday on top of what has been a dreadful season already was a real gut punch. Today is Thursday, and I’ve had a couple of days to get over it and what better way than with music. Thankfully, I work in a killer record store and am surrounded by so much great stuff. Let’s pick one to listen to together shall we?

As I was receiving a recent order, Jeff pointed out a record that he thought I would like and should check out. It’s “The Uninvited” b/w “Ritual” by Lack Of Knowledge.

Originally self-released in 1982 and now reissued by No Plan Records and available in clear, white or black vinyl editions. We have a few available as I type, and you can click here to snag one. No guarantee which variant will be left; we only got a few.

The band formed in North London back in 1978 and lasted through to the mid-80s. They released a handful of singles and just the one album on the Crass Records label Corpus Christi. That album, Sirens Are Back, and the E.P., Grey, on Crass are highly desirable, as is the original of The Uninvited single. Sound wise, they are labeled post-punk and I guess that is about right. You can certainly hear elements of some of the bands they are compared to such as early Joy Division, but LOK were more about bondage pants than grey macs and it makes sense that they aligned with the anarcho-punk scene and found themselves on Crass Records.

Inside the jacket of the re-issue for The Uninvited single there are some notes from the band recalling the process of recording the tracks and getting their single sold in Small Wonder, Rough Trade etc. and then hooking up with the Crass world after hanging out at their house and playing them the record and getting the offer right there and then to record for Crass.

Also detailed in the liner notes is the session information for the three tracks, and it’s interesting to see that almost a full year passed between recording the first track and the third. When you listen, you can almost imagine it being two different bands. A year and a different studio make all the difference. I’d like to wax lyrical about the music and tell you clever things and perhaps Dr. D will be doing that elsewhere in the newsletter, but my usual response when asked what something sounds like is to say, take a listen. I encourage you to take a listen to this single and take a deep dive and check out their full length along with their other singles. It’ll be worth your time. Of note on this reissue is the inclusion of a third track, The Men, which was not included on the original release.

We’ve had a copy of that Grey E.P. on Crass here at the store before and it has been reissued recently as part of the Crass 12” series that has seen some other rarer and under the radar titles getting a nice fat 12” pressing. Hopefully we will be able to get some copies of those here for you at some point and perhaps that album will get a much needed repress too. Fingers crossed.

That’s all I have for you this week, short but hopefully sweet. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you here next time. Cheers and up the Reds.

-Dom

Hi good friends, thanks for taking a read of our newsletter. We hope we find you well out there. This past Tuesday was St. Valentine’s Day, which had me listening to lots of love songs in preparation for Worldy, the radio show I do. Next up is Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday, and that has me in a New Orleans mood as I pick out potential tracks to play on next week’s show. You can bet I’ll be including something by Lee Dorsey, who I have mentioned previously in these pages, and you can also bet that there will be multiple tracks selected that have the Allen Toussaint magic sprinkled on them. Besides Dorsey, Toussaint was also behind hits by Irma Thomas, the Soul Queen of New Orleans. We recently received a few reissue copies of one of her records here at the store, and it’s that album, titled In Between Tears, that I would like to pick out for you this week.

Originally released in 1973 on the Fungus label, but recorded a couple of years previously with Jerry Williams, Jr.—aka Swamp Dogg—for his Canyon label. That label only lasted a short while, and its financial collapse caused the delay in the album being released. Fungus was another Swamp Dogg label, though. Irma Thomas signed to Canyon in 1970 after moving to Los Angeles the previous year to escape the devastation caused by Hurricane Camille that hit the Gulf Coast. She recorded a couple of singles in Macon, Georgia that saw release on Canyon and then was taken to Muscle Shoals, Alabama to record In Between Tears. The resulting album, which features Duane Allman on some tracks, is a Southern Soul beauty that shows a much more mature and deeper soul sound more in tune with the times and work by other artists ploughing the deep soul field. Not that Irma didn’t tackle adult topics in her 1960s work, far from it, just take a listen to Anyone Who Knows What Love Is (Will Understand) for proof of that. Like every person who hears that song, I love it. The A-side is Time Is On My Side, which The Rolling Stones covered. Anyone Knows was championed by the late great Dave Godin, the man who coined the terms Northern Soul and Deep Soul. The series of compilations that Ace Records released on their Kent Soul label called Dave Godin’s Deep Soul Treasures are thoroughly recommended, and the Irma Thomas track was a highlight of volume one, and has subsequently been heard in movies and TV, most notably on the show Black Mirror. The original mono single is the version to hear as it has a different vocal take, which adds even more intensity. Take a listen here and have a rabbit hole dive into her other songs and look out for her performing on American Bandstand and being interviewed by Dick Clark afterwards. I had the pleasure of meeting Dick Clark years ago and he signed a copy of Life magazine that I happened to be carrying that had a photo of him from Bandstand in it. Such a nice guy, and a music lover from head to toe.

Lovers of great soul music have always held Irma Thomas in high regard. Her 60s recordings for the Minit and Imperial labels are essential listening. Most of those 45s can be tracked down, but several like the Time Is On my Side single are going to be expensive. What have always been hard to find and expensive are her two albums for Imperial from 1964 and 1966. Those you rarely see. Less so was the In Between Tears album, but in recent years with an increased interest in the work of Jerry Williams/Swamp Dogg, that record became scarce and pricey. Luckily for those who want a copy there have been reissues. Charly R&B, Alive Records, BASF in Japan and now Trading Places based in Europe have all pressed versions. You can click here to view details of the pressing we have currently.

I’m still looking for her three singles that came out on Chess Records that were cut with producer Rick Hall. They aren’t too expensive, and I always hope to find them in the wild as opposed to buying on Discogs, but I may have to one of these days soon. Something that I do have is a grey area compilation that gathers up some key material. I have two versions of this that have different track listings, but both are cool. One is on Bandy Records and the other on Change/Mississippi Records. Those you can still pick up, although the price is creeping up a little bit. Obviously, on the digital front you have more options. Stateside did a nice CD collection a few years back of her Minit/Imperial years and there is another collection of the Chess recordings that were cut at Muscle Shoals. All essential stuff, so dig in and enjoy.

Here’s a link to listen to In Between Tears.

Have a great Mardi Gras next week, enjoy your beignets or pancakes and listen to some Irma Thomas along with some of the other fabulous artists from New Orleans. Until next time, Cheers - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters? Thanks for dialing us up on your internet viewing device. I hope you are all having a good week out there.

We’ve been busy as usual here on the Sorry State ranch and I have been knee-deep in dusty and cobwebby boxes assessing a nice classic rock collection, which hopefully by the time you read this we will have closed the deal on. As a result, I have not dedicated much time to my staff pick for this week and, coupled with another restless night caused by my various ailments, I find myself here on Thursday morning staring at a blank screen. So, it’s going to be a short one from me this week.

Next week is St. Valentine’s day and regardless of your stance on Hallmark holidays, there’s no real escaping it, and although I’ve tended to make a dog’s dinner of my past relationships, I am not “against” love. I might just be a bit more jaded than the average person. I certainly have always been drawn to tragic love songs in music and the anti-love songs that exist. I like the she loves you yeah, yeah, yeah stuff too, but when there is a darker edge to things, it appeals and makes sense to me. One such song that probably tops the heap in the love songs with depth category is Love Will Tear Us Apart by Joy Division. Everyone loves that song, and you don’t need me to tell you about it, but certainly the circumstances in the life of Ian Curtis that influenced his writing of the song make for a classic on par with a Shakespearian or Greek tragedy. If you are unfamiliar with his story, hit the Wiki.

Naturally, with any great song come the cover versions, and there have been a few of Love Will Tear Us Apart. Pop singer Paul Young had success with his version in Europe, for instance. The one that I like, though, is by Swans. This version seems to divide the room. Some like it and some not. Swans fans have different opinions for sure. Their version appeared on an E.P. released in 1988 that also featured different versions of tracks from their album Children Of God, released the previous year. I won’t profess to being a huge Swans fan, but their story is an interesting one, and I did get to see them at the famed Limelight club in New York City back in the early 1990s. My memory is hazy of that night, but I know I had a good time. I was working on the ships back then and we were in port after just crossing the Atlantic and out on the town. As luck would have it, our liberty coincided with the gig.

On their version of the song, there are apparently different vocal takes that appear on releases featuring either Gira or Jarboe on lead. College radio loved it, and the E.P. was a minor hit. Regardless of the views of the members of the band who recorded it or the fans. I’ll be honest I didn’t follow Swans’ career too closely after seeing them, but do remember checking out this cover version and liking it, and years later I did find a copy for myself. It’s not super hard to find or that expensive, but still collectable. My version is the red one with Michael Gira’s lead vocal.

On my radio show last week as teaser for next week’s Valentine’s show, I gave it a spin and enjoyed hearing it again, and so did some of our listeners. If you are unfamiliar or just want a reminder, you can click the link here.

Okay, I must get back to work and get all these records worked on. Have a great week and we’ll see you here next time. Cheer everybody.

-Dom

Greetings friends, I hope you are all doing okay out there and surviving. It’s been another tough week as far as music legends departing us is concerned. Tom Verlaine of Television and Barrett Strong of Motown leaving this world will leave a massive void, but their greatness and genius lives on in the music they created. That music will reverberate around the world for many, many years to come. If you haven’t read it, Patti Smith wrote a beautiful eulogy for Tom, which you can link to here. The best way we can remember them is to play their records. I’m sure a lot of copies of Marquee Moon got the needle dropped onto them this week, and Barrett Strong wrote so many great songs that almost any of the classic Temptations records, for instance, bare his stamp of class and genius. Just stick on Ball of Confusion (That’s What the World Is Today) for confirmation of that. Rest in power, gentlemen.

After last week’s newsletter and our review of some of our favorite releases of 2022, we have all been thinking about things we forgot, missed, should have mentioned etc. I’m glad Daniel wrote so well about The Cool Greenhouse because that is technically a 2022 release although we only just received our copies, as I would have certainly included it as one of my picks for the year. The CG has appeared on our best of lists before and rightfully so. This latest is one you’ll want to hear, so go check it out if you haven’t already.

Another record that I am really digging that had a 2022 release date, although didn’t appear here in physical form until the new year, is the debut by Philly’s The Ire titled What Dreams May Come. So, to put things right I would like to make that my staff pick for your consideration this week.

As the official old guy on staff here, I was a teenager in England during the 1980s and discovering bands and a scene of the sort that The Ire are clearly in love with. Namely Siouxsie & The Banshees, Bauhaus, Joy Division, The Cure and the Goth/Darkwave sounds that were to be found on labels like 4AD. I wasn’t a Goth myself, but have always appreciated the music from that scene, and back then in my small town if you were in any of the youth cults and an outsider, there weren’t many places to hang out and go where the normies weren’t in full strength and likely to give you trouble, so the punks and goths and rockabilly kids etc. tended to find themselves sharing the same pubs and late-night spots. Mostly we got along. Anyway, it was a great period for music, and I am thankful to the friends and DJs who turned me on to a lot of great stuff. Getting back to The Ire, from the moment I touched the needle down on the record and heard that full bottom end and crispy shimmering top in their sound, I felt a comfort and nostalgia for those times. They definitely nail that deathrock type of sound but without sounding like a covers band or a bunch of poseurs. Importantly, they add a good amount of American punk to the mix to give their sound some edge and most importantly can write a tune with decent lyrics. Kudos to the recording engineer and producer for a nice sounding recording.

Jeff and I were listening to the record in the store the other day and he was telling me who played what on the record. He knows them better than I do and from previous bands that members have been in. Regardless, everyone puts in a full shift in this band. Great bass playing, great drum sound, beautiful shimmering guitar tones contrasting with heavier riffs and terrific vocal performance. Plus, they look suitably cool and moody in their band photo. What more can you ask? I’ve played this record a few times now and haven’t tired of it yet, enjoying hearing it each time. I’ll be honest, a lot of the time I don’t find myself that impressed with new bands playing in an older style. There’s too much reenactment and not enough imagination, typically. The Ire seem to back up their knowledge of music from another era with a style and coolness that is their own and still contemporary. That’s good to see and hear. Nice job chaps.

My favorite tracks on the record are probably the first two full songs after the short instrumental introductory track, namely The Chariot and Crisis. Both songs ably show off the band in full flight and are worth your time and money investigating. Call it post-punk, goth rock or just good. Make sure though not to confuse them with another Ire from Pittsburgh, PA who are doing a whole other schtick though.

Okay, that’s all I have for you this week. Have a good one and we’ll see you next time.

Cheers - Dom

Greetings one and all, I hope you are doing well. The first month of the new year is done already, but it’s our time to look back at 2022 and pick out some of our favorite record releases and other cool stuff that brightened up our lives during what was a full and busy year for us all.

My record buying has been dialed back a little over the last couple of years or so due to a tight budget, but there has never been a week in my life, ever, when I haven’t bought at least one record. I’m a vinyl junkie, a black crack addict, I admit it. There are times when I absolutely must come home with a new (to me) record. A single, an album, a tape even, something. Luckily, that itch gets scratched consistently here at Sorry State and because I like a lot of old shit, I can stretch the purse further with a lot of the bargain bin stuff we get so much of. That’s not to say that I won’t splurge sometimes and blow next month’s grocery money on a record, but I do my best to be responsible.

Fortunately, I have been buying, selling, collecting records all my life, so have a decent collection and am not playing catch up on a lot of titles that are getting harder to find or cost a lot now. That being said, I have mostly bought ‘em as I find ‘em and you would probably be shocked at some of the obvious things that I don’t have or have only just recently acquired. Case in point, I used some of my Christmas bonus last year to finally get myself a nice copy of New Order’s Power, Corruption & Lies. A record I know backwards but for whatever reason have never owned other than a reissue on CD. There are many more examples of key catalogue titles missing from artists’ discographies in my collection, but that’s okay. I’m well over obsessing about what I don’t have and doing my best to enjoy and value what I do. I have sold major chunks of my collection over the years at different times for one reason or another, which is always hard to do at the time but has helped me to not get too precious about owning things. Plus, I would need an extra-large house to store them all if I had kept everything I had ever bought, so pruning and purging are essential. I won’t live long enough to listen to the stuff I do still have in their entirety, which used to give me anxiety but as long as I have the occasional DJ gig and a show to do I feel somewhat justified about having so many records. That’s how I try to rationalize it, anyway. Ha. I know I am not alone. Not amongst many of you, dear readers, I’m sure. Okay, enough of the rambling and on to the job in hand.

It’s tough to be on top of everything that comes out in any given year as there is simply so much new music being made and naturally not all of it will be to our own personal tastes. Making a best of list is an impossible task and a futile one. Also, with so many sources for new music to come through these days, depending on who and what you follow it’s very easy to miss things. I’m fully aware that I am only hip to a fraction of what came out last year, but for what it’s worth here are some of my favorite releases of 2022.

Firstly, my top ten new releases for the year:

Scarecrow: Crisis EP 7” – you might have heard of these guys, and I’ll make no excuses for putting this first. An honest to God ripper from start to finish. I am honored and proud to be friends with and work with such cool people who can really kick ass when it comes down to it. The translucent blue vinyl was beautiful—thanks Usman. Fave track, Leeches.

The Hazmats: Empty Rooms 7” – a cool C-86 sounding two-sider from the UK featuring members of Chubby & The Gang. I heard elements of early Stone Roses, Teenage Fanclub mixed with a touch of JAMC on this one and give it a thumbs up. Looking forward to more.

Personal Damage: Ambush 7” – technically these recordings first came out on a cassette, but 2022 saw the vinyl debut of this cracking E.P. from L.A. punkers Personal Damage. We suggested that if you were a fan of Circle Jerks, then you would like this one. Catchy, melodic, with decent lyrics and ending on a cool cover of Peter Tosh’s Stepping Razor. Nice.

Flex TMG: Whisper Swish 12” – this leftfield disco twelve ticked a lot of my boxes. Sounding like it was lifted from the Disco Not Disco compilations and clearly in love with the sound of early 80s New York and bands like ESG, Liquid Liquid and Bush Tetras for example, this is a great vinyl debut from the Bay Area duo and beautifully packaged and presented by the terrific Domestic Departure label. Lead track Burn This Town will put the heat on any dancefloor. If you enjoyed the bands Fitness Woman and Cochonne with records on Sorry State, you should investigate.

The Gentle Cycle: Landslide Eyes LP – the sophomore album from these Californian 60s psych heads is a real grower and quite the beauty. Retro in their preferred method of recording and instruments used and taking inspiration from the golden era of 1960s west coast garage mixed with a little 80s Paisley Underground but still sounding contemporary. Main man Derek See knows his vintage guitars and records better than most and has toured and played with so many greats. This is a terrific album from start to finish, go check it out.

Peace De Resistance: Bits And Pieces LP – a huge favorite here at Sorry State Towers and one that we are proud to have helped promote. The solo brainchild of Moses Brown from Texas bands Institute and Glue that really hit the spot with its collage of 70s Art Rock, Glam and Krautrock influences. Our own Lord Daniel wrote brilliantly about it on release, so for more details check his review out in our Newsletter archives if you haven’t yet heard it and need more convincing. Or better yet, just listen yourself and revel in the DIY charm of this raw, groovy and infectious record.

Lady Wray: Piece Of Me LP – the follow up to her equally great Queen Alone album from 2016, this record came out right at the beginning of 2022 and is her second on the fab Big Crown Records label from Brooklyn. Top notch Neo-Soul with a nice balance of retro musicianship and modern R&B and Hip-Hop sensibilities. This sounded real nice going into the spring and summer of last year. Nicole Wray made a big impression when she hit the scene back in 1998 with Make It Hot and her experiences in the music business makes for quite a story. She brings this history and life experience into her songs, and you can hear it. Real soul music.

Danger Mouse & Black Thought: Cheat Codes LP – another instant classic from producer Danger Mouse who has a knack for great collaborations and mashing together of different influences. For Hip-Hop heads this might be album of the year. A return to the genre for DM and the fourth on the bounce for MC Black Thought. Fabulous atmospheric soundscapes, great beats and wonderful wordplay. I admit to falling off on keeping up with newer Hip-Hop, but this is one I am glad I caught. The album took quite a few years to complete from its inception apparently and features many other notable names guesting on tracks, including Raekwon and on my favorite track Belize, MF Doom. Top stuff.

Arctic Monkeys: The Car LP – potentially dividing the room with this pick, I realize that these guys aren’t everyone’s cup of proverbial tea, but I have a soft spot for the lads from Sheffield, having seen their rise from the very beginning. I haven’t loved all their records admittedly, but you can’t deny the unique wordsmithery of main man Alex Turner and live they put on a good show or certainly did on the occasions I saw them, including twice here in Raleigh. I honestly wasn’t expecting to like this new one as the last couple of albums, although big sellers, saw me lose some interest. However, we were sent a CD promo of the album and it ended up getting stuck in my car player for a week, and the tunes wormed their way inside my head. It’s a more melancholic sound than recent works and quite relaxing with emphasis on Alex Turner’s vocals and aforementioned clever word play over some tremendous arrangements. I really like the song Hello You if I had to pick a favorite.

Johnny Marr: Fever Dreams Pts. 1-4 LP – fourth “solo” album from one of the busiest guitar slingers in rock ‘n roll came out in February, and I am including it in my top ten not necessarily because it’s a killer record but because it’s Johnny Fucking Marr. For me, one of the best guitar players ever and easily the coolest yet nicest dudes to do so. Fever Dreams is a set of sixteen tunes broken down into four parts, hence the title, although I can’t remember what the reason for that was. The album took a few listens to grow on me, but soon enough the layers of the tunes began revealing themselves. Musically, it’s not a million miles away from a New Order record if you needed a reference point, and has a distinct British feel. Johnny has a good band that has grown with him, and they are making good music together. Raleigh missed having them perform here a few years back. It was supposed to be the opening of that current US tour, but visa issues prevented them from making it. Bummer, but I did see him on previous tours and with other bands that he played in too over the years, although sadly never got to see The Smiths. For a good read, check out his autobiography, Set The Boy Free.

So, there you have my clearly biased choices for top ten, but there were loads more great releases and I know that my colleagues here are going to be picking many of them but a few honorable mentions.

Ribbon Stage: Hit With The Most LP – another band mining the C-86 sound and with their album cover clearly displaying their influences–it looks exactly like the Shop Assistants debut in its layout. These guys are from New York and this their debut album is a fun listen with a good mix of pop and punk hooks. I liked the song Nothing Left. They have an E.P. on K from a couple of years back, and that’s worth seeking out also.

Adrian Carmine: That’s Why People Fall In Love LP – this West Coast retro sweet soul album came out last year and deserved more recognition I thought. The title track is beautiful and worth the price of admission alone. Perfect cruising music for all the lowriders out there.

Spiritualized: Everything Was Beautiful LP – there aren’t enough words to describe how great Spiritualized are here, but suffice to say that their Ladies And Gentleman We Are Floating In Space LP is a bona fide classic. This was their ninth studio album and was a companion piece to the previous album And Nothing Hurt, drawn from demos made during the making of that record. The world is lucky to still have Jason Pierce with us as he has survived quite the medical scares over the years. We, the listening public, are grateful.

Woodstock 99: Super Gremlin LP – my shipmates on board HMS Sorry State have all written about how much we loved this record and I do too. What’s not to like? Great name, cool crystal skull on the jacket cover, gong sounds between each rockin’ track. Heck yeah. This one sold out so fast here that I even missed getting a copy.

2022, like any other year, saw plenty of reissues of old classic albums and some cool collections and compilations. Way too many to list, but I did pick up a few and here are my favorites.

Charles Stepney: Step By Step LP – I wrote about this release in an earlier newsletter when it came out and for me it was such a treat to hear these recordings. Charles Stepney produced these tracks in his home studio back in the late 1960s and early 1970s before his untimely death. Some tracks have never been heard before. Cool and funky stuff.

The Wayne Powell Octet: Plays Hallucination LP – a reissue of a very rare jazz album from the mid 1960s that I was turned on to by a fellow DJ. It could be described as Mod-Jazz and the single from the album, Tutzy, is popular amongst Mod deejays. Nicely reissued in a limited number by German label Mo-Jazz/Tramp. Powell was from Los Angeles and plays vibes. I love the sound of the vibes, so this was right up my strasse. Groovy and spiritual soul-jazz worth seeking out.

Sad Lovers And Giants: Epic Garden Music LP – this reissue came to us this year, and I was blown away by how much I liked it and also by the fact that I had never heard the record before. The band is from England and formed in the early 1980s and fit right in there with your Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen and Chameleons records. This version tacks on some singles from the period, which are also cool. Perfect music for that wet and grey February day.

ISS: Spikes+ LP – it would be impossible not to include this collection of local legends ISS’s hard to find single sides, compilation cuts and cassette recordings. The deluxe packaging with actual spiked mailer is one for the ages and we are proud here at Sorry State at how great it came out. A lot of effort went into this one, but that would all be for nothing if the music wasn’t worthy of it. It is.

Okay, there you go. A few of the highlights of 2022 as far as music releases are concerned for me. Obviously loads more great stuff came out and I’m sure lots of those will be covered by the gang here in their picks, but that’s the great thing about music, isn’t it? There’s something for everyone’s individual tastes. I read other best of lists and am amazed at just how much music is being made and the wide variety of sounds. I work in a record store and can’t keep up with it all. Rather than be overwhelmed and worry about missing out, I just enjoy what I do have and keep myself open to hearing new stuff when it presents itself to me. I prefer getting recommendations from friends and people I trust and follow and so if by reading this or any of our other newsletters, you get a tip that works for you, then we are grateful and happy to share with you. It means so much to us that you take time to read our blurbs and we sincerely thank you for supporting us throughout the year. Let’s do it again in 2023.

Cheers - Dom

Hello everyone. How’s it going?

As this past Monday was MLK day here in the United States and the radio show I do falls on a Monday, we naturally did a show that reflected that and tried to honor the great man with the selections we chose. In preparation for the show, I found myself auditioning lots of records and quickly realized that I had several records by The Impressions and Curtis Mayfield in the stack of possible contenders. My DJ partner Matt ended up spinning the song “Preacher Man” by them, and I played a Curtis penned tune, “Mighty Mighty”, performed by the legendary Baby Huey. His record came out on the Curtom label, which was of course Curtis Mayfield’s label. Whichever song or songs we chose, there is no doubt that when it came to writing and producing songs that related to civil rights and the state of the country, Curtis Mayfield was the man. His compositions were topical, political, soulful, funky, reflected true life and just damn good. Even though Curtis had the voice of God, The Impressions with or without him never lacked for vocal talent. When he left the group in 1970 to concentrate on his solo work and producing for other artists, his spot was taken by the fabulous Leroy Hutson, who himself only stayed with the group for one album before going solo. That album from 1972 is Times Have Changed and is my pick to steer you towards this week.

When talking about The Impressions, it really is hard to pick a favorite song or album. They existed as a group for close to sixty years, albeit with multiple lineup changes, but their golden period was certainly the time during the 1960s when Curtis Mayfield was in the group writing songs. Their records combined love songs, party tunes and right on social commentary in equal measure. Beginning in 1964 with “Keep On Pushing”, Curtis had a supreme talent for writing what are considered black pride anthems. I could list them all, but you surely must be aware of songs like “People Get Ready”, “Choice Of Colors”, “This Is My Country” and “Amen”. That’s just the songs he wrote for the group. After 1970’s Check Out Your Mind album, another winner, he went solo and continued creating gold. If he had only just written “Move On Up” or “Superfly” and nothing else, he would still be a legend. Anyway, Times Have Changed is the first post-Curtis Impressions album but his presence is all over it. Six of the eight songs are written by him and the other two are by his replacement, Leroy Hutson and Marvin Gaye. Mayfield handles the production and most of the arrangements, although Hutson helps on his track and old collaborator Johnny Pate lends his talents on a number too.

The album begins with “Stop The War,” a plea to end the conflict in Vietnam, but sadly a song that could apply to our times today or at several other points in recent history. It’s a classic Mayfield production, instantly recognizable. Tight bass and beats, propelling percussion, psychedelic and funky guitar leads and tasteful use of strings. Title track “Times Have Changed” is more of a gospel influenced slow burner that has wind sound effects layered underneath the intro and outro. Money track for most people is the cover of “Inner City Blues,” the Marvin Gaye anthem from his classic What’s Going On album, which had been released the previous year. The Impressions provide a powerful and faithful version of the original.

Next up the group sing “Our Love Goes On And On,” a nice love song with a great percussive break and an almost disco feel that Gladys Knight & The Pips would cover a couple of years later on the soundtrack to the film Claudine. Another fine Curtis Mayfield written and produced set. The man did not stop during the 1970s I tell you.

The remainder of the album stays in love mode with songs related to matters of the heart. I really like the song “Potent Love.” It’s a textbook Mayfield production and shows off the great musicianship from the players he used, particularly that of Master Henry Gibson on percussion duties. The album finishes strongly with the song “Love Me,” a great soulful mid-tempo head-nodder that again benefits from some fine musicianship and a strong arrangement.

Although Leroy Hutson replaced Mayfield in the group, his vocals are not lead throughout, and in fact you hear just as much of Sam Gooden and Fred Cash as you do Hutson. That’s not a complaint. The Impressions were always a vocal group. Just like their contemporaries over at Motown, The Temptations and The Four Tops, for example, they had great harmonies and shared lead amongst the members depending on the song’s needs. Every cut on this record has terrific vocals, just outstanding. These kids today call themselves singers, yeah right.

Perhaps the only criticism of this set is that it’s a little short at just over thirty minutes and possibly too heavy on the love songs. Maybe one more song like the first three would have evened it out more, but who the hell am I to second guess genius fifty years later?

I think the album is a fine addition to the group’s discography and worthy of investigation for all the soul lovers out there. There are several versions and pressings available, but be prepared to pay a little for a first with the embossed gatefold cover, and look out for copies that came with a small poster included with the initial run that has the group standing solemnly in a cemetery with the text “Too Late For Equality” above them. The same shot without text is used inside the gatefold.

As a group, The Impressions carried on for many more years, creating some good music. Following Times Have Changed came the albums Preacher Man, Finally Got Myself Together and Three The Hard Way (a soundtrack) which are all solid. Curtis Mayfield, as we mentioned, kept himself very busy with his own records and the many others that he wrote, arranged and produced for other artists. It goes without saying that if you see his name on a record, it’s worth checking out. I mean, Curtis and The Impressions were one of the biggest influences on Bob Marley and The Wailers, and you can’t get a better endorsement than that.

You can click here for a link to listen to the album if you feel so inclined, and I’ll see you here next time.

Cheers - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters? How’s your week been? I hope all is well out there with you.

Last week the world sadly lost another name in music with the passing of Scottish musician Alan Rankine of the pop group The Associates. With that in mind, for my staff pick this week please join me and celebrate the fabulousness that was The Associates.

For anyone who was tuned into the pop world during the early 1980s in Britain as I was, there was no escaping the impact that The Associates had. During 1982 they ruled weekly TV chart show Top Of The Pops with their appearances, performing their two biggest hits, Party Fears Two and Club Country. I can recall hearing the former song for the first time and still think it’s one of the most unique pop songs of the era and remains a personal favorite. The magic came from the incredible range of singer Billy Mackenzie and the ease with which he moved through the octaves. Combined with the catchy guitar & synth-pop made by Alan Rankine it was a match made in heaven. Alan now joins Billy in the afterlife, who tragically left the world back in 1997.

Rankine and Mackenzie formed the group in the late 1970s in Dundee, Scotland. They cheekily came to attention by covering David Bowie’s Boys Keep Swinging just months after the original had been released, without permission. Bowie’s publishers were impressed enough though to offer a deal, which led to the recording of their first album The Affectionate Punch, released through Fiction Records. That label was home to The Cure, with whom they toured in 1980 and The Cure’s Robert Smith provided backing vocals on a song or two. He’s heard on the song Amused As Always, which has a great squelchy bass line. The album’s a cool mix of synth-pop, post punk guitars and Bowie Low period all topped off with Billy’s vocals cruising operatically throughout proceedings. I had a copy of the record once, but let it go in one of several purges my record collection has had over the years due to moving or needing money. I’ve yet to find a replacement copy in the wild, but perhaps on a future trip to England I’ll come across one. Of note is the fact that a few years later, the album was re-recorded with new parts and vocals. The consensus is to avoid this version.

The Associates switched labels to Situation 2 after that first album and released a string of singles throughout 1981. A lot of the money for recording was taken from bigger record companies with the view to providing them demos. Situation 2 compiled those singles and other tracks onto the album Fourth Drawer Down. There’s lots to like among these tracks. I like the song Q Quarters, for instance, and my absolute favorite Associates track, the instrumental simply titled The Associate, which is a great catchy synth-based tune that’ll earworm you big time. Trust me. That song has been a go to DJ track for me over the years and always goes down well.

The early 1980s were blessed with so many great pop groups all doing their thing. If you know and like Soft Cell, Heaven 17, ABC, Spandau Ballet, and Human League to name a few, that’s the company that The Associates were keeping. The majors wanted in, and it was WEA that got them through their involvement with Beggars Banquet, which was the parent label to Situation 2, and with whom they had an international labels deal. This resulted in The Associates’ next and most successful album Sulk being released on their own Associates label via Beggars in the UK and on Sire in the US. It must be noted that the versions released in the UK and US vary considerably with different tracks and running order. The previously mentioned, Party Fears Two and Club Country are on both, but for the US version third hit 18 Carat Love Affair is added. (Personally, not one of my favorites, but still a good pop song). Things were on the up and up for the group in 1982, with a major UK tour poised to begin and US interest strong from both Sire and Island Records. Then Billy suddenly decided to pull out of the tour. Possibly a self-destructive move fueled by drug use and his desire to reinvent and not wanting to be pigeonholed into any one category, it was enough to force Alan Rankine to leave the band.

Mackenzie continued as The Associates, but with different musicians and associates for each subsequent project. Those further albums unfortunately don’t reach the high quality of the early work, although there are some definite worthy moments. Mackenzie famously ran up huge debts whilst at WEA with all sorts of shenanigans related to recording, re-recording and other artistic expenses. Eventually, they had to pull the plug. Apparently when taken to lunch at a Knightsbridge restaurant by his A&R man to be told he was dropped, Billy took the news on the chin and asked for one last expense to be picked up, his cab fare home. Naturally, it was accepted. Billy took the cab from London back to Dundee. Class.

There’s lots more to the story, including Billy working with Swiss production team Yello and recording a song with legend Shirley Bassey, something he was particularly proud of and proof to his parents that he had “made it.” In 1993, Billy and Alan had seemed to agree on a reunion, and plans were made for a tour and recordings. However, their differences remained and before much could come of it, they split for the final time. Sadly, four years later, following the death of his mother, which deepened his depression, Billy passed away due to an overdose of medications.

Alan Rankine is to be applauded and noted for his later contributions to music. He became a lecturer at Stow College in Glasgow, and as part of his musical program ther,e a young group called Belle And Sebastian were chosen to have their record Tigermilk released on the school’s Electric Honey label. The rest is, as they say, history. Kudos to him, though.

For a good few years, Associates records have been out of print, but in the early 2000s all the albums were reissued on CD remastered with bonus cuts. I do have a copy of The Affectionate Punch, at least on CD. The rejected WEA album also finally got a release. Plenty to explore for sure, but certainly do yourselves a favor and get to know those first three records and look at some of their early videos and TV appearances. Perhaps we can make Billy’s famous black beret become fashionable again.

Thanks for reading and being open to other forms of music than just punk. Y’all are cool like that and it’s appreciated.

Cheers - Dom

Rest In Power Jeff Beck. Truth.

Hey there everybody, a happy new year to you. I hope all is well with you and that you had a fun holiday period. We’ve been rockin’ at the store and sending a lot of folk home with cool records, which has been great. A big thank you to all of you, whether you visited us in person or on-line. We really appreciate it and will do our best to get even more ace records onto your turntables in 2023.

As for a staff pick this week, I could go anywhere. Just like the crazy changing weather here in North Carolina, my mood switches from one day to the other and often from one hour to the other. Typically, when it’s cold and grey the music soundtrack is similar, but what with all the sunny days we have had, along with the recently finished World Cup, I have found myself listening to a lot more music that I usually associate with summer. Reggae, Latin and Brazilian music, for instance. This past week on Worldy, Matt and I played an all Brazil special to honor the recently departed Pele. If you checked out my staff pick from a week or two ago where I talked about a Brazilian music mix CD, and you liked it, then you may enjoy this show. I’d be honored if you gave it a listen.

On the Latin music front, I was reminded of a great record this week that celebrated its 50th anniversary last year and it’ll be that one that I’ll steer you towards this week.

Eddie Palmieri and Harlem River Drive: Recorded Live At Sing Sing. Tico Records. 1972

Just like any other person with ears, I am a big fan of Johnny Cash, and particularly like his two prison albums recorded at San Quentin and Folsom. Over the holidays, we had copies of those two at the store and I gave them another listen. Coincidentally, John Scott told me that he had been playing them on his drive back from visiting his family for Christmas. He’s a fan too. With that in mind, we discovered a great show that Johnny Cash performed in 1968 at the Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco, right between the release of those two prison albums. The show was recorded by Owsley Stanley using his unique verité style of recording. As the listener, you really feel like you are stage side in the audience witnessing the show as it happened. The show was recently released commercially, and I snagged a vinyl copy for myself. It’s an awesome set and captures Johnny Cash at a very interesting point in his life and in history. I highly recommend you investigate.

The prison system in the United States is truly a blight on the country, and back in the late sixties and early seventies the conditions were particularly bad. Nixon’s war on drugs and the mass incarceration that resulted was just beginning, but the prisons were already overcrowded with terrible conditions and with an already too high percentage of people of color. At Attica in 1971 tensions boiled over into a riot, resulting in over 30 deaths. It was just months later in that atmosphere when Eddie Palmieri took his Harlem River Drive group up the Hudson river to Ossining, NY and the infamous Sing Sing Correctional Facility to perform for the inmates and record this great album. He wasn’t the only act though to perform and record there. That very year, a young filmmaker was granted access to the prison to teach a film making class and the resulting project had, among other performers, blues legend B.B. King giving a very emotional performance to the inmates for a special Thanksgiving concert. You should look at the footage and see for yourself. B.B. King said at the time that this performance was one of his best and most memorable and special. Filmmaker David Hoffman has made the whole concert available, so click here for the link.

Another name that performed that year at the prison was a new up-and-coming artist by the name of Bruce Springsteen.

The Harlem River Drive group consisted of leader Eddie Palmieri, his brother Charlie, the core of Aretha Franklin’s then touring band, plus several major names in the Latin music and session scene. The group was named after the controversial highway that was built cutting through the streets of Harlem, allowing cars to bypass the streets and neighborhood, thus avoiding the realities of the ghetto. The previous year, 1971, saw the release of the self-titled album, a great Latin Jazz Funk Soul crossover record, which is rightfully still held in high regard today and will cost you at least $100 for a nice copy, although there are now some reissues available. The Sing Sing album doesn’t go for quite as much, but is just as worthy, as is the follow up second volume that was released a couple of years later. That one has eluded me in the wild and doesn’t seem to show up as much.

On the original volume, you get to hear four long extended songs, plus poetry read by Felipe Luciano and introductions from M.C.’s Joe Cain and Paquito Navarro, and most importantly the very enthusiastic response from the audience of mostly Black and Latino inmates. By the end of the last performance, they are whipped up into a fervor. That last song on the album, called Azucar, is pure fire, and it’s worth owning the album for that alone, although the impact is more significant if you have listened to the preceding songs and readings.

The recording captures a real moment in time, and one where the musicians, just like in the case with B.B. King and Johnny Cash, bring their A game. Palmieri, to his credit, continued playing prison gigs throughout his career, including twice at the aforementioned Attica.

You should check this album out if Salsa and Latin funk is your bag, and of course those classic Johnny Cash and B.B. King performances. All killer.

Have a great week and I’ll see you next time. Cheers - Dom

Hello Sorry State friends and family and a very happy holiday to you all. I wish you a happy and festive period and raise a glass to you all. Have a great time however or whether you celebrate.

I’ll finally be able to think about Christmas next week now that the World Cup is about to conclude with the final this coming Sunday. It’s been an exciting competition, and although there are lots of questions about issues off the pitch, the action on the field has been riveting.

This week I am excited to announce the beginning of a new partnership with a wonderful UK based label that I have been a big fan of since first discovering them. Ladies and Gentlemen please welcome to Sorry State, Big AC Records.

Big AC Records is an independent label from East London run by husband-and-wife team Nick Corbin and Sophie Heath. Nick is an accomplished and talented artist himself and, in addition to recording and performing, acts as the label’s A&R. Sophie manages the label and handles art direction and design. She also keeps busy as a radio and club DJ. Their focus is on new talent and delivering great sounding and beautifully packaged soul records to those of us out in the world that value and appreciate such things. If you are a modernist, soulie, rare-groover or a soul and funk DJ yourself, then this label is for you. Similar to other bespoke soul labels such as Big Crown or Colemine for instance, but less on the retro and more on the future soul sound.

I first became aware of Big AC through my involvement with The Face Radio. They host a radio show on the station and have been championed by station head Kurtis Powers from day one. My fellow station deejays are all big fans also and we always look forward to the next release.

Their roster of artists is small but delivers big. Currently they have released records from Nick Corbin and two fabulous singers, Abi Farrell and Carmy Love. If you click on their names, you’ll be linked to the titles we have available and can read some more detailed information about each one. To start us off here at Sorry State, we have brought in their most recent 45s and are expecting new records from Carmy Love very soon. Record manufacturing is just as hard and fraught with delays in England as it is here in America. I’ll definitely give you all the heads up when those arrive. What is exciting for all Stateside fans is that we are almost exclusively the only store with these releases available, which should help with overseas postal charges. Getting good records into the hands of those that want them at an affordable price is our shared goal.

Those fans lucky enough to catch the recent Big AC Records Revue shows that toured the UK were treated to the abundant talent on the label and hopefully in the future there might be similar magical nights for fans here in the US and other countries. In the meantime, check out these terrific 45s and find out why so many folks are falling in love with the label and the music they are producing.

Cheers everyone - Dom

What’s up Sorry Staters? Glad to be back with you again with the newsletter. Thanks for peeking and reading. I must admit that I am still fully in World Cup mode. Jolly Ol’ England are playing well and still in the tournament, although that might end Saturday when we face France. It’s been a great competition football-wise, and quite exciting. With the Cup being played in December this time around and the weather here in Carolina nowhere near wintery cold, it’s been hard to think about Christmas and the holidays. It just doesn’t feel like it at all. North of the equator problems I know.

With the radio show I do, we have been playing lots of upbeat and sunnier sounding fare to suit the mood and countries playing. So, more soul, funk, samba and the like than grey, wet, cold weather music.

To get me in the mood for the Brazil game last week, I dug into a box of international CDs I have for something to spin in the car and pulled out one called Baile Funk 2: Agora E Moda.

It’s a terrific mix CD of all Brazilian artists with some nice deep cuts. The set was compiled and put together by an old DJ friend of mine, Greg Caz. Greg was a fellow record hound and DJ who promoted a Brazilian party at a great spot in Brooklyn called Black Betty that was run by a super nice, cool couple from Brazil. The party was part of my exposure to the great music from Brazil that I had only scratched the surface of prior to moving to New York. Right down the street from the store that I worked at was a great live venue, S.O.B.’s or Sound Of Brazil. A terrific spot and always hosting great Brazilian, Latin American and Afro artists. I was like a kid in a candy store throughout those years. I loved it. So much great music to enjoy and absorb. My record collection growing at a rapid rate. CDs too, as this was still the era when great lost albums and unreleased music was being issued on CD.

Greg had given me a few mix CDs and CDRs and they were all great, but this one was one of my faves. He squeezed over thirty tracks on the disc and mixed them well. The flow and transitions are really nice. There’s a good mix of artists and bands. Some legendary and some more obscure. I was introduced to many a name from this CD and hipped to some cool shit. Typical with these types of deep dives, a lot of these records would be tough to find as originals and if you did, you’d have to pay high for them. Perhaps now with the internet etc. some might be more easily available, but back in the late 90s/early 00s it was a much different landscape.

Musically speaking, the mix covers tunes cut between the mid-sixties through the late seventies for the most part. Over repeated listens I have got to love certain moments, but I still love how the first three or four tracks flow. Beginning with Os Incríveis who recorded a ton of records throughout the sixties and into the seventies, this tune came from a 45 they recorded to tie in with one of the Disney Herbie movies featuring the famous racing VW bug. It’s a cool beginning and then we hear from Rita Lee, one of a few names I did at least recognize at the time as Os Mutantes were on my radar by then. This cut is pulled from one of her later solo albums.

Third up is Rosa Maria with a cut from a single she released in 1972 that as an original goes for three figures. Luckily, over the years, the awesome Mr. Bongo label has reissued great tunes like this one, so a lot are at least accessible now. Again, twenty-plus years ago it was a different ball game. You had to work a lot harder to hear more obscure, deeper cuts. Now in 2022, a lot of these names on the mix are more widely known and many of the tunes themselves have become staples in DJ sets and compilation albums, but back in the early 00s hearing these songs for the first time was mind blowing and dare I say life altering.

There are so many more cool cuts later in the mix. Azymuth, the great jazz funk band, gives us the funky Zombie. Jorge Ben serves up some Jazz Potatoes and the great Tim Maia is represented with a cut taken from his self-titled late 70s album. All terrific.

You can click here for a link to listen to the mix. It’s not the actual mix unfortunately and a couple of tracks are missing, but you’ll get the music. It will make the perfect playlist to watch the football to. Obviously I am hoping England does well, but I’ll also be pulling for Brazil.

Oh, and I am aware that Brazil is spelled with an S, at least on their football jerseys, but for ease of writing, spell check etc., I have gone with the Z spelling here. Don’t get bent out of shape, please.

Okay, that’s my recommendation for you this week. I hope you enjoy it. Thanks for reading and see you next time. Cheers and Via Brasil - Dom

Hey everyone! Here we are again with another Sorry State Newsletter after the Thanksgiving break. We hope you are all doing well out there and as always we appreciate you reading this and for your support. With so much to distract our attentions these days, it means a lot that you chose to spend a few minutes with us each week.

I’ve had plenty to keep my mind occupied these past two weeks with the World Cup going on. I know there are many issues with Qatar being selected as the host country and FIFA as an organization, but it’s still the World Cup, the most important part of the sporting calendar for most of the world, and something that I love watching. With the time zone difference, I haven’t managed to get up at 4 AM to watch the early games, but try to catch as much of the other games as possible. A little tricky at work, but I keep a screen going and my phone updating me. Then at night it’s watching recorded games and the pundit shows to get the complete story. So, a little less music listening than usual, although I do often like to watch games with the sound down and something playing. For the radio show Worldy that I do over at The Face Radio, we have been trying to play records from all 32 countries involved in the World Cup and as many footie records that we have. My partner Matt, who is a soccer coach here, has some great football related records. For the first full day of the competition, the other Monday, we were on air for a marathon six-hour session. Those shows and our others are available in the Face archives should you be interested. I thought we had a fun one last week with the selections we picked. One record that I played was something that I pulled from a collection of 80s 12-inch singles we recently bought, and it seemed to fit in well with the flow of the show.

It’s by Doc Ti and called Block Party, released on Next Plateau Records in 1987. A nice slice of electro hip-hop that was rapper Doc Ti’s second release. As with most 12-inch singles from the era, this one comes backed with an instrumental version of the song, and that’s something that I always enjoy getting. I can’t tell you much about Doc Ti other than his real name is Tony Pruden, he’s from New York, and he has released music under his real name.

This cut is cool though, and with all the block parties going on around the country and rest of the world as people gather to watch the games, an appropriate choice I thought. Check it out here and see what you think. The sample used is Drop The Bomb by Trouble Funk along with a couple of other soundbites dropped in, like the chorus from It’s A Shame by The Spinners.

Not much of a staff pick from me again this week which I apologize for, but I promise if you listen to the Worldy shows, you’ll hear some good shit. And if you come visit us at the store, I’ll point you towards even more cool stuff. We have the records, no doubt.

Cheers - Dom

What’s up Sorry State friends? Thanks for taking the time to check in with us and read the newsletter. We’ll be away for Thanksgiving next week, but that isn’t stopping the cogs from turning here at Sorry State Industries. We are preparing the Record Store Day Black Friday releases for that weekend and each day brings packages from our label and distributor friends full of new releases and key restocks. Lots to process and that’s just the new product. We have been out buying used records too, and Daniel has been racking up some road miles traveling to and fro, scoring some killer vintage vinyl. Those of you that can make it into the store will be seeing the fruits of these travels each week in our new used arrivals bins. Cool.

I unfortunately write with a heavy heart this week as one of my beautiful cats passed away. She died suddenly and before her time but mercifully did not suffer. I’m honestly gutted and very sad. Her name was Kate and she and I had a very close and special bond. I loved the shit out of that girl and perhaps because I don’t have family and close friends near me, I project all my emotions at her and my other cats. They are my family. I feel such a sense of loss and will be raw with grief for a while.

That being said, this is our newsletter, and you came here looking for suggestions on good records to listen to and not to be bummed out by my sadness. So on with the show.

I am not sure how many of you are sports fans and care, but in a couple of days the World Cup begins in Qatar. There’s lots to discuss about the how and why of FIFA selecting Qatar as the host, and there’s also plenty to talk about when it comes to the human rights records of the region, especially the treatment of the LBGT community. Also, the circumstances that have meant the tournament takes place in the winter and interrupts many countries’ domestic football seasons. All of that you’ll have to discuss amongst yourselves and read and watch on your favorite sports channels, but I will say that I do follow football and enjoy the World Cup and hope that hosting the competition in Qatar will have a positive effect on the region.

For our radio show, Worldy, this coming Monday, Matt and I are having a marathon six-hour World Cup themed show. We’ll be playing music from all or as many as we can of the 32 countries taking part. Starting at 10 AM EST. That Monday has England and USA playing their respective first group games, so it should be a fun and interesting time.

I wish Jamaica had qualified, because then I could really say that my staff pick was completely appropriate, but they didn’t this time. However, I still have to select Scientist Wins The World Cup as my choice this week. The cover art alone qualifies it even if the music is dub reggae from Jamaica. With the mood I have been in this week, it has been tough to find the right music to listen to. I’m not quite ready to rage with anger to punk rock and I am not wanting to listen to super sad loner folk either. Instrumental music is the answer, and good dub reggae will always hit the spot. As this record was pulled and sitting out, I put it on the turntable, and when the needle hit the groove and the music began, I immediately felt good. This is the stuff alright.

Originally released back in 1982 on the great Greensleeves label with ten tracks simply titled ten dangerous matches, this was one of several albums Scientist released during the early 1980s that are considered dub classics. All had great titles and jacket art to go along with it. To name a few, Heavyweight Dub Champion and Big Showdown have a boxing theme, Meets The Space Invaders and Encounters Pac-Man have video game references, and the classic Rids The World Of The Evil Curse Of The Vampires, which obviously has a horror and Halloween theme. That last one seems to be the one people always mention and possibly is the highest profile of the series based on some of the tracks appearing in modern video games.

They’re all great records. Hopeton “Scientist” Brown, the protégé of King Tubby and Bunny Lee and contemporary of Prince Jammy, was at his creative peak during this period. He recorded mostly with The Roots Radics band at Channel One Studio, where he was the principal engineer, and with vocals from some of the best singers around. On World Cup, vocals come from Johnny Osbourne, Hugh Mundell and Wayne Jarrett, all top talents. Additional production assistance comes from Junjo Lawes, another top engineer and producer who cut his teeth at King Tubby’s.

The cover art features The Roots Radics beating England 6-1 in a football match in a great painting by Tony McDermott, whose artwork featured on countless reggae records and helped define the look of Greensleeves releases. Despite the football themed title and cover, there isn’t too much musically that would make you think about the beautiful game. The songs used for the dubs are almost all love songs or songs that were about lost love. Typical with dub versions, the songs used are begun with the vocal part to set the song up and inform the listener of the base used, but after a bar or two the vocals are faded out and then the mixing board skills of Scientist kick in. Pure genius from the man. Everything is top notch from the source material used, the musicians and singers who cut the tunes, to the studio and equipment used. You can rest assured that when you pick any record with Scientist’s name on it that the sound will be great.

It might have been great if some sound effects from football matches and crowd noise had been included, but there is an argument that then the record would only have limited listening potential. As it is, you don’t have to know anything about football to appreciate this album. With the mood of sadness I was in this week, songs about broken hearts were quite appropriate. Highlights are many, but album opener Dangerous Match One is crucial, with a bass line for the ages, and should be a good enough reason to listen if nothing else. The dub based on Johnny Osbourne’s Ice Cream Love is a great additional dub that came out on expanded versions of the album as Extra Time tracks, which are all just as good as the original ten tracks. I highly recommend you investigate the rest of the album and any of the Scientist albums from the period. They’re all fire. As with a lot of great music, originals can be expensive and hard to find, but luckily there are reissues and digital sources these days for everyone to get their fix depending on their budget and listening habits. My copy of World Cup is a reissue that has six of the extra tracks included and doesn’t sound too bad. I have originals of some Scientist records but will take them in any form to get the music rather than be without when they are this good.

Go check this one out and enjoy the World Cup.

Cheers - Dom