ESG - Moody

Moody quite apt with the way I'm feeling.. getting up in the morning when it's cold and dark .. Getting home when it's cold and darks ..




ESG (Emerald, Sapphire and Gold) are the Scroggins Sisters from South Bronx, New York,

Once penned as possibly "one of the most dynamic bands that New York could offer at the top of the '80s." They influenced many across multiple genres including hip hop, post-punk, disco, and dance-punk. Also heavily sampled by many and hip-hop artists crate digging and searching samples were the likes of Wu-Tang Clan, the Beastie Boys, Big Daddy Kane, Gang Starr!!








… and from one of my favourite albums a classic tune Moody possibly the Blueprint of house .. ?!


ESG .... Moody

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London Hooligan Soul album by The Ballistic Brothers

Picked this album out the other day and forgot about the words on the back..

This is about London but to be honest was the same in ever city throughout the UK .. I posted in on my Instagram (casual70) the other day and thought I'd share it here. From growing up listening to and being a Mod, Skinhead\Rudeboy through Casual to AcidHouse Warehouse parties I've loved growing up through all of these things - a lucky generation, won't happen again I don't think we didn't need the internet and smartphones to make our world happen (I sound like my dad haha)

Liner Notes:

If our memories serve us well...

Bunking school for crackers on a Friday lunchtime, forget your dinner ladies. Pirate radio,codes from the underground...Saturday night blues dances and forbidden moves to Phoebe's,Four Aces and Club Norick. Shaka, Fatman and Sir Coxone, the original drum and bass. Sneaking out of the back door with your brand new shoes. Saturday's alright for fighting. Skinheads getting a beat down, ambush in the night.

Stuarts in the day Fila, Lacoste, Tacchini, Armani, Lois, Nike and Kappa. Taxing the rich and famous and rushing the Burberry door. Scoring a draw down the Saints. A pick up from the SPG. Blair Peach a crying shame the NF and unmarked police vans who is to blame? Clash city rockers and white men in Hammersmith Palais. Road trips to Caister, Soul Tribes, The Frontline and the Soul Partners. All dayers in Bournemouth taking the train, taking a train, ego trip dabbing speed it's all you need. Westwood, Family Quest no contest.

West End B-boys and fly girls, chrome angels Graff bombing the Met. Breaking in the Garden ... Covent to you suckers. An armful of Studio 1 from Daddy Peckings. Flim Flam to Meltdown. The Jay Brothers, goodtimes and great tribulations. Gilles P and Paul Murphy Zulu style at the Electric. Brother Paul boogie times. The Beat Route and Hard Times.

Fifteen years of fucking Tories, on the dole, a thousand stories of promised lands and meccas - Blackpool. To you the sweet sounds of Levine and Curtis. The Language Lab said and Dirtbox spread and old bill cracking miners heads. Who killed Liddle Towers? The Jam at Wembley seven times and National Health for the last time. Bump and hustle, soul 45s, too far gone there is no way back. Phuture, Acid, Confusion, The Rush, The Love, the smiling hooligan with dodgy gear open minds close and get the fear. East Grinstead and Bognor lads away, falling and laughing, escape to Brighton or off to Ibiza tying to maintain the buzz. Getting older and getting wed. Elvis is dead. Is anybody out there? A poll tax riot going on. They have sold my country...









Go seek it out on YouTube


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Trainers... Regrets I've had few

Have been sorting through my trainers lately to see what I want what can go...

Then I remembered last time I did this somehow I managed to get rid of a pair of Adidas Grand Slam by ALIFE NYC.. Not in as good condition as the ones pictured but not really worn in or marked at all!!

Just Grand Slam is a different fit and always felt to tight (I thought they give with wear) so I got rid on fleabay got a good price (a small plus!!) as there was only a handful released. Got mine from Atoo in Birmingham ..... And regretted selling then ever since as never seen another person wearing them!!?

Only got a few pairs like that, that I know I can wear and no one else will......Gutted!!!







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So I've been away .....

I've been offline for a while on here but second time round going to make the effort to hopefully post a photo and tune or two per day ... Enjoy today's


Out if the basement : Take me with you.

El Diablo’s Social Club’s ‘To Rack & Ruin’ edits series.

Out of the Basement are Steve Leggat and James Ellis.
Side A is a splendid edit of lost soul classic from Lynne Christopher song of the same title, with beats and instruments added for full effect.

300 ltd handstamped vinyl.

Out of the Basement - Take me with you







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ProperMag .....

A great read about days of old 

To enjoy it in full please read whilst in a B-Boy stance !!

P*E*A*C*E

CAUSE WE GOT STYLE  : DOKUMENT via ProperMag

Jimi Polo : Better Days

JIMI POLO : BETTER DAYS : SASHA REMIX (youtube)

It's been a long time....

Sorry have been offline for a while have been in a dark place for a while now and finally admitted defeat and went to see my doctors, after a good chat and a bit of diagnosis she diagnosed me with Anxiety/Depression and have been on 10mg of Citalopram since 18^th March.

Due the tablets bashing me about I got signed off work during this time as the medication is a real energy sapper and was falling asleep at various times of the day like a baby but then buzzing and wide awake till the early hours.. really hope that bit subsides quickly as feel bad and the addition of no sleep send you crazy anyway

Hopefully now I’ve confronted and admitted it to myself also having seen a doctor things can only getting brighter

There must be so many people like me just battling away day by day by themselves, feeling rubbish, hopeless, worried, nervous who have not realised that they can be helped but for one reason or another haven’t clicked that it’s not them it’s not their fault and that to ask for a little help is perfectly fine, if not briefly uplifting knowing now that someone’s got your back!

They intend to up my dosage to 20mg over the next few days which should be interesting and have read that people have been really spaced out for the first few days !?! and have a councillor booked in to talk to as I don’t want to be popping pills forever!

I’m feeling positive now I’ve offloaded my problems to the Dr , have a great family, an awesome daughter and good friends so hopefully this will just be a blip and I’ll be back on track real soon

Also read online that someone said they got their sense of humour back – Praise the Lord I’ve missed that recently!!!

So i intend to write bit of my rollercoaster journey with a bit of humour to brighter days and hope you enjoy reading it – ill try to keep the darkness away but guess there will be many UP and DOWN days

LOVE, PEACE & PHARMARCY

NEW ORDER : BLUE MONDAY : 7TH MARCH 1983

Is it really 30 years since this was released??!!

PLAY ME : NEW ORDER BLUE MONDAY 1983

Years ahead of its time really. To me it’s still sounds fresh as it did the day i first heard it at a school disco aged 12!!

I could honestly say that it’s been present at very point of my life through at the school discos, house parties, roller discos, Birmingham Alldayers at various locations, Acid House parties, Remixed on the odd occasion for raves and clubs , edits galore.. However nothing ever beats the original! And I still have my copy from the eighties although not the original artwork sleeve a repress i believe (can’t have it all!!)

At nearly seven-and-a-half minutes, "Blue Monday" is one of the longest tracks ever to chart in the UK, and is the biggest-selling 12" single of all time.

Despite selling well it was not eligible for an official gold disc because Factory Records was not a member of the British Phonographic Industry association. According to the Official UK Chart Company (UK Singles Chart), its total UK sales stands at 1.16 million, and "Blue Monday" came 69th in the all-time UK best-selling singles chart published in November 2012.

The song begins with a distinctive miquaver kick drum intro, programmed on an Oberheim DMX drum machine.

"Blue Monday" was described by the BBC Radio 2 "Sold On Song" feature thus: "The track is widely regarded as a crucial link between Seventies disco and the Dance/House boom that took off at the end of the Eighties."Synthpop had been a major force in British popular music for several years, but "Blue Monday", by encouragement of the band's manager, Rob Gretton, was dance record that also exhibited influences from the New York club scene, particularly the work of producers like Arthur Baker (who collaborated on New Order's follow-up single "Confusion").

According to Bernard Sumner, "Blue Monday" was influenced by four songs: the arrangement came from "Dirty Talk", by Klein + M.B.O.; the signature baseline with octaves came from Sylvester's disco classic, "You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)"; the beat came from "Our Love", by Donna Summer; and the long keyboard pad on the intro and outro was sampled from the Kraftwerk song "Uranium", from the Radio-Activity album. The band claimed to have written the song in response to crowd disappointment at the fact that they never played encores.[citation needed] This song, they say, allowed them to return to the stage, press play on a synthesiser and leave the stage again. However, the band since have become noted for playing Blue Monday as an encore.

The artwork is designed to resemble a floppy disk. The single’s original sleeve, created by Factory designer Peter Saville and Brett Wickens, was die-cut with a silver inner sleeve. It cost so much to produce that Factory Records actually lost money on each copy sold. Matthew Robertson's Factory Records: The Complete Graphic Album notes that "due to the use of die-cutting and specified colours, the production cost of this sleeve was so high that the single sold at a loss." Tony Wilson noted that it lost 5p per sleeve "due to our strange accounting system"; Saville noted that nobody expected "Blue Monday" to be a commercially successful record at all, so nobody expected the cost to be an issue.

There is a separate reason why New Order probably saw little profit from the single's success, namely the fact that an investment in the Haçienda nightclub swallowed much of the money they made from their hit.

Thanks wiki

Walk For Kids 2013 Training - Walk #2

FREE RADIO WALKS SET TO RAISE THOUSANDS FOR LOCAL KIDS

Today we completed our second and final short walk, the girls post walk and whilst having sugar rushes on doughnuts an hot chocolate have been planning the 11 & 15 milers!!
I completed this last year inspired by the legend that is Harry Moseley and the legacy he has left... So this year I've asked my daughter and her mates to join - it didn't take much encouragement - good on them!!!!

A little bit about the walk :

Free Radio has announced the launch of ‘Free Radio Walk for Kids 2012' . The walk in Birmingham will follow the 26 mile Number 11 bus route aka The Outer Circle - The number 11 is Europe's longest urban bus route. It will take place on Sunday 19th May and will support Birmingham Women’s Hospital, Cure Leukaemia for Kids and Help Harry Help Others. I

Last year over 13,000 Brummies walked the 26 mile route and raised £420,000 in memory of brave Harry Moseley.

These events will support a number of other West Midlands based charities including Acorns Children’s Hospice, the neonatal ward at Russells Hall Hospital and the Children’s Emergency Department at University Hospital Coventry & Warwickshire.

David Bowie : Heroes : Perks of being a Wallflower

Watched "PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER" the other night on the recommendation from my 15year old daughter who had just finished reading the book - she said the book was a really good story.

...So we watched it and i was blown away by it, great film, story and soundtrack ... id recommended it to anyone with children of the right age to watch together as a coming of age film alongside "Stand by Me" et al!!

The soundtrack which to name but a few The Smiths, Dexys Midnight Runners, Sonic Youth, David Bowie - any film which introduces the young to great music and lyricists is already a classic in my opinion !!


One of the scenes has this narrative piece that mixes into David Bowie : Heroes (see link below)
for one reason or another this really struck a chord with me (apart from David Bowie Heroes being a forgotten favorite of mine) it was the words along with music and what was happeneing at the time in the film that gave me goosebumps reconfiming that my love of music isnt about 'genres 'and 'whats the latest and greatest' or 'next big thing ' its a feeling .. a moment in time that makes a piece of music special to you - a connection!

I don't know if I will have the time to write anymore letters because I might be too busy trying to participate. So if this does end up being the last letter, I just want you to know that I was in a bad place before I started high school and you helped me.

Even if you didn't know what I was talking about or know someone who's gone through it. You made me not feel alone. Because I know there are people who say all these things don't happen. And there are people who forget what it's like to be sixteen when they turn seventeen.
And know these will all be stories someday and our pictures will become old photographs and we'll all become somebody's mom or dad.

But right now these moments are not stories.

This is happening..........

I am here and I am looking at her and she is so beautiful. I can see it.

This one moment when you know you're not a sad story.......... you are alive.
And you stand up and see the lights on buildings and everything that makes you wonder, when you were listening to that song on that drive with the people you love most in this world.

And in this moment

I swear
..........we are infinite!

Charlies last letter & David Bowie Heroes

A Walk in the Sunshi-iiine

What a beautiful day!! just completed our first circular walk, getting the sparrow legs in training for Free Radio Walk for Kids in May

A great cause raising monies for Birmingham Women’s Hospital, Cure Leukaemia for Kids and Help Harry Help Others. The walk takes you around the number 11 bus route "the outer circle" of Birmingham city centre a 26 mile circular walk!

It was Harry Moseley who inspired me to get off my ass and do something last year. A really truly inspirational young man

Ill be posting more update on this as we train...

The Snow is back.....

A lot of groans and negativity about the snow (especially those in rear wheel German contraptions!) but I love it when everything is covered over white - brings a whole new look to your surroundings.

The anticipation of getting pelted walking past a fidgety bunch of school kids will they .. Won't they .. Do I retaliate .. Yes! My tip never walk in the snow without at least one ready made ice ball for the "offing"

It's also got that sound proofing everything seems quieter and calmer.

A few pics from today and a couple of edits courtesy of Hipstamatic and AfterGlow

Birmingham ...

Ill be posting a few bits about my town. Pictures from the 70s and 80s, music from the locals here too

This is Original Rockers - Push Push
A dub house classic !!

Born from a little sweaty club called Snobs in the very early 90s, no guarantees of getting in to hear the best music in town at the time! You had to get there early to get in or miss out .. Atmosphere was always electric - main room was House
Back room anything goes psych, rare groove funk etc

Good Times and great memories in this place
Dj Dick, Ming , Lee Fisher, Bad Boy Bill and various other local talents inviting the very best to join us for a night!

http://youtu.be/ZCbMgLxEp_A

Dance Craze 1981: The Best of British SKA!

Just been having a skank down memory lane watching a special DVD.
27 tracks from The Specials, The Bodysnatchers, Bad Manners, The Beat, Madness, The Selecter,

Great era of music and fashion - This is England captured things perfectly in the house party scene with mods, skins, Rudeboys, casuals, New Romantics all together in a party - good times!!!

Wobble 21st Anniversary

Wobble reunion Sunday 31st March 2013 830-430 (ish)

DJs on the night
Horse Meat Disco
Justin Robertson
Nathan Gregory Wilkins
Phil Gifford
SiLong
Matt Skinner
The Lovely Helen
Harrison Daniels
Chris Fitzmaurice

Looking forward to this and catching up with some old faces.
Spent nearly every weekend in the early 90s when this sweaty club opened its doors .. The most unpretentious clubbers who were just there for the music and good times - no posers and wallflowers here :-)

Blackerry Brandy , Blackberry Whiskey & Blackcurrant Brandy

Breaking Bad moment in the kitchen weighing sugar to fruit to alcohol ratios

 Stewing the fruit and dissolving the sugars

bottled up to settle and brew for 3 months

it’s just a waiting game - patience isn’t a strong characteristic of mine

Scooter Run

I've got a love for scooters have done since my teens. This is a great photo on the run!
Never taken the plunge to own one ... Maybe I should always time to do the things you love!

Sinnamon : I need you now

Sinnamon : I Need You Now

Hello

Welcome to my blog..
A daily post off a guy from Birmingham consisting of stuff that interests and inspires me Music, Images a few words Football, Trainers and good times!