A Nice Little Pub In The Middle Of Nowhere

More golden age hip hop for you today but seriously less angry than Public Enemy’s 1989 single Fight The Power that raised the temperature here yesterday. I’ve been meaning to write about De La Soul and their thirty year old debut album. I was listening to Eye Know recently and it sounded ace, really fresh and inventive. But instead today we have De La Soul’s Native Tongue’s compatriots A Tribe Called Quest. The group’s debut single I Left My Wallet In El Segundo came out in 1990. A year later it was remixed by the then fairly unknown Norman Cook and this version was put out as a promo. Norman samples/borrows liberally from/rebuilds the song entirely around Donna Summer’s State Of Independence. El Segundo’s rap is led by Q- Tip, whose lighthearted drawl sounds wonderful. He narrates the story of coming into some cash, heading south to Mexico and the dangers that lie within- buying gas, eating enchiladas and at the moment of payment being so distracted by the beauty of the waitress that you forget your wallet. Easily done.

I Left My Wallet In El Segundo (The State Of Independence Mix)

As a bonus track here’s Donna’s sublime early 80s single. State Of Independence was written and originally recorded by Jon and Vangelis. Donna recorded and released her take on it in 1982, a lolloping reggae based groove with sunshine drizzled all over it and Quincy Jones at the controls.

State Of Independence

Bonus, bonus track. In 1992 State Of Independence was covered by Moodswings, laid back, downtempo house groove with Chrissie Hynde and Martin Luther King on vocals. Moodswings were James FT Hood and Grant Showbiz. Grant spent his 80s being road crew and guitar tech for Billy Bragg and The Smiths.I’d imagine being a roadie for The Smiths involved moodswings on a daily basis. The version here is nine minutes of bliss.

Spiritual High (Moodfood Megamix)

Blue Monday

I know a lot of you went back to work last week but my blue Monday is today. It’s not the job- it’s everything that goes with it that makes this morning a shock to the system. Early, dark mornings, traffic, late nights…

This is the 1988 version of New Order’s best known and most mythologised song. It was re-released to celebrate five years since the original but in a remixed form with Quincy Jones (and John Potoker) at the controls.  It’s not as good as the 1983 version but it’s good enough in its own right and did the business in chart terms (number 3 in the UK) and I like it well enough. The Peter Saville sleeve, not as costly to produce as the 83 diecut version, is a favourite of mine too.

Blue Monday 88 (7″)