"My purpose was simple: to catch the feel, the pulse of rock, as I had lived through it. What I was after was guts, and flash, and energy, and speed" - NIK COHN -
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "When the music was new and had no rules" -LUNA C
No, not a shortlived end o' 90s publication devoted to all things Skinty and Wall of Soundy... at home with Monkey Mafia profiles... Portrait of the Propellerheads as Consumers.... an advice column from Lindy of Hardknox
No, we are talking much, much earlier than that...
Based out of San Francisco
World Countdown was the creation of a fellow called Charles Royal - and his brother Mark.
"Big Beat" being a phrase, a concept, a vibe, that harked back to the 1960s
As was the term "beat group", meaning an imposing drum beat rather than "beat" as in poet or beatnik.
The magazine dropped the "big beat" bit from its frontal boasts, perhaps reflecting the shift from beat-y energy to a more "heads" oriented sound, especially in San Francisco, which I would never have thought of as a hotspot for big beats in the Dave Clark Five sense.
It ran for 29 issues and at the end was simply billing itself as This Earth's Leading Music Newspaper.
Before that it claimed, absurdly, to be the World's First Music Newspaper
It was only 40 years behind Melody Maker, which I doubt was the first weekly periodical about music anyway.
"The Voice of Music" my English arse
Yes, there was a certain grandiosity to the World Countdown operation, as with the incorporation of the surname Royal in the title on the front cover - Royal's World Countdown.
If your surname is Royal, does that mean you end up with a "King of All I Survey" complex?
Also - what is with this repeated sales pitch of it being a "souvenir" issue?
Or "collectors edition"
"You will cherish our magazine forever!"
Now I have been obsessively following music for decades, with a particular interest in the history of music magazines, the underground press, and especially the early days of rock criticism - and I'd never heard of this publication until a few days ago.
Back to the other Big Beat... I am surprised in that late '90s Boom for Dance, when publications were springing up all over the shop, there wasn't a Big Beat dedicated magazine. Perhaps there didn't need to be since it was well covered in the big three dance monthlies, Mixmag, Muzik and DJ.
I seem to remember that at the absolute peak glut of dance and dance mags, someone tried to launch a dance-dedicated weekly music paper. But then the bubble burst...
4 Meg Soundboy with some nifty usage of "Can't turn me away" by Sylvia Striplin
Then there's Smokey Joe with a famous vocal lick
The "Special Request" vocal licks are sampled from Shut Up and Dance's "Rest In Peace" - but where did they get them from?
Another iteration of that vocals lick - as well as another, different "special request" - in this Reinforced tune
Those reggae vocal licks from Smokey Joe's "Special Request" et al recur - alongside JVC Force "Strong Island" riffs - in DJ Double G's UKG classic "Special Request"
Ah (bit nuum nummy this) DJ Double G turns out to be DJ Gunshot as in No U Turn, making the same shift as No U Turn becoming Turn U On, but not sticking with the label
Real name Gordon Gummer, a veteran deejay on Don FM and Flex FM
a different "special request" occurs in this track - and the "special" recurs passim
Two of my most cherished 'Mystery Tunes' - 'Do the Right Ting' identified a while ago by a knowledgeable reader, and 'Honey Love' I only just spotted myself
Artist name comes from a Queen Latifah album
But who is Princess of the Posse? Answer to come in a minute
Now Labello Blanco did some fun things
Also the tune I insist on calling "Sexual Feeling Is Mutual" - as 'slow jam' lyrics go that is some clunky writing
And Labello put out some great things - mostly those involvingRogue Unit
Like this unofficial, only-released-on-a-Jungle-Massive-comp Steve Gurley rmx of UK R&B micro-star Princess
And this gorgeous dreamy wistful remix
Labello Blanco - wouldyabelieve I only just twigged it's a play on "white label"!
Labello had a bunch of sub-labels including Urban Gorilla, who did this beauty
Did not realize that Labello was the precursor label to UK Garage stalwart Public Demand (as in Artful Dodger, Steve Gurley, Sticky feat Ms Dynamite etc)
Some serious Nuumy Nuum stuff there, history fans!
There was a 2steppy sublabel called Absolute Corruption
Add that to this long list of Erik Satie "Trois Gymnopedies" rifling tunes
For a second there - in a feat of absolute nuumtinuity - I thought this might be a cover of Goldie's "Kemistry" / "You and Me" - but it seems more inspiration / homage
Labello / Public Demand / etc is-was a tightknit operation clustered around the Low family
Key figure is Jimmy Low, who set up Labello in 1990.
Also known as Macka Brown and MC Kann aka Bug Kann (as in Bug Kann & The Plastic Jam, Labello's most successful act with "Made In Two Minutes") (although Macka's "Go Down Baby" was a big tune too)
But there's also younger brother Dave Low and sister Patti Low
Patti is Princess of the Posse - at least it says that "all tracks created by" her, but "all tracks produced by the Plastic Jam"
Which is Grant Bowden, the key non-family member of the operation.
An interesting distinction - what is the difference between "created" and "produced", in this sort of music?
Nuum nuuumy alert - Bowden became the UKG artist Gass,. Named after the UK garage club I assume.
Back to Princess of the Posse
The other two tracks on the Pun Project EP are solid ruffige with squeakified raggavox
One of Grant Bowden's aliases is Payback, as in "Eastenders' and "Dope"
Huge bass on this tune and nice clangy beat
Monster tectonic rumblizm on this
I'm guessing Bowden's got the lion share of responsibility for the label's early classic "Made In Two Minutes"
1990 and this is almost ambient jungle ahead of schedule - the main lick is a dreamy, chilled version of the 'rave signal' melody-riff
But it also came out as Reel To Reel?
Now is this the same as the Original Bleep version or slightly different?
The famous incarnation of "Made In Two Minutes" is very UKrappy in the Criminal Minds / Genaside II / Rebel MC mode. And presumably that's sister Patti cooing over the top.
And there's raggamuffin bizness at the start (ALLCRU - mouth-mangled it sounds more like ARDKORE) and at points throughout....
Many remixes
Foul Play - a remix by them I missed
And many other versions, including second go's by Gachet and others
And keeping it nuum nuum nuumy here's a coupla UKG remixes from 97
Talking of the UKG era....
It says at Discogss that the younger scion of the Low clan - Dave Low - is "the DJ in Artful Dodger"
But this was achieved in an unusual way
In 2001, Hill and Devereux parted ways due to creative differences and the trademark, name and usage rights of Artful Dodger was purchased by Blessed Records.
Capitalising on the significant live demand for the group, the owner of Blessed Records DJ Dave Low accompanied by MC Alistair adopted the name, in essence creating a cover band. They continue to tour under the name Artful Dodger to this day, performing the music of Hill and Devereux frequently in their sets.
Hill and Devereux reunited in 2017 but were unable to release new music or perform under their own name so formed Original Dodger.
I wonder what the market value of the Artful Dodger brand was in 2001-ish?
They had had a run of Top 10 singles - five of them - and two of those were #2 smashes.
And they must have done a million remixes.
But as a performance outfit... how much would someone pay them for that, as the UKG-goes-pop bubble bursts?
As for Princess of the Posse, it says at Discogs that Patti Low is a
"session singer from Essex, England based in Marbella, Spain.
Now works as a vocal coach and songwriter and performs in an ABBA tribute act."
