Electro back then was electric funk and hiphop music, mainly for break-dancing, bee-bopping, and body-popping. In my opinion, the word ‘Electro’ today has been hijacked in the form of 4/4 dance music and not anywhere near its true roots.
I am providing you with four Electro albums for download. I recorded them directly from vinyl into Protools (Electro-6, 7 & 9 in particular), digitally restored as much as possible, and widened the stereo field, among other quick fixes. Go ahead an compare my mastered versions to the same ones you find elsewhere — mine sound the best.
Streetsounds History…
Streetsounds was part of the UK Streetwave stable of labels created by Morgan Khan. A Hong Kong-born Indian who grew up in London, Khan had worked in the UK record industry since the mid 1970′s, working for such names as PRT Distribution (a division of Pye Records) and R&B Records, for whom at the time Imagination were the up and coming stars of the day.
Khan founded the independent Streetwave record label during 1981 to specialise in releasing Electro and Hi-NRG releases. Within a year of creation, Streetwave began the Streetsounds series of albums; compilations created from some of the hottest 12″ imports of the day. These releases made available a selection of the most contemporary dance floor hits within the financial reach of those wanting to hear the freshest sounds. In the early 80′s a 12″ single was priced around £2 and you would pay over £4 for an import 12″. The Streetsounds series offered usually 8 to 12 full-length 12″ mixes for under a fiver. Understandably, the Streetsounds series was met with considerable enthusiasm and, some might say, mighty relief.
This series would run for over 6 years and contain over 50 albums. By far the most coveted of the Streetsounds releases were the Electro series. These albums introduced the UK to the developing hip-hop scene from America – a stroke of genius that brought electro and early hip hop from the underground to the UK high street and, one could argue, helped in the creation of the UK’s hip hop scene.
The Electro series ran for a total of 27 albums (and one box set) from 1982 to 1988. The albums were initially labeled “Streetsounds Electro” with the title morphing into “Streetsounds Hip Hop” after release 12 in 1986.
All of the albums were competently mixed by a series of the best remixers of the day – predominately from the UK. A large proportion of the mixes on the early releases were completed by a London-based hip-hop sound system from the early 80s. Headed by “Herbie The Mastermind” (aka Herbie Laidley) the team also featured Kiss FM radio DJ’s Dave VJ and Max LX who were also members of UK electro outfit Hard Rock Soul Movement, responsible for the massive “Double Def Fresh” release.
Electro-9…
Mixed by: Herbie (The Mastermind) Laidley
Year: 1985
Restored & remastered by: Hashmoder
Electro-7…
Mixed by: Herbie (The Mastermind) Laidley
Year: 1985
Restored & remastered by: Hashmoder
Electro-6…
Mixed by: DJ Maurice Assisted by DJ N
Year: 1985
Restored & remastered by: Hashmoder
Electro-2…
Mixed by: Herbie (The Mastermind) Laidley
Year: 1983
Track-List of Electro-6, Electro-7 and Electro-9…
While the norm for most tracks go anywhere between 3:30 to 6:00 minutes in length, I prefer 15:00 minutes or longer, like the four seasons. Give me 4 long tracks to fill the hour, and I’ll be one very happy Iraqi. I love tracks that take me on long journeys through various movements. One of my all-time favorite synth-pop groups is PROPAGANDA from germany … who sound like twisted ABBA + Industrial + TechnoPop + Darkness. My favorite Proganda track is P:Machinery. I’ve taken two 12-inch vinyl versions of that track and conjoined them together as one … the way I want to listen to P:Machinery by:
Propaganda
Although he produced only a handful of tracks of renown and disappeared into obscurity almost as quickly as he had emerged from it, Manny ( Man ) Parrish is nonetheless one of the most important and influential figures in American electronic dance music. Helping to lay the foundation of electro, hip-hop, freestyle, and techno, as well as the dozens of subgenres to splinter off from those, Parrish introduced the aesthetic of European electronic pop to the American club scene by combining the plugged-in disco-funk of Giorgio Moroder and the man-machine music of Kraftwerk with the beefed-up rhythms and cut’n'mix approach of nascent hip-hop. As a result, tracks like “Hip-Hop Be Bop (Don’t Stop)” and “Boogie Down Bronx” were period-defining works that provided the basic genetic material for everyone from Run-DMC and the Beastie Boys to Autechre and Andrea Parker — and they remain undisputed classics of early hip-hop and electro to this day.
Man Parrish
What made Trevor Horn’s productions stand out was his unique and genius production techniques and the heavy use of state-of-the-art pro-audio gear, which made him become the torch-bearer for the kind of technology-led pop music which was hip and incredibly disciplined. Trevor Horn’s 12-inch remixes were uniquely long (anywhere from 8 to 13 minutes in duration) and told stories which took the listeners through long instrumental journeys at the begenning of tracks until the climax is reached (around the 5/6 or 7 minute mark). After the climax, the original or alternate full vocal version of the track takes over from that point on to the end, lasting additional 3.5 to 5 minutes in length.
Frankie Goes To Hollywood
Trevor Horn is the guy who produced and performed “
The Buggles
[...] hard, whereas most tracks were easy enough to find on compilation albums & cassettes like the Electro series released through UK’s renowned Streetsounds label. For the record, Davy’s [...]
[...] top: Shante’s latest release (UK release, mind you!) Bite This. The single so new, that even Streetsounds (Electro-7 mix compilation) haven’t picked it up [...]
[...] Rock was produced by Aleem (Taharqa & Tunde-ra Aleem) on NIA. He appeared at the [Street Sounds] UK Fresh Fest 86 where he allegedly striped down to his thong on stage. Several of his tracks [...]
[...] I’ve stated in my previous StreetSounds article over a year ago, Electro since the early 80’s was electric funk and hiphop music, mainly for break-dancing, [...]
Desperately want Electro1. The vinyl copy that I had was in terrible condition after all the use it had on the turntable and it wasn’t even worth trying to copy it to mp3. Just love this one so much. Brilliant blog, keep it coming……
Electro-1 is online.
http://www.hashmoder.com/2010/11/05/streetsounds-electro-1/
Also, follow the StreetSounds Electro category on this blog, as I am posting every single one in the series this month:
http://www.hashmoder.com/category/music/rap-roots/streetsounds-electro/
And in exactly 4hrs/19mins, Electro-5 will be online.
Thank you so much man, amazing quality and these sound better than I ever remember them. Your hard work and effort is very much appreciated. Peace
where can i actually download these?
You can download these particular Electro’s here on this page. Look for the MP3 link. And of you want a complete list of all most Electro volumes which I’ve posted, then go here >>>>>
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for making the electro albums available for download. Couldnt find them anywhere and my cassettes dont really play very well. Cant wait to listen to the way you have remastered them. I thought your website in general is very interesting and i will be listening to some of your other projects too. Thanks a lot and well done for keeping some great music alive. With much respect. God bless you.
Alex Baxter. Sussex. England.
big love n respect for postin these up ..all my original vinyls been lost stolen or disappeared now im in my 40′s i want to go back to the sound of my youth ..peace from the uk ..home of streetsounds
Hi. I used to love electro 9 as a kid. I’ve searched everywhere to find a digital copy of it. Would you be able to email me a copy, I would be forever in your debt. Many thanks.
you can download electro-9 right here.
Awesome! My neighbour used to blast these out on his Sharp GF777 ghetto blaster when I was about 9 years old! I remember each and everyone one of these tunes to this day…had searched everywhere for them! Huge thanks brought back some real good memories
Cheers for the nostalgia dude. Been searching for ages. Great to hear those old tunes again, although cant quite move like I used to!!
Respect.
these tunes are top dog as alot has come from them,shame things pass by so quickly,have all these albums including all the rest,crucial electro,essential,and 1 to 24 electros,would be lost without my blasts from the past,have all these albums on two cds including some live stuff from uk fresh,if anyone has any troubles let me know