Thompson Twins – “Love On Your Side” (Rap Boy Rap 12″)…

Artist: Thompson Twins
Title: Love On Your Side (Rap Boy Rap 12″)
Year: 1983
Label: Arista

Thompson Twins – “Love On Your Side” (Rap Boy Rap 12″) (mp3)

Music Video: Thompson Twins – “Love On Your Side”…

This is such a beautiful song composed by British artist Steve Strange in December 1980. Fade To Grey has that French emotional melody and elegant groove, with English vocals accompanied with French spoken words by a female. Good old 1980 sustained eighth-note octave synth bassline, Roland CR-78 drum-machine, and synth drum slams & hits. The track is like an uplifting passion of the French food with the deepness of French wine that screams falling in love and having sex with a French mistress, covered in French chocolat (sho-ko-la).

Visage – “Fade To Grey” (12″)…

Artist: Visage
Title: Fade To Grey (12″ Version)
Year: 1980
Label: Polydor

Visage – “Fade To Grey” (12″) (mp3)

Music Video: Visage – “Fade To Grey”…

It’s been exactly one year since DJ Veronica’s last mix It’s About Time. As usual, she was over here last night at my home-studio where her mix is being mastered by me.  As I was bouncing the finalized mix to audio-file, DJ Veronica danced all the place and later ate all my chocolate snacks and potato chips.

DJ Veronica – “A  New Beginning”…

Artist: DJ Veronica
Title: A New Beginning (DJ mix set)
Year: 2011
Comment: Mastered by Hashmoder (Omar Hash)

DJ Veronica – “It’s About Time”" (mp3)
http://homepage.mac.com/cavecybernation/DJVeronica_ANewBeginning.mp3 (link path)

From DJ Veronica to you…

So I was on my way to California for a week, all checked-in, through security, and then the flight was cancelled. Apparently the plane was struck by lightning on its way into Vancouver. A 6″ hole went through the nose of the plane! Needless to say, there was no chance of getting out of town, so I got my bags and went back home. Everyone I knew thought I was out of town. I had no responsibilities. I was on vacation, yet I was at home, so I fired up the speakers, cranked the bass, and pulled out the tracks that my sister DJ Rhiannon had burned for me a few months back and hit record.  This is the end result.

My new mix –A New Beginning– is full of tracks which I think are nostalgic. It makes me happy. I hope it does the same for you. It evokes memories of good times.  And I mean GOOD TIMES! Track such as Music Is The Answer, Sugar Daddy, Music Sounds Better With You …and so many more… that I know you will recognize but with an updated twist.

Hashmoder has mastered this mix for me in the way that only he can. Thank-you my friend! You rock!

To all my fans over the years, this one’s for you!  Enjoy! And catch me this week-end opening for Peaches @ the Utopia Festival!

Much love.  Music IS the answer!!!

…DJ Veronica

click each image above to enlarge

I haven’t played this record in over 23+ years.  When I put this record on the deck last night, I was shocked at how bad the sound-quality was.  The bad sound wasn’t from the result of degradation of the vinyl over the years. In fact, the record is still in MINT condition. But the bad quality came from the original recording of either the original tape-master itself and/or the pressing.  The sound sounded like a low-resolution MP3.  UNACCEPTABLE!   By today’s standards, of course.

Then all a sudden  –like an enormous & powerful flashback shooting out like a bullet from the back  area of my deepest recessed memory, fully taking over all my five senses– the Spirit of Vinyl-Past sucked me into a worm-hole and travelled me back in time to the year 1986… to the same exact point of day and time as to when I bought Electro-15 record from a store in London or Uxbridge … went home and played it for the first time… but upon my first impression after listening to it, I had actually thought back then about the recording quality sounding awfully worse than all of the previous Electro releases.  Disappointed then.  Disappointed now even.

However……. now……… I just love how last night was like listening to Electro-15 for the first time again >> but this time with a genuine worm-hole-deja-vouz. Surreal!

Only this time I was blessed to do quick EQing, compressing, reverbing and simple mastering to the overall sound to an acceptable & reasonable state of being compatible to the 12st Century human ears.

With my dirty-hands, I accentuated the ghetto beefness … I widened the stereo-field … I brightened the upper end … I added some depth with room-dimensions via Lexicon reverb (with careful programming of all parameters; no presets were chosen!  And, as a matter of fact, every Electro recording of mine has different reverb-settings which I’d programmed each very meticulously) … I left-alone some of the record’s dirt & scratches … and, most importantly, I wanted the sound/feeling of an actual vinyl-record to be pushed-in-your-face for the meditative experience of listening-purposes (which might be great to expose the new generation of listeners/collectors to what it really and SHOULD HAVE sounded like for them back then).     The GRIT just had to stay!

I could have mastered Electro-15 so clean like a digital CD-master, without anybody else being able to tell the difference between whether the recording coming from a vinyl or not.  But that would be no fun. HELL NO!  >>>>> I like sticking it in to ya:  RAW BEEF sound with my own STAMP on it.

StreetSounds Electro-15  (Side A)…

Title: Electro-15  (Side A)
Mixed by: Herbie ‘Mastermind’ Laidley
Year: 1986
Label: StreetSounds
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

StreetSounds Electro-15  (Side A) (mp3)

Tracklisting

• A1: Duke Bootee – “Broadway”
  Produced by Duke Bootee
• A2: Skinny Boys – “Awesome”
  Produced by Mark Bush
• A3: Kurtis Blow - “The Bronx”
  Produced by Kurtis Blow
• A4: DJ Scott La Rock, Blastmaster KRS One & D-Nice – “South Bronx”
  Produced by Boogie Down Productions

StreetSounds Electro-15  (Side B)…

Title: Electro-15  (Side B)
Mixed by: Herbie ‘Mastermind’ Laidley
Year: 1986
Label: StreetSounds
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

StreetSounds Electro-15  (Side B) (mp3)

Tracklisting

• B1: Just-Ice - “Cold Gettin’ Dumb”
  Produced by The Lord High Ruler & Emperor Of The Beat
• B2: Faze One – “Layin’ Down A Beat” (Censored Version)
  Produced by Dave Ogrin
• B3: The Move - “Greedy Girls” (Extended Version)
  Produced by Cozmo D, Chilly B, The Move
• B4: Captain Rock – “Bongo Beat”
  Produced by Taharqa Aleem & Tunde-Ra Aleem

click each image above to enlarge

StreetSounds Electro-14 (Side A)…

Title: Electro-14  (Side A)
Mixed by: Herbie ‘Mastermind’ Laidley
Year: 1986
Label: StreetSounds
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

StreetSounds Electro-14  (Side A) (mp3)

Tracklisting

• A1: Awesome Foursome – “Monster Beat”
  Produced by Gregory Marius & Teddy Riley
• A2: Tricky Tee – “Leave It To The Drums (Here Comes The Drums)” (Club)
  Produced by Sam Sever
• A3: T La Rock - “Breaking Bells” (Club)
  Produced by Mantronix
• A4: Mixmaster Gee & The Turntable Orchestra – “The Manipulator” (Extended Version)
  Produced by Greg Royal

StreetSounds Electro-14  (Side B)…

Title: Electro-14  (Side B)
Mixed by: Herbie ‘Mastermind’ Laidley
Year: 1986
Label: StreetSounds
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

StreetSounds Electro-14  (Side B) (mp3)

Tracklisting

• B1: Divine Sounds - “Me And My Posse”
  Produced by Jerry Bloodrock & Michael Dowling
• B2: Fresh Force – “She’s A Skeezer”
  Produced by Charlie Casanova & Fresh Force
• B3: MC Chill (guest appearance by BeatMaster T) - “Downbeats”
  Produced by Mike Nice
• B4: Skinny Boys – “Rip The Cut”
  Produced by Mark Bush

Trio – “Da Da Da” (I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me Aha Aha Aha) (12″ Version)…

Artist: Trio
Title: Da Da Da (I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me Aha Aha Aha) (12″ Version)
Year: 1982
Label: Mercury Records

Trio – “Da Da Da” (I Don’t Love You You Don’t Love Me Aha Aha Aha) (12″ Version) (mp3)

Tears For Fears – “Change” (Extended Version)…

Artist: Tears For Fears
Title: Change (Extended Version)
Year: 1983
Label: Mercury Records

Tears For Fears – “Change” (Extended Version) (mp3)

Tears For Fears – “Pale Shelter” (Extended Version)…

Artist: Tears For Fears
Title: Pale Shelter (Extended Version)
Year: 1982, 1983
Label: Mercury Records, Phonogram Records

Tears For Fears – “Pale Shelter” (Extended Version) (mp3)

Front Line Assembly is a Canadian industrial/EBM band formed by Bill Leeb in 1986 after leaving Skinny Puppy (another Canadian industrial/EBM band).

In 1990, I was in Chicago buying records and CD’s. I was looking for industrial music. With the help of one of the store’s staff who was exposing me to a lot of industrial music artists, he placed this particular CD single in my hand (the very same one pictured above). He was kind enough to unwrap and put it inside a CD player. And then he handed me the heaphones and made me listen to Provision. I was immediately blown away from the very first beat/note. After few measures, the pulsating & punchy basslines kicked in. Knocked me off my feet. I just had to have it. So I bought it.

Front Line Assembly – “Provision”…

Artist: Front Line Assembly
Title: Provision
Year: 1990
Label: Wax Trax! Records

Front Line Assembly – “Provision” (mp3)

click each image above to enlarge

StreetSounds Electro-13  (Side A)…

Title: Electro-13  (Side A)
Mixed by: Herbie ‘Mastermind’ Laidley
Year: 1986
Label: StreetSounds
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

StreetSounds Electro-13  (Side A) (mp3)

Tracklisting

• A1: Grandmaster Flash – “Style” (Peter Gunn Theme)
  Produced by Joseph Saddler & Vincent Castellano
• A2: Afrika Bambaataa & Family – “Bambaataa’s Theme” (Assault On Precinct 13)
  Produced by Rae Serrano, Leroi Evans & Afrika Bambaataa
• A3: Hashim - “UK Fresh ’86″ (The Anthem)
  Featuring MC Devon
  Produced by Paul Phillips
• A4: Dr. Jeckyll & Mr. Hyde – “Fast Life”
  Produced by Kurtis Blow
• A5: Aleem - “Get Loose”
  Produced by Tunde-Ra Aleem, Taharqa Aleem, Leroy Burgess & Sonny Davenport
• A6: Masquerade - “(Solution To) The Problem” (The DEFinitive Dance Mix)
  Produced by Paul Phillips
• A7: Sir Mix-A-Lot - “Square Dance Rap” (Power Mix)
  Produced by Sir Mix-A-Lot
• A8: Captain Rock - “Return Of Captain Rock”
  Produced by The Fantastic Aleems
• A9: Information Society - “Running” (“The Nest” Remix)
  Produced by Paul Schwitters
• A10: World Class Wreckin’ Cru - “Mission Possible”
  Produced by Lonzo & Dr. Dre

StreetSounds Electro-13  (Side B)…

Title: Electro-13  (Side B)
Mixed by: Herbie ‘Mastermind’ Laidley
Year: 1986
Label: StreetSounds
Media Source: Recorded straight from 12-inch record to enhanced digital.

StreetSounds Electro-13  (Side B) (mp3)

Tracklisting

• B1: Lovebug Starski - “Amityville”
  Produced by Kurtis Blow
• B2: Joe Ski Love – “Pee-Wee’s Dance”
  Produced by Vincent Davis
• B3: Just-Ice - “Latoya”
  Produced by Biggy Rat & Itchy Brother
• B4: MC Chill – “The Prophecy, Part 1″ (The Beginning)
  Produced by Mike Nice
• B5: Eric B & Rakim - “Eric B. Is President”
  Featuring Rakim
  Produced by Eric Barrier
• B6: MC Boob aka Steady B - “Bring The Beat Back” (Vocal)
  Produced by Lawrence Goodman
• B7: The Real Roxanne with Hitman Howie Tee - “(Bang Zoom) Let’s Go Go Go”
  Produced by Full Force
• B8: Roxanne Shante - “Queen Of Rox (Shante Rox On)” (Street Version)
  Produced by Marely Marl
• B9: Easy Mike - “The State We’re In” (Vocal)
  Featuring MC Sure Shot
  Produced by Easy Mike
• B10: Mantronix - “Ladies”
  Produced by Mantronix
• B11: Family Quest - “Sleep Walking”
  Produced by Paul Phillips, David Toop & Steve Beresford