DADDY KOOL CATALOGUE

Earlier in June this year, I put up a photo of the Daddy Kool shop in London and also highlighted the fact that they used to advertise their mail order service in Echoes music paper on a regular basis.
Well the top 4 items are an example of pages from one of their mail order catalogues, this one dated December 1992.
It actually has a total of 34 pages, loaded with roots reggae, ragga, lovers, dub, dancehall, poetry, ska - all reggae based grooves in fact, plus it also supplies some soul, blues and soca.
I'll be dipping into the catalogue again at a later stage but for now I've decided to showcase the dub section. As you can see, no shortage of dub on offer back in '92 and there are lots listed there that I have at home, but to keep things nice and manageable, I have only plucked out 2 albums that get a mention, just to go along with the feature.
So I've opted for a Jah Shaka LP called "Deliverance - Commandments Of Dub Chapter 6" which was released on Jah Shaka Music in 1987.
Also included is a 1989 album by Zulu Warriors called "Warrior Dub" and that came out on WAU Mr Modo.

SOHO JAZZ CATALOGUE

The ad at the top was published in Straight No Chaser magazine in 2000.
It's for the London based record store, Soho Jazz & Soul.
I used to get their mail order catalogue in the mid 1990's and so thought I'd put up an example.
Under the ad are 4 pages from one of their 1996 catalogues containing a variety of music styles such as jazz, funk, soul, hip hop, triphop and drum & bass. This was just a small selection of what the store stocked of course, mostly featuring new releases or records that were doing the business on the dancefloors at the time.
Picking a record out that appears on the list, I spotted Dimitri From Paris in there and so have accompanied the catalogue with an advert from a 1996 issue of SNC mag for the "Sacrebleu" album.
The album cover is from my racks at home, a double vinyl release that came out on Yellow Productions.

STROBE RECORDS

The article at the top is a review published in DJ magazine in June 1993 for a compilation album released on World Series in the UK but showcasing a selection of tracks that came out on the Canadian label, Strobe Records.
The album sleeve is from my racks at home, a double vinyl affair containing a fine set of tribal house grooves.

MURK RECORDS

The top item is a compact overview of record label, Murk, published in Mixmag in 1995.
A couple of the acts mentioned in the article appear on a 12" single I got back then. Although it is a DJ Exclusive "Not For Sale" job, the shop didn't have any problem putting it in their racks, and I didn't have any problem buying it!
It has 3 tracks on it by different artists, these being - Funky Green Dogs From Outer Space, Liberty City and Interceptor.
The final item is a dance chart that was published in Touch magazine in November 1992 and it has the Funky Green Dogs From Outer Space track on it, this being the year the record was originally released.

RARE UFO SIGHTING

Yesterday I posted some items featuring United Future Organization's earliest appearances in music magazines in the UK, but I suppose the items above could be examples of their rarest.
There is a good reason for this mind you, as this product was only officially available in Japan.
The advert at the top is from the Japanese magazine, Bar-F-Out, an issue dated December 1995, and it displays a variety of new jazzy record releases.
There are 2 UFO related items mentioned in the ad - one is a video called "The Scene", a very nice behind the scenes styled documentary mixed in with some of their promo videos.
The other item is a record release called the "Cosmic Gypsy EP" a 4 track creation that came out on Brownswood.
Although this material was for the Japanese market, you could track some of it down in specialist shops in the UK when occasionally, the odd release from Japan would crop up in the "Import" racks - which is where I got my mag and CD above.
And to show I wasn't the only one in the UK who grabbed a copy of Cosmic Gypsy, the Straight No Chaser magazine chart above is a playlist compiled by Russ Dewbury who gave the EP a blast at the Jazz Rooms in Brighton in early 1996.
Then again, there's a good chance that Russ actually got his in Japan!

EARLY UFO SIGHTING

Some stuff here that give us a glimpse into the first appearances in the UK music press of Japanese jazz outfit, United Future Organization.
The item at the top is an ad that was published in Straight No Chaser magazine in Spring 1992 and is for UFO's debut single, "I Love My Baby, My Baby Loves Jazz" which was released on Zero Records.
The review of the single under the ad is from Check Dis magazine and is dated April 1992.
Under that is a playlist from the same April issue of Straight No Chaser mag and shows the UFO track was also doing the biz in the USA, the chart compiled by Michael Hodgson who presented the Steppin' Out radio show in California.
Lastly, I have plucked out my 12" copy of the single to accompany the items.

LTJ BUKEM IN 2000

The top 2 items come from an issue of Breakin' Point magazine dating back to 2000.
The first one is a full page ad for LTJ Bukem product, mainly for his "Journey Inwards" album but it also displays his previous EP's.
The second item is a review of the "Journey Inwards" album.
So to accompany them I have included the CD out of my collection - a double CD in fact, released on Good Looking Records.

DIGABLE PLANETS LP

The review at the top is taken from an issue of Wire magazine dated December 1994 and gives the lowdown on the album "Blowout Comb" by Digable Planets.
They only made 2 albums, this being the second of the pair.
The LP cover is from my collection - a double vinyl pack released on Pendulum Records.

UNDERGROUND RESISTANCE RECORD LABEL

Some stuff here relating to the influential 90's techno record label from Detroit, Underground Resistance.
The top item is a brief & basic overview of UR that was published in Mixmag in 1995.
One of the records mentioned in the article is the "Galaxy 2 Galaxy" release of 1993. This was spread across 2 x 12" slabs of vinyl that came out as a double pack EP. No info or graphics on the sleeve so I have accompanied it with pictures of the label details on the vinyl, each one different.
Incidentally, the scratches you can see at the top left of side d - is a cryptic message from Mad Mike!
Lastly, the same record gets a mention in a chart that was compiled by Dave Clark, giving his top 10 choice of techno records for September '93. This was published in Generator magazine as part of a page called Sound & Direction which was a monthly review of the latest techno record releases.

DUBLAB

Dublab is an Internet radio presentation based in Los Angeles that champions all sorts of underground and independent music styles.
It started up in 1999 and is still doing the biz today.
The item at the top here is an article about Dublab that was published in Wire magazine in 2000.
Then in 2001, Dublab released an album called "Freeways" that showcased the variety of music they played, and the yellow item is a review of the album that appeared in Straight No Chaser magazine the same year.
Under it is my copy of the CD - Emperor Norton being the record label it came out on.

THE COOKER AT THE THEKLA

Staying in Bristol a moment longer, I thought I'd put a few items up about The Thekla.
The Thekla (a nightclub boat) started up their jazzy sessions in 1988 under the name of "The Cooker".
Tin Tin and Dr Jam were the two main DJ's throwing down a dancefloor mix of jazz, funk, latin & hip hop and it didn't take too long for word to spread around the UK and further afield, about this hot new club.
The item at the top is from a 1989 Straight No Chaser magazine that went under the headline of "Great Clubs Of The World" and tells a bit about how The Cooker was sizzling back then.
The Thekla then closed in 1990 to have some modernisation work done to it and re-opened in 1991.
The before & after ad is from an April 1991 issue of Venue magazine, as is the review under it.
Next up (the 3 blue pages) is an article that was published in World Beat magazine in 1991 that not only gives you a bit of background info about The Cooker, it also features a few photos of the DJ's and the clubbers.
Finally, to get a flavour of some of the sounds that were blasting out on the boat, the last item is a playlist from a 1989 SNC compiled by Tin Tin, showcasing 10 tracks that were doing the biz on The Cooker dancefloor!