TUN IT OVER!

The ad at the top for the "Tun it Over!" album is taken from an old Echoes music paper I have dated December 1991. This was a compilation of various ragga/dancehall tracks released on Mango Records.
Then a few months later in 1992, they brought out "Tun It Over 2".
There weren't any follow up volumes, so this is the only pair in the series.
The LP cover is out of my racks at home.

DUB VENDOR

I've been familiar with Dub Vendor since the late 70's, when their mail order ads used to appear in the weekly music paper, Black Echoes, and the item at the top here is an example of one such advert dating from January 1979.
Forward-wind to the 2000's and Dub Vendor are still going strong.
The item under the ad is one of their mail order catalogues dated October 2004.
The front of this particular issue shows the cover of an album called "Dread Broadcast Corp - Rebel Radio" released on Trojan Records. This is a double album's worth of goodies relating to the pirate radio station that hit the airwaves in 1980, and was pretty much the first black station of its kind in the UK. So the album contains tracks as well as some of the original jingles from that period.
The review of the DBC album comes from the Dub Vendor catalogue and the CD cover is from my collection.
While I was at it, and because it's in the same kind of territory, I have put up an old T-Shirt of mine that dates back to the early 80's and as you can see, it has a very similar graphic design to the one used by DBC.
"Dread At The Controls" was another radio show, only this one was running in Jamaica in the late 70's and was hosted by Mikey Dread. Although it wasn't a pirate station, the show became influential because the records played on it were a mix of underground reggae and dub.

BARELY BREAKING EVEN

These items date from around the 1997/98 period and relate to Barely Breaking Even, a record company that was formed by 2 DJ's - Ben Jolly & Pete Adarkwah.
They had been promoting club nights under the BBE banner since the early 90's but in 1996 they started releasing records on the BBE label.
The item at the top is a letter they sent out that had information about their mail order service. This letter was accompanied by a further 10 pages of record information, including forthcoming releases, and they also chucked in a 12 page CD sized colour brochure to go with it.
I already had a few BBE records in my collection so I used their mail order service to catch up with some that slipped through the net.
One of the albums I bought via this route was their "Let The Minstrels Play On" release, a compilation of jazz/latin fusion tracks from the Muse label.
The review under the letter was part of the mail order details, and the LP cover (double vinyl) is out of my racks at home.

DEPTH CHARGE MIX TAPES

In the 90's, Depth Charge in York was one of the record shops I used be in contact with to indulge in their hip hop mix tapes.
The above items are a few bits & pieces that have survived from that period.
On top is a typical ad for Depth Charge that appeared in Hip Hop Connection magazine in 1997. These ads would be updated monthly and had their Mail Order details. You can see in this example that they say they have "Loadsa New Mix Tapes In - Write For List", which is exactly what I did!
The stuff under the ad are all dated 1994 - starting with a photo showing an example of the kind of mix tapes I purchased from them.
Next is a postcard I got from Depth Charge main man, Gary, explaining that there was a bit of a mix up with the 5th "Dream FM" tape in the series and that they were being replaced with a new "Slammin' Jams" series. This info pertains to the 2 tapes in the photo.
Under the postcard are the tracklist details taken from the covers of the Slammin' Jams and Dream FM cassettes, with Greenpeace doing the biz music wise.
Unfortunately, Depth Charge didn't manage to keep going very long after the 90's, and eventually closed down just a year or so into the new millennium.

COLORS MOVIE AD AND ALBUM

The top item is an ad that appeared in Blues & Soul magazine in 1988 for the movie "Colors", with the Odeon in London being emphasised in particular.
Under it is my vinyl copy of the soundtrack of the film, showcasing hip hop acts such as Big Daddy Kane, Roxanne Shante, Kool G Rap, MC Shan, and a few others.

NU YORICA STUFF

Here's a few items pertaining to an album called "Nu Yorica!" released on Soul Jazz Records in 1996 and is a compilation covering a variety of Latin music styles coming out of New York in the 1970's.
At the top is a promo postcard.
Under it is a playlist from the UFO posse in Tokyo showing that the Nu Yorica album was being dipped into at Club Blue.
Next is 2 reviews of the album - first one from Straight No Chaser magazine and the second one is out of Birmingham Vibe mag.
Finally I have put up my double vinyl copy of it showing the the cover details, including the inner gatefold info.

PARTY ROCKIN' PRODUCT

I'm amazed that this record wasn't, and still isn't, more well known on the underground dance scene.
Touch magazine's rave review on top is an accurate description of this rare gem, and although the music is from the UK, it's right up there with the best of what was coming out on Nu Groove, 8-Ball and New Breed Records in the USA around then.
In fact, DJ Smash at NewBreed in New York had this on his playlist at the time, the chart above published in Straight No Chaser in Autumn 1992
I bought the 12 inch vinyl EP in Bristol in '92, this also being the city where the record originated.
The graphic design accompanying it reminds me of the early work of Trevor Jackson, although there is no mention as to who did the artwork.
And the record still sounds as fresh now as it did back then!