Having bragging rights as a digger isn’t all about unearthing rare and obscure records; finding cheap thrills can be just as rewarding. Tangent party co-curator (alongside John Gomez), Record Mission label boss (alongside Dan Tyler of Idjut Boys) and DJ Friendly Records owner Nick The Record attests to this with eight favourite soul and disco records for under a tenner
“Although I am known for having and selling Rare records I love a cheapie as much as anyone else. So here are a selection of under the radar records which you can pick up cheap (at time of printing). The demand for records these days can send the prices skyrocketing so go get them.”
Catch Nick in London this weekend, hosting the next Tangent party (13th May) at Total Refreshment Centre and at the Southern Soul Festival warmup at House of St Barnabas (12th May).
Dee Edwards – Put Your Love On The Line 12 (Cotillion)
This is a great party starter which is slow but builds nicely with a strong vocal from an old soul queen. She is best known in collectors circles for I Can Deal With That but that’s certainly not in the £10 or under bracket
The Ritchie Family – All Night All Right (RCA)
This group is easily overlooked because their first 5 or 6 lp’s came out during Disco’s most commercial years and are total cheese.
In the early eighties they turned it around and slowed it down and made a couple of quality lp’s with several good tunes. You can find this & a couple of their other good tunes on my website www.djfriendly.co.uk all for under a ten spot.
Jolley & Swain – Soul Street (Red Bus Records)
I’m Letting the cat out of the bag here as I have been playing this one out a lot over the last couple of years and I usually drop it around the time the dance floor is loosening up and this always fires it up a notch. These British dudes wrote & produced many hits in the eighties for the likes of Imagination, Bananarama, Spandau Ballet and Alison Moyet. They just released the one lp of their own material.
The Keith Diamond Band – The Dip (Millennium)
This is another neglected Soulful party starter which always gets people loosened up early doors.
Leon Haywood – I’m Out To Catch (Casablanca)
Great early eighties Disco Dub styles that grows & grows.
The spoken word towards the end is pretty funny. She actually uses the classic line ‘Do You Come Here Often’
Pushé – Don’t Take Your Love Away (Partytime Records)
This is a list of Soulful Disco which usually means vocals but I probably play 40-50% Instrumental or Dub music when I spin so get your ears around this killer 1984 Dub version from Francois Kevorkian, Fred Zarr & Paul Simpson.
Jerry Carr – This Must Be Heaven (Cherie)
This one flies straight out of the traps in a Boogie meets Funk style. Also available on my website, OK I’ll admit I looked at my own website for inspiration on this article.
Melissa Manchester – Shine Like You Should (Arista)
I’m really giving up the goods here as I have been playing this out a lot lately, often as the last record of the night. Kind of sums up the end of the night feeling at my bi-monthly Tangent party with Gomez.
Probably the cheapest & best record on the list.
