Diggin' in the rain

"I'm diiiiiggin' in the rain....just diiiiggin' in the rain! What a glooooorious feeeeeling I'm happy again!"

OK so the weather was piss-poor today but I'm not about to let a drop of rain dampen my beatdigging urges. At the time I didn't realise the trains were also "effed up" in the centre of London. It's not an easy journey into the capital at the best of times, coming from out in the suburbs of the city, but the engineering works at weekends on London's railways sometimes make it a lottery whether you and your wax get home or not! Had I known about the train problems I may have thought again about braving the elements (the natural ones that is, not the hip hop ones.)

....anyway I threw on my goosedown to keep me toasted on the way, with some tunes in my pocket - Soulman's 92-93 beats mixtape to be precise, to get me in the digging mood. Fortunately the weather had kept many people away from the city and I was free to roam the backstreets in search of a dusty vinyl resting place. If all else fails there was always the usual spots which could guarantee a find or two. But today the digging Gods were smiling on me because
it wasn't long before I stumbled on some treats. The first exciting find was in a dusty second hand store just off Oxford Street, namely Jimmy McGriff "Mean Machine" LP on Groove Merchant with the amazing "It Feels So Nice (Do It Again)" on it, and for a mere 4 pounds (approx. 8 dollars). There is some water damage to the cover but the record was virtually mint. Check the soundclip for yourself I'm sure you will agree this was a steal! Such a beautiful track. I think it appeared on one of Kon & Amir's fine mixes.




There are several small record shops scattered around the Oxford Street and Soho area of W1, but to be honest it was pretty much a fruitless exercise other than the Jimmy McGriff LP. I chose to make for the tube and head for Camden Town where the Music and Video Exchange was the next destination for a rummage through their racks in the basement. And that's where I found the next record that made me think the journey today was worthwile - a copy of Johnny Hammond's "Shifting Gears" on 45rpm on Milestone Records. I have the LP already, but I also have a fetish for any Ultimate Break on 7" 45rpm format, so this record and I were destined to leave the shop together!
Thanks to Steve Skye for hooking me up! This little beauty was hiding away under the counter so I could easily have missed it. I have added a soundclip of this gem too because the song is just sooo good! One for the B-Boys.



I also found a copy of D-Nice 12" "Glory" b/w "It's All About Me" on Jive for a quid in their bargain shop across the road near Camden Lock (right next to the marijuana dealers!) It's one D-Nice 12" I didn't own already, and didn't recognise the track names either. But at that price I bought it "blind". I must be totally honest I never realised how dope these tracks were 'til I got back to the lab and threw it on my turns. "It's all About Me" is one of the killer tracks from his LP, so I will leave you with a soundclip of that joint to keep the hip hop heads happy and YOUR head nodding. D-Nice is definitely at his peak here despite the crumby track titles, and visually unappealing picture sleeve. And he definitely "kicks the science" as the scratchin' says!
I won't bore you with a picture, but instead here's a better one of D-Nice with BDP stablemates KRS-One and Scott La Rock (RIP).Doesn't he look young? Give the soundclip below a blast, and see what YOU think. I'm sure you will recognise it when you hear it, and love it as I did. But do you got it on 12" huh??