Land of 1000 Dances

February 2010 Soul Mix

2010-02-11T12:02:00.003Z

Download here (MP3 format, download then unzip)

Little Milton - I Know What I Want - Checker

Charles Greene - Double-E Agent - ANLA

Ray Scott and the Scottsmen - Feeling No Pain - Decca

Jackie Lee - Try My Method - Mirwood

The Larks - Soul Jerk - Money

Bettye Swann - Lonely Love - Money

Doc and the Interns - Baby I Know - Now

Tommy Tucker - Oh! What a Feeling - London UK (UK only)

Otis Clay - I Testify - One-derful

Scott Bros Orch - They All Came Back - Toddlin' Town

The Traits - Harlem Shuffle - Universal

Cannibal and the Headhunters - Out of Sight - Rampart

Gene Burks - Monkey Man - Arock

JJ Johnson - I Dig Girls - Calla

Sammy Jones - Cinderella Jones - Wand

Panic Button - Hitch It To the Mule - Chalom

Betty Everett - Too Hot Too Hold - Vee Jay

Fontella Bass - I Can't Rest - Checker

The Kittens - How Long (Can I Go On) - Chess

Eddie Holman - Stay Mine For Heaven's Sake - Parkway

Josephine Taylor - Good Lovin' - Mar-V-Lus

Bunny Sigler - Can You Dig It - Parkway

The Soul Sisters - Think About The Good Times - Sue

Little Richie - Just Another Heartache - Seventy Seven - sadly not Sound Stage 7! :(

Z.Z. Hill - You Were Wrong - MH

Billy Young - The Sloopy - Jotis

B.B. Brown - Low Down Dirty Tramp - Dit Dot

Little Milton - Driftin' Drifter - Checker

some cheapies and old favourites in there...

2009-09-24T21:58:00.001+01:00

featuring LIVE

THE SEVERED LIMB

D-66

Firstly, thanks to everyone who made it along to our Birthday do... And to the great bands The Dirty Robbers and Tom Colborn. Sure everyone had as greasy a time as we did. Sorry if it got a little cramped, we'll be making more room for dancing this month, and sorry if anyone didn't get it (we heard that the doorman was turning some away as the venue had reached capacity)...

Moving on to October, we are pleased to host 2 high grade live acts... Firstly, The Severed Limb, who have been steady knocking em out at venues all over town with their unique twist of skiffle, rock n roll and more, so it's probably over due that we had them down at the Juke Jam...

We are also pleased to have along the virtuoso thrash blues wildman D-66 who will be serving up some of his "Chaindog Blues". His own recipe and a down home delicacy to be savoured!

Resident DJ's Liam Large and Michael Jemmeson alongside regular JukeJam guest DJ Snakester will break things up with bursts of Hot 50s RnB, Ska, Blues Rockers, Early Soul, Dance Craze Instrumentals and lots more...

We should have a limited batch of CDs (after running out last month) and of course our custom Jukebox Jam badges for FREE on the door... Plus don't forget our new label, with both 45 releases available for sale at the special price of 5 quid...

Releases are:

JBJ-1001 Rose Mitchell – Baby Please Don’t Go B/W Jo Ann Henderson - Baby Please Don't Go

JBJ-1002 Joe Tex – Pneumonia B/W Pneumonia (Organ Alternate)

Both for sale for £5 – retail price higher

£4 before 10.00pm (and to Juke Jam badge-wearers all night), £6 after

9pm til 3.00am

Peter Parkers Rock and Roll Club
4 Denmark Street
West End
London
WC2H 8LP

Jukebox Jam - Friday 12th June 2009

2009-05-26T13:34:00.003+01:00

Jukebox Jam!

Friday 12th June at the George Tavern

http://myspace.com/jukejam

Featuring Live

LITTLE G. WEEVIL

Playing House-Rocking, 'Apple Picker' Blues

http://www.myspace.com/littlegweevil

TOM COLBORN

Delta-influenced Bottleneck Shouters!

http://www.myspace.com/tomcolbornblues

With

Guest DJ LIAM HUGHES
of the West One R&B Club

And residents LIAM LARGE & MICHAEL JEMMESON

Putting down the no nonsense 50s / early 60s R&B, Jump, Blues Rockers, Boppers, Dance Craze RnR, Mambo and a smattering of Ska Scorchers.

Vestax Handytrax hack - moving the power switch

2009-05-20T21:43:00.011+01:00

The Vestax Handy trax is an excellent little portable turntable with only two real drawbacks. One is the size - it's slightly too large to fit in most shoulder bags; the second is the stupid positioning of the power switch - on the outside of the case where it can be easily switched on accidently, draining the batteries.

I've been fed up with the power switch for a few years, and have finally got around to moving it to a more sensible position. On the photo to the right, the new power switch is the metal toggle switch next to the speaker (Positions where the switch could be placed are limited, restricted by the speaker, the circuit boards inside, and the space required to play a 12" record). The instructions below are how I did it. This procedure is at your own risk and will undoubtedly invalidate your warranty.

(You can't really see on the photo, but another improvement that I already made was to add sticky-backed felt to the platter to help prevent scratching records).

Tools:

Hand-drill
Phillips screwdriver
Soldering iron
Wire cutters and wire strippers (or use sharp scissors)

Components:

Miniature SPST toggle switch. I used the Maplin FH97F Ultra Miniature toggle switch, however the white plastic case of the Vestax is very thick (~5mm) and one suitable for thicker panels would have been better. Any alternatives should be fine providing the height of the toggle is less than about 15mm (so it doesn't catch on the arm).
Short length (10cm?) of plastic shielded wire, one end stripped ~3mm, the other end stripped to 10mm

Layout of the Vestax Handytrax:

With the back cover removed, the handle at the bottom and the platter face down, the internal layout is as follows:

Top left - Circuit board 1 - power supply and audio output circuit board
Bottom left - Circuit board 2 - amplifer and power switch circuit board
Between the two circuit boards is the speaker
Right of circuit board 1 - the pickup arm
Below the pickup arm - a mini circuit board for the motor stop/start switch
Centre - battery compartment
Far right - the motor and turntable platter

The external power switch is on the lower circuit board and stops both the amplifer and the motor (the switch controlled by the pickup arm only stops the motor). It is this that the toggle switch will replace.

Instructions:

Unplug the AC power supply and remove the batteries.
Turn upside down and remove the grey base - there are 8 (identical) screws to remove.
Turn the right way up (so the platter is facing you, and the handle at the bottom). Cover the bottom-left hole in the speaker grill with masking tape.
Carefully drill through this hole to enlarge it (the toggle switch I used required a 5.2 mm mounting hole - so I used a 6mm drill bit). You may wish to drill through again from the other side to clear the hole properly.
Prepare the toggle switch - because of the thickness of the panel, I only used the sprung washer on the rear and a nut on the front of the panel - the second nut and large notched washer were discarded (If your toggle switch has a longer 'bush' you may want to keep all the nuts and washers).
Wrap the 10mm stripped end of the length of wire around the toggle switch with the sprung washer. This is to earth (US: ground) the metal parts of the switch.
Insert the toggle switch, and add the nut to the front panel side and tighten to hold the switch in place. Try and make sure the toggle lines up neatly (moving either up-and-down or side-to-side as preferred).
Remove the 2 (identical) shorter screws holding Circuit board 2 in place.
Find the 2-core power cable that connects to the circuit board in the top-left corner, above the power switch (the connection is labelled 'switch' on the component side of the circuit board).
Snip this cable close to the connector.
Put circuit board 2 back in place and replace the screws.
Follow the cable back to circuit board 1, and move it so that it reaches the toggle switch on the right of the speaker. You may need to loosen the speaker and the other circuit boards to do this (Remember to put the screws back).
Separate the two cores of the cable and strip the ends.
Solder the ends to the toggle switch.
On the right hand edge of circuit board 2 is a small metal wire protruding a few milimetres, connected to earth. The other end of the earth wire from the toggle switch (from step 5) should be soldered to this.
Now, replace the grey case (being careful not to trap any wires) and (before replacing the screws) test the toggle switch works by using the AC power supply.
Once happy, replace the 8 case screws.

Now I'm not sure if I should remove the old switch or not - if removed, I'll have to find something to block the hole left in the casing. Ideas welcome!

Pork and Beans - Friday 29th May 2009

2009-05-20T12:00:00.005+01:00

A new night of vintage Rhythm & Blues and Soul, Pork & Beans at Positively 4th Street (four minutes from Warren Street, Euston Square or Mornington Crescent Tube stations).

Residents Ethan Saunders and Timid Tomas are chuffed to be joined by Michael Jemmeson (Jukebox Jam) and Alan Handscombe for the opening night.

8pm - 1am, and all this for £3 on the door

Facebook event

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May 2009 R&B mix

2009-05-17T17:29:00.003+01:00

Another 75+ minutes of rhythm and blues 45s:

Download here
(MP3 format - download then unzip)

Hamp Jones - Pack Your Clothes - East West
Wynonie Harris - Git To Gittin' Baby - King
Louis Jordan - Bills - Warwick
Charles Calhoun - My Pigeon's Gone - Groove
Duke Jenkins and his Orchestra - Shake It - Cobra
Rosco Gordon - Just a Little Bit - Vee-Jay
Jimmy Rogers - I Can't Believe - Chess
Little Walter - Nobody But You - Checker
Red West Combo - My Babe - Santo
Blue Bull - I'm A Loser - Uni
Sonny Forest - Travelin' - Verve
Byther Smith - So Unhappy - Be Be
George Allen - Come On Home - Sotoplay
Rene Hall's Orchestra - Twitchy - Specialty
Huey Smith and his Clowns - Genevieve - Ace
The Moonriders - Easy Easy Cha Cha - Candy
The Champs - Beatnik - Challenge
The Page Boys - Barricuda - Hamilton
Dolly Lyon - Palm Of Your Hand - Apollo
Bent Forcep and the Patients - I Know What Happened to Baby Jane - Original Sound
Donnie Elbert - Wild Child - DeLuxe
The Newports - Dixie Women - Kent
Buddy Ace - Screaming Please - Duke
Lee Rogers - Troubles - MAH's
"Sugar Boy" Williams - Little Girl - Herald
Albert Washington and his Kings - Ramble - Finch
Tarheel Slim and Little Ann - Can't Stay Away From You - Fire
Johnnie & Joe - You Said It and Don't Forget It - Chess
Etta and Harvey - Spoonful - Chess
Rosco and Barbara - Could This Be Love - Old Town - Rosco Gordon and Barbara Kerr
Gino Parks - For This I Thank You - Tamla
The Sparkels - Try Love (One More Time) - Old Town

Camden Town Breakdown - Every Saturday

2009-05-07T07:34:00.004+01:00

Jukebox Jam - Friday 8th May 2009

2009-05-06T11:56:00.004+01:00

Featuring LIVE! DOKTOR COMBOVER

The Sleaziest! The Greasiest! Pure Instrumental Dancefloor Grind

Plus GUEST DJ SNAKESTER (Lady Luck)
Alongside Residents LIAM LARGE, GABRIEL and MICHAEL JEMMESON spinning Hot RnB, Jump Blues, RnR and Scorching Ska

Friday 8th May 2009
8pm - 3am THE GEORGE TAVERN, 373 Commercial Road, London E1 0LA

Admission:
4 pounds before 9.30pm / to Badgewearers (all night)
6 pounds thereafter

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April 2009 R&B mix

2009-05-05T13:15:00.005+01:00

Another 75+ minutes of varied 50s/60s R&B 45s:

Download here

Marion Black - Who Knows - Capsoul
Sonny Knight - If You Want This Love - Aura
The Fiestas - The Railroad Song - Old Town
Mike Hanks - The Hawk - MAH's
Priscilla Bowman and Jay McShann - I've Got News For You - Vee Jay
Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra (vocal Ella Johnson) - No More Love - Decca
Chuck Higgins - The Duck Walk - Combo
Lorin Dean (w/ Alex Sample Band) - Fi Fo Fum - Back Beat
Little Johnny Taylor - Somewhere Down the Line - Galaxy
Johnny Copeland - Just One More Time - Golden Eagle
Dusty Brown - Well You Know - Bandera
Muddy Waters - Read Way Back - Chess
W. Williams and Sonny Wash - Don't Lie To Me Lover - Little Lynn - didn't notice for ages, but sort of a cover of Ted Taylor - Don't Lie
Little Luther - Eenie Meenie Minie Moe - Pye International (UK)
Phillip Wolf - Little Woman - Sims
The Ambertones - Cruise - Rayjack - cover of Thee Midniters - Whittier Boulevard
The Four Shells - Hot Dog (My Baby's Comin' Home) - Volt
Ronnie Fuller - The Dive - Joli
Pearl Woods - Stickum Up Baby - Pel-Nor
The Mystics - Mash Potatoes With Me - King
The Silhouettes - Miss Thing - Ember
The Clovers - I've Got My Eyes On You - Atlantic
The Coasters - Bad Blood - Atco
The Majestics - Hard Times - Contour
Varetta Dillard - Scorched - Triumph
Larry Bright - Bloodhound - Tide
Billy Fury - What Do You Think You're Doing - Decca (UK)
Don Hosea - Misery - Rita
Ernie Washington - Lonesome Shack - Chattahoochee
Little Junior Lewis - Your Heart Must Be Made Of Stone - Fury
Joe and Ann - Runnin' and Foolin' - Hermitage
Sugarpie Desanto - Going Back Where I Belong - Veltone

March 2009 R&B mix

2009-05-05T13:13:00.006+01:00

Another 75 or so minutes of old R&B 45s

Download here

Don Hollinger - Where the Young Folks Go - Jato
Billy Bland - Doing the Mule - Old Town
Little Oscar - Empty Bottles - Palos
Tac Taylor - Cut You Loose - Rosebud
Chico Booth and the Upsetters - (Let's Do) The Shimmy - Palm
Silas Hogan - Lonesome La La - Excello
Smokey Smothers - I Got My Eyes On You (Watching Everything You Do) - Gamma
Chase Canfil - Woke Up This Morning - Dart
Jack Dupree - Stumbling Block - King
Guitar Slim - Think It Over - Specialty
Billy Bland - Chicken Hop - Tip Top
Buster Brown - John Henry (The Steel Driving Man) - Fire
Faye Adams - Johnny Lee - Imperial
Buddy Lucas - Bo Lee - Luniverse
LaVern Baker - Love Me Right - Atlantic
Sam Chatmon & Sparks featuring Gwinny Witherspoon - Nobody But Me - Boss
Marie Knight - To Be Loved By You - Addit
Emmy Lou - I Wanna Know - Lute
The Thornton Sisters - Watch Your Step - Bobsan
Bert Miller and the Swing Kings - Kidnapper - La Louisianne
The Showmen - Country Fool - Imperial
Maxine Brown - I Don't Need You No More - ABC Paramount
Lulu Reed & Freddy King - You Can't Hide - Federal
Lonesome Sundown - You're Playin' Hookey - Excello
Ann Cole with the Suburbans - Got My Mo-Jo Working - Baton
Henry Pierce and his Five Notes - Hey Fine Mama - Specialty
The Cardinals - Kiss Me Baby - Atlantic
The Zircons - Mama Wants To Drive - Federal
Wynonie Harris - Good Mambo Tonight - King
Ruth Brown - Mambo Baby - Atlantic
Larry Darnell - Who Showed My Baby How To Love Me - Savoy
Big Maybelle - Going Home Baby - Savoy

February 2009 R&B mix

2009-05-05T13:05:00.005+01:00

75+ minutes of R&B 45s

Download here

June Alexander - The Girl That Radiates That Charm - Judd
Freddie Gorman - Just For You - Miracle
Willie C. Cobbs - My Little Girl - Whirl-A-Way
? - The Stalk - CMI
Wilbert Harrison and his Kansas City Playboys - Broke - Doc
Elton Anderson - Sick and Tired - Lanor
Big Mike Gordon - Walkin', Slippin', and Slidin' - Baton
Ruth Durand - I'm Wise - Post
Tarheel Slim and Little Ann - Security - Fire
Billy Bland - Chicken in the Basket - Tip Top
The Marquees - Hey Little School Girl - Okeh
The Counts - Wailin' Little Mama - Dot
The Duvals - Cotton - Boss
The Gum Drops - Natural Born Lover - King
Charlie Fury and the Rebel Rockets - Reptile - Al-Be
The Traits - Little Mama - Ascot
Bob Fisher - Cherokee Twist - Estrella
Danny White - The Twitch - Frisco
Jimmy McCracklin - Can't Raise Me - Imperial
Danny Cobb - My Isabella - Jubilee
Jerry Warren and the Pets - Monkey Walk - Arwin
Danny Roland - Shockwave - Bayou
Johnny Moore and his New Blazers - Bullfrog - Rendezvous
Linda - That Crazy Feeling - Antler
Lillian Briggs - I'm Burning For You - ABC Paramount
Prince Eddie and David Gee - Jessie James - Skytone
Titus Turner - Cool Down - Glover
Frank Dalton - Cruised - Mercury
Jr. Cole - Go On - Frolic
Louis Jordan - Workin' Man - Tangerine
Donald Height - Girl Do You Love Me - RCA Victor
Rudy Lewis - I Dig Love - Atlantic
Ray Charles - You're Just About to Lose Your Clown - ABC Paramount
The Turbans - The Damage Is Done - Imperial

Greetings

2009-05-05T13:01:00.000+01:00

Well, I originally set up this blog ages ago to start listing scans and audio of 1950s and 60s dance-craze records (R&B, Soul, etc), but that hasn't happened so far (although it still might at some point).

However, I will be putting up monthly mixes of 30 or so R&B 45s, hope you enjoy them!