Fresh 4 (Children Of The Ghetto) Featuring Lizz.E - Wishing On A Star - (1989)

10 Records ‎– TENCD 287

Comprising Paul Southey (Suv), brothers J. Thompson (Flynn) and Kirk Thompson (Krust) and Judge, Fresh 4 had a massive underground hit with 1989's "Wishing On A Star", but their debut album went unreleased as a result of musical disagreements with their record company. What a shame!

Strangely, considering they were a band of producers, this track is listed as being produced by Smith & Mighty. Perhaps the fledgling crew were still learning their craft?

Flynn became one half of Flynn & Flora, whereas Suv and Krust would go on to become hugely influential within the drum & Bass scene, being pivotal figures alongside Roni Size within the Reprazent and Full Cycle Records crew. Big up the Bristol massive!

As a lady who loves her breakbeats this track really scratches my itch, combining James Brown's Funky Drummer with the Bobby Byrd Hot Pants (Bonus Beats) break as detailed elsewhere on here), along with some heavy compression, giving us a kick-ass framework for the song. It also uses the beautifully atmospheric Riding High by Faze-O, as sampled by EPMD and Ghostface Killah, as the main melody which is always a real treat to my ears.

Jump right into that 12" mix or the No JB Beats and ignore the edit. Smoke Filled Thoughts is simply the instrumental version, which is nice.

This is a legendary UK cut from way back when and absolutely essential.

Peace and luvizm xx

Tracklist

1. Wishing On A Star
2. Wishing On A Star (12" Mix)
3. Smoke Filled Thoughts
4. Wishing On A Star (No JB Beats)

Download: F4-WOAS.7z | Filesize: 41.3MB

The Chimes - Heaven - (1989)

CBS ‎– 655432 2

There can be few breakbeats as wicked as Bobby Byrd's awesome Hot Pants (Bonus Beats) break. It's up there with the all-time great breaks that have transcended genre such as the Winston's Amen Brother, James Brown's Funky Drummer and Skull Snaps' It's A New Day to name a few.

You can find it as the rhythmic backbone to widely varied tracks like Fresh 4's Wishing On A Star, Congress' 40 Miles, True Faith/Pin-up Girls' Take Me Away, The Prodigy's Warriors Dance, Stone Roses' Fools Gold, Run DMC's What's It All About, Blurr's There's No Other Way, Big Daddy Kane's Raw and soooo many others.

And then there's this little beauty. Released in 1989 producer Mike Peden (later one half of The Lighthouse Family) put together a solid groove of a bassline, laced it with the Hot Pants break, and employed the killer diva-like voice of Miss Pauline Henry to absolutely murk up the track.

This is a fantastic slice of classic UK soul & dance, as HMV like to categorise it and remains a total banger thirty years on (seriously, can you believe it's really thirty damn years??).

Frankie Foncett is on the remix for the Attack Vocal Club Mix and provides an interesting take but it not really my thing. Go straight in with the original version (track one) or maybe even the Heavy Club.

Incidentally, apologies for the state of the CD sleeve - that faux gold colour doesn't take ageing very well!

Tracklist

1. Heaven
2. Heaven (Heavy Club)
3. Heaven (Attack Vocal Club Mix)
4. So Much In Love (Extended Demo Version)

Download: TC-H.7z | Filesize: 42.8MB