“Attention everyone, this an emergency broadcast. The unpleasant noise you are about to hear coming your radio is not a mistake – please do not turn off your radio but turn up the volume on your receiver as high as it can go – so that you can make the sound that we broadcast as loud as possible.”
The beginning of this tape experiences some technical difficulties but nothing a quote from one of Malik’s Radio London sound bites can’t fix in a jiffy. As Atheama by Nebula II continues from the previous side the audio struggles to gain composure. I’m not sure what the explanation for this is but I remember it being on the original tape as well. Fear not, it doesn’t last too long.
Before we know it Annihilate by the Annihilator decimates with fully functioning decibels. Way in my Brain by SL2 gives us a little more ragga style techno and is blended with another unidentified track for a lengthy period of time. Unlike all the other mucking about/sampling on this tape the unknown track is never played on its own only used to funk-out Way in my Brain. And when it’s all said and done the trippy sample is definitely way in our brains.
What ever fires are still burning from the total destruction caused by the Annihilator keep burning courtesy of Keep the Fire Burning by the House Crew. Any one fortunate enough to survive by this point is subsequently exterminated at zero range with Exterminate by DMS. The fire and flames continue with Johnny by the Ibiza Crew “you’re going to burn for this Angel” which is a sample from the movie Angel Heart.
I’ve always thought CeCe Peniston’s Finally was an odd selection as the next track – so here’s a few theories:
1. After annihilating, burning and exterminating the crowd Malik was probably trying to ease the tension and settle things down in the room. And just for the record Finally was mostly likely hot off the presses not going commercial until early 1992.
2. Finally could have been dropped by another one of the Booming System DJs and could represent a transition to a new set. This theory is reinforced when The Future is dropped a second time at the end of the tape (would Malik have played it twice?) If the DJ change theory is correct, the mixing still remains smooth, could it be Dr. No?
Regardless of what ever moments we had to relax compliments of CeCe the mayhem starts again with Riots in Brixton by English Friday. Another Exodus anthem Feel It by Coco Steel and LoveBomb polishes things off with its unique build up and the ever-so satisfying climax.
There’s another mic appearance during the rewind of this song at (38:55) but it doesn’t sound like Malik: “we’re gonna play that one again, whistles in the house!” The more I play it the more I believe it could very well be Captain B. himself. This would explain why he so closely guarded this particular tape and kept it completely intact for once. And since the end of the tape is near, this places him at the scene in perfect position to eject it from the deck, pocket the master and slip out in to the crowd undetected.
Enjoy.
P.S. By cross referencing the exact release dates of certain tracks on this tape (Finally, Activ-8) combined with the knowledge that Malik didn’t DJ most of December – we’ve determined this tape is most likely from a Saturday in November of 1991.
September 24th, 2009 at 4:38 pm
The track Finally was played by Dr. No… he always claimed it was a true house classic… I recall being at his dingy apartment above the Claremont when he said “No Peewee, it doesn’t matter if they play it on AM Radio, it is a fuckin wicked house track mate.” Back then I didn’t believe it, but hearing it now, he was right… (minus the rap shit in it).
December 24th, 2012 at 9:31 am
I think the unknown track is A Guy Called Gerald, “In The Beginning” (thanks, Shazam). It’s amazing how long he keeps that mix going, especially against the complex ragga beats from SL2. (Maybe a little longer than he should, but still, technically impressive.)