Tag: Compilations

Blow Up Presents Exclusive Blend Volume 4

Round four of the Exclusive Blend 4 is a journey into the 1960’s Chappell Music Library vaults. Centring mostly on tracks from the Chappell DMM series which were recorded in 1960’s Paris featuring tracks from Jack Arel, Jean-Claude Petit, Pierre Dutour and Paul Piot. It’s another slice of high quality originals, no fillers. This album will appeal to the Blow Up Club fan base along with DJs and collectors. This is the cream of the dancefloor friendly tracks of music from Chappell. One of the biggest and best libraries of the era.

Sleeve Notes

“After last year’s trip through the Telemusic archives for Volume 3, the taste has developed once again for a further foray into the French library scene. Round four of the Exclusive Blend Series sees an expedition through the ighty vaults of the Chappell Muisc Library, focusing mostly on dancefloor friendly recordings, alongside some archive Gallic atmospherics thrown in for good measure.

This compilation is primarily culled from the Chappell DMM Series of LPs, recorded in Paris from 1966 to the early 1970s. The Dance and Mood Music series (DMM) was established to explore musical boundaries of Jazz, R’n’B, Classical and the Avant-garde for the purpose of TV, radio and film synchronisation. The principal DMM writers Jack Arel, Pierre Dutour, Jean Claude Petit and Paul Piot were given unprecedented artistic freedom for the time. This resulted in high quality recordings that clearly demonstrate how library music can be so much more than just hack work – within its confines there too can be inspirational music. Chappell writers and producers we salute you!”

Paul Tunkin, August 2001

Blow Up Presents Exclusive Blend Volume 3

It was three years since the release of Exclusive Blend Volume 2, but it was worth the wait. If you own both Volumes 1 and 2, you will know they are both on different tips – Volume 1 is a more up-tempo pop flavour of hammond-driven dancefloor jazz, while Volume 2 is a little slower, with a slightly more sophisticated ‘soundtrack’ edge. Similarly, Volume 3 will try to introduce something a little different again. This sixteen track album, was compiled in Paris from the late 60’s and early 70’s vaults of France’s Telemusic Library, by Blow Up’s Paul Tunkin, . The album was preceded by a limited 7″ single (as part of the new ‘Blow Up 45 Series’) taken from the album – Guy Pedersen’s smokey sitar haze that is ‘ Indian Pop Bass.’

Sleeve Notes

“So finally here we are at round three of the Exclusive Blend Series. It’s been a long time, well why the wait you may ask? Well after the success of the previous two volumes we’ve been sunning ourselves on distant shores, borrowing billionaire’s yachts in the Mediterranean finding it all just a little too damn hard to get heads down to some serious vault trawling for undiscovered musical gems. Ok, maybe forget about the sun, boating, and the money at that. Let’s just have the soundtrack to the high-life instead, it’s taken a long time but all the best things are worth waiting for.
Into the heart of Paris 1999, Le Gard du Nord via Eurostar straight over to Telemusic HQ for a two day search. French music library Telemusic issued its first recordings in 1968, which have covered a wealth of musical styles over the past few decades. The eclectic nature, as is common with most of the music libraries was to accomodate the varied requirements of essentially TV, Radio and Film synchronisation. My search was for recordings from the lare Sixties to the early Seventies, focusing on the dancefloor element of Telemusic’s Jazz and R’n’B recordings with some Gallic soundtrack vibes thrown in for good measure.

Comprising mainly of instrumental compositions that vary from Guy Pedersen ‘s funky wah wah workout of Les Coplains De La Basse to Paul Piot’s Serge Gainsberg girly vocal sounding Virtueuse Reveuse, this album features some of France’s greatest Jazz, R’n’B, Pop musicians and writers of the time including Bernard Estardy and Raymond Guiot. So until next time, au revoir.”

Paul Tunkin, September 2000

Blow Up A-Go-Go! Dancefloor Classics

This album was released in November 1999 in conjunction with V2 Records as a collection of some of the classic tracks that have been essential to the sound and legend of the Blow Up club, and as a result the compilation has become legendary in its own right.

Covering Sixties Soul and R’nB, Dancefloor Jazz, Easy Listening, Northern Soul, Soundtracks, Gritty Hammond Grooves, and featuring classics both new and old that have filled the Blow Up Dancefloor over the years, Blow Up A-Go-Go! introduced such delights as The Quik’s 60s mod classic ‘Bert’s Apple Crumble’, The Kinks B-Side ‘She’s Got Everything’, Jacques DuTronc’s ‘Le Responsable’ and more to a much wider audience for the first time. Since its release, many of the tracks have become even more recognisable from their subsequent use on various TV adverts.

The compilation takes its title from the second track ‘Blow Up A-Go-Go!’ which was taken from another label compilation Blow Up presents Exclusive Blend Volume 2. The track was originally entitled ‘Wild Elephants’ (early pressings of Exclusive Blend list this original title) but was renamed as a thank-you after the track was picked up from the album and used by Gap jeans in their  ‘Khaki-A-Go-Go’ 1999 TV ad campaign.

Released on CD and Double Vinyl, the album is currently deleted but very limited stock of both formats is available from the Blow Up shop.

Sleeve Notes

Vic Keary, co producer of The Quik’s “Bert’s Apple Crumble”, claims the track was namd after the finest dessert in Bert’s Cafe on the Old Kent Road around the corner to Maximum Sound Studio where this track was recorded. This tune, originally a B-side, kicks the album off to a storming start. James Clarke’s “Blow Up A-Go-Go!”, a music library track found one morning at a North London boot fair, became a firm club favourite before it’s inclusion on the “Blow Up Present’s Exclusive Blend Vol.2” album. It was from there that the Gap clothing company picked up on the track for their “Khaki-A-Go-Go” TV campaign of Summer ’99. On its commercial release, and as a thankyou from the publisher Ian Dale for its revival, the track became renamed after the Blow Up club night. Georgie Fame, or Clive Powell as he is known to his friends, performed regularly at the Flamingo in Soho, recording a classic live album there with his backing group the Blue Flames. The Flamingo has long since gone, but just above it in what once was known as the Whisky-A-Go-Go, is of course, the location of the Blow Up club’s Saturday night residency.

Thirty years later its good to know that Somebody Stole My Thunder can still work an audience in the very same building. Soul Hooligan’s Sweet Pea, couldn’t help but be included when it contains such samples as the Dean Parrish northern soul classic “I’m On My Way” and the Mohawks’ “The Champ” – two tracks often found on the club decks in their original form.”Watts Breakaway” by The Johnny Otis Show, is apparently about a dance craze sung by a Greek Cypriot and one time preacher Johnny Otis, inspired by the low rent riot torn ghetto of the Watts Projects, LA. A teenage Stevie Winwood and Stones/Primals producer co wrote the ever popular and supremely confident Spencer Davis Group hit “I’m A Man”. The Incredible Bongo Band’s “Bongolia”, as with their version of The Shadows “Apache”, became an inspiration to the early Hip Hop scene for its ample sumply of breaks, whilst proving a great club track in its own right. This one time Motown session group possibly performed backing on The Temptations’ “Cloud Nine”, which Cuban percussionist and 1950s U.S. emigre Mongo Santamaria reinterprets here.

The BOAC jet-setting duo and resident Blow Up djs The Karminsky Experience are on fine form with “Exploration” taken from their debut E.P. The twelve year old daughter of jazz drummer extraordinaire Buddy Rich is the vocalist on this version of “The Beat Goes On” before it was a twinkle in the All Seeing I. This compilation would not have been complete without Andy Williams’ “House Of Bamboo”, a regular fixture at Blow Up and a defining moment from the early days. It was recorded in the late Fifties, possibly inspired by a TV show/film of the same name and is the earliest recorded track on the album. Shirley Ellis had a minor hit with the ‘Clapping Song’ but to many soul fans “Soul Time” is the track that she will be remembered best for. “Jaques Dutronc”, French sixties heart-throb and beat superstar immortalised in Cornershops’ “Brimful Of Asha” by the line “Jaques Dutronc and the Bolan boogie…” injects some cool gallic charm into the proceedings with “Le Responsable”. On a final note, there’s Big Boss Man. Their contibution “Humanize” was recorded in drummer/keyboard/vocalist (but not at the same time!) Nasser’s bedroom. Definitely one to watch, they are have just recorded their debut album for Blow Up Records, so keep ’em peeled

Blow Up Presents Exclusive Blend Volume 2

Reissue of Volume 2 from the classic groundbreaking Blow Up presents Exclusive Blend music library series sees Paul Tunkin, DJ & founder of legendary Blow Up club, entering the vaults of De Wolfe, Amphonic and once again KPM. As with a bulk of Exclusive Blend 1, many of these tracks were receiving their first commercial airing on this album’s release. Released in 1997, the album also introduced James Clarke’s Wild Elephants to the world, which was subsequently picked up by Gap and used on the 1999 ‘Khaki A Go-Go’ worldwide campaign. As a thankyou from the writer it was re-titled ‘Blow Up A-Go-Go!’ and became the title track for the successful V2 / Blow Up compilation ‘Blow Up A-Go-Go! Dancefloor Classics from The Legendary Blow Up Club’. This album includes tracks from many great music library theme writers including Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw and Syd Dale, and includes the Alan Moorhouse Hammond heavy classic ‘Soul Skimmer’ and the spaced out tribal funk of Nick Ingman’s ‘Tripwire’. Long due for a reissue, Volume 2 has been unavailable for several years fetching up to £100 on eBay!

Blow Up presents Exclusive Blend Volume 2 has received much international recognition with DJs, collectors and plain old music lovers alike, introducing many to the twilight world of the unknown session man just doing his thang. Like it’s predecessor this album has gained a loyal cult following and was continually repressed after it’s original release. It remains a ground-breaking introduction to the world of the music library, the second in a series reflecting the diverse music that can be heard at London’s legendary Blow Up club.

Sleeve Notes

“So here we are with round two of the ‘Exclusive Blend’ series – a journey into the twilight zone of the session man. These recordings return to the vaults of KPM and introduce the De Wolfe, Amphonic and Sylvester music libraries. The music included in this compilation was recorded between 1968 and1974 and was originally used by production companies for TV themes and incidental music. The tracks were gradually rediscovered through visits to second hand record stores and the libraries’ own archives and hove become firm favorites on the Blow Up club nights. ‘Exclusive Blend Vol.2’ makes many of these track commercially available for the first time. I hope you hove as much fun listening to this album as I had compiling it.”
Paul Tunkin, August 1997

“I have been delighted to see several of my pieces written in the 1970’s appearing on a variety of compilations including Blow Up’s Exclusive Blend Volumes 1 and 2. The revival in the nineties of music from this era has proved to be one of those glitches in the music business, thereby emphasizing its unpredictability, but at the same time confirming that good music lasts.”
Alan Hawkshaw

Blow Up Presents Exclusive Blend Volume 1

Reissue of Volume 1 from the classic groundbreaking Blow Up presents Exclusive Blend music library series sees Paul Tunkin, DJ & founder of legendary Blow Up club, taking us on a journey deep into the vaults of the KPM music library.

Originally released in 1996, the Blow Up Exclusive Blend series were one of the first commercial introductions to Music Library and the twilight world of the session man. Volume 1 features the cream of the KPM Music Library writers including Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw, Alan Parker and Johnny Pearson, From the pounding up-tempo of ‘Move, Move, Move’ through the Hammond-heavy ‘Beat Me ‘Til I’m Blue’ and ‘Rocky Mountain Runabout’ (versions of both featuring on the legendary Mohawks ‘The Champ’ album) to the sitar 60s club sound of ‘Delhi Discotheque’ and ‘Come here Calcutta’. Most of these tracks had never been commercially available before this release.

Blow Up presents Exclusive Blend Volume 1 has been continuously repressed since its release and remains a ground-breaking introduction to the world of the music library, the first in a series that reflects the diverse music that can be heard at London’s legendary Blow Up club. Now available again on vinyl too and for the first time ever digitally. Essential for DJs and collectors alike.

Sleeve Notes

Exclusive Blend Volume 1 is the first in a series of compilations reflecting the eclecticism of London’s Blow Up club, featuring obscure traces that form an integral part of its musical make up. Volume 1 unearths recordings made for the KPM music library between 1968-1970. From 1965, KPM introduced writers from jazz and pop backgrounds into its writing stable, to contemporise its catalogue of theme tunes and incidental music. This album features the creme de la creme of these composers, including Keith Mansfield, Johnny Pearson and Alan Hawkshaw. For the trainspotters, an alternative take of Hawkshaw’s ‘Beat Me ‘Til I’m Blue’ (minus horns) to the version featured on The Mohowks’ L.P. ‘The Champ’ is of particular interest. For the sane among us, think of this album of just a little something to carry on the party in the afterhours.”
Paul Tunkin (Blow Up founder/Resident DJ.)

“Those of us who were port of the recording scene in the sixties con now look back and reflect on how lucky we were to be around at the time that English ‘Pop & Rock’ music would become such a success. So many great musicians, such good recording studios and so many artists from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones who would dominate the musical culture Of young people all over the world.
And so many of them are still with us today!- Dusty Springfield, Tom Jones, Robert Plant, Georgie Fame, The Love Affair, Marmalade and the Tremeloes- all of these artists that I worked with hove lasted the ‘test of time’. I hope that when you listen to Exclusive Blend, you will be taken back in time and con enjoy all the positive energy that was such a port of that era.”
Keith Mansfield (Composer for KPM)

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