I’ve decided the best way to come back after a long break is to come back strong. So, starting tomorrow will be three posts in three days featuring some super-rare hip-hop. I’ve never seen this stuff pop up on any music blog (though I certainly could have missed it), so hang tight for some good ish.
Back on this post, I mentioned that the Thursday Night Live section of the show wasn’t included. Reader Tom (also the first person to ever contact me about old PRB shows, it should be noted) wrote in:
What’s up, Laze. We’ve corresponded about this PRB stuff before. I noticed the most recent entry and had to dig into my tapes to send you something. I have a freestyle featuring most of the folks you mentioned in the post. Could be the missing half of the most recently posted show. At the very least, it would make a good submission to the site.
When I listened, I clearly remembered this episode, so I must have it on tape somewhere as well. Thanks for sending it in, Tom!
And so, here it is, an excellent Thursday Night Live session from 1992:
Thursday Nite Live circa 92 feat Zulu, YZ, Terminata, Be-Fyne, LA Law, Tony D, and DJ Kam [10:48m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadStarting with this post, I’m going to start uploading these files to my hosting account in an attempt to get better response for visitors. Over time, I’ll transition some of the old posts over here, too. If my bandwidth starts going nuts, though, I’ll probably head back to DivShare with the files.
This will be the sole Christmas-themed post on Normal Bias this year.
This tape is one that I grew up listening to every year at Christmas. My parents never purchased much music, so this recording they made from the radio (WWSH-FM in Philadelphia — couldn’t find any information about it online (was looking under the wrong call letters)… anyone in the audience know what frequency they broadcast on?) in 1974 was what got rotation every year in our house. In fact, it still does. Even though the music is generally pretty basic background orchestral Christmas music, there’s still something about it I love. The memories it evokes, I guess.
My favorite part, for sure, comes on side 2 at 10 minutes in. There’s a radio ad for Disney on Parade ‘74 at the Spectrum (tickets available at all Ticketron locations!) followed by a news broadcast by DJ Ted Sawyer (the same guy listed here?). The news items are kind of interesting, particularly the first one about domestic spying.
The radio broadcast ends on side 3 at about the 10 minute marker. At 10:48 begins a recording of a school holiday concert. This could have been mine or my sister’s from either elementary or middle school, which would place it somewhere between 1985 and 1993. I’d bet somewhere in the late 80s/early 90s during my middle school years (the playing sounds too advanced to be elementary school). Will anyone listen this far? Probably not. But I’m posting it anyway.
The radio recording is a normal bias dub from an original normal bias cassette, but it still sounds halfway decent since there’s no static.
Back later in the week with a few more hip-hop posts.
Side 1 [45:29m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Side 2 [46:46m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download Side 3 [41:41m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download(edited to correct the call letters - see comments)
Thanks to Normal Bias reader Daren who passed along today’s tape from his own collection. It’s half a show, presented in a single file. Daren said the tape was circa 92 or 93, but I’m going to say 92 based on the song selection, plus the inclusion of the “new” Funk Family track “Think Before You Step,” which B. Fine tells me was probably released in 1992.
This is a good set, from a night when the studio was full: Jay-Ski, Cosmic Kev, AJ Shine, Three Nations in One (whose DJ, Scratch reportedly “cut with his mouth”), DJ Kam, Tone, B. Chill (RIP), B. Fine and the Funk Family, YZ, and Zulu the One Man Gang in the studio. There’s a good interview segment in there with B. Chill and his brother B. Fine. Hopefully I can find the rest of this show in my collection at some point because there was a Thursday Night Live freestyle session that had to be dope with that line-up in the house.
Here’s the first Normal Bias entry featuring one of my own radio shows. I was pretty obsessive about recording my shows during college but, sadly, I didn’t record every show. Nevertheless, I do have the entire series of a 45-minute show I did weekly during the Spring 1997 semester at WMWC titled Trancelike State. It was part of a three-hour show that also featured jazz and reggae (if I remember correctly). I’ve always held a spot in my heart for the Trancelike State mixes because they carried a particular mood throughout each set, had decent blends, and captures that mid-to-late 90’s electronica vibe.
While I played a fair amount of jungle and drum-n-bass, I also snuck in experimental stuff from DJ Spooky, turntablism, downtempo beats, and left-field Jamaican dub selections.
This is the first episode, a special 90-minute set. The episode number of 019701 can be translated pretty simply: January 1997, first mix of the month. The “star date” was just my stupid way of designating specifically when the mix was done by writing the date backwards (so 79.61.10 is January 16, 1997).
I’ve included track listings. If you’d like to see what future episodes of Trancelike State hold, visit this cached Internet Archive page.
Side A [ download ]:
Side B [ download ]:
Normal Bias is a music blog dedicated to preserving the radio shows, demos, and out-of-print music living on cassette in my basement.
