I’m late to the memorial party but in case you missed it…”Mr. Spaces and Places/Rock Creek Park” himself moved on about 3 weeks ago to that eternal jazz combo on the other side. In 1996/97 the Poisoned Ivy crew had the pleasure to get down with him on a jazz hip hop project. How crazy is it that while rummaging through my drawers (desk drawer you wierdos!), I stumble upon the original demo tape…unplayed, for a good 16 or 17 years. Better than saying something drippy and cliche I figured I’d treat you to a real honest to goodness Lost Tape, a gem, a piece of history… The Donald Byrd Hip Hop Reflections Project. The beginning is seriously moving to say the least. I left it uncut but it’s really 3 or 4 distinct pieces but it flows nicely as a whole.
It was an honor to have pressed record for that brother a time or two.
R.I.P.
Donald Byrd Hip Hop Reflections Project (feat. Rush N Rule it)
J…, ESV, and even G was in the spot. I’m soooo glad Ronnie taped this one because this is nothing but end-to-end classics. I always say that this site/blog is a historical record and this show truly lives up to that claim. Technical issues and all…they just don’t do radio like this anymore…RIP 98.7 KISS NYC.
Part 1 – Classics, classics everywhere
Part 2 – G swings by with The Raw Deal flavs and more classics…Courageous Chief even! it flips to the next night’s Raw Deal (with G and DJ Kam) show at the 25 min mark. Gotta love radio tapes.
Even the pre-Halloween snow couldn’t keep us down! Waaaay too much fun to say the least. Good to put the crew back together for a couple more hours. Thanks to WPRB and the Side B Radio crew for having us over for a playdate. Gotta do this again sometime.
I could write all day but it’s best to just listen…2 hours of classics:
Going way back to the early dual-personality hiphop/house format, here’s a little house-infused show. J and ESV carry the hosting duties. D and Sel on the turntables. Good stuff…refreshing even. Ahhhh.
Show – 1993.
So many things and not enough title space. This was the first Thursday show following the abrupt torch passing from The Raw Deal. The Punk Barbarians came thru (like whoo) and killed it live. I remember lots of phone calls and having to explain “No, G won’t be here”, over and over. But I think we stepped up pretty well on short notice. To top it off, since this is one of Ronnie’s tapes, there’s a little bonus at the end. Let me explain…Once our show was over at 1am we used to like to “throw” to the Stretch Armstrong Show on WKCR (Columbia U). Sad thing is that the throw was only meaningful for a special patch of real estate somewhere roughly around Middlesex County, Edison, and Staten Island where the broadcast ranges overlapped and you could pick up both stations. So if you were lucky to live in that area, on Thursday nights, you were treated to what I dare call…THE BEST 7 HOUR BLOCK OF HIP HOP RADIO OF ALL TIME. There…I said it. Not that Vibes and Vapors necessarily originated it or elevated it, but it was an honor to have contributed to it. Not bad for 2 Ivy League radio stations, huh? Since this was the first show, post-Raw Deal, huge props and shouts always to G. Thanks for the foundation. And as a disclaimer, I never like to post up someone else’s show without permission, but also understand that this site is a hip hop time capsule, a historical marker of sorts, (and a whole lot of fun) so to Stretch and Bobbito (aka Kool Bob Love, aka….oh nevermind) if you object to the last 15 mins, just hit me on the side (Sel or Ron can find me) and it’s as good as gone. It’s all peace and love.
Part 1 – PBs perform “The Boom” live. Never made the album so this is a rare gem.
Part 2 – Show closes out with the original PB’s “Rest in Peace”, then flips over to Stretch and Bob.
This posting officially cracks open Ronnie’s Vault. Most of the previous tapes were just shows that survived living in the backseat of my car, various spring cleanings, and dusty moving boxes. Ironically, Ron’s tapes were actually labeled and treated well…you might call it a “collection” even. Interesting to hear what he chose to save. For this particular show, the sets are refreshing… many classics I haven’t heard since. Historically this is truly show #52 in that it closed out the first year of Vibes and Vapors broadcasting. Thanks goes to my man in Staten Island for getting this little benchmark on tape.
This was literally my last tape from the dusty box. It also became a labor of love and determination and halted my posts for a minute. Old heads can attest as to how tapes will eventually die and get eaten or the tape deck just goes rogue on you. One way of the other, TAPES ARE TEMPORARY. This particular tape at least would jam before it got eaten but would never play…for months. It was a really really cheap memorex that was literally pink, yellow and blue and just screams “not hip hop”. Had to open the cassette itself and do some surgery. The end result is D. Groovy, Seyfu, Corey Blunt, and Berry B holding it down one more time in the summer of 95. Good sets. Now onto Ronnie’s box of tapes….
Part 1 – Seyfu’s set – (always loved my fake Dr. Trevis ID…shouts to Reggie Nobles for the inspiration.)
I know I’ve been slipping. Been cleaning out and renovating the basement (Bob Vila got nothin on me!) and unfortunately I think I reached the last Dusty Box of Tapes…however Ronnie from Staten Island came to the rescue over the summer. Ron blessed me with the junk from his cellar. So as I said the hiatus is back off, again (shouts to the Beastie Boys). The way I figure there are a good 200 shows out there (50/year for 4+ years) and every tape is a step closer to a full set. Looks like the cassette deck and computer will be busy for a bit longer. Thanks Ron! Stay tuned…
In current news…
Corey’s Champagne Life BX Remix is currently lighting up mixshows all over the air but the Vibes and Vapors fam gets to check it out here…
