Wednesday, September 18, 2024
by Tat
Prior to 2020, the majority of dance records not only had a short shelf life, but they also devalued quicker than a Gerald Ratner set of earrings. With dozens of records out each week in the 1990s and an awful lot of them instantly forgettable, it was inevitable that many would be confined to the bargain bins. No scenes are equal, and you are more likely to get more cash for an old techno record than something from handbag house’s heyday. The recent trend has been for indie labels to press fewer than 250 copies due to a variety of factors, with the cost of pressing vinyl and seeing a return, being a notable one. This has meant many recent releases have held their values better than the larger, more commercial labels of the past couple of decades. Collectors are fewer, demographics change and money more tight, but a vibrant record market remains with sales the highest they have been in the last 20 years, as well as a healthy second hand market. Over the last two months we have explored the rave and techno genres where older releases have passed from turntable to turntable for the kind of money that would get you a dozen of the hottest new records. This time we are going to take a look at what gold lies upon the shelves of house music fanatics.
Not much is known about Kettle, only that they released a follow up record in 1994 with the very interesting title of Klark Kent And His Druggy Brother….. Coming out on the short run Embryonic Records, It’s Kettle LP is four tracks of slightly leftfield, wonky house which sounds ahead of its time by a decade or so. A vibrant groove with oddly chosen watery, bubble effects kick the proceedings with Balloon. There are nods to the rave scene with intermittent archetypal horns and whistles dotted about the production which has held up well 30 years on. Nearly 1500 people have this on their Discogs wishlist and several have paid over £150 to acquire a copy.
https://www.discogs.com/release/551655-Kettle-Its-Kettle-EP
A classy outing from two artists still operating in their own right, with this coming out on Terada’s own label. Eight tracks of well produced house music which clearly indicated that some in the Far East were well schooled in how to produce decent house music back in the day. A few of the tracks have dated less well than others, largely due to their sample use, but it still could hold its own when it came out. The track Do It Again is as proper as tracks go, euphoric piano riffs, alluring female samples, it hits all the right spots. Thankfully you do not need to spend the going rate of about £150 to get that fine track as a compilation came out on Rush Hour in 2015 that features that and other Soichi Terada prime cuts, of which there are many.
https://www.discogs.com/release/870302-Soichi-Terada-Shinichiro-Yokota-Far-East-Recording
DJ Oberman’s Nous’klaer imprint based in Rotterdam has put out a wealth of releases across a wide spectrum since 2013. In this case it is a double header of re-edits courtesy of the label boss AKA Oceanic with Loving being a sublime modern house come disco reworking. The track is simple but infectious, the kind of record you would watch the sun go down in an exotic location. It has sold multiple times for over £150, which probably seems a lot given it sounds like many other releases.
https://www.discogs.com/release/8462402-OC-LovingSight-To-Sea
Going way back to 1988 and an artist who only put out a few tracks but they were nothing short of authentic. The creatively titled release straddled between acid house and the first wave of authentic Chicago deep house. The track Only Wanted To Be is as good an example of house music for its time, a pumping 909, reflective spoken words and a moderate dose of samples. In terms of value, this one is hard to beat as it usually goes for more than £250 with a mint copy selling in 2023 for over £600.
https://www.discogs.com/release/77643-James-Jack-Rabbit-Martin-There-Are-Dreams-And-There-Is-Escape
Treasure Series released 10 hand stamped, single-sided, 180g records between 2019 and 2021 which all got snaffled up on Bandcamp among other places. Most of those on sale via Discogs are priced at over £50, which of course does not always tell the true picture in terms of value. The Jungle VIP release is a simple, heavy chugging house record that leans towards the more commercial side of things and combines a liberal amount of samples from The Jungle Book. There were 250 copies of each record pressed with no re-press planned and past copies have sold for over £200 on more than a couple of occasions.
https://www.discogs.com/sell/item/2352402892
The A side track ‘Where You Belong’ has long been on my wantlist after seeing Nightmares On Wax play it in a classic Boiler Room set. This however is not a house track, but we have to head over to the flipside to hear some of the deepest house with Here’s To You Mr. Robinson and the funky soulful sounds of Make Me Feel. It might be the other side that causes people to part with over £100 for this beautiful release, but there is no doubt that this has so much rooted in house music.
https://www.discogs.com/release/13643136-The-Groovers-Make-Me-Feel-EP
A full LP makes it onto our list and one by stalwarts of UK dance music, Crazy P. Formed by Chris Todd and Jim Baron three decades ago, their iK7 long player is a classy record. It is not a pure house record by any sense of the word but it is very much underpinned by house and disco sensibilities and influences. Witch Doctor is arguably as close as they get and there is always a live feel to their music from one of the scene’s most talented acts from the last 30 years. The price of this record has continued to climb in recent years and you can expect to pay over £200 for a copy today.
https://www.discogs.com/release/7033756-Crazy-P-Walk-Dance-Talk-Sing
Without doubt the oddest of label names in our list that dropped this and two other records between 97-2000. The Detroit based label returned in 2014 and released a flurry of digital outings before the label boss Eddie Watson died unexpectedly. The Weaselhead EP is part house and part tech come trance, harder edged house. The track Contact is where the house vibes lie and very much in the style of classic Strictly Rhythm’s heyday with uptempo stabs before ultimately getting a bit heavier.
https://www.discogs.com/release/11226400-Weaselhead-One-Long-Night
This track could not represent the time it came out any more than it already does. It has all the right ingredients, female moans and cries of ‘yeah’ alongside the usual chipper house basslines and riffs. Three decades on, the four tracker could still do a job on the dancefloor and captures just how the classy sound of Italian produced house music was at the time. It usually sells for less than £100 but has been known to go for £168.
https://www.discogs.com/release/554570-M1-Experience-M1-Experience-EP
A mixed bag of four tracks from out of Germany on the Spice Vibes label with the B side sounding more credible 30 years on. This is one of those infuriating records you may have sold for peanuts until 2020 when all of a sudden its price skyrocketed. Since then the value has continued to climb with copies selling for over £200. Tribal Drama is well produced throbbing tribal house music whilst Am I Liked leans more towards the classic garage-tinged sound that was coming out of the U.S at the time. Hardly ground-breaking or original and clearly someone dropped this in an influential set to change things. For those who sold their copies prior to then, they can only read and weep.
https://www.discogs.com/release/1338623-Fabien-DEstival-Et-Gregory-House-Set-EP
Discover new digital dance music with TrackhunterBy Tat - Wednesday, July 10, 2024
Who would have thought that some of the white label hardcore rave records from back in the day would go onto be some of the most expensive ones to buy? We decided to highlight some of the records that..
Read MoreBy Tat - Wednesday, May 20, 2015
For any DJ that wants to make a career out of their love of music it can be a competitive business. Scenes come, go, get revived, die and then reappear a decade later. With this waxing and waning many..
Read MoreTat - Wednesday, November 13, 2024
The first few years of the 1990s were arguably the most important years for urban British music. Acid House had faded away and a new generation of British producers were making their own unique sounds..
Read MoreTat - Wednesday, August 1, 2018
I'm sure you will have heard the saying 'You can never have too much of a good thing'. For any DJ or music fan that might be true as we try to seek out fresh, exciting music. Yet the reality is, that ..
Read More
Back to Blog
We’re looking for enthusiastic YOUNG dance music DJs to take part in a research study to understand how DJs discover new dance tracks.
We need DJs who are building a career in the music business and actively growing their fanbase.
If you're interested and are between 18 to 30 years old then we want to hear from you please.
We're not being ageist we've simply got enough 30+ DJs :)