The record market in New York is in an interesting state right now. At almost every record shop I went to, I found crates and crates of 12" records from all sorts of early 1980s electro and hip-hop legends. I was trying to figure out why this was until I came up with a satisfactory theory. Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s when all of this stuff was coming out, it was only coming out in New York. Almost all of these artists are New York based and record companies were convinced that hip-hop was just a fad so they didn't extend their distribution chains beyond the region. All the ghetto kids who spent a couple of buck to have a piece of early hip-hop cut to vinyl back then are grown ups now. Chances are they don't own a record player and vinyl records are of little use to them. All of these old records end up in record stores across the city in such numbers that the prices are heavily deflated.

For instance, at one shop I found an original pressing of Newcleus' 1983 electro hit "Jam On It" with the instrumental on the flip side. Complete with the pressing plant sleeve and in mint condition. At another shop in Brooklyn (Sound Fix on Bedford Ave.), I found tons of Afrika Bambaataa, Whodini, Grandmaster Flash, Kurtis Blow, and Big Daddy Kane for prices of between $2-$5 each. Sure, they're 12" so you only get one to two tracks, but who doesn't want to say they have Grandmaster Flash's "The Message" on original vinyl? Unfortunately, I was broke by the time I made it to that store and all I could afford were two dollar bin picks. Used to be when I went through the dollar bin I couldn't find anything I seriously wanted, but now I know enough to be satisfied with dollar pickings. I got two 12" records: One is a hip-house (the weird period where some people tried to mix hip-hop and house music) classic and the other is diva house that went to #1 in the UK and topped charts elsewhere around Europe. Enjoy!

Newcleus - Jam On It
The Jungle Brothers - I'll House You
Black Box - Ride On Time (Remix)