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Tuff City Newsletter December 2008
Fresh in 2009

At Tuff City, we've spiked our coffee with all sorts of uppers you've never heard of to bring you a devestating new product line.  We don't sleep so you can.

Please explore the new releases from our ¡Andale!, Funky Delicacies and Ol' Skool Flava Imprints.

As a minor token of our appreciation for your continued support,
please enjoy these classic Christmas songs on us:
Anttex
I Know Santa
He's My Man		 Andre Williams
Rudibaker's
Christmas Wish		 Mabell Scott
Boogie Woogie
Santa Claus
And remember, the Tuff City Summer sale ends December 31st.  Then all prices revert to their list prices.  Get yours before it's too late.  And be sure to keep checking our eBay store for deals.
¡Andale! Records
It doesn’t get much better.

Andale Records, an imprint of Tuff City Records, is proud to announce its new campaign of exact replica reissues from Carmelo Fonseca’s legendary “Fonseca” label.  This small jewel of a label has long been a secret to only player in the scene and the most grizzled of record collectors.  No more. 

To kick-start the campaign, Andale has reissued two of the best Boogaloo records to ever be pressed on vinyl.  These are Orchestra Kool’s Kool Heat (ANDA LP 5904), Mr. Willie Rodriguez Orchestra with Leo Casino’s Pussycat alternately titled Heat Wave (ANDA LP 5905).



Orchestra Kool’s Kool Heat (ANDA LP 5904) is boogaloo at its purest.  Recorded in 1965 by a young group of émigrés from Puerto Rico, the record is a perfect snapshot of the intersection between Latin and Black culture, island life and city living, traditional Latin music and the “new music” of rock and soul.  The album elegantly captures what it was like to be young and in New York.  Kool Heat is available for retail. 



Mr. Willie Rodriguez and Leo Casino’s Pussycat (ANDA LP 5905) is a must have for any serious fan of Latin music.  It was recorded in 1965 during one of the hottest summers on record.  Out of the heat wave, Mr. Willie Rodriguez and his orchestra emerged with tunes too caliente to touch with bare hands.  Containing descargas, boogaloos and primordial salsa, the laidback sounds of Mr. Willie Rodriguez don’t get more authentic than this.  Pussycat is available for retail only as LP. 



Ricardo Ray’s Comejen (ANDA LP 5906) was Ray’s first record on the Fonseca label, and the introduction of an enduring talent in the Latin American music scene.  In Comejen, Ray set out to bring newness and variety to traditional Latin forms. 
The tunes are essential for any salsa fan.  Loose and improvisational yet helmed by one of the genres inventors and masters, the music is urgent with passion, unexpected turns and superb playing.  Available for retail January 20th, 2009, only as LP. Preorder now.



In this, his third album on the Fonseca Label, Ricardo Ray catapults in into 3 dimensions, on Andale’s second reissue of Ray’s material on the Fonseca label: 3 Dimensions (ANDA LP 5907).  

Ray again reprises his role as bandleader of a group of young garage salsa players and vocalist Bobby Cruz.  On this album, Ray covers the whole spectrum of Brooklyn Nuyorican music, from songs that lament the Cuba of memory to the assimilation of the Black struggle in New York.  The disc features descargas, boleros, guarachas, guaguancos, son montunos and jazz mambos.  

Years ahead of his time, 3 Dimensions shows Ray formalizing genre and inventing new ones at once.  Available for retail January 20th, 2009, only as LP. Preorder now.

In the coming weeks and months, please be on the lookout for more LPs and CDs from the Fonseca catalog from Ricardo Ray, Bobby Cruz, Willie Rodriguez, Chihuahua as well as “best of” CDs for the more general audience.		 Funky Delicacies
Funky Delicacies, an imprint of Tuff City Records, is proud to announce two new compilations in the Fistful of Funky Delicacies series: A Furred Fistful o’ Funky Delicacies (DEL LP 0041) and A Fourth Fistful o' Funky Delicacies (DEL LP 0042).


A Furred Fistful o’ Funky Delicacies kicks off with "Funky Pete" by New Orleans' own Guitar Ray and then keeps the energy dynamic with New Orleans' girl group The Explosions. The lineup of high octane tracks hit like haymakers to the gut with rare gems from Ike Turner and the Steptones. A Furred Fistful o’ Funky Delicacies is available for retail.


A Fourth Fistful of Funky Delicacies soars with breaks flying all over the place.  Side “A” features obscure, uptempo dance floor movers including "You Got It All' by North Carolina's own City Counsil Ltd. On side “B” you can expect a series of head nodding slow burners such as David Robinson's epic "I Like It Like It Is.”  In case you care about this sort of thing, this release has five rugged drum breaks to feed your sampler.  A Fourth Fistful of Funky Delicacies is available for retail. 

The “Furred” and “Fourth” editions of this series again feature newly illustrated cover by the legendary “Stozo the Clown,” second only to Pedro Bell as George Clinton’s artist of choice during the Parliament/Funkadelic’s 70s prime.  



Funky Delicacies, an imprint of Tuff City Records, is back with another installment of psychedelic funk from the legendary Gene “Poo Poo Man” Anderson.  The album, only available as a vinyl LP is entitled Cold Blooded Games in the Ghetto (DEL LP 0079).

The record is available for retail January 20th, 2009, only as an LP. Preorder now.
Gene "The Poo Poo Man" Anderson's long and illustrious career began at age three and continues to this day with George Clinton's Parliament Funkadelic, yet the legend already deserves anthologizing. From funk to electro, Tuff City's Funky Delicacies collection of Anderson's wide spectrum of sound illuminates the multifaceted man whose work has brought him together with The Temptations, Junior Walker, The Capitols, and so much more.

The release should serve as a counterpart to Gene Anderson: The Hi Rhythm Sessions (STS LP 6362), and both taken together only bolster Anderson’s placement among the funk Gods.


Tuff City Records is proud to announce the release of a lost, great psychedelic funk concept album by the enigmatic R&B impresario, Phil Flowers.  The release, Phil Flowers and the United Family Band’s Alpha and Omega (DEL LP 0081), is transferred from the original master tapes and is available now as an exact reissue vinyl LP. 

Before recording this album in 1973, Phil had a long and storied career as a master R&B stylist who, born in North Carolina and raised in Maryland, had been performing for twenty years before he recorded this record.  Phil had, by 1973, amassed a family of seven children and a traveling cadre of musicians.  Playing in the idyllic Bermuda for months out of the year, Phil, who had various cycles of fervent religiosity which manifest themselves as a fascination in Pyramids or cryptic readings of the Old Testament, conceived of a musical play that took the myths and stories of the bible and applied them to modern day dilemmas.   And though the play never materialized, we have existent a stunning musical document.  With his years of studio experience, a talented family full of musicians, a room full of wah-wah pedals and echoplexes, a garden of Earthly delights in Bermuda and a group of long-time and forward thinking musicians, Phil assembled an album no one could have ever assembled.  Immediate and urgent yet timeless, calling on the genres of funk and soul yet transcending them, Alpha and Omega is an album that is rests comfortably in the cross section between Eugene Macdaniels, Sun Ra, Del Jones and the YaWhoWa 13. 

This is a music lovers’ album.  It is an album that was made by musicians who each poured his or her own ambitions, individual talents and command of genre.  Made for no one but the musicians themselves, it is a pure record full of fire and brimstone, cherubim and ether and a commitment to an artistic vision.  In the coming months, please look forward to an enhanced CD issue of this album which will include rare footage of shoots for the play, live versions performed in Bermuda and an album of period photos.

This is a music lovers’ album.  It is an album that was made by musicians who each poured his or her own ambitions, individual talents and command of genre.  Made for no one but the musicians themselves, it is a pure record full of fire and brimstone, cherubim and aether and a commitment to an artistic vision. 

The LP of Alpha and Omega will be available for retail January 20th, 2009.  The CD companion, which features unreleased live renderings of the tunes from the album at their night club in Bermuda.  The CD issue (DEL CD 0081) will be available for retail January 20th, 2009. 

Ol' Skool Flava



Tuff City Records has turned to the very origins of recorded hip-hop for the newest release on their Ol’ Skool Flava Imprint: the Ol’ Skool Flava of Delmar International (OSF LP 4037).  The issue focuses on some of the first ever recorded hip-hop songs, produced by Harlem legend Delmar Donnell.  We all know of the equally excellent and rare track by Super Three, “Philosophy Rappin Spree” – but Tuff City has done one better.  Available for the first time, here, there or anywhere, the release features the bass and drum heavy REMIX of “Philosophy Rappin’ Spree,” an eleven minute sprint of lyrics, hard beats and large hall reverb.   The sound is better than ever, as Tuff City Records unearthed a lone master tape of the session. 

The release is rounded out by the Super 3’s “When You’re Standing on the Top,” Spyder D’s “Spinning Webs and Rapping Rhymes” and Community People’s “Education Wrap,” a very early example of positive message rap.  All of these songs feature Delmar Donnell’s exquisite production and his legendary studio band.  None other than Freddie Fresh asserts that the records on Delmar “remain some of the best and most highly collectable rap records in the history of music.”  We invite you to judge for yourself, but we are sure you’ll agree with Freddy‘s sentiments.  Available only on LP, January 20th, 2009. Preorder now.

Please look for the companion record spotlighting Delmar International’s disco and electro recordings in the coming weeks.


Ol’ Skool Flava, an imprint of Tuff City records, has turned a critical eye simulataneously toward Nia Records and the Roxanne Saga, both integral facets of pre-Rakim hip-hop.  The issue entitled the Ol’ Skool Flava of Nia (OSF LP 4038) is available for retail January 20th, 2009 and is only on LP. Preorder now.

This issue focuses on a small portion of the saga between Sparky D, the trailblazing female MC, and Roxanne Shante, the bubble gum popping, braces wearing big mouth who shocked the rap world by going after U.T.F.O with her answer record, “Roxanne’s Revenge” in 1984.  The Nia twins, co-owners of the label, turned all the drama to their advantage, and set up an on record battle between the two lady MCs.  Over booming beats, many produced by Marley Marl, the two exchanged barbs, insults, put-downs and a battle lyric tour-de force.  Ol Skool Flava’s resulting anthology of this chapter of the saga freezes a few moments in 1985 when the rap world was caught up in a strange ordeal, when female MCs were still trying to figure out their place in a male culture, and when hip-hop as a whole elevated its art form through the perfection of the battle record. 

In the coming weeks, please look forward to a companion record which will feature tracks by Marley Marl, a young Tragedy Kadaffi and a young Freddie Fox.


Has it been twenty years already?   By pitching down a Marva Whitney loop and adding some booming drums underneath, in 1988, the 45 King had no idea that, twenty years later, his minimalist masterpiece, the “900#” would be heard across the globe in movies, live shows, radio stations and sampled in countless hip hop songs. 

Twenty Years later, Tuff City Records is proud to announce a 20th Anniversary Tribute album to the 45 King, the man who may have ushered in the age of sample based production, and his iconic song.  Featuring remixes by from artists across the spectrum, and new versions from Latee (his first recording in perhaps fifteen years) and Chill Rob G, the record is a celebration of Mark’s contribution to music history. 

To further the cause, Tuff City Records contracted legendary graffiti writer Joey Vega (whose handle we are protecting) to contribute another of his absolutely classic masterpieces for the cover.  Vega has been writing on trains since 1981, and is an innovator in the game. 

The 45 King's the 900 Number: the 20th Anniversary Project (OSF LP/CD 4040) will be available for retail February 20th, 2009. Preorder now.



SMOOTH.

There’s plenty of glittery nonsense out there posing as modern soul.  But few records are more than the sum total of the jheri curl juice left on the studio headphones.       

Ol’ Skool Flava, an Imprint of Tuff City Records, is proud to announce Say You’ll Be by Jerome “Secret Weapon” Prister and Output (OSF LP 4039).

This record captures some of the essential modern soul and R&B by Jerome Prister and Output, whose collaboration with producer Davy DMX helped to seamlessly blend R&B sensibilities with the futuristic hip-hop sound of 1983.  Trendsetting DJs such as Diplo and Peanut Butter Wolf have re-discovered the rich sounds of Output and Jerome Prister, now’s your chance.  

This release always features four never before released live tracks from the legendary Tuff City Show at the Danceteria in 1983.  Available for retail, only on LP, February 1st, 2009. Preorder now.
Coming Soon

We’re running in overdrive in 2008, but we’re readying a dizzying amount of product for 2009. 

Here’s a sneak peak at what we’ve got in the works for Obama’s first year in office:


Ol’ Skool Flava Imprint:
2 issues from Flame N’ King’s obscure PMP label in Harlem.  In issue one, we focus on the hard to find and underground old school hip hop from 1985.  In the second issue, we highlight the incredibly authentic boogie, modern soul and electro from this small label in Harlem. 

We are also readying 3 issues of greatest hits from the now defunct Smokin’ Tai imprint, which was a bastion and innovator in freestyle, hip-house and dance friendly hip hop. 

We are also readying an anthology of YZ’s greatest hits. 

As well, the companions to the Ol’ Skool Flava of Delmar International (OSF LP 4037) and the Ol’ Skool Flava of Nia (OSF LP 4038) are also in the works. 


Andale Imprint:
We are readying exact replica vinyl re-issues of rare salsa and boogaloo Fonseca records such as Chihuahua, Willie Rodriguez, Bobby Cruz and others from the catalog, as well as CD issues. 

Expect to see a volume 4 of Big Ol’ Bag O’ Boogaloo, as well as issues from Pucho and His Latin Soul Brothers, which will include never before released multi-tracks featuring Bernard Purdie. 


Funky Delicacies:
We are preparing an anthology of late 70s sleazy funk tracks in the compilation the Funk is on the One.  Also look forward to an LP of never before released tracks by Flesch, the late 70s evolution of Fred Kibble’s Masters of Soul.  We are also preparing a collection from the ADC band, funky burners helmed by Johnnie Mae Matthews.  Also look for a collection from Lee Variety and the Variations, as well as a retrospective of Sax Kari.
Soul-Tay-Shus:

Please look forward to an expansive anthology of Harvey Scales, the Chicago by way of Milwaukee R&B legend. 


Night Train International:

Please look forward to our series that spotlights the Organ, entitled Masters of the Mod Organ.