Bradley Wigging Out.

Fist off there's last years hair stylings. Wiggins looks like some mid 70s mod just popped out of a time machine and jammed into some lycra. Then there's the gold medal. Nice. Now the drunken antics. Remember Dudley Moore as "Arthur"? Then this should be familiar. Pseudo Translation courtesy of Google

"Bradley Wiggins, accounting for twice gold in the baanwielrennen, however, makes it a little too fur.. After an exuberant party with some friends in the London House had the 28-year-old Briton apparently something to look deep into the glass. . Once buitengekomen, he did a koprol on the bonnet of a parked taxi. . The taxi driver immediately notified the police, but after Wiggens showed his medals, the conflict was resolved. . The driver was even a few photos with the Olympic medal winner on."


A wise man once said "Remember, fun is fun".

Tami Lynn Mojo Hannah 45

Some times hunting great records is hard. You have to squint at dates or producers. You have to guess at what region it's from, but sometimes it's easy. Pretty much anytime you see a song title with "mojo" in it you can grab it and be safe. It's a no-brainer like "funky_____","do the______", or "boogaloo" anything. Just grab it.
Such was the thought process when this gem from Cotillion fell into my lap. "Mojo Hannah" is competent soul funk, but the non-plug flip "One Night of Sin" has a nice southern soul groove. Recorded in 72 it has a nice sultry slow dance groove.
The recording on this is really bright and lively. The bass really stands out.
Grab it if you find it.
Bizarro world cover here
PS Better Record nerds than I have tracked down some interesting history on this track here

Keb Darge digs for P&P Records

Keb Darge is a name synonymous with records you can't find or afford. That said, he is also involved in an endless array of CD reissues (funk spectrum, etc). On this one he collects 2 discs and 30 tracks worth of rare funk and disco from the super obscure P&P label (with the slogan "Poor People with Potentiality" amongst other things). Covering the era where 45s gave way to 12"s.
Disc One is mainly the 7" funk. All killer. Good listen from beginning to end. When you are dealing with songs like "solid funk", "mini-skirt", "do the funky donkey","hooker", and "spank me"-you should know what you are in for. Get this on shuffle in your Ipod and you will get the party started
Disc Two is the funk/disco crossroads. Good, but not my cup of tea. The 12" format allows for some extendo jams. Some nice moments, but nothing to make me turn away from disc one. Gut bucket funk. Sold.


My only complaint is the excess of Keb Darge mugshots, not to take anything away from the man or his record collection, but why not plaster label honcho Patrick Arnold all over instead of an aging Englishman? Sour Grapes? Who knows. I would much rather look at photos of Keb's record collection rather than his face.



Kenny Dope also did a comp from this label that highlights it's influence on early hip hop. More details here. You could also try this Danny Krivit CD that focuses more on the 12"s

And is there a DVD about this label? Yes there is

Off season follies and looking forward to the Vuelta

Who will Katusha overpay? Will Quickstep ruin another GC guy's future?
Can Rock Racing capitilize on a good year and jump up to some Euro races?
With the amount of riders on the market, an ambitious team could grab some
good riders(or at least some older dudes with UCI points.....) and try and
step it up. Some German teams had better get it going. If Sparkasse, Elk Haus or Nuremberger don't try and grab some good riders,they might as well fold too.
Belgium has a bunch of teams that should break out there checkbooks. Mitsubishi-Jartazi could stand to sign someone other than VDB. Ditto for Skil-Shimano and Landbouwkrediet - Tönissteiner.
It really would be nice to see some talent redistributed to D2 teams-which would som wild card entrants into major races more competitvie. Hopefully the demise of the pro-tour, makes races moe competitive.



Before off-season trades can really go full gas, you have to get through the remaining races which include a slew of short races (Eneco, Reggio, Missouri) and of course the Vuelta.
This years Vuelta starts off like a TDF from years past. TTT, sprint stages, ITT, and then some serious mountains. Overall it favors the mountain goats, but the race director, Victor Cordero wants "a clean, credible and spectacular race". So dropping some big mountains including David Millar's favorite Angilru (remeber the little hill were Heras used a triple??) might be seen as tempting fate but since Pieopoli and Ricco will not be there and the Micera test will, hopefully it will all work out.

Too early to call favorites but Sastre,Contador, and Menchov are pretty obvious. Valverde? hard to say. I alway thinks Karpets will have a breakthrough at a race like this, but it never materializes. Does Sastre ride for a Shcleck in this race? Upstarts Columbia and Garmin won't be there and will have to keep busy with the Tours of Ireland,Britian, and Missouri.
Almost arm and leg warmer season. Ouch that means time to start running and riding the trainer.

Porta Potty Power Move

You see this happen at almost every race. Dude leans $6000 bike against porta potty and rushes in. That's when my inner DeeBo starts working overtime.
It would be a major jack move to just roll off with the bike, but what my inner demon wants to do is grab the bike and flip the porta potty over. Ensuring I get a good get away while dude wipes a dozen ass's worth of offal off his Assos. Rolling around covered in shit with bibs half way down. My inner jackass wants this to happen.
Lucikly I am a good citizen, but think twice before someone more evil than I does the unthinkable.

Vanguards

This is a case of the B-side being head and shoulders above the A-Side "It's too late for love" is some slow soul vocal lament. Pretty standard. Would fit in on most oldies or lowrider soul comps. Not really anything too keep your attention.

The B side to this 45 really gets the party started. "The thought of losing your love" is a killer. Sweet vocals, driving bass, some funky organ. Blows the plug side out of the water. Some bugged out Temptations type shit. The dude with the deepest voice owns this track and sounds like he is standing on top of the other dudes.
Worth it for the B-Side.
I was almost ready to put this in the sell pile before I flipped it. Thank god, I showed a little patience. The transition between the 2 sides is like going from The Parliamnets to Funkadelic....ok a little strong, but you get my drift.
Lamp Records. Vanguards were straight outta Indiana and this cool site has the facts on lockdown. They also have a cool connection to the crucial Ebony Rhythm Band

Summer Jams

Sometimes it's easy to forget why I love Boston.(or maybe too easy to remember why I hate it....) Today I got a quick reminder. Driving home from walking my dog on lunch, I flipped the dial down to ZBC. I haven't been listening to too much college radio. First song that plays is "summer babe". Sunny day, windows down, perfect sound forever.
See if that happens to you in Leominster or whatever shit town you are patrolling.

Derny Crits ???

Dernys are more common on the track so I was intrigued when I saw them used in road races. What can you do to make a crit more sketchy? Add motorpacing. Death Race should be next. Thankfully youtube came to the rescue.
Short fan cam shot


old school shot here


Still going on as Phillipe Gilbert just won a Belgian derny crit a few weeks ago.
Just when you thought their were no more odd cycling races to discover......