HAVE I GOT NU FOR YOU
There you are in a charity shop, and you see a box of dance records. Some must be worth something, but which? A good place to start is with the Nu Groove label. Kris Needs tells you why…
One good thing about music is when it hits you feel no pain,” sang Bob Marley, but one mightily bad thing about life beyond vinyl is there’s nothing physical to feel while it’s hitting. No crate-digging tension followed by triumph of acquisition, or label artwork to pore as the catalogue number blocks another hole, or twinge of euphoria as the label once again consolidates its reputation after careful placing of the 12” prize on the turntable.
Of course, such sentiments have become commonplace as even vinyl’s CD surrogate gives over to cyberspace, except here I’m talking about that fervent breed of record collector known as trainspotters or, less charitably, “anoraks”, who proliferated during the 80s as dance music soundtracked a cultural revolution where DJs reigned and clubs replaced gigs.
It’s hard, and will only get harder, to try and explain the buzz which could be generated by a 12” single during the format’s 80s-90s heyday, which was capable of driving grown men to desperate measures to satisfy the craving. Although also used and abused as a record company marketing tool, the 12” single carried a special mystique after its gestation in New York’s late-70s disco scene, feeding the underground as the main electronic battle weapon after acid house exploded in the mid- 80s and …
by Kris Needs
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