This mix tape was originally recorded some time in summer 1993 by Theo Keating, aka DJ Touche. Me and Charlie Shazer would hang out in Theo's bedroom and he'd just start mixing records from his enviable collection, and surprisingly one of us would often have the presence of mind to stick a tape in and record the output on his famously hi-tech (ahem) set up.
When I listen to this music today it also reminds me of staying the night with Charlie in his shared house in Brixton. We'd listen to hip-hop most of the night - after all it was the golden era - but then the spooky tape would always go on later. We'd drift off to sleep to side B, only to be woken up with a jolt when the music took a dramatic turn, and just start laughing about it. Charlie christened it the 'Spooky stuff' and scribbled the name on the cassette. And so a legend was born.
The tape became a real stalwart not just for entertaining guests, but also for sending them to sleep and waking them up again. It stayed with me for years - until I lent it out to Dan Canyon, who also kept it for quite a while, no doubt addicted to the same disturbing sleep pattern. Dan gave it back to me years later, digitised. He looked very tired.
So what about the music itself? Good point. Well, side A is a classy mix of soul/funk classics that would grace any specialised collection, such as Barry White's Deeper and deeper, Aaron Neville's Hercules and Harlem river drive by Donald Byrd and the Blackbirds.
So why is it spooky? I just assumed you were too scared to ask. While Side B starts of in the same vein as Side A, with Ike's Mood being a typical track, somewhere around the 20-minute mark - just when you're totally chilled out - the tape takes a disturbing turn. Imagine Tchaikovsky was commissioned to make scary music for a Hanna Barbera halloween special, and it's erm, probably nothing like that, but you get the idea. As for precisely what this scary music is - I've never known, and genuinely don't want to know. It's just the Spooky stuff.
Thanks to Charlie, to Dan Canyon for bringing this gem back to life, and of course to Theo for creating this very special recording.
DOWNLOAD SPOOKY STUFF HERE:
SIDE A
SIDE B
Some other spooky stuff:
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