love is...

i saw arthur lee playing in aylesbury a few years back. he was getting on, but fuck me he was brilliant ! one of my mates put me on to him some years back and i couldn't believe i'd never heard of him. he died not so long ago and i do feel lucky to have seen him live. he went off the rails in later life and even did a stint for armed robbery. they were one of the most influential bands ever but didn't sell that many records. tony wilson once said he didn't know anyone from merseyside who didn't own "forever changes".

but it's not a "love" track i'm posting. c'mon, y'know me by now...don't you ? i put up a picture and then go off somewhere else and then "bring it all back to you" (sorry S-Club 7...or had Paul left by then ?). today is all about love. s'right, L-O-V-E. i'm feeling good tonight, i've had a beer or two and just had my hair cut (for a wedding i'm going to in ireland, in december. he texted me the other day and wants me to read a passage during the service. not looking forward to that, but i can't let him down. he's an old pal from when i worked in liverpool, he met a girl when he was travelling and bingo ! a kid and then marriage ! all the best scott and anita, see you soon).

where was i ? oh yes, have you tried this ? load of bollocks really. i put in mrs smackhead's name and my full name and got 36%. i then shortened my name to how i'm commonly called and got 94%. try it and see what you get. good luck, and make sure your other half ain't looking !

http://www.lovecalculator.com/

where does the time go ?

fuck me, a week or so has gone by already ! honestly, gang, i'm trying my hardest but this blogging shit is hard work. oh yeah ? why don't you have a go then ? anyway, since i last spoke to you the weather here in britain has turned really shitty. i've been working outside a bit recently and i've been getting soaked or cold or both ! my hands get cold really easily and the lads at work call me a big girl for wearing gloves. i've been wearing a woolly hat too...so fuck 'em !

back to the real shit...the picture above shouldn't get all the old ravers bouncing around because it ain't a bizarre inc tune i'm posting, no siree bob (as Rik once said in "The Young Ones"). there will be some old rave stuff soon, so watch out. fast forward a few years and two of the blokes from bizarre inc are turning out some "paradise garage soaked grooves" (as i saw them advertised in the virgin store in milton keynes. the buyer in the singles section there really knew his shit, simon was his name...i think. put me on to some great stuff with his hand written descriptions of records i'd never heard of. y'know, the white cards shoved in front of new releases to make you buy them). i digress, as usual, but isn't that why you come here ?

hello christine !

may i just welcome my newest blog fan, christine. christine is mrs smackhead's sister and she lives in paris. mrs smackhead has been telling all her friends about this site but i get a little embarrassed as it's my little world where i say what i want. but then again maybe she's just trying to get more people to visit.

today was my 37th birthday and i got the "wildstyle" 25th anniversary dvd and charlie ahearn's sampler book of the film (he was the director). cracking stuff. anyone who likes this sort of thing should also get martha cooper's "the hip hop files" and "yes, yes, y'all" by charlie ahearn and jim fricke. i also got a jumper and some vouchers but they aren't as essential !

i went to the woking beer festival last night with my brother and got completely arseholed. smashing fun so i'll see you there next year. i didn't get up until 2 pm today and then went for a super meal in guildford at "chez gerard" (they're a chain). i had a tejine (a sort of moroccan stew) which was ace and snails in garlic butter...mmmmmmmm !

"working 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin'..."

i've just been too tired to post for the last week, sorry about that. work has been busy, busy, busy. i can't complain really, i used to do something i didn't enjoy but now i do. i'm going to post more often i think but not rant on so much because that is the time consuming part. my typing is abysmal (one or two fingers at best). that is unless you want me to rant on...

checking out the competition this week i have concluded that american athlete is your one stop shop for goodies. some of the stuff he puts up is amazing, get over there after you've read my piece (link on right-hand side of page).

for those still reading, i thank you. for the benefit of those not familiar with blackstrobe my name is a play on words of ivan smagghe. french dude, ex of rough trade records in paris and all round great dj who plays sleazy drug music (as i call it). i happened upon his first (i think) mix cd called "how to kill the dj" (named after a night he played at in paris at "le pulp"). some of the tracks absolutely killed me. i mean it, there was stuff on there that made me excited about music again. at the time i was living in aylesbury and nothing really happens there and a shit vinyl section in hmv didn't help either. i didn't have a computer then, so looking for tracks was more difficult than it is now. i read about the cd and tracked it down using the computer in the library and ordered it from america (including p&p for less than £6 !). well it was fucking ace and still is. may i recommend his other mix cd's - "death disco" (eskimo), "suck my deck" (bugged out) and the one he did for fabric.

"she has a way...of getting what she wants"

just a quick one tonight as i've agreed to do some overtime tomorrow morning (more money for booze and records/cd's).

i'm totally buzzing after finding something for bugger all in a 2nd hand shop. gino soccio's "closer" lp. there's a track on it called "love is" (a cover of a bill withers track, which i've never heard) which is just over 2 minutes long but is fucking brilliant. so brilliant in fact that prince language did an extended edit on "editions disco" records some months ago. he just took the original and made it last longer. "and what ?" you may ask. trust me just buy it. i can't believe gino didn't do a longer version in the first place but there you go. did i mention the lp is an american promo ? sweet as a nut ! the "editions disco" edit can be purchased from the usual suspects (piccadilly, juno & phonica). gino is loved by dj hell, i-f and...er...me.

last train to clarkesville

well that was actually a "monkees" song, but i needed a title and that's the first one i could think of. sue me. i'm getting slack with posting because i started out all keen but i come home from work, make the tea (i do all the cooking because mrs smackhead isn't very good at it), ask how her day was, watch a bit of telly and go to bed. wo-ah ! i've forgotten about my loyal subscribers to the number one blog in blogdom (dream on). so she's hit the sack and here i am.

i don't know why i watch telly, there's nothing on ! even if i had sky or freeview i doubt there'd be anything worth watching. all my mates who've got sky watch the history channel and discovery because everything else is shite. okay they've got live sport locked down, but i don't want to watch fishing or speedway (apologies to those that do). all the tv does is stop me listening to more music and make me forget about what i've already got. the amount of things i've doubled up on by mistake is embarrasing. i do double up on purpose sometimes though if it's a real bargain or i think i can extend a favourite break on my trusty 1210's (trusty because they're as good as new ie. i hardly ever use them...because of the bloody telly !). think being the operative word because i'm not very good at mixing, but what the hell (it's not like i play out or anything).

by watching telly i forget about fantastic tracks such as dave clarke's "wisdom to the wise (red 2)". when that hit clubland...BOOM ! it spawned so many imitators but was never bettered. hearing it loud, in a sweaty club, with a load of pals, buzzin' your nut off on pills was ace ! hearing it in the cold light of day it still sounded ace, but not quite ace ! i'm sure you understand. dave put out "archive one" (his debut album, came in a trendy cardboard sleeve with a tear off strip to gain access to the cd or lp. sad fuck that i am, i bought the cd and the lp. the lp is still sealed. singles off the album included "thunder (red 3)" ("red 1 & 2" had previously been released on bush records but were included on the album), "southside" and "no-ones driving". "southside" still rocks and "no-one's driving" out chemicalled "the chemical brothers" with it's big beat sound and "paris" - "the devil made me do it" sample. the chems got the remix job but failed to improve on the original. anyway, on that single release was another remix by robert hood. he took on "red 2" with great results and a cheeky sample of guru (from gang starr) off the second "jazzmatazz" album. i can't be arsed running upstairs to identify it, but trust me on that sample.