Fujiya & Miyagi’s David Best shares the first and last records he bought and the one he reaches for in case of an emergency…
FIRST
Shakin’ Stevens & Bonnie Tyler
‘A Rockin’ Good Way ‘
(Epic, 1983)
I wish it wasn’t, but this was the first record I ever bought. I can trace my love of electronic music back to Shaky and the inclusion of a ZX Spectrum game at the end of the cassette version of his album ‘The Bop Won’t Stop’. I didn’t have a computer, but would listen to the bleeps it made once the album had finished. In many ways it was a precursor to the ‘Analogue Bubblebath’ series, especially the fourth one.
LAST
Various Artists
‘Funkadelic – Reworked By Detroiters ‘
(Westbound, 2017)
When classic records are reworked or remixed it seldom turns out well. This, however, is the exception to the rule. The versions are more like edits rather than remixes and often head towards a more minimalist approach. The two Moodymann tracks are particular favourites of mine as is the Recloose disco flip version of ‘Sexy Ways’. I’m hoping they do the same thing with Parliament in the not so near future.
ALWAYS
Donna Summer
‘I Feel Love ‘
(Casablanca/GTO, 1977)
My favourite LP of all time is ‘The Idiot’ by Iggy Pop, but I don’t think it would be helpful in an emergency. If I had to narrow my favourite piece of music down to one song it would undoubtedly be ‘I Feel Love’. It’s the perfect union between synthetic music and the human voice. It is stunning and nothing before or after will ever be able to touch it.
