2003 AUGUST 1 #213
Georgina Dobson & Cupboard Simon- The Message
I originally saw this inspired version of the Hip Hop classic performed on a home VHS recording sent into 'Takeover TV' on Channel 4 in the U.K, circa '95. I bought the CD this recording comes from, 'Misfits' in Selectadisc in 'London's busy Soho' a year or three later. Not the most interesting tale of acquisition I admit but there you go.
Liner notes:
""Georgina Dobson & Cupboard SimonThe Angelic old lady hobbling down the High Street with her coat done up tight to the neck and her bobble hat clamped onto her head is, in fact, a hardcore rapper, poetess, singer and theatrical darling. Showtime She'll be propped up on stage, grimly hanging onto her walking sticks with one arthritic hand, smoothing down her dress with the other, popping another peppermint, extravagantly clearing her throat and giving her watery-eyed grin before launching into a Grandmaster Flash classic.
Ex-Girl Guide Brown Owl, former bookkeeper, Georgina's always had the roar of the crowd in her blood. Her mother was a star of the old music hall and Georgina has trod the boards since she was a gel, singing Gaelic and choral songs, acting (not long after her 70th birthday she was playing Ariel, Shakespeare's 'airy spirit', in a production of The Tempest) and performing self-penned poems like 'Nightclub Proprietress' and 'The Lift Attendant'.
Talent spotted by Cupboard Simon, they began a collaboration which culminated in 'Message To The Nation', an OAP's-eye-view of the city, rap stylee."
'Misfits- 27 tracks from 18 strange fruits'. From the makers of 'Volume' (Vital Distribution, made in England, 1996) FITCD1.
I'm presuming the album has long been deleted as I've never seen another copy of it. Many of the songs on it would fit right in with this project. Anyone else got a copy of it?
- James Dawes
TT-3:16 / 3.8MB / 160kbps 44.1khz
(Image courtesy of James Dawes)
Fur Q writes:
The Georgina Dobson track is seminal stuff ! I can confirm
that the company behind the 'Misfits' compilation are
sadly no more. The were responsible for the excellent
'Volume' series (uk indie / alternative round-up that
came with fat books detailing all the artists thereon).
They also put out numerous mammoth 5 vinyl sets representing
various apspects of the dance music explosion, again with
an exhaustive bio of each of the artists on the lp. They
folded around 1997. To my knowledge, they didnt release
many records such as this. Shame.