Skull Snaps: Skull Snaps [MR BONGO]

Why you'll love it

This Mr Bongo reissue comes in a gatefold jacket with the original GSF catalogue number on the cover. The opening drums of "It's A New Day" have turned up on records by Eric B. & Rakim, DJ Shadow, Das EFX, Digable Planets and The Prodigy.

This edition

• Gatefold jacket
• Stereo

About the album

Some bands get famous for their songs, and some for four bars of drums. Skull Snaps started out in the 1960s as The Diplomats, cutting singles with some success, then changed their name, made one album for the small GSF label in 1973 and promptly vanished.

George Kerr produced, with Lloyd Price as executive producer, and the record is a lean, tough set of sweet soul and hard funk. "My Hang Up Is You" and "Having You Around" lean towards the ballad side, "I'm Your Pimp" struts, and "It's A New Day" opens with the break that the rapper Stezo first sampled in 1989. The album runs nine songs and closes on "I'm Falling Out Of Love." From there it spread to Ol' Dirty Bastard, DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince and Linkin Park, often lifted from Stezo's version rather than the original.

In 2005, Erv Waters, Sam Culley and George Bragg reunited, and Ten12 Records put out a new single backed with "I'm Your Pimp." Plenty of people own this drum break without knowing it; this is your chance to own the rest of the song.

Also at Kops: more Skull Snaps on vinyl · browse 70s Soul On Up

Tracklist

Listen

On Mr Bongo / GSF (cat# MRBLP184), a reissue of the 1973 album.