Lick Wid Nit Wit

In 1993 Sabres Of Paradise gave away a track to the cd compilation series Volume (Volume Seven) where it appeared alongside other mid 90s luminaries like Teenage Fanclub, Bang Bang Machine, Sub Sub, Stereo MCs, The Boo Radleys and (pre-The) Verve. Lick Wid Nit Wit didn't appear on any other Sabres release and was never available on vinyl. Until now. A 12" single has just come out on Electric Dreams with Lick Wid Nit Wit on the A-side and two remixes by A Sagitarriun on the B.

Lick Wid Nit Wit is seven minutes of echo-filled dub techno with a booming kick drum. At the time of typing there were nine copies of the vinyl left here.



The version that is still formally unavailable however and the one that takes the dub to the fore is this one.

Lick Wid Nit Wit (version)

I think this version was sourced from a radio show- I got the file from a fellow Weatherall fanatic online. The standout features of this version are the bassline, which surely ended up morphing into Wilmot, and the vocal (which I'm assuming is Wonder). This is a properly dubbed out Sabres stew, magnificent stuff.

Follow The Sun

I'm just dipping back into the Trance Europe Express compilation that made up a number of last week's posts. Several of you mentioned this song and I couldn't let it go. Charlie Hall and Lol Hammond were The Drum Club. Follow The Sun is a trip. Drums. Buzzing sounds. Ascending and descending synth lines. Vocals from Kate Holmes and Wonder. Leaves you better than it found you.

Follow The Sun (Remix)

Wilmoth

Some of you will love this 1994 Sabres Of Paradise single, all slink and skank and lust for life. The vocals were by Wonder, who was one half of yesterday's postees Secret Knowledge. At Cream nightclub, Liverpool, one night in 1994 a scheduled dj appearance in the backroom by Mr Weatherall failed to materialise- transport problems I think. The resident dj and co-owner Darren Hughes stepped up to the decks and played an advance copy of Wilmot. A whole room of people went from dancing to house/techno to doing the reggae dance. The video has Sabres men Weatherall, Jagz Kooner and Gary Burns, and a troupe of majorettes dancing through London at dawn. Magic.



I found out recently that this 1931 calypso song, Black But Sweet, by Wilmoth Houdini provided a good part of the inspiration. Listen to the horn line...



Wilmoth Houdini also went under the names Frederick Wilmoth Hendricks, Edgar Leon Sinclair and King Houdini. He emigrated from Trinidad to New York, was a major player on the calypso scene in the 30s and 40s and lived there until his death in 1977.

Out Of Our Brains On The 5.15

Passing one of Sale's many charity shops on Saturday I wandered in to peruse the box of vinyl. I left a few minutes later having rescued Secret Knowledge's Sugar Daddy 12" for the princely sum of £1.99. Yes, I've already got the original release but this one was in a different sleeve and had a different version (the Sugar Caned Mix) and another remix on it too (by Paul van Dyke, trancey). Secret Knowledge were Kris Needs (journalist, friend of The Clash and Primal Scream, legendary caner and crow's nest hairdo owner) and Wonder (vocals, big voice). Sugar Daddy came out in 1993 on Sabres Of Paradise and is a long, thumping house track, a big club tune of the time. Also on this charity shop classic is an equally good remix by The Disco Evangelists (David Holmes and Ashley Beedle), with a nod of the head to Quadrophenia. It is a banger.

Sugar Daddy (Out Of Our Brains On The 5.15 Mix)

Wilmot And Sunshine

There's something about this weather that makes me want to play Sabres Of Paradise 1994 single Wilmot. From its Gun Club styled sleeve to Wonder's scat vocal to the seriously dubby bassline to those wondrous snaking horns. Back in 1994 we returned home late, in a suitably altered state, and turned on the tiny black and white portable TV. Within minutes the video for Wilmot came on (it was some late night, after hours clubbing programme) with Lord Sabre, combat pants and creepers, leading a ragtag bunch of majorettes through the streets of London at dawn. It was very good then, and it is very good now. And, I suspect, the only music video Andrew Weatherall has starred in.



I'm not sure Wilmot was crying out for remixing (though Scruff's skank version is a belter, obviously) but here's Red Snapper's version, which came out on a Warp Records compilation.

Wilmot (Red Snapper Remix)