#golden-era

[omegaremix]

[ourladyofomega]

TLC; New York City, 1992.

[omegaplus]

# 4,079

Cheapo’s (Mineola), 2022.

Well, it didn’t take long for Mr. Cheapo himself to issue those June coupons. Two weeks ago I had one in May for 20% off everything and it helped. After my visit to Sunday Records, my visit to Commack’s Cheapo’s became my second most-expensive visit. Now I had the urge to visit the other location while the coupon was still good. There’s no quit in me or my wallet.

It’s the halfway mark in June and also my record-store tour. I have five more stops to go before I call it quits for the year. Summer’s here for long highway rides to essential places, sweating and sitting in traffic under the hot sticky sun while your car radio is keeping you occupied with the tunes of yesteryear. That’s what my trips were and are still made of, and that’s called ‘making the best of it’.

No traffic on the Long Island Expressway. No traffic on the Northern State Parkway. Just a few turns and I’m here before 3PM. This time around, Mr. Cheapo himself (his real name is Stu) was in the store. There were three other helpers of his constantly running around bagging new arrivals, re-pricing titles, and sorting out their selections. It took me a good five minutes to walk around and get a feel of where I would attack. The best part? No one was playing Kate Bush on the overhead. That made my visit all the difference.

The first destination is in the back of the store where all of the old jazz, soul, and R&B vinyl bins are. Always. It’s a great area in the store where you can simply hide out of sight and stay with yourself as you focus on the hunt. The first thing I look for thumbing through the jazz section is Roy Ayers. To this day, I only seen Everybody Loves The Sunshine once and I’ve yet to come across a copy of A Tear To A Smile. Snake eyes on both of them. But, there’s still plenty of more jazz / fusion artists I’ve yet to discover and records to own. There’s no shortage of used George Benson records, including a $25.00 copy of Erotic Moods. The usual suspects of the (Hubert & Ronnie) Laws brothers, David Sanborn, Earl Klugh, Billy Cobham and more all attended the bins; always on time, attentive and stay for the entire time. And, if you’ve followed Vinyl Frontier and other crate-digging pages for some time, you know records like Rasa’s Everything You See Is Me are a staple in every vinyl collector and producer’s staple. It’s the second time I’ve seen it, and for $3.00, why not? Now how many more times am I going to run into Herbie Mann’s Push Push in my lifetime?

At the back corner of the store and above the alphabetized used records was the showcase of cassettes locked up behind the sliding plexi-glass. His two locations are the only stores on the island that does this. I never understood how Cheapo’s ubiquitous and more expensive CDs were not secured while the less-than-500 cassettes he’s selling for no more than $5.00 each were locked up. It sure takes a lot to protect that $14.00 Billie Eilish tape that’s sitting there. It only took me five minutes to find almost nothing until I finally found Madonna’s Immaculate Collection. Don’t you fucking judge me. It’s not so much a piece of my Atari childhood, but it’s one of a handful of cassettes my younger bro- destroyed because single digits don’t know the value of things. A special sight to behold was a rare Skinny Puppy VIVIsectVI tape sitting pretty for $9.00.

I gave the vinyl searches a break and noticed a couple of shelves housing 12” techno / dance singles. Pass. I see two other shelves of various other electronic titles. Look who’s going to keep that industrial quotient up by snatching VNV Nation, Die Krupps, and a Cyberaktif CD? A few feet over to the right and there’s a small area of used metal and hardcore discs. It’s about time I finally introduce Bad Brains in my collection. I grab another essential item on my want list: Indecision’s Release The Cure. Three down, two more to go. What else was sitting there? Les Savy Fav’s Inches. Years after the fact and the Brooklyn goth girl still has a lingering effect on me. I discovered -Fav through her via “Hold On To Your Genre”. Now, it’s time to see if that album sounds mostly like it.

The search continues through the used CD columns again starting with the letter ‘A’. It was a breeze flying right through them as there were dividers for dedicated artists I didn’t care for. Once again I bolstered my alternative collection by finding two albums by Live and Hole’s Live Through This only just because. There were no shortage of everything Henry Rollins and even a couple of strays in Bjork, Savages, and Dead Kennedys. One disc, The Posies Dear 23, was one I originally passed up but decided to take back because we all have to start somewhere. And there they were: four Sonic Youth discs all grouped together. Three of them: Experimental Trash, Jet Set, And No Star, Washing Machine, and Daydream Nation were the very ones I purchased from Cheapo’s Commack location that Summer before entering my community college era. Just a little behind was Skinny Puppy’s Too Dark Park, one of the initial four albums I purchased with those Sonic Youth discs from the same visit. What an anniversary moment did I just experience?

12” hip-hop / rap singles? Nothing. Hardcore and punk 45’s? Zero. Once again my fingers found themselves rifling through the 7” singles section. $1.99 all un-priced paper sleeves and $2.99 for picture sleeves unless otherwise. You’ll see below a few components of my Atari childhood I’d take home with me. But while -I was thumbing through them, some of those label paper sleeves started to look pretty appealing to me. I find orange ones from Roulette, CMYK bullseye sleeves from Capital, and Uni’s swirled sleeve. One after another they kept on going. ABC’s blue and white stripes, RCA’s sunset colors, Atlantic / Atco’s vertical CMY stripes, Kirschner’s rainbow wave…even one from The Wiz, a former electronics giants hat-tipped by former New York Jet and Super Bowl champion Joe Namath whose famous tagline (“nobody beats the Wiz!”) was always delivered with a Southern drawl and a smile. There were at least ten more I picked out solely based on the paper sleeve design; an aesthetic not really touched on in the collectors world. It’s that moment when I knew I have a serious addiction because I couldn’t help myself. I was just buying for the sake of buying regardless of who was on wax. The low sticker prices and nice designs are a dangerous combination of not knowing when to fucking quit. But Stu came over and saw I was having a blast. He came over and asked me if I visited his other location (Commack) recently. Of course I did, Stu. Two weeks ago I spent almost $350.00 there. “Oh, you’re fine” Stu said assuring me I would be taken care of.

Now that I went crazy over choosing my 45′s, I decided to give the vinyl sections one final look. The Rolling Stone’s Their Satanic Majesties Request was on my mind once again. It was one of my dad’s records before selling that along with the entire collection for $50.00. The least expensive copy they had - the lenticular version - sold for $55.00, which meant I had to pay more for his mistake. The other record I remember of his, Kiss’ Rock ‘N Roll Over, was sold beaten and bruised for $35.00, but a newly-sealed re-issue was stickered for...$25.00? I shook my head and decided to go for them both after my entire record store tour was over. 

I just about had it for the day. Before cashing it all in, I asked one of the guys to get the keys for the cassette cabinets and I had him fetch me the Madonna tape. A quick look to my right and I took two other tapes from Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling. A Mineola native, it was only fitting for a record store in the same town as his to carry them. He was responsible for putting the Long Island comedy scene on the map, and as we all know, was Howard Stern’s former joke writer. Those heave-haws, chuckles, wheezes, and guffaws were heard to be believed.

Both of us head back to the front counter to count me out and - oh, shoot - I almost forgot to look through the used hip-hop CD section. Stu taught the new guy to punch everything in on the register, so that bought me only five more minutes time to quickly peruse the upper four racks on the wall near the register. Nas’ Life Is Good was up for grabs and both Craig Mack and Salt-N-Pepa were my golden-era acquisitions. One final pick I was glossing over was The Notorious B.I.G.’s legendary album Ready To Die. My Brentwood-era friend and across-the-street neighbor Reggie made me a tape copy an I kept it all this time. I was thinking of holding off on getting the CD only because I wanted a real cassette copy (also see The Wu-Tang Clan’s 36 Chambers); the way it was meant to be. I ended up buying it because I can always find the tape later. Now I had it for the day. Seriously. I made it in time before one of the guys gave me a final total. 

“OK. That’s $238.92” That’s with the 20% off? Not so fast! 

“$199.10″

That’s more like it. A little more than half the load of the Commack location and with a better number out of pocket. Debit card swiped, pinned, and approve. They almost had no bags to give, but they managed to dig out an old one which everything fit perfectly in. They gave me the goods and we thanked each other for facilitating a purchase well done. With two hands, I walk out and took a deep breath. Another purchase crossed off the record-store bucket list. I load up my purchase in the trunk, hop in my vehicle, and go around the block in order to head west on Jericho Turnpike / Route 25. It took me fifteen minutes of baking hot 85* sun and sweat to do. I must’ve done something right. A half-a-mile before reaching the Northern State Parkway, I look to my right. It’s Stu driving his blue Nissan Rogue in the lane next to me. He doesn’t look amused. In his mind he’s thinking about how I drove him fucking crazy because twice I held him back from going home due to my constant searching for one more thing.

There were piles and piles of discs and many records from previous purchases still sitting on my floor, waiting to take up shelf space. I put the Mineola purchase on the floor and start taking them out. Immediately there’s something wrong. Stu’s employees gave me the wrong Tool album. I ended up getting the non-deluxe (stereoscopic) disc version of 10,000 Days. I saw a copy that was falling apart and brought the request to get a new one, thinking they’d give me one brand-new and sealed but nope. Great. $14.00 gone to pot. Looks like I’ll have to leave it to myself to get what I want next time.

Krush Groove: motion picture soundtrack LP

Spyro Gyra: Carnaval LP

David Sanborn: Taking Off LP 

Lee Ritenour: Captain Fingers LP 

Rasa: Everything You See Is Me LP

Ronnie Laws: Fever LP

Hubert Laws: Say It With Silence LP

Earl Klugh: Living Inside Your Love LP

Billy Cobham: Magic LP 

George Benson: Blue Benson LP    

Nas: Life Is Good CD

Salt-N-Pepa: Very Necessary CD

Craig Mack: Project: Funk Da World CD

Notorious B.I.G., The: Ready To Die CD

Tool: 10,000 Days (non-deluxe) CD

Live: Four Songs CD

Bjork: Selmasongs CD

Henry Rollins: Big Ugly Mouth CD

Hole: Live Through This CD

Dead Kennedys: Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables CD

Bad Brains: self-titled CD

Posies, The: Dear 23 CD

Les Savy Fav: Inches CD

Savages: Adore Life CD

Die Krupps: Odyssey Of The Mind CD

Peaches: The Teaches Of Peaches CD

VNV Nation: Matter + Form CD

Cyberaktif: Temper CD

Indecision: Release The Cure CD

Dead Kennedys: In God We Trust, Inc. / Plastic Surgery Disasters CD

Live: Mental Jewelry CD

John Cougar Mellencamp: “Paper In Fire” 7”

Bangles: “Hazy Shade Of Winter” 7”

Mike & The Mechanics: “All I Need Is A Miracle” 7”

‘Til Tuesday: “Voices Carry” 7”

Loverboy: “Working For The Weekend” 7”

Glenn Frey: “The Heat Is On” 7”

Fabulous Thunderbirds: “Wrap It Up” 7”

John Cougar Mellencamp: “Small Town” 7”

Jackie ‘The Joke Man’ Martling: Hot Dogs And Donuts CS

Madonna: The Immaculate Collection CS

Jackie ‘The Joke Man’ Martling: Rollin’ With The Punches CS

[omegaradiowusb]

JULY 3, 2021 (#271)

B0nds: "Misty Dawn" (ins.) Earl Sweatshirt: "Grief" + "Quest & Power" Madlib & Guilty Simpson: "The American Dream & Future" Ahwlee: "Queasy" Sal Dulu ft. Fly Anakin: "Zumo" Pink Siifu & Fly Anakin: "Dollar Dr. Dream" Nickelus F & Ohbliv: "Might As Well" Lungs ft. Olasegun: "Bowcasters" All These Fingers "Puerta Vallarta” (ins.) Dark Time Sunshine: "The Rite Kids" Lil' Ugly Mane: "Addict" Lupe Fiasco: "Cripple" Dabrye ft. Clear Soul Forces: "Sysfo Ridin'" Dabrye: "Nova" + (ins.) clipping.: "Say The Name" Ono: "BLK Skin" Moor Mother ft. Saul Williams: "Black Flight" Domo Genesis ft. Earl Sweatshirt & Vince Staples & Action Bronson: "Elimination Chamber" Flatbush Zombies: "Dirty Elevator Music" Obnox: "Concrete Rose" Mike Bonema: "Comfort A Joke" Tyler The Creator ft. Santigold: "New Magic Wand" Tyler The Creator: "Wilshire" (***NEW) Knxwledge: "awomanslifeislove" (ins.) JPEGMAFIA: "Baby I'm Bleeding" JPEGMAFIA X Denzel Curry: "Bald" (RMX) Nnamdi Ogbonnaya: "Gimme Gimme" Your Old Droog: "Babushka" + "Smores" LNDN DRGS: "Make Money" Ho99o9: "Prey Or Pray" False Tropics: "Balthus" (ins.)

Alchemist: "Who (Got My Back)" (ins.) Freddie Gibbs: "Big Boss Rabbit" (***NEW) Benny The Butcher ft. Freddie Gibbs: "One Way Flight" Conway The Machine ft. El Camino: "Forever Droppin' Tears" DMX ft. Griselda: "Hood Blues" (***NEW) DMX ft. Jay-Z & Nas: "Bath Salts" (***NEW) Nas ft. Hit-Boy: "EPMD" (***NEW) Daringer: "'97 Hov Pt. 1" (ins.) Phife Dawg ft. Busta Rhymes & Redman: "Nutshell Pt. 2" (***NEW) Gotham ft. Busta Rhymes: "The Quiet One" (***NEW) Peter Rosenberg ft. Method Man & Raekwon & Willie The Kid: "The Next Chamber" (***NEW) Rakim: "The Black Messiah" (***NEW) Prodigy ft. Knxwledge: "The Good Fight" Run The Jewels ft. Nice & Smooth: "Ooh La La" (***NEW) Vast Aire ft. Cosmiq: "Good Fuel" (***NEW) Pete Rock: "Beat Goes On" (ins.)  Onyx ft. Nine: "Ahhh Year" (***NEW) R.A. The Rugged Man ft. Slug & Eamon: "Golden Oldies" (***NEW) Al Skratch ft. Large Professor: "Be Original" (***NEW) Kyron: "Who Shot Rudy" (***NEW) Czarface & MF DOOM: "Meddle With Metal" (***NEW) Necro ft. Immortal Technique & Vinnie Paz: "Take Hip-Hop Back" (***NEW) Vinnie Paz: "Guilty Remnant Cigarettes" (***NEW) Bronze Nazareth & Recognize Ali ft. Willie The Kid: "Olympic Gold Medalists" Bronze Nazareth & Recognize Ali: "Season Of The Seven" Termanology & Shortfyuz: "T2" (***NEW) Evidence: "All Of That Said" (***NEW) DJ Premier: “I'm Legend" (ins.) Mount Westmore: "Step Child" (***NEW) Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre & Ice Cube ft. Xhibit: "Streets Of California" (***NEW) Cypress Hill: "Band Of Gypsies" J Dilla: "Life" (ins.)

It’s a rare double-deluxe Omega for the 4th of July weekend. We take over for Sound Vines this week for four hours of new, current, and relevant hip-hop. First half: new soldiers, electronic, cloud rap, and beat tapes. Second half: golden-era veterans, backpackers, AAA-producers, and legends no longer with us. From innovative artists JPEGMAFIA, Nnamdi Ogbayanna, Moor Mother, and clipping. to the respectable Rakim, R.A. The Rugged Man, DMX and the Griselda camp, no one leaves disappointed.

Have a happy and safe 4th of July. We return in ten days.

July 14, 2021 (12AM New York City): bonus Omega.

July 17, 2021 (10PM New York City): deluxe Omega.

July 28, 2021 (12AM New York City): bonus Omega.

July 31, 2021 (10PM New York City): deluxe Omega.

[omegaplus]

# 3,954

Digital Underground: “Same Song” (1991)

“Same Song” was once released for Digital Underground’s This Is An E.P. Release (1991) but became its own single for the Nothing But Trouble movie soundtrack. You look at the single’s cover and wish that hip-hop / rap can go back to when artists could poke fun at themselves and not take themselves seriously with all this fake theatric bullshit. Only Digital Underground could do something as silly and humorous with what they did and sadly for a few years before being unceremoniously dropped by their label. Biz Markie’s gone and so has Shock G / Humpty Hump. 2Pac, who also appeared in the video for the single? He’s been gone for 25 years. The only things that are funny in hip-hop now are Skittle-teeth rappers with criminal records, text-message drama, those racist muppets Die Antwoord, and loudmouth shit-stains cancelling themselves at large music festivals. Get the fuck out of here.

[omegaplus]

# 3,897

Brand Nubian: “Word Is Bond” (1994)

Here’s an amazing tidbit I was fed at the family Christmas dinner table. My cousins Dorona, Criss, and I were deep into Italian cold cuts, meatballs, sausage, roast beef, and chicken marsala with the rest of the Italian / Irish tree. The three of us were re-visiting our golden-era days back when both of them... well, Dorona...had a nasty streak - underage smoking, drinking, hanging with shoplifters, dating future convicts, and V-cards revoked so fast that no one else was quick enough to punch them. That’s was the Five Borough’s hip-hop culture back then. We were into the subject of our favorite music as her kids were opening up their presents. Criss and her sister-in-law Burns (who looked like an exact carbon copy of Miranda Cosgrove if you ever saw her, and nail me to the cross should I be wrong) went to go see Lady Gaga and Pitbull as their latest crowning achievements. Then out of nowhere Criss tells me that Brand Nubian’s Lord Jamar lives in the same housing complex as them - three doors down to be exact.

You are fucking kidding me, Criss. Then why in the barbershop cross-fading fuck did you not invite him to sit and have dinner with all of us? And you know what? She was right. I looked up his interviews on Hip-Hop Uncensored about his fall-out with culture vulture Vlad (TV) Lyubovny and there he is sitting in his apartment which looked exactly like my family’s. My cousins told me that there’s a gold record hanging up on his wall when you walked by. So there you have it.

[omegaplus]

# 3,948

Lords Of The Underground: “Tic Toc” (1993)

Here’s some time-related math. “Tic Toc” became Lords Of The Underground’s final Billboard Hot 100 charting single at #73 and hit #17 on the Hot Rap Singles chart. Their final full-length was released in 2007 and released a split single with Onyx in 2014. So it’s a head-shaker when your favorite golden-era boom-bap artists give it all they got as planned and fade away in time with very little future output. The boom-bap did return however in 2020 when they released their first album in more than a decade with So Legendary. As of recent, they’re still going with 250,000+ followers and are considered one of the best golden-era hip-hop artists. DoItAll had made some notable guest appearances on Oz, Law & Order, The Sopranos, and 30 Rock. He even ran for Newark’s Councilman At Large but lost the race. Still, it’s good that some of our -era’s hero are still doing their thing.