Diggin' In The Cassingle Crates

The D.O.C.: Mind Blowin' (Remix)
from Cassette Single (Ruthless 1989)

The D.O.C.: The Forumla (Funky FM Mix)
from Cassette Single (Ruthless 1989)

Boogie Down Productions: I'm Still #1 (Numero Uno Re-Recording)
from Cassette Single (Jive Zomba 1988)


Before the 12's graced my presence and prior to the advent of the CD single, my only access to the remixes and b-sides of the 12" was through the cassette single, or for the brevity inclined-the cassingle. As minimal as its truncated name, the cassingle was usually sold in a paper sleeve, the ones sold in plastic cases usually had more tracks (as if the length of the tape was directly proportional to the quality of the casing). They included the album version of the song and sometimes a remix or two, and would sell for about two dollars. First started in the early 80's, the cassingle never caught on and production on them was all but dead by the end of the 90's, but for me the late 80's-early 90's was an era of cassingle heaven.

The first cut, Mind Blowin (Remix)-as it's labeled on the paper sleeve, takes away the original versions dark, foreboding keyboards and replaces it with a frenetic, siren wail of the guitar and displaces the familiar chorus with a more dance friendly one. And as if to show just how much difference their is between the original and the remix, even the album versions "This is serious business" intro is excised. The intro for the remix is perfectly extended for DJ use and then it breaks down into a bassline heavy verse. Sonically the beat sounds cluttered and does not have that unique Dre sound. Dre's beats during this time are like Primo's now, easily recognizable. From his R&B work with Michel'le to the Hip-Hop sound he would become famous for, you always knew upon first listen that the beat you were hearing was Dr. Dre. Not so with this remix. Lyrically this is the same version as the album, with the D.O.C.s smooth, quick-tounged delivery but it's beat wise where I think the song fails. A remix to a song should either enhance or improve upon the original or allow for a different perspective of the song neither of which happens on this remix.

Next up is another Dre remix of a D.O.C. song, The Formula. Whereas the previous remix added very little to the original making for a poorer song, this one also adds very little to the original but what little it does add, enhances the song and doesn't take anything away from it. The deep 808 bass is still there as is the D.O.C.'s smooth delivery and the same lyrics but Dre plays up the role of the sax and the bass guitar. Opening with a sparse 808 intro with the sax riff that plays a part throughout the whole song, it then breaks down into the familiar flute sample that dominates the chorus, another perfect intro for a DJ to mix. The song ends similar to the album version but with a jazzier conclusion including what sounds like Eazy riffing in the background and a vibraphone going off before the sparse 808 bass fades out. This is a damn good remix.

Last is my favorite of the three. The I'm Still #1 (Numero Uno Re-Recording) remix by B.D.P. Sounding very much like Steady B's Serious Remix, they were both produced by KRS and came out at about the same time. Kris samples some jazz horns and it grates against the drums just enough to give the original version a new sound. This new sound is perfectly complemented by new lyrics where K.R.S. quite literally rips the mic to pieces. The chorus where he shouts out the people down with him is also switched up this time putting on blast his old label and rival MC's. I don't want to go too much into the song because it's best to just listen to the Teacher and absorb the knowledge.

Before I end this post, I want to say that an audioblog is not created in a vacuum. It finds sources and inspirations elsewhere (usually other websites and audioblogs). For me my direct inspiration comes from Oliver Wang's great audioblog Soul Sides. But let me explain something before it seems like I'm just stealing ideas from him. In his December 12th posting, he posted up some remixes of the D.O.C. (two that I didn't use) and later he would do a post on Al Green's Belle, which I would also do. Now I have to say, while it looks like more than mere coincidence, even suspiciously like I'm just biting his posts, I respect his work as a writer, a DJ and a blogger too much to crib any ideas from him. The remixes from the D.O.C. that I posted were posted because I wanted to do a blog on cassette singles and two prominent ones that I have were from the D.O.C., one of which even had the same Portrait of a Masterpiece remix that O-Dub had in his December post. I could have forsaken the two remixes that I posted and posted something else from one of the cassingles I have but I decided to post the two that I did because eventually I would have to post them anyway as I plan to make this a series of posts on my cassingles. As for the Al Green post that I did that mirrored O-Dubs January 31st posting, what can I say. I've always wanted to include Belle in my audioblog, even before I had set it up. We both love a classic, yet underappreciated Al Green cut. I guess the only justification for those who don't see it as a coincidence is that we both took a different approach to the same song. As a side note, as I was writing this post, I googled the term cassingle hoping to find a witty title for this venture. Smug in my vain notion that I was trailblazing a new blog path on cassingles I came across this post on one of the premiere audioblog sites, music (for robots). I guess great minds really do think alike.