Herman Kelly & Life - Percussion Explosion

Back in about 1986, I was at a record fair in the Electric Ballroom in Camden. Whilst flicking through a box of records, I came across a copy of this album. I really loved Dance To The Drummer's Beat, but l had very little money left and it was something like 8 quid, which, whilst not extortionate, was a bit pricey, and certainly more than I could sensibly afford that afternoon. So I left it there and walked away.

Within, literally, a minute, I realised the terrible mistake I was making, thought, "Sod it, I'll spend the rent" and went back to buy it. It had gone.

This played on my mind for years. I searched every 'K' section in every record shop I went in afterwards to no avail.

It wasn't until the internet came out that I found a Brazilian issue on Netsounds (I think it was called) - a record dealing site which was also something to do with an English lower league football club. I'm not making this up, honest. I can't find any record of it online anymore, but for a while it ran parallel to discogs.

The album is a percussion-heavy, latin-tinged funk album out of Miami that stands up pretty well on its own, but was in the right place at the right time for one of its tracks to become madly famous as a breakbeat.

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