From now on you’ll find a list of ten records every now and then, that results from just picking up a few records out of my collection (ok, you won’t see the embarrassments I’ve bought sometimes…that would be too painful to admit). So here we go for the first edition of Limbo’s Paradise!

1. Circle Of Life - Hold Me Closer (12″ White)

I know nothing about this release except what’s printed on the label and that TML 0010 is engraved on the record. Hold Me Closer is one of these solid, midtempo tunes in that Soul II Soul vein that were so ubiquitous in the early 90s. Sung by an unknown female this still sounds good to my ears in 2005. I guess I would buy it again.

2. Children Of Judah - To The Bone (Let’s Get Stoned) (12″ 13th Tribe)

Produced by Barrie K. Sharpe (of Diana Brown and Barrie K. Sharpe fame…you certainly remember The Masterplan) and sung by Donna Gardier this song still grooves like hell and sounds fresh like it did in 1993. Children Of Judah also released an album, that featured all the 12″es by CoJ, Funeka And The 1st Witness, The 1st Witness and the Assassins.

3. Cherisse Arrington - Down With This (12″ MCA)

The good thing about records you haven’t listened to for a long while is that you have usually completely forgotten which version you liked. I know I like Down With This by Cherisse Arrington but starting with the Album Version, I find myself in utter disbelieve because this sounds really dated. But wait, there’s also the Vibe Mix, which is much, much better with warm key patterns and much more soul than the urban/hip hop influenced other versions. I guess years later some house remixes of Down With This also surfaced and I must have them somewhere.

4. Pinky - Looking For A Love (12″ Big One Records)

Now this is still a great tune in the Soul Version. I remember that I studied in Berlin/Germany back in 1991 and it was impossible to get this record there in any record store so I had to order it in a record store in Hamburg where I used to order records before I moved to Berlin. And it was and is worth all the efforts to get it. Like the Circle Of Life release Looking For A Love is a good example of the sound of Urban Brit Soul from the early 90s. Unfortunately I have never ever heard from Pinky again.

5. Hugh Masekela - Don’t Go Lose It Baby (12″ Jive)

Horrible cover of this German release, with the printed US flag saying “Top Ten US Dance Charts” you could’ve expected the worst. Of course this wasn’t the worst quite on the contrary. A fine dance version of Don’t Go Lose It Baby which still sounds good over 21 years after its release.

6. Black Radical - Sumarli (12″ Mango/Island)

In the late 80s and early 90s I bought some rap/hip hop records and Sumarli isn’t my sole Black Radical release. At least he was a rapper with a mission and meaningful lyrics. Sumarli is no exception and it features Courtney Pine, so I had two reasons to buy this 12″ in 1991. Although I began to dislike rapping in the 90s when it became fashionable to include a rap on every soul single, I still like this tune.

7. Camelle Hinds - Sausalito Calling (12″ Black On Black)

Ah, this is such a damn great summer tune from 1994/5. I would still buy it if it was released today. Sausalito Calling hasn’t lost any of its magic and class. Warm, organic orchestration and a fine vocal performance by Camelle Hinds. This tune was also included years later on Camelle’s Vibe Alive album on Expansion Records. If you missed the 12″ try to get the album just for this song alone it’s worth the price.

8. Mass Order - Tribulations (12″ Grove Street)

This was released years before Mass Order had a hit with Lift Every Voice (Take Me Away) and it sounds a little bit dated these days although personally I still like the sound of house records from the mid/late 80s. What’s totally outdated though, is the Hip House remix on the flipside.

9. Ceybil - Love So Special (12″ Atlantic)

Released in 1990 this has aged much better than the Mass Order release mentioned above. Ceybil was a moniker for Sybil Jefferies who later called herself Cybil (Jefferies) to avoid confusion with another house singer named Sybil. Produced and co-written by Renato Pearson I still prefer the B-Side and the Extended Original Underground Mix to the Tony Humphries mix on the A-Side. Love So Special can really be called a classic record in the house genre.

10. Melba Moore - Do You Really Want My Love (12″ Capitol Records)

Again this has incorporated the omnipresent Soul II Soul influences of the early 90s in the Wanna Dance Mix. Back in 1990 I really liked what Goh Hotoda did with this song. It still sounds nice although not so special like it did back then.