Taking Business Funk Into The Wood – A Near Mint Double-Bill

Two for the price of one on Near Mint-related activities this week. First off, the latest edition of our weekly Resonance FM show with a very exciting exclusive ‘Business Funk’ mix from Datashat, an alter-ego of the London-based DJ, producer and ‘programmer nerd’ John Davies. As well as making his own highly-regarded brand of glitchy electronica under the name Datassette plus numerous remixes and mash-ups (his cheeky re-working of the Starfleet Theme remains a personal favourite), he also released a trilogy of Businessfunk mixtapes several years ago that rapidly gained a cult following and have been considered the definitive statement by connoisseurs of the genre ever since. This week’s show is the long-awaited fourth instalment – a special bonus edition, but no less corporate!

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To those unfamiliar with the genre, Datashat claims, probably quite rightly, that Businessfunk is really the only way to describe ‘this insane subgenre of late 70s and early 80s library music’. ‘It’s such an odd little scene’, he continues, ‘a lot of it seems to have been written specifically for pompous corporate videos of sales charts going through the roof, with track titles like “Money Markets” and “Positive Image”, but it often carries a completely ill-fitting funk and disco influence that attempts to give the corporate world a bit of street-cred or friendliness something. It often fails so hard you can’t help but laugh. On the other hand some of it is just genuinely good music!’ We’re very excited to have him on baord, and if this exclusive bonus instalment whets your appetite for more, you can still hear the original Businessfunk series at Datassette.net, along with all sorts of other exciting bits and pieces.

Tracklisting:

1. J.P. Desvernois – America Beat (1976)

2. Unknown – Japanese Cassette Commercial

3. Marc Monsen – Live A Dream (1985)

4. Andy Clark & Charlie Morgan – Come Alive (1982)

5. Unknown – Japanese TDK Commercial

6. Harold Fisher – Intercity (1984)

7. Graham DeWilde – Laserdrive (1987)

8. Unknown – Mercedes-Benz Corporate Video Excerpts

9. Graham DeWilde – Freightways (1987)

10. Keith Mansfield – Time Runner (1984)

11. BBC Tomorrow’s World Excerpt – The Data Protection Act (1982)

12. Andy Clark & John Devereaux – Baby Dance (1987)

13. Frederick Rousseau – A.D.S.R. (1988)

14. Hiller, Upton & Lee – Thrills And Spills (1983)

Datashat’s Fun Facts:

‘Track 4 is by library legend Andy Clark who played keyboards for David Bowie on his Scary Monsters tour and Charlie Morgan who co-wrote the theme tune for “The Bill” for the same studio in the previous year, probably using the same drum kit. That’s the snare off “The Bill” for sure!’
‘Track 13 is by Jean Michel Jarre’s “Zoolook” co-producer.’

Secondly, thanks to West Norwood Broadcasting Corporation for inviting Hannah and myself to come down and take over their regular Sunday afternoon show last weekend for a couple of hours. Recorded live in the Book And Record Bar (home of our recent Resonance fundraiser) and streamed worldwide online; it’s a two-hour smorgasbord of electro funk, swinging Francophone girl-pop, cosmic sitars, weird library and more. Listen out for the Arabic version of ‘Popcorn’ that I found in a Bush House storeroom! Thanks to Pete and Michael for asking us over and to Dr. Alex Patterson of The Orb who apparently owns the DJ setup. Might want to get that crossfader looked at, Alex!

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