Blow Up presents Exclusive Blend

Introduction to the Series Blow Up presents ‘Exclusive Blend’ is a series of music library compilations compiled by Blow Up club founder and main DJ Paul Tunkin. When the first volume was released in 1996, the idea of a compilation of 60s and 70s music library tracks never intended for commercial release seemed a little unusual. However, over a decade later the genre seems to get more popular, vindicated by similar compilations from other labels, and a new wave of dedicated collectors and fans (including a cult following overseas, especially in Japan). 3 volumes on, the series remains a ground-breaking introduction to the world of the music library, as well as reflecting the diverse music that can be heard at London's famous Blow Up club. Volumes 1 & 2 reissued! After a long wait during which saw some copies fetch silly prices on eBay, Volumes 1 & 2 have finally been reissued including a brand new pressing on vinyl. Volume 1 features Hammond-heavy classics from the KPM music library, and Volume 2 yet more dancefloor-friendly cuts from the KPM, De Wolfe, Amphonic and Sylvester music. Essential for DJs and collectors alike! Composer Quotes: "The whole problem with library music was that it is always considered naff by those who write it. I knew differently because I was a working producer in both ITV and subsequently BBCTV and used library music frequently as part of my programme-making equipment and I knew what real musical quality the halls of this strange musical genre embraced. My enthusiasm for the medium started with a general wonderment for the music of Trevor Duncan at the age of nineteen, although by then I had already composed my first few titles for KPM by then. Duncan seemed as original an composer as I would ever encounter. His music was so utterly useable. But more than that. The library composers I was to later use on programmes were writers of the first order. It was I who selected the theme, now used to Mastermind, from a KPM disc. I think it was by Neil Richardson We used it as a weekly theme on a “funny” on Braden’s Week on BBC1. “Mastermind’ took it up subsequently. It is an effective piece of writing of the first order. Paul Tunkin has continued my enthusiasms. What he has done is to mine a vein of commercial music that no one else has done. No one thought that library music, on it’s own, would have a commercial appeal. Paul thought that it would – and how right he was! It is an Aladdin’s cave of period treasures – entirely unique as genre But musically very rich indeed." James Clarke (Wild Elephants/Blow Up A-Go-Go Composer) 2007
"I have been delighted to see several of my pieces written in the 1970's appearing on a variety of compilations including Blow Up's Exclusive Blend Volumes 1 and 2. The revival in the nineties of music from this era has proved to be one of those glitches in the music business, thereby emphasizing its unpredictability, but at the same time confirming that good music lasts." Alan Hawkshaw
"Those of us who were part of the recording scene in the sixties can now look back and reflect on how lucky we were to be around at the time that English 'Pop & Rock' music would become such a success. So many great musicians, such good recording studios and so many artists from the Beatles to the Rolling Stones who would dominate the musical culture of young people all over the world. I hope that when you listen to Exclusive Blend, you will be taken back in time and can enjoy all the positive energy that was such a part of that era." Keith Mansfield
Volume 1 Featuring the cream of the KPM Music Library writers including Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw, Alan Parker and Johnny Pearson, Exclusive Blend Volume 1 takes us on a journey deep into the library's vaults, starting with the pounding uptempo of 'Move, Move, Move' through the Hammond-heavy 'Beat Me 'Til I'm Blue' and 'Rocky Mountain Runabout' (versions of both featuring on the legendary Mohawks 'The Champ' album) to the sitar 6Ts club sound of 'Delhi Discotheque' and 'Come here Calcutta'. Since its original 1996 release Exclusive Blend Volume 1 has continuously been re-pressed and perfectly captures the early 'Blow Up' club sound whilst still remaining a ground-breaking introduction to the world of the Music Library and an inspiration to djs, collectors and a million imitators.
Volume 2 This edition of the Exclusive Blend series sees us enter the vaults of De Wolfe, Amphonic and KPM. When Volume 2 was released in September 1997 most of these library tracks, as with Volume 1, were getting their first ever commercial airing. In particular, the album introduced James Clarke's 'Wild Elephants' to the world, which was subsequently picked up by The Gap and used on their 'Khaki A-Go-Go' ad campaign of 1999, consequently being released and retitled 'Blow Up A-Go-Go!' as a single for Summer 1999. It later became the title track for 'Blow Up A-Go-Go! - Dancefloor Classics 'from the legendary Blow Up club'. Once again, the compilation includes tracks from many great music library theme writers including Keith Mansfield, Alan Hawkshaw and Syd Dale, ranging from the Alan Moorhouse Hammond heavy classic 'Soul Skimmer' to the spaced out tribal funk of Nick Ingam's 'Tripwire'. Volume 2, like the first, has gone on to receive much international recondition with Dj's, collectors and just plain old music lovers alike, introducing many to the twilight world of the unknown session man just doing his thang.
Volume 3 This sixteen track album, was compiled in Paris from the late 60's and early 70's vaults of France's Telemusic Library: “Comprising mainly of instrumental compositions that vary from Guy Pedersen 's funky wah wah workout of Les Copains De La Basse to Paul Piot's Serge Gainsberg girly vocal sounding Virtueuse Reveuse, this album features some of France's greatest Jazz, R'n'B, Pop musicians and writers of the time including Bernard Estardy and Raymond Guiot. French music library Telemusic issued its first recordings in 1968, which have covered a wealth of musical styles over the past few decades. The eclectic nature, as is common with most of the music libraries was to accommodate the varied requirements of essentially TV, Radio and Film synchronisation. My search was for recordings from the late Sixties to the early Seventies, focusing on the dancefloor element of Telemusic's Jazz and R'n'B recordings with some Gallic soundtrack vibes thrown in for good measure.” Pop Fact: After the release of Volume 3, "Primitive Spirit" was picked up and used as the basis for Jamelia's single 'DJ'.
Volume 4 "After last year's trip through the Telemusic archives for Volume 3, the taste has developed once again for a further foray into the French library scene. Round four of the Exclusive Blend Series sees an expedition through the mighty vaults of the Chappell Music Library, focusing mostly on dancefloor friendly recordings, alongside some archive Gallic atmospherics thrown in for good measure. This compilation is primarily culled from the Chappell DMM Series of LPs, recorded in Paris from 1966 to the early 1970s. The Dance and Mood Music series (DMM) was established to explore musical boundaries of Jazz, R'n'B, Classical and the Avant-garde for the purpose of TV, radio and film synchronisation. The principal DMM writers Jack Arel, Pierre Dutour, Jean Claude Petit and Paul Piot were given unprecedented artistic freedom for the time. This resulted in high quality recordings that clearly demonstrate how library music can be so much more than just hack work - within its confines there too can be inspirational music.”