Our first release of the ‘011 sees the much anticipated follow up single to the Hackney Colliery Band’s club smasher “Money”, released last Summer. The East London collective’s version of Toto’s soft rock classic “Africa” has been tried and tested on dance floors worldwide for many months, and it’s release of 7-inches of heavyweight wax is the perfect way to mark the start of Wah Wah 45’s potentially biggest year so far! And if that wasn’t enough, there’s the added bonus of the deep, Mulatu inspired, soul jazz stormer “Right Foot Up” on the flip.
Recorded in our favourite recording studio, The Fishmarket, by Ben (Nostalgia 77) Lamdin and produced by our very own Simon ‘Capstone’ Little, this is a loud, heavy and beautiful capturing of the most storming brass bands in the UK right now.
For more info on the Hackney Colliery Band check out their artist page!
See reactions below – and please leave your own comment in the box, we love your feedback!
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REACTIONS!
“Tops! Thanks as always chaps. Just arrived in time for the Feb issue of DJ Mag!” Found Sounds (DJ Mag, UK)
“Lovin’ the Africa rework…lovelee :D” Mad Mats (Raw Fusion, Sweden)
“I love the Toto brass cover! Amazing release! Full support!” Dusty (Jazz&Milk, Germany)
“Shit, this Africa remake is tight! Just bought it, will play it 1000 times!” Sir Nenis (Top Billin’ Music, Finland)
“Just wants needed after hard day down the pit. It makes the sun shine over Hackney and puts a smile on my face. Will def be playing on SOASRADIO.ORG Hackney Globe Trotter radio show.” Russ Jones (Hackney Globe Trotter, UK)
“Another Wah Wah smasher!” Tom Weiland (Seven Samurai, Vienna)
“Another nice one to add to the ever-growing collection of Brass Band covers! Cheers guys!” Aaron (Bstrd Jazz, USA)
“A world sound smasher that will drive my listeners at Rai (Italy’s national broadcasting corporation) dead crazy!” Francesco Adinolfi (Rai 1, Italy)
“Got my 7″ today from the shop and it is absolutely brilliant!!” Lovemonk Borja (Lovemonk, Spain)
“The HCB Africa tune is sure to get a couple heads turnin. It’s funny, I haven’t heard the original of that track since I was a kid it seems and for some reason I thought Peter Gabriel did it but that one off band called Toto 😉 Had to watch the video on youtube last night and man was that hilarious!” Jason Pulaski (Ubiquity, USA)
“What a right rabble dabble! A nice cockney knees up by the sounds of it, and great fun too!” Raw Deal (Groove Sanctuary, UK)
‘”Africa” is such a brilliant tune. Thanks for sending. Will be charting and playing this for sure!’ Angel Mishev (Reel Feel Clubnight, Bulgaria)
“Absolutely loving this release, I was a big fan of “Money”, and think that this is a great step forward for HCB in terms of production & focus (Money had the medley aspect, which gave it somewhat of a novelty factor….) At a recent gig I played ‘Africa’ twice – once mid-set, and again as the last tune of the night. Reactions were excellent both times, dropping it mid-set led to smiles and sparked conversation between total strangers, and as the night’s finale it became an instant brass band karaoke classic,with many on the dancefloor doing their vocal Toto thing over the top. Everybody likes a cover version, but it has to do something quite different to the original, and ‘Africa’ achieves this in spades. I like ‘Right Foot Up’ too, I think it fits in as a mid-tempo jazz freakout, and will fit nicely into my sets as a join the dots between jazz and funk. Thanks!” DJ Baby Dave (Dublin)
“Not much to say really, knew I would love these tracks before I listened to them. Played Africa on Sundays show and not surprisingly had a flood of emails in asking about it. Wicked track and HCB becoming by far my favorite brass band out there.” King Tee (Ireland)
“Been waiting for this one. Loving it recorded almost as much as the live version. Great! “Right Foot Up” also really nice!” Snorre Seim (Butti 49, Norway)
“What a lovely warm analogue release. Love the harmonies, the trumpets and the original instrumentation. Some things I actually miss in the digital music world at the moment. Keep up releasing high quality stuff! Matt Desch (Bogaloo Radioshow, Germany)
“Heavy heavy heavy!!!!” Ross Wakefield (Part-time Heroes, UK)
“Thanks! I will support it from next Sunday in my programme.” Josef Sedlon (Radio 1, Cz)
“Wow! I think probably one of the songs I hate the most: Toto’s ‘Africa’ and yet somehow in the hands of HCB, it’s supremely listenable – double “yay” for the B-side. Thanks for the promo – will unleash it on an unsuspecting audience on next’s week show and no doubt play out…. somewhere! Paris (Groovescooter Records, Australia)
“It seems that every Hackney Colliery Band’s release is becoming a surprise, a way to rediscover brass bands. I appreciate the original tune, but the version of Toto’s “Africa” is simply great”. Santiago Tadeo Cervera (www.acidjazzhispano.com, Spain)
“Africa..what can i say…super nice brass band reinterpretation of Toto !!! Full play !!! Markus Milz (Further in Fusion, Germany).
“I never did like Toto’s version back in the days, but this one is truly nice. The flipside is a winner too, keep up the good work Wah Wah!” Georgios Paroglou (Greece)