Yann Vatiste
How long have you been collecting?
I discovered a mixture Northern Soul, R&B, Latin, Ska, Jazz, Acid Jazz & Funk music on the Mod scene in the late 80s. I slowly started collecting records around the age of 15 as I had a very good friend called Spider who was a musician with an incredible collection of French EPs and thousands of soul, r&b and jazz records.
I spent hours at his house, making tapes, taking notes and discovering black American music.
During this time we would rummage through car boot sales and charity shops mainly, back then everything cost around 5 or 10 francs (50p/£1).
Do you remember your first buy?
To be honest, I don’t know which is the first record I bought but I do remember the one that changed my life, Kent Records The Magic Touch compilation LP , I used to play this on repeat in my room whilst teaching myself how to spin and kick. I was doing martial arts at that time which helped. A hugely influential album for me which made me not only want to learn more about soul music but eventually led me to move to London after visiting the 100 club.
What’s your favourite record in your box?
It will have to be Kenyatta – Kick It Off on NGUDU which is a funk monster 45, It simply has to be this one because of the story behind it…
You can choose how you search for records and my method has always been to try to connect with the artists and musicians behind these incredible gems, so I decided to try and find the guy behind Kenyatta and soon realised I was the only one on the case.
I first established who the owner of the label was, Ngudu Chandler, a famous drummer who worked with Michael Jackson. I found his daughter and she had a copy of the 45 but cracked in two, she was shocked that anyone remembered this 45!
So I started researching for the songwriters Keith Rose and James Crabbe Robinson.
I quickly realised that these guys were from New York and not Ohio like the label suggested. Despite sending hundreds of emails, phone calls and Facebook messages I was unable to make contact, so I started contacting their friends and family. I also noticed a really cool bass player called Paris Ford who had connections with them in different bands but he almost seemed to young for it to make sense, after contacting him though Paris responding… guess what? Paris was the Kenyatta’s bass player. I couldn’t believe my luck. Finally I was making progress!
Paris told me he had an original copy of Kick It Off but it was completely scratched and it was the only copy he had. I still tried to buy from him but I didn’t push much because it was his only copy however, we started exchanging messages daily and became very good friends.
Paris himself had a solo career and he told me he also had some unreleased material and that is how Epsilon Record Co. was born, with EPS001 Paris Ford- Boogie Down.
At the same time Paris sent me 10 unreleased Kenyatta tracks. My heart almost stopped when I first listened to these tracks, these songs are simply incredible. Check them out –
EPS005 A: Let Me Love You / B: Ain’t Doin Nothing
EPS006 A: If We Only Had / B: Didn’t I Treat You Right Girl
I remained very close to Paris after the release of these songs and I was also there to help him in his projects. When Paris realised that I also repaired records, he asked me if I wanted to try to repair his copy of Kenyatta – Kick It Off for him, I told him of course, I would do it for free and a week later I received his original copy. It repaired perfectly and sent it back to New York, Paris was really happy with the result and I was really proud to have a copy in my hands for a few days.
Then out of the blue, several weeks later. I received a package from the USA with the name Paris on it. I was really surprised and didn’t know what to expect. To my surprise it was the same copy of Kick It Off that I was working on, Paris kindly decided to offer it to me and it was an incredible surprise.
So how can it not be my favourite record, it’s not only an amazing record but one that has a special story behind it with a beautiful ending.
I still have some superb unreleased material from Kenyatta, Paris and I will publish them one day for sure… watch this space!
Which record do you regret selling the most?
I don’t think I regret any particular record. I also sell records to improve my record collection. Buying/selling and trading are part of our record collecting journey. I think today everyone is too obsessed with the value of their collection. I love music, collecting and digging new sounds and master tapes and I always look forward, not back continuing to learn every day.
What’s your fave all time soul club?
Easy… the 100 club in London without any hesitation. The best club in the world with the mighty Butch!
What’s your all time want?
As a Shrine Records collector, it will have to be The Prophets – If I Had One Gold Piece.
I would also love to own Patrinell Staten – Little Love Affair on Sepia.
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