BURIED TREASURE
Capital Charge
This month’s hidden room in rock ’s mansion of mystery –a migrant reacts to the metropolis.
Ram John Holder Black London Blues
Story of the London blues: John Wesley Holder in Report 1553: Racist –A Most Dangerous Proposal, a 1969 episode of ITV crime drama Strange Report; (inset) the singer today.
BEACON, 1969
ESTABLISHED BY Antiguan businessman Milton Samuel, the independent Beacon label began trading above a timber yard in Willesden in 1968, down the road from Trojan Records’ Neasden Lane HQ. Small but ambitious, the label’s first success came after it licensed The Showstoppers’ rough-cut Philly soul number Ain’t Nothing But A House Party, a Number 11 UK hit in April ’68. Misses followed, however, by acts including The Mar ylebone Ensemble, The Brixton Market and The Funky Bottom Congregation. Another release that failed to ignite would have more long-term success piquing listeners’ interest – Black London Blues by Ram John Holder.