Another episode, another guest mix. This time by the Great Mark Francis. I remember meeting Mark years ago at a record show he used to run down in Jamaica Plan, MA. So many dope records and the show was always a good time. Nowadays he holds it down on his “Lost and Found” show on WMBR 88.1 FM.

For This episode Mark make a special all 45’s mix for us. Here’s Mark talking about it in his own word.

“This was an easy idea for a mix since for as long as I’ve been buying soul 45s the ones that sang about social issues instead of romance have always really appealed to me and I seek them out and have a nice stash of them at this point. It’s always striking to me how songs singing about problems in society from 50 years ago are still so relevant today. It’s sad, really, that a song like “That Ain’t Water That’s Pollution” from 1970 could have been written a week ago about Flint, Michigan. That’s where the title Modern Problems comes from, the irony that decades later from these songs being made we as a society stuff suffer from the same issues we were all those years ago. And back then popular artists were singing about these things in a very direct and proactive manner, which I find admirable. And sometimes just damn funky. “

Thanks, Mark

Track Listing 

We Gotta Make a Change – Net Wt. 14 Karat Black – Luna ‘72

Laugh To Keep From Crying – Nat Turner Rebellion – Soulville ‘71

We Need More Love – The Spurrlows – Yas ‘69

That Ain’t Water That’s Pollution – The Infinity – Mercury ‘70

Not By Bread Alone – Kim Tamango – Firebird ‘69

Welcome To the World (Pt. 1) – Great Expectations – Phil L.A. of Soul ‘73

Depression – True Movement – Miystic Insight ‘74

We’ve Got To Make It Better (Pt. 1) – Jake and John – Parral ‘74

Ridin’ High – The New Establishment – United World ‘7?

Escape – Shirley Vaughn – Columbia ‘69

We’re In the Middle – L. J. Reynolds and the Relations – Monique ‘71

Do You Know Me – Jimmy Ruffin – Chess ‘74

I Am People – The Family Affair – Authentic ‘72

In addition to the mix here’s a short Interview with Mark

Favorite dollar bin record find. Tough one, but probably Jackie Shane “New Way of Lovin’” 45 on Paragon … it’s probably her most rare release and finding an unplayed copy for a dollar was a true score. It was a genuine dollarbox moment too, at a local record fair I noticed a box of 45s labeled $1 each under a table of LPs that it seemed nobody else had even noticed. I found a few other rare records in there too and those were all local things from the same era as the Shane, which even tho it wasn’t a local release I do know she performed in the Boston area a lot in the 60’s and I have to assume the copy was something sold locally at the time which gave it extra appeal to me.  What’s your current holy grail record? Even tougher to say, I’ve always got a few current extreme wants rolling around my brain, I will say on the soul 45 tip “Heavy Heavy Lovin’” by Betty Brewton on Sue has been a “heavy heavy” want for a long time now. I’m a collector of garage and psych too and “Five Years Ahead of My Time” by the Third Bardo has been a want for decades.  Any strange or funny diggin stories you could share? I do love to tell the story about the time I was shopping in a local record spot and a guy came in to sell a box of records and I spotted a super valuable and rare Caribbean funk LP in the pile. The guy went to outside for something and I decided to help the store out and told the kid buying to make sure he bought that LP because it was very collectible and worth big $$$. The guy came back and I overheard the kid tell him he didn’t want anything except a Zappa LP that he offered the guy almost nothing for and the seller left without selling anything. I pretty much snapped on the dude working after he left like “are you crazy?? I told you how rare that LP is!” and then I chased the guy down the street and bought it from him for myself.  What are you currently working on? I’ve been doing weekly radio shows on WMBR here in the Boston area for over 15 years. With the pandemic happening, the radio station was shut down and nobody is allowed inside.But now the techs have set it up so we can prerecord our shows at home and they will put them on the air at our usual time. I had to get some new gear to make a show that sounds quality when recorded in my record room and I am putting together my first show to air since the lockdown, hopefully on Monday 4/27 if I can get my ish together.  Where can people find you? Well, these days at home like everyone else lol. But my radio shows are at WMBR.org, I’ll be putting more mixes up soon on my soundcloud username AsphaltJangle … and of course when society opens again you can find me wherever records are for sale, probably on my hands and knees digging through 45 boxes stashed away from view. Here’s hoping most if not all record stores survive these tough times and come back stronger than ever!