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“In my opinion, the greatest UK street soul tune ever made! It’s all about the message of unity” - Delasy StudioEight
"Hughie, his sister and me, we went down to London to get the record pressed", explains Joseph Williams, founder and owner of Raggas Leisure who financed the project: "I had a club at the time in Manchester and Hughie and I grew up together, he was a great talent. We'd go to The Ritz at the weekend to hear him sing."
Penned during the summer of 1991, 'Got To Make Sure' was recorded at H.Q. Studios in Manchester and released in October of the same year on a limited white label for Raggas Records. "H.Q. had just opened its doors, I think it was one of our first-ever sessions", says founder and sound engineer Michael Vindice: "Basically, it was Hughie and friends in the studio tinkering about until something stuck".
Since the late 80s, Hughie 'U-Bert' Crawford was known as a singer on the Manchester cabaret and club circuit and had P.A.s alongside The Bygraves and Omar. He released a handful of white labels under various line-ups including U-Bert & Co. and Kameleon, appearing on the playlists of Sunset 102 FM with DJs like Hewan Clarke and Broadway.
However, it's U-Bert's debut single 'Got To Make Sure' that has remained the most coveted of street soul white labels. Not only because of its rarity and not just because it epitomises the genre with bass-heavy independent production, but also because it emerged from Manchester's early 90s underground club scene that embraced street soul like no other; U-Bert's message made vocal for all his homegrown listeners and beyond.
The version that gained traction was originally titled 'The Pablo' mix during the H.Q. recording session, with an alternative B-side 'Minister' Mix. The following year in 1992, U-Bert followed up with a 'Remix' version as U-Bert & Co. All three mixes feature on this 12" for the first time. |
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