THE MOHAWKS Vinilo y CD

Review: Champion sound! Sampled over 500 times but still funkier than a sleepover at Kanye's, The Mohawks "The Champ" enjoys gold status for this limited Record Store Day special. Flip for the instant horn-heaved call to arms "Sound Of The Witchdoctor". Fresh from 68, and still as bewitching... You might call this a magnificent 7" (not sorry)

Review: If you dig hip-hop, funk or soul, you should know 'The Champ', a much-sampled, Hammond-heavy 1968 rhythm & blues workout from Alan Hawkshaw's Mohawks outfit. However, you may not know this version: a 1973 reggae remake from the band that brilliantly slows down the main organ motif and places it atop a sturdy, bass-heavy rhythm. This time round, it comes backed with another killer reggae rework: a skanking take on Aretha Franklin soul classic 'Rock Steady' from the Marvels. Recorded and released in the UK by a group of exiled Jamaicans in the early 1970s, it remains an inspired example of reggae's 'versioning' culture.