Manasseh Meets The Equaliser – Riz Records – 1993

Nick Raphael, also known as Nick Manasseh, after the sound system of the same name.

By the latter part of the 1980’s, the Manasseh sound system had gained a reputation as one of the better sound systems promoting the new U.K digital roots, alongside older Jamaican roots rock reggae from the 1970’s and 1980’s.
All quality 12″‘s and dub plates. No fillers. Nick selected the records and dub plates alongside Billy T at these sound systems.

Soon enough both would start to select similar records (that had made the Manasseh sound system stronger than most) for the newly launched Kiss FM radio station.

Manasseh, the radio show, had the late night Saturday night / early Sunday morning slot. A perfect time for folks like myself to get home from a night out, and relax onward through to the morning to… I recorded many of the Manasseh radio shows. I have around sixty C90 cassette tapes, dated from 1990 to 1993 still in a box here at Penguin Towers.

I witnessed the Manasseh sound system many times, in all kinds of venues. Whether North London Dub Club nights at the George Robey, or The Dome in Tufnell Park. dub nights at the Hoxton Bass Clef with Joey Jay sometimes clashing with Manasseh. Kilburn, and Southall and many more Manasseh sound system dances. There were also some summer outdoor sessions, in the hot sun, near Wormward Scrubs prison and also the beautiful Furnivall Gardens on the river near to Hammersmith. My favorite session that one at Furnivall Gardens!

I was on light conversation terms with both Nick Manasseh and Billy T, but I knew Brixton based Rocksteady Eddie a little more.

Rocksteady Eddie A.K.A Eddie Joseph, helped form Riz Records alongside Nick and Gil.

In 1993, with Eddie’s (and Nick’s) blessing, I punted the Riz record label to Southern Record Distribution, which worked very well.

Southern Record Distribution agreed to distribute just in time for the ‘Manasseh Meets The Equalizer’ album that was freshly recorded and was nearing the production stage by Riz Records.
I got given a pre-release white label copy of the album to listen to, prior to the record being pressed up for commercial sale.

NOTE: Southern Record Distribution only distributed the vinyl version of this album. The C.D version was released on Acid Jazz Records a year or so later, and that C.D was not distributed by Southern Record Distribution as Acid Jazz Records had another distribution service…

The Riz record label was one of the very first record labels that I pushed hard to be distributed by Southern Record Distribution, the company that I was working for, and am still working for today.

Southern Record Distribution got around six to seven hundred copies of the album into stock, and we managed to shift them all across the country in just a few days from the eventual release date.

This is a wonderful digital dub masterpiece, and well worth a listen.

I have placed up another YouTube post which highlights Nick Raphael A.K.A Nick Manasseh earlier work with Sound Iration on the YouTube link below.

The images that accompany the audio are scans from my pre-release version of the album along with the original sleeve artwork.

This YouTube post is dedicated to Naomi Okada.

Hope you like this choice Naomi!