Over the next few weeks we’re going in heavy on the classic Kung Fu flicks and those who collect them. Now you might be asking yourself what does collecting Kung Fu flicks on VHS have to do with Hot Peas & Butta right? Well it has everything to do with it! Hot Peas & Butta is all about nostalgia, it’s spinning Funk & Soul 45s, watching Soul Train, riding your Green Machine up and down the block for hours, knowing that Fred Williamson is the baddest motherf*cker to ever walk the streets of Harlem with James Brown playing as his Soundtrack and of course it’s catching double features on 42nd Street or watching Master Killer aka 36th Chambers of Shaolin on Saturday afternoon UHF stations.

But besides that, the connection between DJ’s that collect vinyl runs parallel with some of those same guys that also collected these movies on VHS back in the 90’s (which just happened to be the height of going to records shows like The Roosevelt). The urge to track down and possess rare copies of items are so similar in both worlds that some have gone to the farthest reaches of the globe before there was the internet, online auctions or email to be the first with it. In upcoming installments we’ll be interviewing several DJ’s who were way ahead of the collecting game, several dealers who made it possible for pretty much everyone that was into Hip Hop and Kung Fu flicks during that time to have these movies. Everyone from Biz Markie to DJ Cash Money, Lord Finesse and Rob Swift were in on the action for their Martial Arts satisfaction. Guys like Tom Fardy, June and others who spent many hours of research, long distance calls and letter writing (yes this was before email) to track these movies down. Diggin’ went deep and it didn’t just stop with records! But first up to bat we sat down with our Seattle homie DJ Chan who seems to be well connected on the Hip Hop side of things and a heavy collector.

There are some people that are heavily connected within a circle yet not connected in the typical fashion of what others are. For years we had been hearing the name Big Channing also known as DJ Chan but could never place the face with the mystery that surrounded the name. One thing was for sure, he knew everyone and everyone knew him yet his name doesn’t appear in the credits of your favorite 90’s Hip Hop records but he’s laced some of those same DJ’s and Producers with gems that make up their Kung Fu VHS stash. Years later we found out that he was a source for supplying people like DJ Cash Money with some of his flicks, has direct ties to the King of Diggin, DJ Muro, has done trades with Lord Finesse and is good friends with yet another VHS collector, Biz Markie. Although he’s not an internationally known DJ, his record collection is just as deep and rare as his VHS stash of Kung Fu films and as with our other guests he was “diggin” before it was the popular thing to do.

1. What was your earliest memories or introduction to the Martial Arts film genre?

Everything started with Bruce Lee. I went to Seattle Chinatown every weekend growing up and I live there now. I would see Bruce Lee books and posters all over the neighborhood. Bruce Lee was MAJOR in Seattle Chinatown. He lived in Seattle, went to college here and started a kung-fu school here. I know some of his original students and he used to work at my friend’s aunt’s restaurant here years ago. I would get Bruce Lee books and posters at places like Seattle Kung-Fu club on South King Street. I would take them to school and we would talk about Bruce Lee all day at school. After I saw all of his movies it was a wrap. I was fascinated with Kung-Fu movies. My brother and I started taking Kung-Fu lessons and everything while we were in elementary school. We were crazy back then! Hitting each other with nunchucks, wearing Karate Gis around the house all day, rocking the slip on Kung-Fu shoes and jackets, reading ninja books, etc. We took it real serious back then, but looking back at it now it was complete comedy. There are still marks all over the walls in the basement at my mom’s house from all of our throwing stars! When we got cable TV in the early 80s is when things really got next level. We could watch Kung-Fu movies and pro wrestling all weekend. I first saw Shaw films on cable TV and lost my mind. I used to walk around my hood with one hand sideways in front of my face saying “Buddha Bless You.” I wanted to be just like Gordon Liu Chia-Hui in The Master Killer.

2. Most of these films haven’t been seen in theaters or on television or in years, what made you and when did you start searching for them on VHS?

USA Network started showing Shaw Brothers films again late at night on shows like “Night Flight” around maybe 1990. I saw “Return Of The Master Killer” late one night and just bugged out. It reminded me how much I loved the flicks. The next day I decided to start tracking down all the Kung-Fu movies I could. I got all the pre-records of the Vista, Southgate, Ocean Shores, TWE, etc. labels that I could find in all the local video stores. Then I hit Chinatown and got all the tapes I could find. Then I hit all the Japanese video stores and started getting all the Japanese flicks and the Japanese releases of Shaw Brothers and Golden Harvest movies. Then I hit all the Korean video stores and got all the rare Korean Shaw Brothers tapes. Those were like gold back in the day. Some of the Korean tapes were the ONLY clean copies of some rare Shaw Brothers films. Then I met guys through Bill Connolly’s M.A.M.A. (Martial Arts Movie Associates) magazine and Damon Foster’s Oriental Cinema magazine. I started trading videos with guys all over the country. A real cast of characters. John Grace, Paul Nice, June from Philly, Golden Harvest Greg from Jersey City, Alan Martin, Colin Geddes, Victor Lim, DJ Whiz Kid, to name a few. There was a whole network of guys with crazy collections and we would all trade tapes all the time. It sounds crazy now because everything is DVD or Internet downloads, but we used to send boxes and boxes full of VHS tapes back and forth every week through the mail.

3. DJs and collectors in general will go to extreme lengths to find what they’re looking for, how far were you reaching and what were some of your methods in a pre internet world of securing them?

Whenever I traveled I would hit Chinatowns in other cities and go to all the video stores. I started buying lots of Hong Kong laser discs around this same time. I was also heavy into all the Hong Kong new wave films of the late 80s and early 90s. Things started to get real serious when I had things locked down here in The States and I went international. I started buying and trading tapes with people in The UK, The Netherlands, Germany, Australia, South Africa, etc. Shaw Brothers films and independents were released in different countries and we never got them here in The States. There were also other versions and English language dubbed copies in other countries. I got a real nice Panasonic Pro PAL S-VHS deck and started getting PAL tapes from all over the world. Shout out to my man Flash Legs Pete and Rick Baker from London. I started tracking down the video labels and distributors in all these countries and calling their offices. People were always real cool. Sometimes I could buy tapes direct from them and they would give me all kinds of information and stories on the background of the movie companies from Hong Kong. This was before email and the Internet was just starting. I did all of this over the phone and via fax. I used to get crazy phone bills! At the same time I was doing the exact same thing tracking down all the Italian Westerns I was looking for. It was always good to find a video label in another country that sold both Kung-Fu flicks and Spaghetti Westerns.

4. There’s always those holy grail items for a collector, what were some of the harder ones that you finally tracked down after exhausting all means?

There are so many! LOL! To Kill A Mastermind, The Lady Assassin, Crazy Horse Intelligent Monkey in English, Uncut version of 8 Diagram Pole Fighter, Widescreen English Fists Of The White Lotus, Uncut Legendary Weapons Of Kung-Fu, Uncut Heroes Two with the documentary at the start, Human Skin Lanterns, etc…… And that is just a few of the videos. Don’t even get me started on posters, lobby cards and books!

5. I know you’re a fan of the Ocean Shores films and have a nice collection of Original VHS as well as movies on Laserdisc which took you years to find. Now that many have been bootlegged to DVD do you get that same feeling that DJ collectors do when hard to find records get reissued or bootlegged?

I don’t really care or get upset. I have a lot of the originals so if a bootleg comes out and people want it, that is fine with me. Things will always get bootlegged or re-issued if there is a demand for it. Some films have been released on DVD in nice anamorphic prints that were never available before so that is cool with me. I’m all about the original boxes with the original artwork, music, etc….. Gotta have the OG copies.

6. Do you have it all or are you still searching for anything like a particular movie or book related to the subject, a cleaner copy or possibly an English dubbed or uncut version of something?

I am ALWAYS looking for things. It never ends. Movies, TV specials, interviews, documentaries, sound tracks, lobby cards, posters, magazines, flyers, books, etc…… I love getting as many Shaw Brothers films as possible in the old school English dubbed versions. They are fun and nostalgic that way. I like all the voices and that is the way I first saw them on TV. If an uncut version of a classic turns up, of course I want it. Number one on my want list right now is a book about Shaw Brothers Studios and films. “The Shaw Screen: A Preliminary Study.” The book came out in 2003 and was printed in small numbers. Somehow I missed it back then and now it goes for CRAZY money! People want between $600-$1000 USD for a copy. I collect books just like records and movies.

7. Bonus Question: What is the rarest piece of Kung Fu memorabilia (VHS, Book, Poster etc) in your collection that would make other collectors open up their wallets and offer you top dollar for?

It could be all kinds of stuff. I never sell things like that so I don’t know what things would be worth. Maybe Super Ninjas lobby cards, some random posters or European original uncut Shaw Brothers tapes. I bet most dudes would flip out for my copy of the Hui Ying-Hung Hong Kong Playboy book. It has the nude photo shoot she did for Hong Kong Playboy right after the Shaw studios closed down. I only know two other people that have the book.

We've been getting alot of rain here on the East Coast these past few weeks but that's not stopping us from staying in a good mood here in the office with the amount of great 45's that have been coming out as of late. We're really looking forward to Summer which is right around the corner, traveling and of course those family BBQ's that brings everyone together. So if your itching for Summer to get here as much as we are then press play and get lost for 3:17 while you enjoy Central Lines "Walking Into Sunshine".

This weekend while in Las Vegas I had the honor of meeting and chatting with for an extended period of time two beautiful women that starred in some of Hollywood's best movies, Lana Woods aka Plenty o' Toole from James Bond's Diamonds Are Forever and Ms. Gloria Hendry who not only starred in the James Bond film Live and Let Die but also in several of my favorite Blaxploitation films including Black Caesar and Black Belt Jones. Ms. Hendry and myself spent a great deal of time discussing the Blaxploitation genre, what it was like working on those films and also how Hot Peas & Butta pays homage to the genre which absolutly loved all the visuals and pictures that I showed her. These are true women of Hollywood with class, unlike this new crop of broads always in and out of the tabloids, spotlight, rehab and yes, even prison.

This Friday the Dojo Soundz fam continue they're monthly Soul Flexin' all vinyl night party consisting of Hip Hop, Funk, Soul and Rare Grooves. Each month the theme of the party changes with this latest installment being labeled as the Afro Sheen edition. Bring your dancing shoes because DJ's Charlie Rock, Question and Marsellus Wallace go in deep with the grooves.

Skeme Richards will be in Europe this weekend doing a party rocking set in Genova Italy as part of the Feel The Beat! festival. He'll be rocking alongside DJ Leva57 who holds Hip Hop down in a major way all across Italy and beyond.

What started out as another update to the Funky Little Boxes series quickly became a spotlight of Ms. Paola Puente’s collection, who has more than her fair share of 45 boxes in all shapes, sizes, colors and themes. Not only a collector of these neat carrying cases, she also has a very sizeable collection or records to fill them as well. Do we consider Paola a 45 Queen? We do indeed give her that Hot Peas & Butta seal of approval. A collector of many things (which we’ll spotlight later in an upcoming series) but for now lets take a peek at some of the gems which she owns.

It's been a minute since we've featured a mix from our good friend DJ Bluewater but we're happy that he's turned out another gem for your listening pleasure. Listen People is the title and it's filled full of heavy funky soul joints to satisfy your ear drums from beginning to end. Enjoy!

Listen People by Djbluewater on Mixcloud

This weekend Skeme Richards will be heading out to Las Vegas as he continues his tour of DJing for the Red Bull BC One events around the globe. Afterwards he will be spinning an all 45 set and and dropping quarters in his favorite arcade machines at our go to spot in Vegas, Insert Coins.

Well it's seems the hype of spinning 45's and all of it's themed parties has somewhat leveled out. Although we love that the format has gained it's fair share of attention these days we can't help to equate this oversaturation to the days after Bruce Lee passed away and directors started looking for anyone that slightly resembled him in attempts to cash in on his popularity. Much props to those that started before it's "pop" status and to those that started because of it being the in thing we salute you with this video of "Bruce Lee His Last Days, His Last Nights".