The first installment, 481-500, of a list of my 500 favorite original soul 45s from the NY Night Train Soul Clap and Dance-Off party (since 2007) in DJ mix/podcast format. While I assembled each set envisioning a mixtape for a friend, I hope this also feels like one of my live sets and makes ya wanna dance!

The tracklist, details about the songs and artists, and rips of each uncut record can be found on my site: https://www.newyorknighttrain.com/2021/03/14/ny-night-train-soul-clap-dance-off-top-500-first-installment-481-500/ ... My goal here isn't merely to give you something to listen to, but to provide inspiration to start a journey into the lives and music of these often unsung or merely deserving heroes - some of whom are still alive and active and others whose legacy needs to grow. 

Since COVID I've been trying to make some order out of my vinyl, and because one Quixotic project deserves another, I've also digitized thousands of my records and organized them into categories and lists as both an intellectual exercise and a way to locate titles in this mess. I assembled the Soul Clap 500 as twenty-five self-contained entities of twenty tracks. I've only included the original 45s (with a couple of second label pressings from the same year) not only for the distinctive original sound and character but also because I view vinyl DJs as museums of culture and want to present the authentic beautiful artifacts every time and not imitations or substandard bootlegs. I'll try to keep these coming once or twice a week until we achieve the complete list.

Since its been over a year since I've worked, and I assume its gonna be a while before there are dance parties again, I also hope this gives ya something to cut a rug to in the meantime... 

thank you for your kind indulgence, 
jt

NY Night Train Soul Clap & Dance-Off Top 500: 481-500

JONATHAN TOUBIN's 2022 New York Night Train HAUNTED HOP Halloween Mix - the 13th edition! Juxtaposed from the original 45rpm vinyl singles! 25 spine-tingling classics and obscurities cobbled together by the mad scientist for your listening and dancing pleasure! The Good! The Bad! And the ugly! Make this and the previous editions (317 spooky records so far!) the soundtrack to your holiday partying and in preparation for the 17th Annual NY NIGHT TRAIN HAUNTED HOP, OCT 31 at KNOCKDOWN CENTER with room after room of madcap multimedia fun with HUNX & HIS PUNX and 30 more bands, 8 DJs, mummy dancers, a horror cinema, creepy art installations, the 1AM $500 COSTUME CONTEST, plus eating, drinking, and dancing from 6:30PM - 2AM! Get tickets now!

Track Listing:
1. Johnny Jenkins “I Walk On Guilded Splinters” (Capricorn, 1970)
2. Rex Garvin and The Mighty Cravers “Strange Happenings” (Chieftin, 1971)
3. Dead Moon “Don’t Burn The Fires” (Tombstone, 1988)
4. Curtis Knight & The Squires “Hornet’s Nest” (RSVP, 1966)
5. Marie Laforêt “Marie Doceur - Marie Colère (Paint It Black)” (Disques Festival, 1966)
6. Fred Harris Red Tops Organ Trio with The Highlighters “The Bull” (New Song, 1958)
7. Linda Vera y su Conjunto Tropical “La Mano Pelua” (CBS Mexico, 1965)
8. Ray Barretto “Babalu” (Tico, 1966)
9. Screamin’ Jay Hawkins and The Chicken Hawks “I Hear Voices” (Enrica, 1962)
10. Gate Wesley & Band with Billy LaMont “(Zap! Pow! Do The Batman” (Atlantic, 1966)
11. Donald Height “Three Hundred and Sixty Five Days” (Shout, 1967)
12. Shorty Billups “Black Cats” (Blast, 1965)
13. King Horror “Dracula Prince of Darkness” (Joe, 1969)
14. Thee Midniters “Thee Midnite Feeling” (Whittier, 1966)
15. Los Crazy Boys “La Bruja” (Discos Orfeon, 1965)
16. Johnnie Mae Matthews “The Headshrinker” (Reel, 1962)
17. Alan Knight “Chills” (Tide, 1960)
18. The Run-A-Ways “Night Creature” (Royal Audio Music, 1960)
19. Charlie Ryan and the Timberline Riders “Hot Rod Hades” (4 Star, 1961)
20. R. Erickson & Bleibalien (Roky Erickson!) “Red Temple Prayer (Two Headed Dog)” (Mars, 1975)
21. Miss L.L. Louise Lewis “The Monster’s Bride” (Skyway, 1964)
22. The Couplings “Dill Tickle” (Prism, 1964)
23. Adolphus Bell And The Up Starts “Lafin Gas” (Satin, ?)
24. The Livin’ End “Soul Ghost” (Mistown, 1969)
25. Bob Mitchell “What Then” (Al-Mo, ?)

2022 NY Night Train 2022 Haunted Hop Mix (13th Edition) 

Jonathan Toubin's 2022 NY Night Train Haunted Hop Halloween Mix

"This 45 hoarder made soul music fun again with his Soul Clap & Dance Off parties, where five-hour sets of rare grooves and B-sides provided a fleshy alternative to the club scene’s industrial snarl. Instead of bucking the trends of American pop music for some underground alternative, Toubin has made his name by embracing pop’s connective tissue, tracing the rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll of the nineteen-fifties and sixties. " (The New Yorker)

"The most-liked man in the soul music scene" (Rolling Stone)

"Jonathan is pretty much the only DJ we actually like." (VICE)

"Particularly chic... one of the most popular spinners in Williamsburg and the founder of the New York Night Train dance parties. His fare is already cleaner and more appreciative of American pop music history than much of the rest..." (NY Times)

Awarded "BEST DJ" in "The Village Voice" 60th Anniversary “Best of NYC”: "We might live in an EDM world, but Jonathan Toubin has no truck with today's musical whims. Since 2007, Toubin's Soul Clap and Dance-Off has brought throwback pizzazz and retro cool to New York's late-night underground. Culled from an endless array of long-forgotten Sixties soul singles, Soul Clap is pure musical dynamite, the kind of after-hours party that exposes today's iTunes-bred, press-play DJs for their relative lack of roots and ingenuity. No fist-bumps or atomic bass drops here... You can try to put your moves to better use, but you'll be hard-pressed to find more cathartic, sweatier fun elsewhere in the city." (Village Voice Critics Choice Award, 2015)

"BEST DJ" (Village Voice "Best of NYC" Readers' Choice Award 2014)

"Jonathan Toubin is the reigning king of the sweaty, non-stop super-fun dance party" (Paper Magazine)

"Jonathan Toubin is a multihypenate in every sense of the word... Toubin fuses obscure rhythm and blues from the '50s and '60s, with rock 'n' roll and soul 45s. His ongoing New York Night Train parties easily draw those typically found sulking in corners of bars out onto the dance floor." (Interview Magazine)

"Jonathan Toubin is New York rock and soul DJ who plays his collection of original 45rpm records to packed dance floors all over the world." (BBC World Service)

"Most fun ever!... Jonathan Toubin is one of our all time favorite DJs who spins rare 45s and travels around the world making people happy" (BUST Magazine)

"The long-running Soul Clap remains one of the sweatiest dance parties to be experienced in New York City. Fueled by his rare and raucous 45s collection, DJ Jonathan Toubin draws on raw soul and the most feral strains of rock 'n' roll from the early 1960s to power the nights." (Wall Street Journal)

"Few people recognize the roaring, crackling songs; even fewer can really dance the blues. It doesn’t matter. The evening’s not about proving you know the most obscure records or looking good; it’s about some kind of soul-shaking alchemy. Before you know it, it’s the opening scene of “Dirty Dancing,” all swerving hips and bare shoulders—you would’ve sworn you’d be the last to dance, but there you are, breathless.... Spellbound bodies slip into the song’s shuffling rhythm, and Toubin reaches for the next bit of black magic." (The New Yorker)

"Soul Clap is the most popular soul dance party in the world, playing to more people in more places than any other... Toubin plays all original soul 45s from the 1960s and uncommon upbeat cuts." (SXSW Music News)



"Indeed, Toubin's 45 r.p.m. record-fueled, rock-and-soul heavy dance parties were some of the best, sweatiest nights we've had in this city." (Gothamist)

"Jonathan Toubin is the only person we can call a "professional DJ" without involuntarily making a jack-off motion with our hand... His parties are like what Ancient Stonehenge was like if it was, as archaeologists theorize, filled with people dressed many times better than you completely losing their shit." (VICE)

New tracks tagged #rex garvin