{"product_id":"mcneal-niles-thrust","title":"McNeal And Niles - Thrust","description":"\u003c!-- plug-seven-hike-2026-10-29:start --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e1LP Vinyl - WABB-145\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA track about an African king recorded in the back of a car wash commands $1,600.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAt the makeshift Man-Ray Studios in Akron, Ohio, where barrels of soap were rolled away to make room for recording, guitarist Wilbur Niles and his then-girlfriend, Machelle McNeal, recorded \"Ja Ja.\" Niles, a history major, titled it after King Jaja, who rose from slavery to become a wildly successful broker of palm oil in the 19th century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe humid tranquil track would lead off the pair's first and only album together, 1979's Thrust. It begins with an elliptical little electric-piano hook by McNeal, an accomplished musician without much jazz experience, accompanied by wind sounds. The effect is of sparkles of sunlight through an otherwise dense sheet of fog.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThrust exists in that blurry, liminal space between jazz, funk, soul, and R\u0026amp;B; ‘70s-era CTI comes to mind, but the unpolished vibe sloughs off that comparison, too. Even when “Summer Fun” goes for a four-on-the-floor feeling, the mid-fidelity production renders it diaphanous. The more strident “Punk Funk” is a nod to Devo, whose road crew ran Man-Ray. (“They’re punk; I’m the funk!” Niles explained with a laugh, on the Sounds Visual Radio podcast.)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eYou’ll swear you’ve heard Thrust sampled somewhere in the hip-hop sphere; pull up “Ja Ja” on YouTube, and you’ll see a comment to that end: “Pete Rock sent me here.” (Google comes up short on that one, but WhoSampled cites the following track, “Summer Fun,” as appearing in Canadian house\/electronica producer Daphni’s “Hey Drum” and British techno\/house DJ and producer Trus’me’s “At the Disco.”\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAll in all, its place in the hip-hop and DJ worlds remains to be fully understood. But due to its charm and scarcity, Thrust remains undoubtedly popular among crate-diggers — hence the hefty price of an original copy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe album’s ramshackle quality places it less in Kool and the Gang territory than something ripe for reappraisal by the Williamsburg set — fitting nicely between one’s Arthur Russell, Ata Kak, and Little Beaver LPs. And this carries through the rest of Thrust — \"Hypertension,\" \"Untitled,\" \"Quiet Isle,\" and \"One Slave, One Gun.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c!-- plug-seven-hike-2026-10-29:end --\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCondition:\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eMedia: Mint (M)\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eSleeve: Mint (M)\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTrack List: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\r\n\r\n\u003cp\u003eA1.  Ja Ja 6:31\u003cbr\u003eA2.  Summer Fun 4:02\u003cbr\u003eA3.  Punk Funk 5:34\u003cbr\u003eA4.  Hypertension 3:30\u003cbr\u003eB1.  Untitled 5:20\u003cbr\u003eB2.  Quiet Isle 6:21\u003cbr\u003eB3.  One Slave, One Gun 5:02\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.discogs.com\/sell\/item\/4056285322\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-size: 11px;\"\u003eData provided by Discogs\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"We Are Busy Bodies","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46426640449673,"sku":"25871515","price":60.0,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0587\/8834\/8041\/files\/25871515-04946976672d376bc6d14672d376bc6d161731016555672d376bc6d19.jpg?v=1777977478","url":"https:\/\/www.plugseven.com\/products\/mcneal-niles-thrust","provider":"Plug Seven","version":"1.0","type":"link"}