Street Beat Records

In the early 80s more and more DJs started to look for records with break beats. One hotspot for these early diggers was Music Factory on 43rd and Broadway at Times Square in New York City where a record buyer / sales person called Stanley Patzer accumulated and shared encyclopedic knowledge of the in demand records for the new art form of Hip Hop DJs. His friend and fellow record seller (at Downstairs Records) Leonard “Breakbeat Lenny” Roberts took the most in demand tracks and released them (sometimes edited by Louis “Breakbeat Lou” Flores to extend the break) on a total of nine bootleg compilations called Octopus Breaks.

The latter two took the existing Octopus compilations and from 1986 onwards rereleased them legally (i.e. after acquiring mechanical copyrights) on a newly created label called Streetbeat Records. Until Lennys’ death in the early 90s when the label ceased trading a total of 25 compilations called “Ultimate Breaks & Beats” (UBB) were released.

From around 1996 onwards all 25 volumes have repeatedly been bootlegged. There have also been additional releases added on similar labels (Vol 26 for example) which have nothing to do with the original Streetbeat Records.

Breakbeat Lou has revived the series with its own Facebook page.