Michael Webster's Vinyl Collection

"Rockit", by Herbie Hancock, was a track driven by its DJ scratch style and later won a Grammy for Best R&B Instrumental Performance in 1983 and 5 MTV Video Music Awards in 1984.

"d'ya like Scratchin" by Malcolm McLaren. Fun fact: the EP also has "Buffalo Gals" and "She's Lookin Like a Hobo", a popular double dutch jam! Both songs have similar beats, but different scratches. It includes many samples that DJs like to cut up in their mixes. The BPM is 118.

Mothership Connection is often rated among the best Parliament releases and became Parliament's first album to be certified gold and later platinum. In 2011, the Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry as it has major cross-genre influence. 

Webster has a remarkable collection of Prince albums and singles, including Purple Rain, which is musically dense with a wide variety of full band performances and multiple layers of various instruments.  The album also introduced bandmates Wendy & Lisa.

"Man in the Mirror" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks becoming Michael Jackson's 10th single to top the chart and became 3x platinum. The music video strayed from Jackson's normal concepts and instead is a montage of footage depicting major news events and people.

Whitney Houston was the first debut album and first album by a solo female artist to produce three number-one singles: "Saving All My Love for You", "How Will I Know" and "Greatest Love of All". The album is certified diamond as well as 13x platinum. A go-to album for DJs.

"King Holiday" was released on January 13, 1986 in honor of the first celebration of Dr. MLK, Jr Day on January 20, 1986. The project was run by Dexter Scott King, who is also the song's executive producer. Check the liner notes! So many people contributed. Including Prince! 

Krush Groove is a soundtrack album containing various artists released by Warner Bro. Records in 1985. Only 1,000 copies were pressed on a CD. The film was also nominated for a Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Original Song for the song "All You Can Eat" by The Fat Boys.

Bigger and Deffer (abbreviated BAD) released in 1987 features the first commercially successful rap ballad, "I Need Love". The album spent eleven weeks at #1 in the summer of 1987. Also, the cover photo was taken in front of Andrew Jackson High School in Queens. 

Paid in Full is the debut album for this iconic hip hop duo released in 1987 and is credited as a benchmark album of the golden age of hip hop. Rakim pioneered the use of internal rhymes setting a higher standard of lyricism in rap creating the template for future rappers.

"Shake It" by MC Shy D is a classic Atlanta rap song that continues to get airplay. It was released in 1988 by Luke Skyywalker Records, and includes signature southern sounds of electronic and bass music, making it a great play at parties.

Staples of both Miami and Atlanta rap, "C'mon Babe" is featured on the album As Nasty As They Wanna Be, was released in 1989 on Luke Skyywalker Records, later named Luke Records. "C;mon Babe" was also source material for Frank Ski's "Doo Doo Brown", and has been heavily sampled.

"Rebel Without a Pause" is reference to the 1955 movie Rebel Without a Cause and was deemed an instant classic with its speedy BPM of 101. Because it was so popular, PE included it on their 1988 album It Take a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back.  

"Love's Gonna Get'cha (Material Love)" is featured on the album Edutainment released in 1990 which centered on  afrocentricity and socio-political knowledge. 

"So Wat Cha Sayin" is the only single from EPMD's second album to be released and was produced with scratches from DJ Scratch. It peaked at #5 on Hot Rap Singles. Webster calculated its BPM at 104.

Rhythm Nation 1814 by Janet Jackson explores racism, poverty, and substance abuse. It was the best-selling album of 1990 in the US had 7 singles peak in the top 5 positions. Webster marked it with two BPMs: 112 and 108, the vinyl remaining untouched by the room's water damage.

"Just a Friend" is Biz Markie's most successful single peaking at #9 on Billboard Hot 100 and certified platinum in 1990. The song uses the melody of the 1968 song "(You) Got What I Need", and has been sampled over 30 times in various genres.