On number 16 of our size? sessions (20:20 Mix) DJ & master turntablist Mr.Thing is joining us to lay down an exclusive 20 track mix, but before that he’s kindly gave us a look at his extensive record collection. Take a look below…

“Part of the soul/jazz/funk LPs – when I moved to a new house a few years ago I trimmed my collection down a lot but there’s still records in pretty much every corner of the house of all kinds.”

“I collect a lot of cover versions, sometimes they can be a straight carbon copy and worse they are like Geoff Loves’ ‘Big Terror Movie Themes’ which take on Herbie Hancock/Dave Gruisin and more really well, one of my all-time favourite cheap records that I always pick up, shouldn’t cost you more than a pound or two if you see one! Ironically the tape copy took me a long time to get and wasn’t cheap!”

“One of my favourite projects I worked on with the late, great Mark B – Task Force – New Mic Order LP. This is a special one though as it’s one of maybe 20-30 copies pressed up for shows of the instrumentals, I had two but gave Farma the other one a few years down the line. Such fond memories of doing this record; I can still hear Mark saying, ‘that was really good … one more though?‘ with each take we did!”

“Almost went down a collecting tapes rabbit hole a few years back, sold some but kept the ones I loved though, the original Meters Look A Py Py found in deepest Exeter about 20 years ago is just out of shot but this Bob James One is an all-time classic!”

“Most of my trainers are boxed away at the moment but these favourite adidas Originals Pro Models have been stashed away for a couple of years waiting for a proper Summer to arrive, so I finally get these out and about! Took so long to get another pair, wish they made them over here again…”

“This was top of my wants list for many, many years, another cover version record that looks like it should cost £1 or less in any charity shop, but it’s got the most amazing line up of musicians and a couple of incredible original tunes. It’s kind of not easy listening and more like jazz/rock/library music and fetches a big price tag when it does rarely turn up!”

“Apart from Pro Models, one of my other favourite shoes, Nike Safari, is due to its inclusion on the back cover of Biz Markie’s Classic 1987 debut album – Goin’ Off; at the time I had no way of getting a pair or even an idea what they were called, found out much later what they were actually called! But they remain a favourite and I’ve got a few pairs now (which I can’t get to at the moment).”

“And finally – I literally found this amazing 70s Rudy Ray Moore concert poster under my feet in the storage unit of a record shop I was digging at out in Essex, covered in dirt and just on the floor with loads of records over it. I’d bought quite a bit that day and as I’m a regular the owner kindly gifted it to me as it looked so bad and he could see how happy I was to have found it. Fast forward 4 years and my partner in crime stole it from my room (I’d kept it flat under some books for a few years) and gave it to me framed and restored for Christmas one year!”

Keep checking back on the size blog for more size? collections.