CRATERY 73: John Kong

John Kong loves those little Coffee Crisp bites.

It’s just that he insists they be stored in the refrigerator.

“What is this? Amateur’s hour?” he laughed, taking the bag off the counter and placing it in the fridge.

Lesson learned, John.

Cold storage makes chocolate taste better.

Plus, you avoid covering your rares in brown fingerprints.

Just one of the gems John dropped on us during his Cratery record.

The others, of course, were in vinyl form. And from all over the world.

Jewels like Jerzy Milian’s “Wsrod Pampasow”, Cristina Camargo’s “Moral Tem Hora” and the untitled joint from Maki all speak to John’s worldly taste.

It’s a musical palate that’s evolved over the years as a DJ and co-founder of the legendary Movement Collective, to becoming label owner of Do Right Music, purveyor of new soulful, jazzy and funky sounds to the world.

Movement was a group of DJ’s who were united by their incredible vinyl collections.

They threw legendary parties that ran the gamut from Brazilian Jazz to African Funk.

And the people didn’t just dance. They danced to fucking incredible music.

Despite their popularity, the crew disbanded in the early 2000’s to focus on individual aspirations.

Aki Abe opened up a second Cosmos Records location and continues to be one of the top suppliers of rare vinyl around the world.

Nav Sangha went on to start up Wrongbar in Parkdale, revamp the Great Hall and open his new pub, The Bristol.

Jason Palma continues to play gigs and run the historic Play De Record on Yonge Street with original owner Eugene Tam.

A Man Called Warwick went on to start the Flipside record show, a popular destination for vinyl nerds across the city.

And John Kong started his own record label called Do Right Music, becoming a champion for local artists inspired by vintage sounds.

Since John started Do Right, he’s watched the mp3 become the dominant musical format.

But he’s also experienced the vinyl resurgence with the rise of Record Store Day.

He’s seen literally seen his business die and be reborn in the last 10 years.

But through it all, he remains committed to the music.

John continues to give artists like the Souljazz Orchestra, Maylee Todd, Dawn Pemberton, The Soul Motivators and Alister Johnson a platform to be themselves.

He still holds down his weekly residency at Supermarket in Kensington.

And he’s still out there digging for that heat.

Just try and remember to put his Coffee Crisp in the fridge.

When did your interest in collecting vintage records begin?

Some people say they’ve been acting or singing since they were 10 years old. That what buying records is like for me. I picked up Donna Summer’s “Bad Girls”, which in hindsight probably wasn’t the best record for a kid to buy, but it started everything. In the early 90s when hip-hop was sampling jazz and house was sampling disco, the whole vintage collector market opened up to me. I started frequenting second-hand record stores like Vinyl Museum and there was no turning back.

You’ve traded and sold many records over the years. Any that you regret or wish you could get back?

The ‘Aged in Harmony: You Are A Melody’ 7” is one of those records for sure. Keb Darge got me hip to it around 1999, I think. I wish I still had it now because that modern-soul sound is back and I’m missing that cut. I keep a healthy 2000+ records in my collection, and recycle the rest. One 5×5 Ikea Expedit shelf is good enough for me. Sometimes I do buy back stuff I’ve gotten rid of, though. Lost and found is a good feeling.

Do you remember the first record you spent a sizeable amount of money on?

Ha, not exactly. I overpay for everything these days. Collecting records isn’t about having a bunch of really expensive records in your collection though, it’s more about getting that thing that you really want. And I want a lot of things. If that’s $1 or $100, it makes no difference.

Give us a memorable digging story.

There are probably too many for me to zoom in on one particul