Squarepusher
At this time, Tom was becoming obsessed with bringing a "dark psychedelia" to Drum and Bass (which would eventually reach its zenith with "Go Plastic" from 2001).
During this period Tom also made a remix for Ninja Tune's DJ Food, which featured on the e.p. "Refried Food". The remix led Ninja Tune to offer Jenkinson a record contract, which along with an offer from Belgium's R&S records he declined in favour of a contract offered by Warp Records, which was partially instigated by Richard D. James.
Correspondence between Richard D. James and Tom Jenkinson sprung up after meeting at The George Robey. The resulting meeting led to Tom's first hearing of the "Hangable Auto Bulb" e.p. which Richard had brought with him. But the meeting also facilitated Richard's initial selection of Tom's tracks that went on to form the "Feed Me Weird Things" album released on Rephlex Records in 1996.
Bobo Jenkins
Jenkins went on to promote the first Detroit Blues Festival, in 1972. His first album, "The Life of Bobo Jenkins", was issued in the same year. It became known as the "red album", from the color of the record sleeve, which included a photograph of a younger Jenkins – who was then 56 years old – within a star shape. This was a tie-in with the Big Star Records name. Jenkins was one of the headline acts in the Detroit blues review part of the 1973 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. Recordings from the festival were released by Schoolkids Records in 1995, including two tracks by Jenkins. In 1974, Jenkins wrote another song with political overtones, "Watergate Blues," which was included on his next album, "Here I Am a Fool in Love Again". The cover design was the same as that of the previous release, but with a change in color, and the album became known as the "green album". The session musicians included artists based in Ann Arbor, such as Sarah Brown, Fran Christina and Steve Nardella. In 1976 Jenkins performed at the Smithsonian Institution, as part of the celebrations marking the United States Bicentennial.