writers connection

(liner notes by Kurtis Blow)

The History Of Rap: Vol. 1: The Genesis

In the early 1970s a musical genre was born in the crime-ridden neighborhoods of the South Bronx. Gifted teenagers with plenty of imagination but little cash began to forge a new style from spare parts. Hip-hop, as it was then known, was a product of pure streetwise ingenuity; extracting rhythms and melodies from existing records and mixing them up with searing poetry chronicling life in the ‘hood, hip-hop spilled out of the ghetto.

From the housing projects hip-hop poured onto the streets and subways, taking root in Bronx clubs like the Savoy Manor Ballroom, Ecstasy Garage, Club 371, The Disco Fever, and the T-Connection. From there it spread downtown to the Renaissance Ballroom, Hotel Diplomat, the Roxy, and The Fun House. It migrated to Los Angeles, where a whole West Coast hip-hop scene developed, sporting its own musical idiosyncrasies, its own wild style.

Through television shows like BET’s Rap City and Yo! MTV Raps and a succession of Hollywood movies, hip-hop gained millions of new fans across America, in places far removed from the genre’s Bronx roots. It spread to Europe, Asia, Africa, and nearly every continent on Earth, gaining more cultural significance as the years rolled by. Today it is one of the most potent and successful musical forms of the 20th Century.

Hip-hop is the voice of a generation that refused to be silenced by urban poverty, a local phenomenon fueled with so much passion and truth it could not help but reach the entire world. Like every musical genre that came before, hip-hop has its pioneers, artists who were essential in defining and popularizing the art form. This CD series showcases those legendary artists — their songs and their enormous talents — who created what today is known as rap.

The History Of Rap. How can we truthfully tell this story? There are so many different versions. Who is correct? There were approximately ten different pioneers, each of whom stakes a claim as the originator: Pete DJ Jones, Kool DJ Herc, DJ Hollywood, Eddie Cheeba, “Love Bug” Starski, Grand Master Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, Kurtis Blow, the Sugarhill Gang, Run DMC.

The names fit together like pieces to a puzzle. And as we assemble the puzzle, we have to give equal props to all, because it is the individual contributions, pieced together, that explain the true history of this billion-dollar-a-year phenomenon.

To understand the history of rap, you need to know two things:

1. Rap is talking in rhyme to the rhythm of a beat.

2. Hip-hop is a culture, a way of life for a society of people who identify, love, and cherish rap, break dancing, DJing, and graffiti.

In the early ’70s, when I was about 13 or 14 and disco was monopolizing the mainstream airwaves, the rap movement was just being born. A man by the name of Pete DJ Jones was about the most notable DJ during those early days. To me he epitomized the true meaning of a DJ. He had the precise timing necessary to enable the partygoer to dance nonstop while keeping the break of a record playing continuously. He had a clean mixing style and an excellent sound system.

I remember seeing Pete at a club called McCoys on 43rd Street and Third Avenue (midtown Manhattan) in 1972. I was 13 then and got in the club by using a phony ID. What I experienced that night was something that not only changed the course of my life, but also would eventually revolutionize the music industry. Pete was New York’s #1 DJ. He had an MC named JT Hollywood (not to be confused with DJ Hollywood, who came on the scene around 1973), who was the first real MC I can remember. (During those early days an MC was the master of ceremonies — the host of the party, show, or gathering. He told the crowd where they were and the DJ’s name. He motivated them to have a good time.) What really knocked me out about JT Hollywood that night was when he said to the people, “If you want to have a good time tonight, somebody say ‘Oh Yeah.'” The crowd of 1,000 responded by shouting, “Oh Yeah!”

Pete DJ Jones became my hero, and I followed him everywhere. I studied him, his style, his playlist, his MCs: JT Hollywood, JJ the Disco King, and the great “Love Bug” Starski. I followed him to all of the big midtown black clubs: Nell Gwynn’s, Pippins, Nemos, Justine’s, Ipanemas. I became a Pete DJ Jones follower and a DJ myself later on that year.

The teenagers of the South Bronx and Harlem didn’t have the money to pay for admission to the expensive midtown and downtown clubs, so they had their own parties. Along the way, clubs, house parties, and block parties sprang up all over New York ghettos, giving birth to the neighborhood DJ and MC. Something of a mutation of disco, hip-hop was also a rebellion against disco.

Kool DJ Herc, the godfather of hip-hop, was a Jamaican-born DJ who moved to the Bronx in 1967. With his unique playlist of R&B, soul, funk, and obscure disco, Herc quickly became the catalyst of the hip-hop way of life. The kids from the Bronx and Harlem loved his ghetto style, which gave birth to the concept of the B-Boy. The B-Boy — or beat boy, break boy, Bronx boy — loved the breaks of Kool Herc, and as a result soon created break dancing. These were the people of the hip-hop culture. While Pete DJ Jones was #1 for the black disco crowd in NYC, Herc and the B-Boys were the essence of the hip-hop movement, because of they lived the lifestyle. The way they danced, dressed, walked, and talked was unique, as opposed to most of the disco artists and fans of the time, who were not as in touch with the urban streets of America.

The B-Boy crowd was different from the middle class blacks who were represented at Pete DJ Jones’ parties. There was no dress code at a B-Boy party; we were younger and wore tennis shoes, jeans, mock necks, Playboys, Kangols, sweatsuits, etc. I remember many weekends going downtown to 43rd Street and Lexington Avenue to Nell Gwynn’s on Friday night to check out Pete DJ Jones, and then traveling uptown the following night on the Number 4 train to the Bronx to check out Kool Herc at the Executive Playhouse. I was torn between these two DJs. I’ve had many debates about Pete DJ Jones’ precise timing and Kool Herc’s playlist. Songs like:

“Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (In The Jungle Groove Remix)” by James Brown. This is the national anthem of hip-hop. Every B-Boy, MC, rapper, DJ, rap group, break-dancer, and aerosol artist knew this song, and when it was played at a party or club, everyone knew it was time for the best B-Boys to do battle. Definitely the highlight of the night.

“Get Into Something” by The Isley Brothers. Many people remember The Isley Brothers for their ballads, but this song has a drum break that is incredible. Excellent for the B-Boy break-dancer in you.

“Melting Pot” by Booker T. & The M.G.’s. This song is one of my favorites. The jazz feel epitomizes what hip-hop is all about. You’ll love this one.

“Listen To Me” by Baby Huey. A strictly underground song for real B-Boys and Kool DJ Herc fans. Strong intro with strong R&B tracks.

“Scorpio” by Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band. This song was a big national hit in 1971. Very funky and with an incredible break as well. Young MC used it in “Bust A Move” as did LL Cool J in “Jingling Baby.”

“It’s Just Begun” by The Jimmy Castor Bunch. The song’s intro is probably its most popular part: “What we’re gonna do right here is go back — way back.” Check out the guitar solo and the break.

“Apache” by Michael Viner’s Incredible Bongo Band. This is one of the records Kool DJ Herc brought over from Jamaica. A calypso hip-hop feel with incredible percussion breaks. Also check out the guitar line that the Sugarhill Gang pilfered in their version of the same song.

“Hum Along And Dance” by The Jackson 5ive. Only a real B-Boy or a hard-core Jacksons fan would know this song. It may seem unbelievable that Michael Jackson contributed to the creation of hip-hop, but if you don’t believe me, check out how funky this song is.

“Love The Life You Live” by Black Heat was another of my B-Boy favorites. This song has the most incredible break for your power moves. Many people know the original by Kool & The Gang, but this version is for the real B-Boy.

“Theme From S.W.A.T.” by Rhythm Heritage. Pete DJ Jones loved to cut up the break of this song whereas Kool Herc couldn’t quite pull it off. Remember the TV series S.W.A.T.? We’re going way back here….

“Dance To The Drummer’s Beat” by Herman Kelly & Life actually came out during the end of Kool Herc’s reign. Hollywood, Eddie Cheeba, Starski, and Flash made it popular in the late ’70s. There is a great percussion break that became very popular, enabling the DJ to show his skills.

“King Tim III (Personality Jock)” by Fatback was the first rap record. King Tim III was a rapper from Harlem who got a break by landing a job with old school dogs of funk Fatback. He would rap during the band’s musical breakdowns, entertaining the crowd with call and response. When it comes to giving credit for making the first rap record, people get amnesia. I remember him — he deserves the credit.

It is mandatory to express the importance of these songs. You have to understand that disco music was the hottest thing out — it was a craze that infiltrated all of American society. We were the rebels who couldn’t relate. We weren’t going for it. These songs represent our attitude. They feature strong R&B dance tracks, some with roots in Jamaica and Africa (via Kool DJ Herc). These are 12 of my favorites out of about 100. I love the breaks of these songs — they enabled the B-Boys to get off their best moves, creating a circle of people around them who would watch amazed as the best would battle in dance. I was one of those B-Boy dancers and one of the best in Harlem. I loved to travel up to the Bronx and battle with the Herculoids (Kool Herc followers): The Nigga Twins, Clark Kent, D.ST, DJ Coke La Rock, etc. When I went to Pete’s gigs there was rarely any competition, except for when I battled Dancin’ Doug from the Polo Grounds for the crown of Harlem. I lost that night at Nell’s, so I think I was about the second best B-Boy in Harlem. What a feat — ugh — I mean defeat! But as for Kool DJ Herc (my other hero) and the Herculoids, they blasted NYC with a trend that soon became a culture for all the world to embrace. (Did you know I changed my name to Kool DJ Kurt for a while in 1976?)

DJ Hollywood was the first rhythmic disco rapper. Unlike Herc he was not confined to the South Bronx. He would DJ downtown, midtown, and throughout the five boroughs of New York City — although he gained his fame at Club 371 in the Bronx. His flyers read: “Featuring the Golden Voice of DJ Hollywood.”

Hollywood was mainstream disco, but he was also the first DJ to interweave that sound with rhythmic rap as we all know it. And unlike the DJs and MCs before him who were basically like radio announcers generating crowd participation, Hollywood put raps together in rhythm with chants — with eloquent, simple rhymes and a lot of crowd response. “Everybody scream!” was his house-rocker, and “Throw ya hands in the air!” became a chant heard at concerts around the world.

In 1975, ’76, and ’77 Hollywood became New York’s #1 DJ and, space permitting, could draw up to 2,000 people on any given night. During that time Club 371 became the #1 club in the city. I remember going there back in 1977. The lines wrapped around the block. It was impossible to get in if you didn’t have the juice. Luckily I knew Reggie Wells, the club’s musical director, who went to CCNY with Russell Simmons and I.

As with Pete DJ Jones and Kool DJ Herc, not only did Herc and Hollywood dislike one another, but neither recognized nor respected the other’s contributions. For the most part, even their fans were different. The B-Boys were from the ghetto, while disco was for the middle class and the rich. But there was hip-hop in both worlds. It was the hip-hop tug-o’-war — disco rappers versus the B-Boys.

DJ Hollywood became another hero of mine because of his great voice. The man had style and class. DJ Junebug, the DJ behind Hollywood, was just as exceptional as Pete DJ Jones and Grand Master Flash. Tragically, he was murdered in the early ’80s. God bless you, DJ Junebug.

Grand Master Flash (Joseph Saddler) earned his name with his speed on the turntables. He rose to legendary status in the world of hip-hop right as Kool Herc’s reign was ending. A B-Boy to the extreme, Flash’s DJ style took Herc’s playlist to the next level. He was the first (even though some say it was the Grand Wizard Theodore) to utilize “scratching” and “cutting” — taking two records and keeping the break repeating continuously — thus rearranging the song and creating an extended instrumental groove over which the MC or rapper could entertain the crowd with raps. Flash studied the techniques of Kool DJ Herc, Grandmaster Flowers, Maboya, Plummer, and Pete DJ Jones. But it was Flash’s desire to emulate Pete’s style while playing the “antidisco” music favored by Herc that led to his turntable experimentations — and took hip-hop to the next level.

In 1974 Flash began playing parties in the neighborhood and gained quite a reputation for rocking the house. Two years later he teamed up with rapper Keith Wiggins, who soon became known as Cowboy, and the pair rocked parties throughout the South Bronx. (Note: Flash, a B-Boy, did not play the same circuit as Hollywood, a disco rapper, but they were both hot at the same time.)

In 1976 Flash and Cowboy were joined by Melle Mel (Melvin Glover), Kidd Creole (Nathaniel Glover), Mr. Ness — aka Scorpio (Eddie Morris) — and later Rahiem (Guy Williams). Who knew then that they would become the premier rap group of the early ’80s? Grand Master Flash & The Furious 5 went on to gain immense recognition in the recording industry with several hit records.

I didn’t get a chance to experience Flash until late ’77, because I was a DJ and an MC myself, doing disco shows in and around New York. When I did see him perform at the Hotel Diplomat, there was a spotlight on his hands. He had rings on every finger, and the reflection of the spotlight on his rings made it seem as if his hands were sparkling as he cut up the beats. He was a most incredible DJ; he inspired me to get back to the B-Boy school of hip-hop. So it was a dream come true when I finally got the chance to work with Flash & The Furious 5 in 1978. We were called Grand Master Flash & The Furious 7 (Kool Kyle was the seventh MC).

Afrika Bambaataa is a bona fide hip-hop legend. He is affectionately known as the grandfather of hip-hop, having been a part of the movement since 1972. The former gang leader of the Black Spades, Bambaataa is the founder of the Zulu Nation, an organization dedicated to peace, love, and unity. The Zulu Nation is said to have worldwide membership of more than 400,000, including some of rap music’s brightest stars. Celebrated master of the beats, Bambaataa is known to have more than 25 crates of records! His 1982 hit, “Planet Rock,” is still a highly sampled reference standard.

I have talked about Flash and Bambaataa in Volume 1 because they were influential during these early days. Since their records actually came out later, I will mention them in the next volume as well. Also, Run DMC and I will be mentioned in Volumes 2 and 3 although we were significant back in these early days as well.

There were many MCs, groups, and DJs who participated during the beginning of rap, and they should not go unrecognized. This “family tree” traces their lineage:

Chart #1: The Early to Mid-’70s

In the beginning there was rhythm…until something else emerged from New York City’s South Bronx: a rougher, rowdier spin on funk innovators like James Brown, George Clinton, Marvin Gaye, and Sly Stone. Rap. Based on the fundamentals of “beats” (copped off other people’s records) and “breaks” (assisted by a turntable and some discreet crossfading), the MCs’ contrasting delivery styles soon split along two camps: Disco and B-Boys.

Disco: Appealed more to black disco crowd and stressed crowd response over actual rhyming.

Pete DJ Jones — New York’s #1 DJ, c. early ’70s. His mixing style and sound system kept ’em moving with MCs the Disco King and JT Hollywood.

DJ Hollywood — c. 1974. One of the genre’s early top New York DJs; assisted by DJ Junebug, who was murdered in the early ’80s. Key record: “Hollywood’s World.”

Eddie Cheeba — New York’s #1 DJ, c. 1975-77, earning $2,000 a night.

“Love Bug” Starski — Goes back to the days of Pete DJ Jones. His career peaked in the mid to late ’70s. Kurtis Blow: “The only guy I ever saw who could play to both crowds. Nobody could mess with ‘Love Bug’!” Key record: “Gigolette.”

Early Originators:

Plummer
Maboya
Grandmaster Flowers (supported James Brown at Yankee Stadium).
All came in Jones’ wake as disco DJs/MCs

Kurtis Blow — né Walker; Kool DJ Kurt, c. 1976.
Felt drawn to both camps for different reasons: “When I saw Pete [DJ Jones], I realized it didn’t have to be one or the other.”

B-Boys: More in touch with the streets than their counterparts. Favored a tougher, rapid-fire rhyming approach.

Kool DJ Herc — “The godfather of hip-hop”; despite his slight rhyming skills, his massive stature and sound system inspired such followers as…

“Herculoids”

Afrika Bambaataa — Founded modern B-Boy style. Ex-Black Spades gang leader’s 26 record crates made him a topflight DJ.

Grand Master Flash — “Herculoid” who created his own aggressive turntable style. As Raheem notes: “To see Flash at that time, you’d be in awe. He’d catch [a record] in the air…handcuffed!” Accompanied by “Cowboy” Keith Wiggins, one of rap’s first certified MCs, Flash formed Future Players. Often strapped for cash, they didn’t seem strapped for acts, as attested by earlier efforts.

Paul Winley — Issued two Bambaataa 12-inch singles in 1980, including “Zulu Nation Throwdown.”

Bobby Robinson — Enjoy Records (1979-82). Debuted Flash and crew (“Superrappin'”) and Funky 4 + 1, which included future Furious Fivester Raheem, among others.

Sylvia Robinson, Joe Robinson, Joey Robinson Jr. — Family-run Sugar Hill took over when Bobby Robinson of Enjoy Records dropped out of the scene.

Russell Simmons — Then a local promoter (c. 1979-80), just taking it all in….

CHART #2: 1979-’84

Why is it so difficult to sort out hip-hop’s maze of claims, counterclaims, and contradictions? Nobody worried about documenting what remained essentially a local scene, nor the diehard separation between the B-Boy and disco camps, which never acknowledged each other’s contributions. With the success of Kurtis Blow’s “Christmas Rappin'” (1979) and “The Breaks” (1980), along with “King Tim III (Personality Jock)” (Fatback, 1979) and “Rapper’s Delight” (Sugarhill Gang, 1979), the original categories evolved into “just plain ol’ rap!” as Kurtis would have it.

Grandmaster Caz — His rhymes are said to have provided the backbone of rap’s (and Sugarhill’s) first big hit….

Sugarhill Gang — Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright, Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien, and Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson. “Rapper’s Delight,” “8th Wonder,” “Apache,” “Funk Box.”

The Treacherous Three — “Feel The Heartbeat”

Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five — “White Lines (Don’t Do It),” “Jesse.” Recruited new members and kept group’s name for two years following the ’83 split.

Sugar Hill Records
Rahiem: “The way they were able to get records on the street — that was amazing! If we cut that week, the record was on the street next week.”

Spoonie Gee — “Monster Jam,” “Spoonin’ Rap,” “Spoonie Is Back”

The Sequence — Angie B, Cheryl the Pearl, Blondie. “Funk You Up,” “Monster Jam,” with Spoonie (well, what else would you call it?)

Grand Master Flash & The Furious 5 — “The Message,” “Freedom,” “It’s Nasty (Genius Of Love),” “New York, New York”
Flash — Went to Elektra with Raheem and Kid Creole
Rahiem — “Reflecting back, ‘Message II (Survival)’ and ‘New York, New York’ should have been on The Message album. That wasn’t in our foresight, and I guess it wasn’t in Sylvia’s either.”
Remained rap’s preeminent group until discontent with their label, and internal dissension, led to court battle, then split into rival camps. Rahiem: “I remember one Christmas ‘The Message’ had been out a few months, and we were expecting some kind of money, and when it didn’t happen, I remember the group pitching a bitch about it. When I say ‘divided,’ we were divided over our decisions, and when I say ‘conquered,’ we were conquered…over money. In the music business, you don’t get what you deserve — only what you negotiate.”

Kurtis Blow — Early successes led to supporting Bob Marley and the Commodores on tour and management by Russ Simmons. Russell’s younger brother Joey Simmons (Run) broke his arm, so he couldn’t DJ for Blow in 1980. No matter; Blow produced Joey’s crew as well as the Fat Boys, who both reaped considerable benefits from Kurtis’ guitarist, Larry Smith, and multi-instrumental DJ, Davy DMX!

Run DMC — “It’s Like That,” “Sucker MCs,” “Rock Box”

Fat Boys — né the Disco Three, c. 1983. “The Human Beatbox” Darren “Buff” Robinson (died of cardiac arrest in ’95), Mark “Prince Markie Dee” Morales, Damon “Kool Rock-ski” Wimbley

Afrika Bambaataa — “Planet Rock,” “Funk You,” “Renegades Of Funk,” all smashes on Tommy Boy Records.
Mr. Biggs
Pow Wow
MC G.L.O.B.E.
Jazzy Jay — producer, “Jazzy Sensation”

“Love Bug” Starski — “At The Fever”/”You Gotta Believe,” 1983

Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock — “It Takes Two”

Whodini — “Friends”

UTFO — “Roxanne, Roxanne”

Juice Crew — Roxanne Shanté, M.C. Shan, Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane. All off to solo careers.

Chart #3: 1984-Present

The mid- to late ’80s marked a new reality: East meets West, with the new, California-based breed seemingly taking their counterparts to the cleaners, businesswise and saleswise. For example, Ice-T’s earliest pressing deal with Macola Records guaranteed him 50 percent for every 12-inch record sold. N.W.A.’s main men, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, have expanded on that capitalism to form their own production companies, labels, and spinoff ventures (has anybody forgotten the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Wu Wear” yet?). Artistically, the genre split into “hard-core,” with political and social commentary versus the in-your-face “gangsta” acts, who have earned razzes from Democrats and Republicans, critics, old-school acts, educators, and parent groups alike. “Music is always a reflection of where we are,” quoth Rick Rubin. Indeed, what else is new?

West Coast

Duffy and Jerry Hooks — Made first inroads with their 1981 “Gigolo Rapp” 12-inch.

L.A. Dream Team
The Egyptian Lover
Toddy Tee & Mixmaster Spade
Kurtis: “They did the first sing-rap, like Domino does…”

Ice-T
Widely regarded as the creator of the “crime rhyme”; early records like “6 In The Morning” and movie roles (Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo) paid off big in the studio. He hasn’t looked back after the rough 1987’s Rhyme Pays and landmarks like 1991’s O.G. Original Gangster.

World Class Wreckin Cru
When Prince-style funk and braids didn’t move the requisite units, along came an alleged drug dealer in Eric Wright (Eazy-E), whose profits helped fund Ruthless Records (thanks to a J.J. Fad smash in ’88), and a new attitude.

Tupac Shakur (2Pac)
One of Death Row’s biggest acts. His acclaimed roles in Poetic Justice and similar platinum sales weren’t enough to prevent his 1996 murder in Las Vegas. His posthumous album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, moved units anyway.

Offshoots

By the ’80s women had made inroads into what had been virtually an all-male preserve, including: Queen Latifah and Salt-N-Pepa.

Eric B. & Rakim — Production wizardry proved no hedge against personal hassles. Key record: “Paid In Full”

N.W.A. (Niggas With Attitude)
Only two albums — 1988’s Straight Outta Compton, and ’91’s Efil4zaggin (read it backwards!) — and both were hugely successful. The group fell apart in ’91 due to business hassles, but they left their mark!
Dr. Dre — Successful solo/production career. After N.W.A. split up, Dre established Death Row Records in 1992, where he recorded his solo album The Chronic, which sold three million copies and spent eight months in the Billboard Top 10. His first artist signing was Calvin Broadus, whom Dre rechristened Snoop Doggy Dogg, yielding the multiplatinum Doggy Style album along the way. By 1994 he’d rapped on or produced albums selling nearly 28 million copies.
Eazy-E — d. 1995 of AIDS complications
Ice Cube — Like Dre, Ice Cube (né O’Shea Jackson) has expanded his provocative stance into an awesome multimedia profile, including music production, a movie production company, movie roles, and of course a string of solo work, including 1990’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted and 1991’s Death Certificate, which Entertainment Weekly called “20 tracks of the most visceral music ever allowed in public.” Despite protests from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference over his material’s inflamatory stance, Cube seems hardly about to tone anything down for anybody. Why should he when his 1992 album The Predator topped Billboard’s pop and R&B chats simultaneously — the first album to do so since Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key Of Life (1976)?
DJ Yella
MC Ren
(Solo careers)

East Coast
(Hard-core)

Run DMC — Lost steam after failure of 1988’s Tougher Than Leather movie and lawsuits against their label, Profile Records; came back strong with 1993’s Down With The King album.

LL Cool J — “Rock The Bells,” “I Can’t Live Without My Radio,” “I Need Love”

Slick Rick
Two more successful parts of Russ Simmons’ and Rick Rubin’s Def Jam empire. Cool J grew into mainstream success (at last count, two possible versions — clean and X-rated — of his forthcoming autobiography are being discussed), while Rick went to prison for attempted murder (which yielded the aptly titled I Shouldn’t Have Done It album). Two different stars, two different tales! Kurtis: “[Rick] definitely acted that way…off the record!”

Public Enemy — “Miuzi Weighs A Ton,” “Don’t Believe The Hype,” “Welcome To The Terrordome”
Chuck D and Flavor Flav — Rappers
Terminator X — DJ, cuts   Professor Griff — Minister of Information
Picked up political direction when other Def Jam earners lost ground. Yo! Bum Rush The Show (1987), It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988), and Fear Of A Black Planet (1990) set a higher, socially conscious standard. Flav’s string of drug busts and Chuck’s growing multimedia profile (Slam Jamz Productions) have put the group on hiatus, though a new album is rumored for this year.

Boogie Down Productions — “Stop The Violence”
Begun by KRS-One and DJ Scott La Rock (killed, 1987) along similar lines as Public Enemy. By Any Means Necessary (1988), Ghetto Music: The Blueprint Of Hip Hop (1989), and Edutainment (1990) raised the genre’s political consciousness and added D-Nice along the way

— Researched, compiled, and designed by Ralph Heibutzki
— Graphics: Lisa D. Quinlan

As you can see, there are many artists who stake legitimate claims to their part in the genesis of rap music. Pick your favorite. As for me, I love them all. In the end, we’re all in the same gang, pieces of the same puzzle that is the history of rap. The history lesson will continue with Volume 2….

— Kurtis Blow

There is no holiday season without “Christmas Rappin’,” and there was no 1980 without “The Breaks,” thanks to B-Boy, disco DJ, and old-school rap pioneer Kurtis Blow. His first five albums helped launch the international rap attack that revolutionized the music industry. His creation of the sample loop changed the way rap records are made.

Blow’s seminal hit “The Breaks” was the first certified-gold rap record. Another of his major hits, “If I Ruled The World,” was recently covered by star rapper Nas. Kurtis currently hosts a weekly old-school hip-hop radio show on KPWR (Power 106-FM) in Los Angeles.

*****

kurtis blow – the history of rap 1

Kurtis Blow Presents: The History Of Rap, Vol. 3:

The Golden Age

The History Of Rap series now moves along to the years 1984 to 1989. During this time hip-hop’s sphere of influence expanded greatly. And while Kurtis Blow and Grand Master Flash sold millions of records, Run DMC broke the mold completely.

With the success of their Raising Hell album, Run DMC became the first rap act to cross over into the pop market. The impact of Joseph Simmons (Run), Darryl McDaniels (DMC), and Jason Misell (Jam Master Jay) was obvious: hip-hop now had the potential to consistently sell platinum records. Not since Grand Master Flash’s “The Message” in 1982 had there been a rap record of such significance.

Run DMC’s success with “Walk This Way,” a #4 hit on Billboard’s pop chart, showed how they could merge genres. And on “Rock Box,” my favorite song on their self-titled debut album, they achieved a special fusion of rock ‘n’ roll and rap that made it possible for them to be played on these two diverse radio formats across the country.

During these years hip-hop exploded, its music, graffiti, and clothing turning up in countries as distant and diverse as Mexico, Germany, Japan, and even many parts of Africa. Everyone involved worked at maintaining hip-hop’s image as a positive form of entertainment.

By the mid-’80s a new wave of rap artists had surged out of the depths of the ghetto. With them came a new lyrical content and delivery. Whodini (Jalil Hutchins, John “Ecstasy” Fletcher, and Drew “Grandmaster Dee” Carter) captured the R&B flavor with songs like “Friends” and “Five Minutes Of Funk.” Producer Larry Smith was the mastermind behind the grooves backing rappers Jalil and Ecstasy. Smith also gave Run DMC their rock ‘n’ roll flavor on their first two albums and cowrote “The Breaks” and “Christmas Rappin'” with Russell and me. We later put the Orange Krush Band together.

Disco 3 were a trio of overweight young rappers from Brooklyn. Their manager, Charles Stettler, held a talent contest at Radio City Music Hall, where the group won first-place: a recording contract with Sutra Records.

The release of their first song didn’t do that well, so Charlie asked me to produce their next song. I came up with the concept of “Fat Boys.” It was a natural. The song had a strong bass line that exemplified the “Fat Boy sound.” It also FEATUREd the introduction of the Human Beat Box, Darren “Buff” Robinson, and rappers Mark ” Prince Markie Dee” Morales and Damon “Kool Rock-ski” Wimbley. I introduced the beat box as a musical instrument in this song, and in 1984 it became another national hip-hop craze.

After the success of “Fat Boys,” Sutra Records asked me to produce the group’s self-titled first album. Accompanied by Larry Smith on bass, Davy DMX (my DJ) on guitar, and Donald Blackman on cocktail-piano solo, we created “Jail House Rap.” The lyrics discuss the fat MCs’ compulsion to overeat and exemplify the comic appeal that paved the way for the their film career. I produced their first two albums, and we had a good run, going gold back-to-back. There is also another beat-box solo by Buff on “Jail House Rap.” I must say we got the jump on beat-box master Doug E. Fresh.

UTFO was a group that scored big during this time with “Roxanne, Roxanne.” The song tells the rapper’s story of trying to get a date with this female beauty. Roxanne Shanté came back with a reply (“Roxanne’s Revenge”), and the saga continued. We can’t forget the Juice Crew, with Roxanne Shanté, M.C. Shan, Biz Markie, and Big Daddy Kane. Roxanne Shanté started it all off with Roxanne mania.

M.C. Shan kept it going with “The Bridge,” which refers to New York’s Queensboro Bridge. A big controversy developed as Shan claimed in a lyric that hip-hop started in Queens.

Hip-hop’s political edge emerged with the debuts of Public Enemy and KRS-One. Public Enemy’s Chuck D, who, like KRS-One, is now a public speaker on political issues, was and still is a most powerful lyricist — check out “Rebel Without A Pause,” “Don’t Believe The Hype,” “Fight The Power,” “Welcome To The Terrordome,” “911 Is A Joke,” “Black Steel In The Hour Of Chaos,” etc. Public Enemy’s political awareness made them America’s most feared yet respected rap group of the ’80s.

Boogie Down Productions was a hip-hop group that first blasted onto the scene with pseudogangsta lyrics. The words of KRS-One — the group’s only rapper until Ms. Melodie and D-Nice joined — were rough, rugged, and raw, as can be heard on “Criminal Minded.” KRS-One went on to become one of hip-hop’s most respected lyricists. I loved the battles he had with M.C. Shan and Roxanne Shanté.

But the hard-core wasn’t always political. Check out Big Daddy Kane, the highly respected lyricist of the Juice Crew. His boastful lyrics are in full force in “Raw,” an up-tempo track with slammin’ rhythms. Definitely a trend-setting song.

Lightening things up some was Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock — the Harlem-based duo of Rob Ginyard and DJ Rodney “Skip” Bryce — who scored big in the spring of ’88 with the upbeat “It Takes Two.” The James Brown/Lynn Collins track carries the groove, exemplifying the sample-loop revolution. This song was a gargantuan international dance hit for Rob and Rodney.

Right about that time, Biz Markie hit hard with “Vapors,” explaining how people’s attitudes about you change when you start making money. How true! His follow-up, “Just A Friend,” FEATUREs the Biz’s singing debut. (No comment.)

It is very difficult to explain the second half of the ’80s without discussing how hard-core rap developed into gangsta rap. Gangsta rap was influenced by the images of Run DMC and LL Cool J. Before Run DMC, rap was mostly fun — with the exception of Grand Master Flash’s “The Message” and Kurtis Blow’s “8 Million Stories.” But there came a point when rappers felt compelled to make their image more reflective of the streets from which they came. After Run DMC and LL Cool J, the hard-core trend was set.

While aspiring rappers up and down the West Coast were blowing up back in the day, it was in L.A. in 1981 that the West Coast rap story officially began. Father-and-son team Duffy and Jerry Hooks deserve a special mention with the release of the West Coast’s first rap track, “Gigolo Rapp.”

N.W.A. (meaning “Niggas With Attitude”) FEATUREd Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Eazy-E, MC Ren, and Yella, five rappers from South Central Los Angeles who exploded onto the rap scene with songs like “Gangsta Gangsta.” Their lyrics represented street life like those of no other rapper or rap group before them and never failed to shock censorship supporters. The West Coast rap scene was born with the success of N.W.A., along with that of The Egyptian Lover, L.A. Dream Team, and Ice-T.

In 1981 I judged a rap contest at the Carolina West, a nightclub in South Central L.A. Ice T was a contestant, and he won with his unique style, incorporating profanity and ghetto street lyrics that rocked the house. Astonished at the crowd response, I gave Ice-T a 10, thus inspiring him to continue.

The originators of rap had a code of ethics: never curse and always have fun while projecting a positive image. All that has changed now. The evolution of rap over its 25-year history hasn’t occured without extreme changes. However, record sales have increased tremendously. According to RIAA’s 1996 statistics, rap music now accounts for about a billion dollors of the record industry’s annual revenue. Simply put, rap is here to stay. But at what price?

N.W.A. broke up, with Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E. all successfully going solo. Then along came Hammer and Snoop Doggy Dogg, who scored with huge, multiplatinum albums. In the early ’90s the West Coast became the dominant force in the rap world. Not since hip-hop’s birth in NYC has there been another city in the world producing more rap hits. The West Coast explosion was a barrage of multiplatinum artists with gangsta lyrics, music, style, and mentality. This gangsta mentality had a crushing effect on our youth and the rest of society. Not only was break dancing, scratching, and artistic graffiti lost in rap’s transition from East to West, but so was its code of ethics. Never have there been so many rap artists arrested or jailed for assault, rape, murder, and other violent crimes.

And what about the people? The fans? Throughout rap’s history, rappers have become heroes and icons of the people — the voice from the street, setting trends within the culture. For example, Run DMC had thousands of kids wearing Adidas and holding them high in the air at the group’s Fresh Fest tour in 1985; LL Cool J had performed for about 17,000 screaming women in a sold-out 20,000-seater in L.A. in 1988.

Gangster rappers must realize that they are heroes — idols in the community — and they are showing the way for our youth. There is a great need for today’s gangsta rappers to bring back the code of ethics to hip-hop.

Here were some of the MCs, groups, and DJs who contributed to the modern development of rap, and they should not go unrecognized.

Chart #1: The Early to Mid-’70s

In the beginning there was rhythm…until something else emerged from New York City’s South Bronx: a rougher, rowdier spin on funk innovators like James Brown, George Clinton, Marvin Gaye, and Sly Stone. Rap. Based on the fundamentals of “beats” (copped off other people’s records) and “breaks” (assisted by a turntable and some discreet crossfading), the MCs’ contrasting delivery styles soon split along two camps: Disco and B-Boys.

Disco: Appealed more to black disco crowd and stressed crowd response over actual rhyming.

Pete DJ Jones — New York’s #1 DJ, c. early ’70s. His mixing style and sound system kept ’em moving with MCs the Disco King and JT Hollywood.

DJ Hollywood — c. 1974. One of the genre’s early top New York DJs; assisted by DJ Junebug, who was murdered in the early ’80s. Key record: “Hollywood’s World.”

Eddie Cheeba — New York’s #1 DJ, c. 1975-77, earning $2,000 a night.

“Love Bug” Starski — Goes back to the days of Pete DJ Jones. His career peaked in the mid to late ’70s. Kurtis Blow: “The only guy I ever saw who could play to both crowds. Nobody could mess with ‘Love Bug’!” Key record: “Gigolette.”

Early Originators:
Plummer
Maboya
Grandmaster Flowers (supported James Brown at Yankee Stadium).
All came in Jones’ wake as disco DJs/MCs

Kurtis Blow — né Walker; Kool DJ Kurt, c. 1976.
Felt drawn to both camps for different reasons: “When I saw Pete (DJ Jones), I realized it didn’t have to be one or the other.”

B-Boys: More in touch with the streets than their counterparts. Favored a tougher, rapid-fire rhyming approach.

Kool DJ Herc — “The godfather of hip-hop”; despite his slight rhyming skills, his massive stature and sound system inspired such followers as…

“Herculoids”

Afrika Bambaataa — Founded modern B-Boy style. Ex-Black Spades gang leader’s 26 record crates made him a topflight DJ.

Grand Master Flash — “Herculoid” who created his own aggressive turntable style. As Raheem notes: “To see Flash at that time, you’d be in awe. He’d catch (a record) in the air…handcuffed!” Accompanied by “Cowboy” Keith Wiggins, one of rap’s first certified MCs, Flash formed Future Players. Often strapped for cash, they didn’t seem strapped for acts, as attested by earlier efforts.

Paul Winley — Issued two Bambaataa 12-inch singles in 1980, including “Zulu Nation Throwdown.”

Bobby Robinson — Enjoy Records (1979-82). Debuted Flash and crew (“Superrappin'”) and Funky 4 + 1, which included future Furious Fivester Raheem, among others.

Sylvia Robinson, Joe Robinson, Joey Robinson Jr. — Family-run Sugar Hill took over when Bobby Robinson of Enjoy Records dropped out of the scene.

Russell Simmons — Then a local promoter (c. 1979-80), just taking it all in….

CHART #2: 1979-’84

Why is it so difficult to sort out hip-hop’s maze of claims, counterclaims, and contradictions? Nobody worried about documenting what remained essentially a local scene, nor the diehard separation between the B-Boy and disco camps, which never acknowledged each other’s contributions. With the success of Kurtis Blow’s “Christmas Rappin'” (1979) and “The Breaks” (1980), along with “King Tim III (Personality Jock)” (Fatback, 1979) and “Rapper’s Delight” (Sugarhill Gang, 1979), the original categories evolved into “just plain ol’ rap!” as Kurtis would have it.

Grandmaster Caz — His rhymes are said to have provided the backbone of rap’s (and Sugarhill’s) first big hit….

Sugarhill Gang — Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright, Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien, and Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson. “Rapper’s Delight,” “8th Wonder,” “Apache,” “Funk Box.”

The Treacherous Three — “Feel The Heartbeat”

Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five — “White Lines (Don’t Do It),” “Jesse.” Recruited new members and kept group’s name for two years following the ’83 split.

Sugar Hill Records
Rahiem: “The way they were able to get records on the street — that was amazing! If we cut that week, the record was on the street next week.”

Spoonie Gee — “Monster Jam,” “Spoonin’ Rap,” “Spoonie Is Back”

The Sequence — Angie B, Cheryl the Pearl, Blondie. “Funk You Up,” “Monster Jam,” with Spoonie (well, what else would you call it?)

Grand Master Flash & The Furious 5 — “The Message,” “Freedom,” “It’s Nasty (Genius Of Love),” “New York, New York”
Flash — Went to Elektra with Raheem and Kid Creole
Rahiem — “Reflecting back, ‘Message II (Survival)’ and ‘New York, New York’ should have been on The Message album. That wasn’t in our foresight, and I guess it wasn’t in Sylvia’s either.”
Remained rap’s preeminent group until discontent with their label, and internal dissension, led to court battle, then split into rival camps. Rahiem: “I remember one Christmas ‘The Message’ had been out a few months, and we were expecting some kind of money, and when it didn’t happen, I remember the group pitching a bitch about it. When I say ‘divided,’ we were divided over our decisions, and when I say ‘conquered,’ we were conquered…over money. In the music business, you don’t get what you deserve — only what you negotiate.”

Kurtis Blow — Early successes led to supporting Bob Marley and the Commodores on tour and management by Russ Simmons. Russell’s younger brother Joey Simmons (Run) broke his arm, so he couldn’t DJ for Blow in 1980. No matter; Blow produced Joey’s crew as well as the Fat Boys, who both reaped considerable benefits from Kurtis’ guitarist, Larry Smith, and multi-instrumental DJ, Davy DMX!

Run DMC — “It’s Like That,” “Sucker MCs,” “Rock Box”

Fat Boys — né the Disco Three, c. 1983. “The Human Beatbox” Darren “Buff” Robinson (died of cardiac arrest in ’95), Mark “Prince Markie Dee” Morales, Damon “Kool Rock-ski” Wimbley

Afrika Bambaataa — “Planet Rock,” “Funk You,” “Renegades Of Funk,” all smashes on Tommy Boy Records.
Mr. Biggs
Pow Wow
MC G.L.O.B.E.
Jazzy Jay — producer, “Jazzy Sensation”

“Love Bug” Starski — “At The Fever”/”You Gotta Believe,” 1983

Rob Base & D.J. E-Z Rock — “It Takes Two”

Whodini — “Friends”

UTFO — “Roxanne, Roxanne”

Juice Crew — Roxanne Shanté, M.C. Shan, Biz Markie, Big Daddy Kane. All off to solo careers.

Chart #3: 1984-Present

The mid- to late ’80s marked a new reality: East meets West, with the new, California-based breed seemingly taking their counterparts to the cleaners, businesswise and saleswise. For example, Ice-T’s earliest pressing deal with Macola Records guaranteed him 50 percent for every 12-inch record sold. N.W.A.’s main men, Dr. Dre and Ice Cube, have expanded on that capitalism to form their own production companies, labels, and spinoff ventures (has anybody forgotten the Wu-Tang Clan’s “Wu Wear” yet?). Artistically, the genre split into “hard-core,” with political and social commentary versus the in-your-face “gangsta” acts, who have earned razzes from Democrats and Republicans, critics, old-school acts, educators, and parent groups alike. “Music is always a reflection of where we are,” quoth Rick Rubin. Indeed, what else is new?

West Coast

Duffy and Jerry Hooks — Made first inroads with their 1981 “Gigolo Rapp” 12-inch.

L.A. Dream Team
The Egyptian Lover
Toddy Tee & Mixmaster Spade
Kurtis: “They did the first sing-rap, like Domino does…”

Ice-T
Widely regarded as the creator of the “crime rhyme”; early records like “6 In The Morning” and movie roles (Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo) paid off big in the studio. He hasn’t looked back after the rough 1987’s Rhyme Pays and landmarks like 1991’s O.G. Original Gangster.

World Class Wreckin Cru
When Prince-style funk and braids didn’t move the requisite units, along came an alleged drug dealer in Eric Wright (Eazy-E), whose profits helped fund Ruthless Records (thanks to a J.J. Fad smash in ’88), and a new attitude.

Tupac Shakur (2Pac)
One of Death Row’s biggest acts. His acclaimed roles in Poetic Justice and similar platinum sales weren’t enough to prevent his 1996 murder in Las Vegas. His posthumous album, The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, moved units anyway.

Offshoots

By the ’80s women had made inroads into what had been virtually an all-male preserve, including: Queen Latifah and Salt-N-Pepa.

Eric B. & Rakim — Production wizardry proved no hedge against personal hassles. Key record: “Paid In Full”

N.W.A. (Niggas With Attitude)
Only two albums — 1988’s Straight Outta Compton, and ’91’s Efil4zaggin (read it backwards!) — and both were hugely successful. The group fell apart in ’91 due to business hassles, but they left their mark!
Dr. Dre — Successful solo/production career. After N.W.A. split up, Dre established Death Row Records in 1992, where he recorded his solo album The Chronic, which sold three million copies and spent eight months in the Billboard Top 10. His first artist signing was Calvin Broadus, whom Dre rechristened Snoop Doggy Dogg, yielding the multiplatinum Doggy Style album along the way. By 1994 he’d rapped on or produced albums selling nearly 28 million copies.
Eazy-E — d. 1995 of AIDS complications
Ice Cube — Like Dre, Ice Cube (né O’Shea Jackson) has expanded his provocative stance into an awesome multimedia profile, including music production, a movie production company, movie roles, and of course a string of solo work, including 1990’s AmeriKKKa’s Most Wanted and 1991’s Death Certificate, which Entertainment Weekly called “20 tracks of the most visceral music ever allowed in public.” Despite protests from the Simon Wiesenthal Center and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference over his material’s inflamatory stance, Cube seems hardly about to tone anything down for anybody. Why should he when his 1992 album The Predator topped Billboard’s pop and R&B chats simultaneously — the first album to do so since Stevie Wonder’s Songs In The Key Of Life (1976)?
DJ Yella
MC Ren
(Solo careers)

East Coast
(Hard-core)

Run DMC — Lost steam after failure of 1988’s Tougher Than Leather movie and lawsuits against their label, Profile Records; came back strong with 1993’s Down With The King album.

LL Cool J — “Rock The Bells,” “I Can’t Live Without My Radio,” “I Need Love”

Slick Rick
Two more successful parts of Russ Simmons’ and Rick Rubin’s Def Jam empire. Cool J grew into mainstream success (at last count, two possible versions — clean and X-rated — of his forthcoming autobiography are being discussed), while Rick went to prison for attempted murder (which yielded the aptly titled I Shouldn’t Have Done It album). Two different stars, two different tales! Kurtis: “(Rick) definitely acted that way…off the record!”

Public Enemy — “Miuzi Weighs A Ton,” “Don’t Believe The Hype,” “Welcome To The Terrordome”
Chuck D and Flavor Flav — Rappers
Terminator X — DJ, cuts   Professor Griff — Minister of Information
Picked up political direction when other Def Jam earners lost ground. Yo! Bum Rush The Show (1987), It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back (1988), and Fear Of A Black Planet (1990) set a higher, socially conscious standard. Flav’s string of drug busts and Chuck’s growing multimedia profile (Slam Jamz Productions) have put the group on hiatus, though a new album is rumored for this year.

Boogie Down Productions — “Stop The Violence”
Begun by KRS-One and DJ Scott La Rock (killed, 1987) along similar lines as Public Enemy. By Any Means Necessary (1988), Ghetto Music: The Blueprint Of Hip Hop (1989), and Edutainment (1990) raised the genre’s political consciousness and added D-Nice along the way

— Researched, compiled, and designed by Ralph Heibutzki
— Graphics: Lisa D. Quinlan

There are many MCs, DJs, groups, and hip-hoppers who lay claim to a share of the genesis of rap music. Pick your favorite. As for me, I love them all. Because in the final analysis, we’re all in the same gang, pieces of the same puzzle — The History Of Rap puzzle. I did my best to include everyone, and I do apologize in advance if I forgot anyone.

— Kurtis Blow

There is no holiday season without “Christmas Rappin’,” and there was no 1980 without “The Breaks,” thanks to B-Boy, disco DJ, and old-school rap pioneer Kurtis Blow. His first five albums helped launch the international rap attack that revolutionized the music industry. His creation of the sample loop changed the way rap records are made.

Blow’s seminal hit “The Breaks” was the first certified-gold rap record. Another of his major hits, “If I Ruled The World,” was recently covered by star rapper Nas. Kurtis currently hosts a weekly old-school hip-hop radio show on KPWR (Power 106-FM) in Los Angeles.

kurtis blow – the history of rap 3

beat and skratches by me (nov 2012)

Si è spento a Tokyo questa mattina il bassista e compositore Donald “Duck” Dunn, meglio conosciuto nell’ambiente discografico semplicemente come “Duck”. Donald balzò agli onori delle cronache per aver militato con Booker T. and the MGs inizialmente e poi nei Blues Brothers. Donald Dunn si trovava attualmente in Giappone per una serie di spettacoli. La notizia è stata resa nota grazie a Steve Cropper, che seguiva “Duck” nel tour e il comunicato rilasciato parla di una “morte nel sonno”. Steve Cropper, oltre a lavorare insieme a Duck coltivava con lui un’amicizia ormai di diversi anni.

L’ultima apparizione di Duck è stata al Tokyo Blue Note e il responsabile del locale Miho Harasawa ha semplicemente confermato la notizia senza ulteriori dettagli sul decesso. Una carriera, quella di Donald “Duck” Dunn magari non proprio conosciuta alle grandi masse ma di certo il compositore e bassista americano è stato in grado togliersi diverse soddisfazioni come quelle di aver suonato insieme a personaggi come Eric Clapton e Neil Young. Una vita dedicata alla ricerca musicale in quanto si è specializzato nel corso del tempo nella musica blues, soul e anche gospel guadagnando un importante Grammy Award nel 2007.

Donald “Duck” Dunn, il bassista silenzioso dei Blues Brothers

Non solo carriera musicale per Duck che nel 1980 aveva partecipato anche al celebre film musicale “The Blues Brothers” curato da John Landis con John Belushi e moltissime star della musica americana. Un film indimenticabile assolutamente da vedere, almeno una volta nella vita. Nel film Duck si ricorda come un performer dalle pochissime parole, con una pipa perennemente in bocca dedito solo al suo lavoro di bassista.

Quasi fosse una premonizione, il 20-21 giugno nelle sale cinematografiche ci sarà un omaggio a “The Blues Brothers” per ricordare i trent’anni dalla scomparsa di John Belushi. Questa proiezione, ora, avrà anche un significato in più, sarà un omaggio anche alla vita di Duck. Un personaggio assolutamente non appariscente ma che vedeva la musica in modo assoluto, una vita dedicata al suo basso e alla musica. Non poteva finire diversamente l’esistenza di Donald “Duck” Dunn che, a totale sorpresa, si è spento serenamente, dopo una nottata passata a suonare.

Nato nel 1941 a Memphis e cresciuto sempre nella cittadina americana, la vita di Duck cambia proprio grazie all’incontro con colui che diventerà un amico e un personaggio inseparabile da Donald Dunn, Steve Cropper. Una amicizia che nasce da un profondo interesse musicale che viene concretizzato con diverse sperimentazioni, da band create al college, passando per alcuni singoli fino ad arrivare proprio ai Blues Brothers.

fonte: http://www.melodicamente.com/morto-donald-duck-dunn-bassista-blues-brothers/

podcast  # 1:

On the Wheels of Steel (mainly 80’s heavy metal) May 3, 2012 download link
stereo mp3 file 320kbps

Another hard rock podcast with a metallic flavour, featuring: Black Sabbath, Gillan, Blue Oyster Cult, Ennio Morricone, Motorhead, Ace Frehley, Saxon.

made with REAL VINYL RECORDS

R.I.P. Ronnie James Dio (July 10, 1942 – May 16, 2010)

Ronnie James drawing by Thulcandra

“Whenever I get dumped, I nail the door shut so that no one can come inside, get a towel and clip it around my neck so it’s like a Superman cape, take off my shoes so I can slide across the room, and…get a fake mic, like a celery stick or a pen, and I play any record that features the vocalist Ronnie James Dio.”
—- Henry Rollins (quote from Breaking Up Is Hard To Do Spoken word – Sydney, Australia – 1/17/92)

bonus link:

Map of Metal — http://mapofmetal.com/

—–

podcast # 2:

Hard as a rock – (mainly 70’s hard rock) – download link

Here are some rock classics taken from my vinyl records collection (33s and 45s), featuring: Iron Butterfly, Mountain, Kovacs Kati, Black Sabbath, ZZ Top, Can, Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Steppenwolf, Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix Experience, The Heartbreakers.

Compiled, mixed, recorded and encoded (in stereo mp3 file 320kbps) by me.
Enjoy…

domenica 22 aprile 2012 alle ore 21.30

Presentazione del libro Rapropos. Il rap racconta la Francia di Luca Gricinella, ed. AgenziaX. Interviene l’autore.

Dalle 19.30 pizza del forno a legna e vinili reggae a cura di Joker Smoker Sound System

serata benefit per il collettivo antipsichiatrico Antonin Artaud — http://www.artaudpisa.blogspot.it/

+ info — http://www.agenziax.it/?nid=473&sid=42

Scopro solo adesso che è stata rilasciata la nuova versione di Mixxx, dj software open source in free download qui:

http://mixxx.org/

Mi sembra (IMHO) che nella nuova versione siano stati risolti alcuni problemi di stabilità e di continuità e qualità del flusso audio.

Ho testato la nuova versione con l’MPD24 (le impostazioni della vecchia versione sono rimaste attive e funzionanti) e sembra che il controller midi in coppia con Mixxx 1.10.0 funzioni senza nessun problema.

enjoy…..

—–

source http://mixxxblog.blogspot.it/2011/12/mixxx-1100-released.html

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 24, 2011

http://youtu.be/FVxv6AFt7YM

(Original by Lee Dorsey 1970)

Now’s the time for all good men
to get together with one another
We got to iron out our problems
and iron out our quarrels
and try to live as brothers

And try to find a peace within
without stepping on one another
And do respect the women of the world
Remember you all had mothers

We gotta make this land a better land
than the world in which we live
And we got to help each man be a better man
with the kindness that we give

I know we can make it (I know that we can)
I know darn well we can work it out
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can can, why can’t we?
If we wanna yes we can can

I know we can make it work
I know we can make it if we try
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
Yes we can

Oh yes we can, I know we can can
And we gotta take care of all the children,
the little children of the world
’cause they’re our strongest hope for the future,
the little bitty boys and girls

We got to make this land a better land
than the world in which we live
And we got to help each man be a better man
with the kindness that we give

I know we can make it (I know that we can)
I know darn well we can work it out
Oh yes we can, I know we can can
yes we can can, why can’t we?
If we wanna, yes we can can

Oh I know we can make you
I know we can make it if we only try
Great god you love it.

—-

http://www.torrentreactor.net/torrents/5584310/Pointer-Sisters-Pointer-Sisters-1973-1999-EAC-FLAC-%28oan%29-

illustrazioni di http://zerocalcare.it/

ENGLISH VERSION BELOW
DEUTSCHE VERSION WEITER UNTEN
РУССКАЯ ВЕРСИЯ НИЖЕ

 

Che importanza dai alla tua casella di posta elettronica da 1 a 10? Il tuo sito che utilità ha da 1 a 100, e il tuo blog, la mailing list che segui, la chat?

A/I conta almeno 10.000 utenti, intorno al milione se contiamo le mailing list. Per esistere, per pagare i server e la connettività, al collettivo servono circa 12.000 euro all’anno. 1,2 euro per ciascun utente, se tutti si ricordassero di quanto abbiamo bisogno dei loro contributi.

Ma il problema è che non tutti se ne ricordano, anzi, nemmeno un decimo pensa a sostenerci nel corso dell’anno. Eppure le caselle di posta vengono lette ogni giorno, Noblogs è una piattaforma molto attiva e anche i siti web, le mailing list e gli altri servizi non scherzano.

Fra questi servizi ora ce n’è un altro: prima di fare i conti volevamo proporvelo come regalo per l’anno nuovo. Ma a quanto pare il 2012 potrebbe davvero essere l’anno dell’apocalisse se smettete di pensare a sostenerci. Per cui il servizio lo mettiamo a disposizione, ma dovevamo prima sottolineare che questo e altri gingilli tecnologici forniti da A/I potrebbero scomparire se non rispondete al nostro appello.

Detto questo, ecco il servizio: una VPN nuova di zecca, da usare in quelle situazioni d’emergenza in cui bisogna assolutamente comunicare con il mondo ma le condizioni intorno a noi ce lo impediscono, fondamentalmente perché la rete è censurata e perché è proprio necessario anonimizzare la propria connessione.

La VPN di A/I si trova qui!
Qui tutte le informazioni che servono.

https://vpn.autistici.org

Un nuovo servizio va dunque ad aggiungersi alla nostra rete resistente: usatelo avvedutamente, e mentre lo fate ricordate di contribuire al progetto A/I, che non è fatto solo dalle sue macchine ma anche dalla sua comunità, e senza il suo sostegno rischia di sparire per esaurimento delle risorse.

Gennaio 2012
Collettivo Autistici-Inventati
VPN: https://vpn.autistici.org/
donazioni: http://www.autistici.org/donate

 

ENGLISH VERSION

 

How important is your mailbox from 1 to 10? How useful is your website from 1 to 100? And your blog, the mailing list you follow, the chat service?

A/I has at least 10,000 users, about a million if we include mailing lists. In order to survive, to pay for its servers and connectivity, the A/I collective needs around 12,000 euro every year — it’d be 1.2 euro per user, if everybody remembered how necessary their donations are.

But the problem is that not everybody remembers it. In fact, not even a tenth of our users thinks of supporting us during the year. Yet, mailboxes are read every day, Noblogs is a very active blogging platform, not to mention websites, mailing lists and all the other services.

A/I’s services have now been further enriched: before we calculated our balance sheet, we wanted to introduce this new service as a new year’s present. But apparently 2012 might really be the year of the apocalypse, if you stop supporting us. Therefore the new service will be available anyway, but we needed to stress that this technological gadget and all the others offered by A/I could vanish in the air if you don’t answer this call.

That said, here’s our new service: a brand new VPN, to be used in those emergency situations when you desperately need to communicate with the rest of the world, but the surrounding circumstances make this impossible, substantially because the web is censored and it is absolutely necessary to anonymize your connection. You will find all the information you need here:

You will find A/I’s VPN here!
To learn what’s a VPN and how to use it, go here!
https://vpn.autistici.org

So our resistant network has one more service: use it carefully, and meanwhile remember to support A/I — for our project is not only made by chips and cables, but also by its community, and without your help it
risks to die for lack of resources.

January 2012
Autistici-Inventati Collective
VPN: https://vpn.autistici.org/
donations: http://www.autistici.org/donate

 

DEUTSCHE VERSION

 

Wie wichtig ist Deine/Eure Mailbox auf einer Skala von eins bis zehn? Wie nützlich ist Deine/Eure Website, auch von eins bis zehn? Und das Blog, die Mailingliste, die du liest, der Chat-Service?

A/I hat mindestens 10.000 Nutzer_innen, sogar eine Million, wenn wir die Mailinglisten mitzählen. A/I braucht zum überleben, um die Server und Netzanbindungen zahlen zu können, etwa € 12.000 im Jahr – das wären € 1,20 pro Nutzer_in, wenn alle daran dächten, wie nötig ihre Spenden sind.

Das Problem ist, dass nicht alle daran denken. Nicht mal zehn Prozent unserer Nutzer_innen denken daran, uns über das Jahr zu unterstützen. Dabei werden die Mails jeden Tag gelesen, Noblogs ist eine sehr aktive Blog-Plattform und von Websites, Mailing-Listen und allen anderen Angeboten reden wir noch gar nicht.

Das Angebot von A/I ist jetzt noch erweitert worden: bevor wir zu rechnen anfingen, wollten wir einen neuen Service als Neujahrsgeschenk vorstellen. Aber vielleicht wird 2012 auch das Jahr der Apokalypse, wenn Ihr aufhört, uns zu unterstützen. Deswegen wird es den neuen Service trotzdem geben, aber wir müssen Euch sagen, dass dieses technologische Gadget wie alle anderen von A/I im Nichts verschwinden könnte, wenn Ihr jetzt nicht reagiert.

Das gesagt, ist hier unser neuer Service: ein brandneues VPN, das in den Notsituationen genutzt werden kann, wenn Ihr dringend mit dem Rest der Welt kommunizieren müsst, aber die Bedingungen dies unmöglich machen – vor allem, weil das Netz zensiert wird und es absolut nötig ist, Eure Verbindung zu anonymisieren. Ihr findet alle Informationen dazu hier:

Ihr findet das VPN hier!
Und hier sind alle Informationen dazu (auf Englisch)
https://vpn.autistici.org

So hat also unser widerständiges Netzwerk einen weiteren Service. Nutzt ihn mit Sorgfalt und denkt dabei daran, A/I zu unterstützen — denn unser Projekt besteht nicht nur aus Chips und Kabeln, sondern auch aus seiner Community und ohne Eure Hilfe kann es am Mangel an Ressourcen sterben.

Januar 2012
Autistici-Inventati Kollektiv
VPN: https://vpn.autistici.org/
Spenden: http://www.autistici.org/en/donate

 

РУССКАЯ ВЕРСИЯ

 

Насколько важен ваш почтовый ящик по десятибальной шкале? Насколько полезен ваш сайт по стобальной шкале? А ваш блог, рассылки, которые вы получаете, служба чатов?

У A/I не менее 10000 пользователей, а если считать подписчиков рассылок, то около миллиона. Чтобы выжить, платить за сервера и интернет, коллективу A/I необходимо около 12000 евро каждый год — всего 1,2 евро с пользователя, если бы все они помнили, как нужны их пожертвования.

Но проблема заключается в том, что не каждый помнит об этом. Фактически получается, что менее десятой части наших пользователей задумывается о поддержке нас в течение года. Тем не менее, почта читается каждый день, Noblogs — очень оживлённая блоггерская площадка, не говоря уже о сайтах, почтовых рассылках и прочих сервисах.

Сервисы A/I должны были быть расширены: до сведения финансового баланса мы хотели представить этот новый сервис в качестве новогоднего подарка. Но 2012 год вполне может стать годом апокалипсиса, если вы прекратите поддерживать нас. Поэтому новый сервис будет доступен в любом случае, но мы должны уяснить, что эта технологическая новинка и всё остальное, что предлагает A/I исчезнет бесследно, если вы не откликнитесь на этот призыв.

И несмотря ни на что, вот наш очередной сервис: совершенно новенький VPN, который можно использовать в экстренных ситуациях, когда очень нужно связаться с миром, но обстоятельства этому препятствуют, чаще всего из-за цензуры в интернете и абсолютной необходимости анонимизировать ваше подключение.

VPN A/I можно найти тут: https://vpn.autistici.org

Чтобы узнать, что такое VPN и как его использовать, пройдите по ссылке:
https://vpn.autistici.org/help/index-en.html

Итак, у нашей сети сопротивления появился ещё один сервис. Пользуйтесь им осторожно и не забудьте поддержать A/I, ведь наш проекты состоит не только из микросхем и проводов, но и из сообщества пользователей, а без вашей помощи он рискует погибнуть от недостатка ресурсов.

Январь 2012
Коллектив Autistici-Inventati
VPN: https://vpn.autistici.org/
пожертвования:http://www.autistici.org/en/donate

http://youtu.be/N4XS8wOkkBU

classic disco…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamilton_Bohannon