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I'm disappointed this thread has gone fucking nowhere but I enjoyed writing my previous post so much, I've written another one....
Cassette Boy, 1984-1986/7
In terms of how I listened to music, the technology that facilitated it, my most overarching memory of this period is of cassettes and tape recorders. I guess this delineates a time in my life when the income to purchase records just wasn’t there, but the desire to embrace the music was – I’d become a fully fledged B Boy at this time. The breakdancing craze kind of tapered off (I was always rubbish anyway) but my interest in graffiti bloomed, leading to a fair few adventurous moments of delinquency in later years.
I remember going to the local high street electrics shop on Fridays to buy cassette tapes. Standing around looking at electric fires and Hi Fis while I waited for the little bald geezer to take my 90p. If it was Friday, they must’ve been for Mike Allan’s radio show on Capital – Friday and Saturday night? Friday nights was the Groove Records chart run down. Groove (on Greek Street) was one of the few record shops that sold imports at the time, and became something of a Mecca for your London B Boy. I remember their bright yellow bags. This seems so strange now, that only a few shops in London sold US only releases which was pretty much all of the early Hip Hop. Some of the 12s got UK pressings but none the albums (first UK album release was Schoolly D’s “Saturday Night”, IIRC).
Anyway, I digress. No 12”s for me until several years later. Strictly tapes. I used to have a battered up old radio/tape recorder, spattered with paint with a big orange record button on it. I used to position this above my bed, perched on the long brown workbench I had there, and listen to it in the dark, trying desperately to stay awake for the first 45 minutes so I could flip the tape over – I had this down so I could do this in the dark, without sitting up. Writing this, all kinds of musical memories came flooding “King Cut” by Word of Mouth (Live at UK Fresh!), “Veronica Veronica” by the Bad Boyz(?), Cutmaster DC (always a bit shit, I thought), “Cold Rock Stuff” by Hashim and 7-11 (if anyone can find me an MP3 of this, I’ll love them forever.)
This was the era of the human beatbox – the most famous being Doug E. Fresh (of “The Show” fame), but I’m sure there’s many more I’ve forgotten. The best beatbox I ever heard was Ready Rock C – Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince’s guy (yes, that Fresh Prince) who could do crazy shit like make it sound like he was underwater. He came out late – 87ish? – about the time beatboxing was going out of style. Me and my friends used to laugh about all the years he took perfecting his craft, then its two seconds of fame, and straight into the Rest Home for Retired Beatboxes.
Other memories from this time - I’ve a strange memory of first hearing Eric B & Rakim. I seem to remember it was really cold that night – sitting in my bedroom, taping Westwood and a load of other weird shit that only Westwood played – like “Death Mix” (the classic breakbeat throwndown by Bambaata and Jazzy Jay), “Numbers” by Kraftwerk etc. Westwood was the only DJ who really had a clue about the early NY Hip Hop and breakbeat culture and tried to replicate it on his shows, in a limited way. Mike Allan was a kind of amiable old Uncle figure who’d become Hip Hop godparent to a generation of London yoot by accident, and the only other regular show was careerist tosser Dave Pearce, on Radio London. Pearce jumped ship from Hip Hop as soon as he could, becoming a regular on Radio 1 where he still is(?). I never like him because of a certain lack of passion - I was never really convinced he liked music - plus he had a very square head. My mate Gary (who I didn't know at the time) made his debut on his radio show “Fresh Start to the Week” (Monday night – geddit?) with his crew, “Prime Time Crime”).
This was a strange time in Hip Hop. It’d lost the mad creative spark of early electro and stuff like “The Message” – the stuff that’d got the critics interested, the craze for breaking disappeared, and the music had a few years grace to mature slowly, invisibly. The music really reflected it’s constituency in that it was quite childish – just the kind of songs 14-19 year old boys would make. Really immature adolescent stuff about girls (nothings changed there then) but no guns, no drugs, no cussing. The biggest lyrical concern seemed to be about “biters” stealing your rhymes, and most of the stuff was straight up battle lyrics. Like the book says perhaps this reflects A Time Before Crack. You can hear this very clearly in something like “The Show” which is such a good natured, entertaining record (“better not upset anybody Make ‘em laugh!” it seems to shout).
I’d date the change to 1986. This was when I first heard the record that for me, represents a new harder edged sound – “South Bronx” by Boogie Down Productions. A looped James Brown sample, which sounded so fucking fresh at the time, a gritty reclaiming of Hip Hip from all the synths loops and KRS spitting regional pride all over the top. Wow. Appropriately enough I have a memory which puts this in a strong “adult context”. I remember walking home late, late one night – 1? 2? No idea why I was out so late at that age, but I heard it booming out from a party. I was too young and nervous to join the party but it fired up my imagination. I remember telling Sukh excitedly about it the next Dave – we got excited whenever we heard anyone else play Hip Hop.
Anyway that’s a record which represents a musical moment for me – almost the second wave of critical acclaim, with the music becoming tougher, more vivid in a lot of ways and beginning to push boundaries. Anyway, I was busy taping throughout, which is perhaps why I recall it so well. I actually suspect it’s not solely this to be honest – I think it’s a lot of do with the vividness of early imprints. Back when hearing the music, and embracing it, was one of the most important things in my life. |
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