Scratchin’ an Itch
-
Artist:
-
Album:
-
Track:
Am I the only person out here who longs for the early days of old-school live-on-site scratching and cutting on the turntables? I'm talkin' records, baby! Sure, my mash-up lust is sated on a regular basis. But that mixing and melding of different recordings started somewhere. And the vestigial source could very well be a nimble-fingered, sure-handed Barbados native who began rocking house parties and street raves in The Bronx, N.Y. during the '70s. He's Joseph Saddler, better known as Grandmaster Flash.
To say that I nearly went bonkers when I first heard the phenomenal manipulations of the great and mighty Grandmaster Flash would be to underplay it. It was at a warehouse party with a savvy DJ dropping 12-inch magic on everyone's ears and asses. Although he worked lots of stuff on the Sugar Hill label, the track that truly floored everyone was a 1981 release entitled "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel."
Flash - whose later hit recordings ("White Lines," "The Message," etc.) with the rappers known as the Furious Five are justly considered pop and hip-hop classics - took chunks and slices of Chic's "Good Times," Blondie's "Rapture," Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust," the Sugar Hill Gang's "8th Wonder," Spoonie Gee's "Monster Jam," the Incredible Bongo Band's "Apache," and a couple of Furious Five jams ("Birthday Party" and "Freedom"), and cut, linked, and layered them with some spoken-word bits. The result? Seven minutes plus of dance-floor epiphany!
It was a de facto primer on the art of DJ-ing. As far as I know, "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" was also the first time anyone ever recorded and released scratching, and - Wow! We just don't hear enough of this analog art any more. Sure, electronic sampling and ProTools manipulations have been omnipresent in pop music for decades. Big deal. I ask you: Where's the hands-on vinyl massage?
If any of you archivists and experts out there can suggest other examples of recorded scratching and cutting in the mode of Flash's magnum opus, fire away. Meanwhile, savor the real deal…
Comments (39)
Mike, I think this is one-of-a-kind - I never heard anything else like it back in my early NYC days (starting in '80). But God knows there were a lot of great tracks from this era. Early Afrika Bambaata, "We're Only Bugging," Tribe, Schooly D.....
So true, ivy. Some kick-ass stuff. I just wish there were more recorded examples of those turntable skillz - and if there are, what the frak are they - and how do I get ahold of 'em?
Grandmaster flash and the furious five... one of my first albums.... love it still.
For all things scratching...
You have to see this:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=LGrchxm_BBU
The documentary "Scratch".... excellent!
You'll find that there are plenty of turntablists out there and their skills have increased exponentially...
Mike, amen to this post. I was listening to early public enemy the other day and could not believe how different it sounded from modern day hip hop. Music like this needs to make a come back, and the art of scratching is something I hope is not lost all together
Kevin... seriously, you must watch that doc I linked to. It is quite astonishing how the art has progressed.
Dzendvokh: Good call on "Scratch." I'm familiar with it, and know of these guys - but I'm not acquainted with any scratch 'n' cut collage recordings beyond Flash's thing - unless you wanna count the "Scratch" soundtrack (which I don't own, I must shamefully say). And I guess there's DST's work on Herbie Hancock's "Rockit," and Public Enemy's more crucial records. Still, who's doin' it or did it live or in the studio and committed it to vinyl or CD like Flash?
Rawkkiddoh: As Dzendvokh pointed out, it's still out there if we can find it. The hunt begins?
Great post Mike. Besides going to see Dj's live, I can't name anything exactly. Most recordings are turntablist groups like Executioners or Birdy Nam Nam making compositions out of scratches but not juggling like this. I went and sow this techno and broken beat named Titonton Duvante in a basement a few years back and he was juggling and doing scratch tricks on dance recs, it was the best thing I have seen recently.
Hopefully you can follow my broken english.
Mike.... I see your call to action now... while I can't point to something exactly the same... Cut Chemist and Dj Shadow both released albums that were completely sampled from vinyl ... can they flow the same way flash did without the use of samplers.... I venture to say they can... but I don't have the proof.. yet. Shall we do some digging?
I think we need Cody in on this conversation.
Wait.... my memory banks were just given a shot......
Here's something
And I do believe I have some audio.... it'll just take a minute...
This ones pretty neat..Cut Chemist and Shortkut live
Beware the country intro to the cut chemist..ooh, I just got an hour long bls radio mix Marley Marl did in the early 80's..very cool..
Here's an edit mix of breaks, this one is more Flash-like, Double dee and Steinski from the late 80's
Sir Knife: Lovin' IT! You're taking me way back. Unfortunately I don't have a counter scratch for you at this time - but I will look around and try to get back to you with some justice.
Van
Dj Rhettmatic from 96 live
Jackpot!
Check the full mixes at my POST
Lovin that Cut Chemist/Shortkut track Cody
Fun Post, Mike..Thanks.
I bet Uffin Greg has some stuff..
I posted this on Nick's as well:
I think there's less of the stuff from the early years recorded because of the fear of having to pay royalties..it was a number of years after Flash before sampling really showed up on records..it's a shame he really only did that one tune..Flash's stuff on Wildstyle is awesome though short.
Apparently a bunch of us are longing for to hear some master DJ skills, Mr. Mike. I was going to chime with with what Dzendvokh and Master Cody B were commenting on - DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist. Me and the Mister saw them perform their all 45s live show this Spring. Pheeee-nomenal. The little records with the big holes were flying. They created some of the most amazing mixes. I've heard enough crappy dance mixes and rap backing mixes to last me a lifetime, so when I hear something that hits the target my soul just screams "More more more!"
p.s. Cody - Those are really big buttons
Brainfreeze is pretty great, I listened the other day at work. To see them live must have been crazeee. I caught Shadow alone and he was pretty great just on his own, but he was recreating his albums to some degre and not letting the vinyl fly as you say.
Now, that's what I'm talking about! You peoples are the best.
Oatmeal: Gotcha! Ah, for the days of basement beats. It's a bitch to find this kinda shit live these days. Note to Self: Must be more aware of who's in town and doing what.
Dzendvokh: Brainfreeze! I'm suffering from some of my own. I mean DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist actually did this particular jam on my home turf. And they, as well as Shortkut, do indeed carry Flash's torch. Thanks for streaming! And yes, Cody is a must in a conversation of this nature.
Cody B: Awright! The man comes through. I do believe that your enormous buttons are indicative of your enormous fund of funk. Speaking of my frozen brain, I (longtime club DJ, albeit on hiatus) own and revere that monstrously cool Double Dee and Steinski 12-inch - and rode it hard when it was new. And shouldn't I be breaking out my M.A.R.S.S. singles - or were those more samples than turntable magic?
vannatta: Just tryin' to rustle up some wild shards of sound, pardner.
Lady Miss Ian: Lucky gal. That would be a show to see. Again, I've gotta scour the listings with more vigilance. Alas, I fear that the recent back and forth to L.A. (and the concurrent work load) are conspiring against me.
Cody, when you mentioned BLS you brought it all back. Saturday nights were prime time....
Oops...the mix I got was from 89....not the early 80's...I'll tell ya Ivy, I was more of a Red Alert guy but Marly was cool. I remember visiting my buddy who lived in the city and we would go in the car and drive around listening to the mix shows on on Saturday night..then we'd get out the car and try to go to some clubs, be too young,poor, and underdressed to get in, then go home.
Scratchin' was all the rage in the beginning, but the reality is that its just too hard to do well and be creative at it, and with all the effects available and digital approximations of turntables, it seems like vinyl is becoming a cool, but esoteric things..along with hip hop DJ'ing..Some people carry on with the tradition, but it ain't the norm..49 secsa of mixmaster mike as a tribute to the knife
I went to see Grandmaster Flash in Dublin expecting nothing more than a chin-stroker nostalgia trip, but his set rocked (as I shoulda known it would). I agree with the above comment that this mix is one of a kind 'cos in the wrong hands turntables are deadly weapons. Annoying scratching by a pretentious DJ has had me running for the exit on a one or two occasions.
Not really beat juggling, but Madlib remixed/remade some Blue Note recordings and on this one he lays some KRS cuts over Slim's Return.
I want to make a big red button too!?
Not really beat juggling, but Madlib remixed/remade some Blue Note recordings and on this one he lays some KRS cuts over Slim's Return.
I want to make a big red button too!?
Ok so you can tell I have been away for a month because I have no idea how to embed music on a comment. Foiled.
Afrika Bambaata - Death Mix Pt.2.from '79-80, note the heavy disco influence, and more clubby DJ style with some Jazzy J scratching and then after an intro Bambaata (master of records) ..recorded live bad sound..Is now on CD.
This is the dot code must be enclosed in <,> the 4 numbers refer to the size of the dot..code from brand x!
embed src="/player_preview.swf" quality="high" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" play="true" loop="true" scale="showall" wmode="transparent" devicefont="false" bgcolor="#ffffff" name="MOGPlayerauJUSMvmteL.mp3" menu="true" allowfullscreen="false" allowscriptaccess="sameDomain" class="MOGPlayer" flashvars="info=/l/auJUSMvmteL.mp3" style="height: 22px; width: 22px;" salign="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" align="middle" height="22" width="22"
Fun post. Good tunes and good reading, everybody.
Haha silly me. I thought that the song was skipping in parts
Great call Mike. Were records like "Genius of Rap" cut live? Perhaps. There was a radio show on KGFJ in LA on Saturday nights around 1982 - 85 where 2 DJs spun and scratched live. Not the same as records, but I've got many a nostalgic cassette.
I was going to mention DST and Herbie - he also played live with Hancock on the subsequent tour, scratching, but also manhandling records backwards with his fingertips, making very cool weird swoops and whispers in ensemble with the band. My girlfriend thought one of his records was Pink Floyd. (Which in 85 was a left field choice.) But the peak of his skills was at Club Lingerie on Sunset where he played one weekend. With 2 turntables, a mixer and very very fast fingers he mixed the words "good times" (and just those words) between records a total of 14 times and kept the beat spot on. I was watching Hollywood's hottest club dj sitting at the bar with his back to the action. About the 4th "good times" his head started to lift, then his whole body came to attention, stood up and turned around with his mouth hanging open. His cheering was the loudest.
But the one I wish I had seen: I met David Byrne's girlfriend around 1980 and she told me about Flash - they used to go and see him at a club in Brooklyn. She saw him play The Adventures record live. He had bits of tape on the records to mark the play-point, and Slick Rick by his side to hand him the records. Now that must have been something.
And does this qualify as one of the best song titles ever? I think it does.
ivy: Ah, the nightlife. Still grinding it out here, unapologetically.
Cody: Yeah, it's a lot easier for a so-called disc jockey to press a few buttons, making a real scratch 'n' cutter even more impressive. Cool? Esoteric? You bet. Meanwhile, thanks for the Mixmaster Mike. he's always so on-it and reliable. He's (dare I say?) crafty...
Flux: A gig for the memory banks, I'd say. In the hands of a (grand)master, you can expect to get on the good foot, rather than be pointing 'em towards the door.
Oatmeal: It was the thought that counted. ;-)
Cody, again: Bambaata! And a stream-posting tutorial! You are now officially this thread's MVP!
extraordinarypoems: We're in a groove here!
pinkertonwasbetter: Nope. That skipping you hear would be the rest of us dancing.
Jonh: Always good for an appropriate anecdotal annendum, my friend. Not sure about the genesis of "Genius of Rap," but it did smoke. Caught Flash & the Furious once. Amazing. And yes, one of the best song titles ever!
Nice. Get me my rollerskates.
Isn't that a jam on Saturdays with De La Soul?
Fucking genius. I wish I still had the slabs I owned back then.
Playing catchup, if you couldn't tell.
Thank you!
De nada, wass!
I was dancing while folding laundry. Cool stuff everyone, and another great post Mike!
p-wagz: Glad to know you enjoyed it - even five months after it was posted. Hey! It's almost Christmas!