The Sugarhill box is quite fine. If anybody's interested, I'm
posting my review, which includes a complete track listing for all
five CDs.
VARIOUS ARTISTS: The Sugar Hill Records Story
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
If you worked at a radio station in the 80s, you couldn't help but
see those Sugar Hill 12 inch records in the "out" pile. White pop
radio stations weren't gonna play that stuff, so out it went. One of
the perks of radio is you can take stuff home when the station
doesn't want it. I must have had three dozen Sugar Hill 12's, and I
sure wish I knew where they were today.
Sugar Hill was one of the most beloved labels of its time, and also
one of the most reviled, depending on who you asked. It was labeled
"rap," and while there was certainly some rappin' going on, most of
this music was hip hop. They just didn't know what to call it, at
first. Unlike much of today's rap, this music was drenched in funk
with deep grooves everywhere. Grandmaster Flash, Busy Bee, Sylvia,
Crash Crew, Trouble Funk, Super-Wolf, The Sugarhill Gang, West Street
Mob, Funky 4 + 1, The Sequence, Spoonie Gee, the fantabulous Melle
Mel and others created street music for the people that pop forgot.
In the years before self-indulgent egotism reduced most rap to
penis-measurement contests, there was this thing called social
commentary--a GOOD thing that is all over this set--in which
disaffected youths would voice their concerns about life in their
neck of the world. A great example is "The Message," by Grandmaster
Flash & The Furious Five. (As opposed to The Funky Four or The
Treacherous Three, both of which also appear in this set.) Flash
describes the fight against insanity in an insane world. "Don't push
me cuz I'm close to the edge. I'm trying not to lose my head. It's
like a jungle sometimes. It makes me wonder how I keep from going
under." By the way, that particular track appears on disc three, AND
on the special bonus disc...or platter, in this case.
Yep! Hot damn! Rhino's thrown in a 12 inch EP--I'm talkin' bout
the real thing, baby. Vinyl!--with four versions of The Message. If
that's not cool enough, they used the original 12 inch cover design:
solid light blue with Sugar Hill spelled out in a twisting,
multi-colored candy cane! Meeeeeemorieeees...
Just about every artist appears multiple times, and some of them
have enough tracks to rate their own disc. (But they mixed it up
just for fun, y'know?) Grandmaster Flash, The Sugarhill Gang, and
Melle Mel are all over the five discs, but that's fair since they
were also all over the Sugar Hill release roster in days of yore. No
bitching here. The track selection is brilliant.
The set comes with great liner notes that tell the story nearly as
well as the music does. As usual, Rhino went all out. Gotta love
that Urban dept! Most of the versions included in this box set are
not the dinky little AM radio edits. These are 8 and 10 minute
tracks filled with great grooves and brutal beats. Funk fans who
never gave this stuff a chance really need to do so now. If they
can't find something to like, I don't want to know what the funk THEY
were listening to.
TRACK LIST
DISC ONE: Rapper's Delight (Sugarhill Gang) * Funk You Up (The
Sequence) * Rapper's Reprise (Sugarhill Gang) * Super-Wolf Can Do It
(Super-Wolf) * Hot Hot Summer Day (Sugarhill Gang) * And You Know
That (The Sequence) * Freedom (Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five)
* Monster Jam (Spoonie Gee meets The Sequence) * Baby Let's Rap Now
(The Moments) * People Get On Up (Positive Force)
DISC TWO: 8th Wonder (The Sugarhill Gang) * That's The Joint (Funky
4 + 1) * The Birthday Party (Grandmaster Flash) * Check It Out (Wayne
& Charlie, The Rapping Dummy) * The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash
On The Wheels Of Steel (Grandmaster Flash) * Showdown (The Furious
Five meets The Sugarhill Gang) * Let's Dance (Make Your Body Move)
(West Street Mob) * Spoonie Is Back (Spoonie Gee) * Apache (Sugarhill
Gang) * It's Nasty (Genius Of Love) (Grand Master Flash & The Furious
Five)
DISC THREE: Hi Fellas (Trouble Funk) * Sing A Simple Song (West
Street Mob) * It's Good To Be The Queen (Sylvia) * The Lover In You
(Sugarhill Gang) * The Message (Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five)
* Whip It (Treacherous Three) * Scratching (Crash Crew) * Ooh Baby
(West Street Mob) * Scorpio (Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five) *
Making Cash Money (Busy Bee) * Here Comes The Bridge (Sequence)
DISC FOUR: Message II (Melle Mel & Duke Bootee) * Breaking Bells
(Take Me To The Mardi Gras) (Crash Crew) * Yes We Can-Can
(Treacherous Three) * The Word Is Our (Sugarhill Gang) * New York New
York (Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five) * Girls (Sugarhill Gang)
* Kick It Live From 9 To 5 (Sugerhill Gang) * Break Dance Electric
Boogie (West Street Mob) * All Night Long (Waterbed) (Kevie Kev) * At
The Ice Arcade (Chilly Kids) * White Lines (Don't Don't Do It)
(Grandmaster & Melle Mel) * We Are Known As Emcees (We Turn Party's
Out) (Crash Crew)
DISC FIVE: Jesse (Grandmaster Melle Mel) * Beat Street (Grandmaster
Melle Mel & The Furious Five) * Livin' In The Fast Lane (Sugarhill
Gang) * We Don't Work For Free (Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious
Five) * Step Off (The Furious Five featuring Cowboy, Melle Mel &
Scorpio) * Xmas Rap (Uncensored version) (Treacherous Three) * Busy
Bee's Groove (Busy Bee) * Turn It Up (Treacherous Three) * The Down
Beat (Sugarhill Gang) * Vice (from Miami Vice) (Grandmaster Melle
Mel) * Outta Control (Miracle Mike & The Ladies Of The 80s) * Street
Walker (Mass Production with Grandmaster Melle Mel) * The Message
('97 Dungeon Mix) (Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five)
(C) 1997 - Cosmik Debris E-Zine
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DJ Johnson - Editor, Cosmik Debris E-Zine
Now at
http://www.cosmik.com/cosmikdebris
Cosmik Debris: If we were a fight, they'd stop it!
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