The Most Important 12" Of The Past 25 Years?

[Greg Wilson]

WHEN THE PLANET ROCKED
COMMEMORATING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF A CLASSIC



Exactly a quarter of a century ago, in May 1982, I bought a record that would become truly historic, the type of record which splits the musical atom, provoking either love or hate but never indifference. This was the seminal ‘Planet Rock’ by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force, hot out of New York as an import on the now legendary Tommy Boy label. My first thought on hearing it was the obvious one, it sounded remarkably like a speeded-up cover of Kraftwerk’s ‘Trans-Europe Express’ (it had also drawn its inspiration from another Kraftwerk track, ‘Numbers’, as well as Captain Sky’s ‘Super Sporm’). The haunting keyboard line was definitely there, but instead of a monotone Germanic voice this had a rap over the top of it, enticing us with its now immortal call ‘party people, party people, can y’all get funky?’, before the full weight of this electronic oddity kicked-in.

We had no real conception of what was going on in the Bronx at the time, and how the Hip-Hop scene was beginning to gain recognition within the wider New York community - it would be another six months before the penny finally began to drop once all was revealed in Malcolm McLaren’s ‘Buffalo Gal’s’ video. We could only view this track in complete isolation, and pretty much everyone who was anyone on the black music scene instantly dismissed it as the worst possible kind of junk. I could almost feel the laughter behind my back as I walked out of Spin Inn in Manchester having purchased a copy. A fool wasting his money, or so they must have mused.

‘Planet Rock’ sounded amazing over the big systems at the venues in which I worked, The Pier in Wigan and Legend in Manchester, but it outraged some of the old Jazz-Funk crowd who’d been regulars at the Pier for as long as I could remember - the Peech Boys might have eventually filtered through with the old guard, but this was all a step too far and it was worrying when I became aware that a number of them were beginning to drift away around this time. However, it was a case of swings and roundabouts, with an increasing amount of travellers heading in, most notably from the Midlands and West Yorkshire, and also for the first time, in force, from Manchester. What was particularly noticeable was that the new faces were mainly black, replacing the absent white ones. Electro, on its arrival, found its audience in the black community – it almost always happened to be white people making the now thoroughly preposterous pronouncement that this ‘wasn’t black music’.

Despite the initial ridicule, I continued play the dreaded ‘Planet Rock’ and, whilst I was berated behind my back and even sometimes to my face for what they perceived to be my extreme bad taste, the kids danced on and, as George Clinton would later observe in his single ‘Loopzilla’, it drove people nuts! Clinton must have been having a wry smile at all the kafuffle surrounding this record, a million seller in the US, for it was he and his P Funkonauts who’d first launched black music into space some years earlier. Electro-Funk was the natural successor to P Funk, and having been inspired by this Bambaataa would, in turn, inspire Clinton to create some Electro-Funk gems of his own, most notably ‘Loopzilla’ and ‘Atomic Dog’.

Apart from confirming Bambaataa’s phenomenal arrival, ‘Planet Rock’ would also be the 12” that provided the big breakthrough for Electro-Funk’s greatest producer, Arthur Baker. Its use of the now legendary Roland TR-808 drum machine would instigate a whole new approach to rhythm, heralding the age of the beatbox. Along with Arthur Baker and Soul Sonic Force, the track was written by John Robie, whose pioneering use of the first digital samplers, the Emulator and Fairlight, would ensure he was in great demand during the years to come, including a number of co-production credits on subsequent Baker projects.

‘Planet Rock’ marks the end of one era in the history of dance music and the beginning of another – it well and truly lit the blue touch paper for what was to follow, with Hip-Hop, House, and Techno all indebted to this electronic wonder. It’s difficult now, with two and a half further decades of dance behind us, to fully appreciate just how radically different this record was back then, it might as well have come from Mars - that was how they wanted it to sound and that’s exactly how it sounded, hole in one and a quantum leap in the evolution of dance music.

Copyright Greg Wilson – May 2007

Further Information: E L E C T R O F U N K R O O T S
Email: greg@electrofunkroots.co.uk

* for the full lowdown on ‘Planet Rock’ I highly recommend Mark McCords feature on the record in Wax Poetics #21: Wax Poetics

[Super D]

Nice Greg....keep doing what you do....

I remember the first time I would hear Panet Rock...it was my 5th hour economics class at Northwestern Highschool, Detroit Michigan and the day was sunny and unusually warm...the anticipation of summer break was in the air!

There was an area outside of the class window where all the 'Hip Kids' would gather each day to hang out and listen to music off the radio(pre-security guard/police presents at school days).....The radio station was 107.5 WGPR, and the mid-day DJ 'Marvelous Marv' was playing the soon to be classic(instrumental version)...he didn't mention the name or group of the mysterious jam...but I knew then, that I had to have that record...so after school I called the radio station an ask if they knew the name of the record that played around 1:35 pm or so...I describe it as, 'Krafwerk sounding' similiar to the tune 'trans europe express'__which was in heavy rotation by the night time DJ, the 'Electrifying Mojo'. I remember a young sounding person like me, telling me, 'nothing like that was played in our rotation today', but they would check into it.....

.....nevertheless, to make a long story short...later that night...the 'Electrifying Mojo', lead his show off by playing the mysterious record 3 times in a row(instrumental version)...and later on, in his check-in session called 'The Midnight Funk Association' (in which I was a card carrying member) he played it 3 more times...so all together, I would hear the record 6 times that day...still not knowing the name of the group or song title...eventually I would discover the groups name and title.....I did not know it had a rap version until I brought the tune 3 weeks later.

Greg...nice post...keep the memories coming, I love your classic shows!

I have a request for you....can you dig up one of your shows with the Fatback Band, 'I like the Girls' included?

thanx
super d(motordetroit)

[Greg Wilson]

Originally Posted by Super D

Nice Greg....keep doing what you do....

I remember the first time I would hear Panet Rock...it was my 5th hour economics class at Northwestern Highschool, Detroit Michigan and the day was sunny and unusually warm...the anticipation of summer break was in the air!

There was an area outside of the class window where all the 'Hip Kids' would gather each day to hang out and listen to music off the radio(pre-security guard/police presents at school days).....The radio station was 107.5 WGPR, and the mid-day DJ 'Marvelous Marv' was playing the soon to be classic(instrumental version)...he didn't mention the name or group of the mysterious jam...but I knew then, that I had to have that record...so after school I called the radio station an ask if they knew the name of the record that played around 1:35 pm or so...I describe it as, 'Krafwerk sounding' similiar to the tune 'trans europe express'__which was in heavy rotation by the night time DJ, the 'Electrifying Mojo'. I remember a young sounding person like me, telling me, 'nothing like that was played in our rotation today', but they would check into it.....

.....nevertheless, to make a long story short...later that night...the 'Electrifying Mojo', lead his show off by playing the mysterious record 3 times in a row(instrumental version)...and later on, in his check-in session called 'The Midnight Funk Association' (in which I was a card carrying member) he played it 3 more times...so all together, I would hear the record 6 times that day...still not knowing the name of the group or song title...eventually I would discover the groups name and title.....I did not know it had a rap version until I brought the tune 3 weeks later.

Greg...nice post...keep the memories coming, I love your classic shows!

I have a request for you....can you dig up one of your shows with the Fatback Band, 'I like the Girls' included?

thanx
super d(motordetroit)

Great story Super D!

A lot of younger people have no conception of the full impact this record had. Can you imagine someone on radio now opening their show by playing a new record 3 times in a row!

BTW do you have any recordings of the Electrifying Mojo - been wanting to check out what he was doing for some time. Definitely one of the great radio shows of its era!

As for the Fatback Band, I'm afraid I never played 'I Like Girls'. The big tunes for me were - 'Wicki Wacky', 'Yum Yum', 'Bus Stop', 'Spanish Hustle', 'Party Time', 'Night Fever'. 'Double Dutch' and, later down the line 'Is This The Future?' (all, bar 'Wicki Wacky' and 'Is This The Future?' have featured on my Time Capsule programmes).

[RetroRuss]

Originally Posted by Greg Wilson

Great story Super D!

A lot of younger people have no conception of the full impact this record had.....

Neither do some of us older folk Greg. - I was browsing through some vinyl in a second hand shop today and came across it (the UK release on 21st Records) - based on your fascinating and absorbing post I had to have it! It cost £1.50 - a small price to pay for a piece of history!

[QUINNY]

Guess what? I never cared for it BITD and today I can't stands it. Most of the Electro sounds I'm either quite, or very fond of, but this always leaves me cold. I was obviously one of the old fuddie duddies who couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about and to this day, I still think it sticks out like a sore thumb when placed alongside others of the genre. Personally, I found it too fast and annoyingly naff in sooo many ways.

Important record...YES, without a doubt!
Most important of the past 25 years... this jury's out.

[tony98]

I did play "Planet Rock" at the time ,but i would never describe it as - the most important 12" of the past 25 years - One of the reasons is that if you played it in a club or a bar now it would clear the place. Other early 80's urban tracks like "Rappers Delight" & "White Lines" still make people dance & sing. I think that "Planet Rock" is probably one of those tracks that reminds you of a certain time and place but i find it sounds so dated. Classic tracks last forever and i don't think this has.

[remicks]

*****

Wonderful input Greg . Love the way you have documented your personal journey with this record.... and the way you witnessed first hand its impact ... as you mercilessly shoved it down your captive crowd's throat
( I'm kidding ! ) But I would've been one of the guys heading for the exit doors. Thought it mildly entertaining as something to listen to ... but nothing that would draw me onto the dance floor...

Still, I'm thinking I agree with you about PLANET ROCK 's importance .

"Most important" 12 inch is different from the best or the biggest selling ...most dancable .... ...etc. I think it was the most important if we are going to single it out as the 12" that introduced that certain flavour or should I say smell that has lingered ever since ..that we are still stuck with as the predominant sound in the music of today .... in hip hop/ rap .... now 25 years later. That's a huge shift in the wind of pop music that occurred that maybe we can credit or blame on this one record .

In my neck of the woods ...the outer zone of San Francisco ... the young pre-clubbed aged kids ... all colors too ... loved this record ... .and were buying it after school from the record store where I worked ... I don't specifically remember stocking it in an outrageously abundant way ... AC/DC were definitely the champs when it came to that ...
But we're talking 12" .... I'm sure it was easily the flavour of the week ...
PR certainly stuck out when we played it in the store ... but I felt it was properly a song for my after school crowd ... the same ones that were buying DOUBLE DUTCH BUS ....
In the process , they of course were the targeted buyers who would be deciding the future direction of music ... god bless 'em ....



relive a taste of its glory here

Amazon-U.S. | Amazon-U.K.

*****

[Mixmachine]

Originally Posted by Greg Wilson

WHEN THE PLANET ROCKED
COMMEMORATING THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF A CLASSIC



Exactly a quarter of a century ago, in May 1982, I bought a record that would become truly historic, the type of record which splits the musical atom, provoking either love or hate but never indifference. This was the seminal ‘Planet Rock’ by Afrika Bambaataa & The Soul Sonic Force, hot out of New York as an import on the now legendary Tommy Boy label.

Do you know which one was released first??

Planet Rock or "Body Mechanic" by Quadrant Six ??? or Man Parrish's "Hip Hop , Be bop"

My memory may be off, but I think that Man Parrish's "Hip Hop , Be bop" was released first (probably as a promo 12" single), as I mentioned in a different thread here, at the time thre was nothing else to mix with this record when it first appeared, and AFAIK the whole musical genre "Hip Hop" was named after this record, wasn’t it ??? .

As far as the Break dancers of the day were concern all 'Techno Funk' and 'Hip Hop' music was all the same thing for them at this point, Freestyle, jumped in a few years later injecting a bit of "Latin" to the Hip Hop beat taking off in selected cities in the USA.

But undoubtedly “Planet Rock" was a monster hit that catapulted this new sound to the spotlight, although it was mostly a very young crowd that really loved this record and stuck to it way past it's initial novelty period because of the ‘Breakdancing” scene, this song was a favorite for years in many "Teen Discos" and Roller skates rings that were poping up all over the South Florida area at the time.

During this period I was spining at club Pete and Lenny's in the city of Ft Lauderdale, this club had a huge second dedicated dance floor for teens besides the one for the adults only in the main room, and here hundreds of teens packed the dance floor to break-dance every weekend during the Hip Hop explotion that began to take off big in 1983.

As a testament to the popularity and longevity of this record, Soul Sonic Force/Planet Patrol visited/performed at this club numerous times during this years, they drew huge crowds of youngsters all the way down from Miami and from cities to the north every time, ( this club was 35 miles away from Miami) and if that was not sufficient , the Main room's excellent House Band (Name ??) used to play in their sets this record as well.

Even after this kind of exposure, ( the song was already more than a year old ) I still continued to use this song at this club (mainly the instrumental now), for a Dj this cut was fun to work with cutting back and forth with two copies of the record, besides it was great to watch all those break dancing B-Boys (and some girls) doing their thing on the dance floor.

PS: “Cheap Thrills”, “I didn’t know I loved you” "Play at your own risk" by Planet Patrol and “Renegades of Funk” (instrumental mostly) by Soul Sonic Force , all Arthur Baker & John Robie productions were also big Record at this club.

[Greg Wilson]

Originally Posted by Mixmachine

Do you know which one was released first??

Planet Rock or "Body Mechanic" by Quadrant Six ??? or Man Parrish's "Hip Hop , Be bop"

My memory may be off, but I think that Man Parrish's "Hip Hop , Be bop" was released first (probably as a promo 12" single), as I mentioned in a different thread here, at the time thre was nothing else to mix with this record when it first appeared, and AFAIK the whole musical genre "Hip Hop" was named after this record, wasn’t it ??? .

Hi Mixmachine: The old memory banks are playing tricks. 'Hip Hop Be Bop' and 'Body Mechanic' were both issued towards the end of '82, a good 6 months after 'Planet Rock'.

Hip Hop was already a term used in the Bronx well before 'Hip Hop Be Bop'. Remember the opening line of 'Rappers Delight' - 'I said a Hip Hop...'. That was in '79. However, it didn't become a genre name unti the Electro era and 'Hip Hop Be Bop' is the first track that used Hip Hop in the title.

[Super D]

Originally Posted by Greg Wilson

Great story Super D!

A lot of younger people have no conception of the full impact this record had. Can you imagine someone on radio now opening their show by playing a new record 3 times in a row!

BTW do you have any recordings of the Electrifying Mojo - been wanting to check out what he was doing for some time. Definitely one of the great radio shows of its era!

As for the Fatback Band, I'm afraid I never played 'I Like Girls'. The big tunes for me were - 'Wicki Wacky', 'Yum Yum', 'Bus Stop', 'Spanish Hustle', 'Party Time', 'Night Fever'. 'Double Dutch' and, later down the line 'Is This The Future?' (all, bar 'Wicki Wacky' and 'Is This The Future?' have featured on my Time Capsule programmes).

Greg, don't I wish I had some old recordings of 'MOJO'!....you would think as much as I taped off the radio back in the day I would....but you know as youngsta's, we lived for the moment!....and I agree that Mojo was one of a kind, with free range on night time air waves...no regular format, you never knew what to expect with Mojo....he would always start his show with a 'Star Wars' type theme introducing the landing of 'The Mothership'.... it would last for 10 minutes sometimes. I can remember being impatient with his long introduction to his show.

Also, I can remember him playing anything from Rod Steward, Queen, Steele Dan, the J Giles Band and the Talking Heads to Freeze, the B52's and Funkadelic, A Number of Names, Cybotron to Roy Ayers...just a fantastic eclectic mix of everything....man those were the days!

You have inspired me to go on a mission to find some Classic MFA shows from the Electrifying Mojo 107.5 FM, and 98FM WJLB!....I will let you know what/or if I come up with something.

also...that's to bad about the Fat Back Band, 'I like the girls'(a true funk classic)...I quess I'll have to drop some big bucks down, and buy it on line!

peace out Greg.

super d(motordetroit)

[Simon White]

No question of how much far reaching influence this record had..everything changed after it. Liking it is a different story of course !

I remember the kind of bemused shock we had at the time. How the hell were we supposed to dance to it? It seemed like a throwback somehow to music that we didn't like, that Kraftwerk type electronic stuff as opposed to the big Diva 'n' Strings things. But at the same time it was so new sounding and so alien !

[markydefad]

Planet Rock was a hit while I worked at Aloha Records in SF.

we HATED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(3 snaps in a circle!!!!)

Still do.

Not our kinda record..we were in the GAYEST area of SF-- 18th & Castro....but, back then, some of the "kidz" [not from that neighborhood] did come in to buy it, so it was in stock----but again, NOT OUR TASTE IN MUSIC. Never understood how the Black teens adopted this as a "sound" they grooved to and why they came to Aloha, of all places, to find it.....I liked Kraftwerk...but not this.

[remicks]

Originally Posted by markydefad

Never understood how the Black teens adopted this as a "sound" they grooved to and why they came to Aloha, of all places, to find it.....I liked Kraftwerk...but not this.

But Marky ....... it's classic rap .....you know ..... rip off some other artist and blabber over it !!!!




*****

[markydefad]

remicks,

but isn't it just instrumental? no rap that I recall...but then I may be wrong [I guess I am]--I think I have it on a cd compilation--but never got the 12"

[markydefad]

Any record that ushered in the dreadful HIP-HOP crap is like poison to me.

Bleeeeeech!!! Paralyze my feet, why don'cha babe??? Your hip-hop is killin' me!!! I won't dance-don't ask me. The end of an era of wonderful black music reduced to RAPPIN' over stolen beats.