DREAD MEETS B-BOYS DOWNTOWN

[Greg Wilson]

DON LETTS: DREAD GOES B-BOY
By Grahame Bent

'Dread Meets B-Boys Downtown' the third volume of Don Letts - DJ, filmmaker, Clash associate and one time Big Audio Dynamiter - 'Social Classics' series of compilations is to be released on both CD and double vinyl by Heavenly / EMI on August 23rd.

Following up on the vintage dub fest that was 'Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown' and subtitled 'The Hip Hop Sound Of New York '81-'82 As Selected By Don Letts' this 16 track compilation of old school hip hop, electro and block party classics from Grand Wizard Theodore, Hashim, The Fearless Four, Fab Five Freddy, Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five ('The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel'), Malcolm Mclaren / The World Famous Supreme Team ('Buffalo Gals'), The Micronauts, Fantasy Three, The Mohawks ('The Champ'), Babe Ruth ('The Mexican'), Kraftwerk ('Metal On Metal'), Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band ('Apache') and, for the first time on CD, The Clash's 'Outside Broadcast', adds up to a comprehensive overview of the evolving sound of early 80's New York.

Working at the time as The Clash's film documentarist, Don Letts explains via the album's sleeve notes how he came to find himself an eye witness to the hip hop revolution as it spilled downtown from its historic birthplace in the South Bronx to the streets of Manhattan.

"It was in 1981 when The Clash went to New York to do seven shows taking yours truly along to document the event. The seven shows were oversold and the The Clash had to play seventeen shows back-to-back to satisfy demand. I neglected to mention that the venue was smack bang in the middle of Manhattan in a place called Bond's Times Square. The plan was for me to stay in New York and edit 'Clash On Broadway'. I stayed editing the film right up until The Clash played Shea [Stadium] in the summer of '82.

"But I digress 'cause this isn't my story or indeed that of The Clash. It's just the reason we were in N.Y.C. at a crucial moment in time when a new sound from the Bronx was about to rock the planet from that time till this. It was in this musically charged atmosphere that there seemed to be, for a brief moment, a punky hip-hop party.

"I can't begin to explain the way it sounded when I first heard things like 'Planet Rock' or 'The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel' walking down say 42nd Street. A mixture of excitement and danger, Hispanics and blacks, movie theatres showing kung fu or horror triple bills, checker cabs, ho's and dealers all fighting for space. Maybe if you played 'em over the opening scene of 'Taxi Driver' you might come close.

"Now the hip-hop scene was well on its way to being established in the Bronx and Harlem from the mid-seventies in places like Disco Fever and Harlem World. It was during my stay in N.Y.C. that the evolving scene would migrate downtown to the Roxy via Club Negril.

"Now The Clash didn't exactly bring hip-hop downtown but they certainly brought it halfway. During their 17 back-to-back shows at Bond's, amongst the many supporting acts (which included Lee Perry) was Grandmaster Flash. Now these essentially white rock fans weren't ready for no musical education. You could figure that out by the amount of bottles and cans that were flying through the air. Little did they know that some twenty odd years later this was the sound that would dominate. As for The Clash, by the time they played Shea the following summer hip-hop had left its mark on several of their tunes and would stay with Mick right through to Big Audio Dynamite."

The official launch party for 'Dread Meets B-Boys Downtown' will take place from 7.30-11.30 pm on August 10th at The Social in London's Little Portland Street and will feature a DJ shakedown from the Dub Cartel of Don Letts and one time Big Audio Dynamite colleague Dan Donovan with a special guest appearance from pioneering UK electro funk DJ Greg Wilson. And here's the best part. The whole thing's free to all nostalgic B-Boys and all other interested parties!

FULL SLEEVENOTES:
http://www.ilikemusic.com/features/528

ALBUM LAUNCH:
http://www.heavenly100.com/latestnew...&item=1362215#

[Forrrce]

Should be an interesting evening. I'll be there.

[Greg Wilson]

Should be an interesting evening. I'll be there.

Good to know that the Forrrce will be with us :)