Any Freestyle Fans Here??

[Robbie]

If disco music was me from 3-6 years old, then freestyle was me from 10-15. I can remember back in the days when WPLJ was "Power 95" and I heard songs like:

Cover Girls: "Show Me"
Noel: "Silent Morning"
Nancy Martinez: "For Tonight", "Move Out"
Expose: "Point Of No Return", "Let Me Be The One", "Come Go With Me"
Stevie B: "Party Your Body", "Dreamin' Of Love", "Spring Love", "I Wanna Be The One"
Dino: "I Like It"
Giggles: "Love Letter"
Sweet Sensation: "Sincerely Yours"
Sa-fire: "Boy, I've Been Told", "Thinking Of You"
Pajama Party: "Yo No Se"
Shana: "I Want You"
Corinna: "Temptation"
Yvonne: "There's A Party Going On"
and many others.

WKTU still does the Freestyle Free For All on weekend nights, although it might only be an hour now. This takes me back to grammar and freshman/sophomore year of high school. Anybody else have memories of freestyle??

[Fantomas]

Free style was my thing. Where in Jersey are you from?

[Robbie]

Fantomas--

I live in Hillsdale, which is a few towns away from Paramus, if you're familiar with that area. If you take Garden State Pkwy. northbound past Saddle Brook/Rt. 80 it's not too far from there.

Glad to see another freestyle fan here. I have good memories of that music when I was younger. I think the first freestyle song/group I ever knew was Lisa Lisa, when they did "I Wonder If I Could Take You Home". Another popular song at that time was Alisha's "All Night Passion" and the original version of Expose's "Point Of No Return". This was all in the summer of '85. I remember hearing all those songs on WPLJ (Power 95) back in the day. Regina's "Baby Love", Alisha's "Baby Talk". I remember going to my cousin's house in Long Island back then and hearing Alisha's tape playing in the car.

Who was the group who sang "Boom Boom Boom (Let's Go Back To My Room)"?? I remember hearing that a lot too. Nice and Wild's "Diamond Girl", "Dream Boy/Dream Girl" (forgot the two singers who sang that one). There were so many great songs that came out at that time. There's a circuit called "Legends of Freestyle" that performs in the Northern N.J. area. I hear about it on WKTU if I have it on.

[Jeff H]

Robbie--

Paul Lekakis sang "Boom Boom Boom"; he had another hit a few years later with a song called "My House" and later came out as HIV-positive.

I like many of the songs you named too, but I never really knew they were considered "freestyle"--what determines that classification anyway? As far as I knew, most of those songs were just the way dance music evolved in the mid/late '80s--and what our hometown DJs played when they weren't spinning SAW records.

[Robbie]

Jeff H--

I don't know the classifications, either. I see lots of Freestyle compilation CD's at the record store and most of the songs I named appear on most of them. There are some that are non-stop mixes as well.

[Mixmachine]

Resurrecting this old post

The first Freestyle' song I remember was Man Parrish's "Hip Hop Be Bop" (no image!:icon_evil:) released sometime in '82, For local Deejays (as far as I can remember) there was very few (if any) similar sounds to mix with this until Hashim's "Al-Naafiysh(the soul)" came along soon after in '83, the year the flood gates of "Hip Hop" (as we called it here in Miami )opened up and became the Sound of Miami.

Here in this city we never felt any scarcity of good Club music, as a DJ, one could play Latin Hip hop all night long, we definitely never missed a step because of any 'Disco Backlash' affecting the rest of the USA, more clubs than ever were jam packed and local 'freestyle' artists were flourishing, and many local Djs became producers and remixers..

By 1985, 'break dancing' was still all the rage, by then 'House' became part of the Djs' play list, but 'freestyle' was still popular in the city until '89 or so..

[disco1999]

Of course I luv freestyle, the Cover girls, Pretty poison etc etc

I am a little confused here, I tought the tracks you have mentioned above were refered to be Electro but not freestyle, am I wrong ?

[djscream67]

Freestyle for me was more evolved in the early 80s with songs from Loleatta Holloway (Crash Goes Love) and Jenny Burton and C-Bank (Remember What You Like, One More Shot), then there was Hi-NRG, which was more of a faster pitch freestyle, Groups like Dead Or Alive (You Spin Me Round Like A Record) and New Order (Confusion) made that happen. Electro had something to do with them as they were in the mix to evolving and phasing into different styles of dance music. Today it's like "What is techno and breakbeats?" Not a one can really say what's what in music genres anymore. I say it's all just simply....Dance Music! :icon_lol:

[QUINNY]

If I knew what it was, I'd have probably liked it. This side of the Atlantic, so far as I'm aware, the term Freestyle didn't enter our vocabulary BITD.

It's one of those genres that confuses the hell out of me. I'm not so sure anyone really knows what it referred to, as this thread more than demonstrates.

[Super D]

If I knew what it was, I'd have probably liked it. This side of the Atlantic, so far as I'm aware, the term Freestyle didn't enter our vocabulary BITD.

It's one of those genres that confuses the hell out of me. I'm not so sure anyone really knows what it referred to, as this thread more than demonstrates.

Interesting, must have been an 'east-coast' term!__This is the first I have heard of it termed 'freestyle'..... I always considered the stlye as club/dance music....we had a few cross-over radio stations around the time... Club 96.3 and Dance 93.1___ when I would hear one of those tunes like, 'point of no return', and 'one more shot', it was often played on one of the dance stations.

learn something new everyday!...... is, 'Jam on it', by Newcleus considered 'Free-style' music. How bou't 'Flame Thrower' by the J-Giles band???

super d(motordetroit)

[Thereza bizarre]

I love freestyle and break beats, break dance and dance music from the 1980's in general what about herbie hancock's "rocket"? good one for skippin beat or shanonn "let the music play"

[Mixmachine]

I am a little confused here, I tought the tracks you have mentioned above were refered to be Electro but not freestyle, am I wrong ?

Well, you may be right today, but in all honesty when this music first appeared most of my close working DJ friends and I didn’t call this type of music anything else but “hip hop” after Man Parrish ‘s hit, that song afaik was the first club hit to use the drum machine, which later was heavily used in most of the mid 80’s club music, including “freestyle” as we all know.

If I knew what it was, I'd have probably liked it. This side of the Atlantic, so far as I'm aware, the term Freestyle didn't enter our vocabulary BITD.

quinny a lot of music from the mid 80’s has been lumped together (at least here in Miami ) into this denomination even though they may sound a bit (sometimes a lot) different, but most of the hit songs had more of a Latin beat influence behind it, (some one once described musically the beat pattern around here) even if sometimes they sounded more on the Techo-funk side as described this days, “one more shot” by C-bank may fall in this category.

Check out this cut if you haven’t already, this is pure non-adulterated Miami Club “freestyle” music and should help you (or anyone) narrow down this elusive but fun side of 80’s Disco/Dance music.

“Please don’t Go” - Nayobe


also check out this Cd's playlist, this is all mid 80's Miami club Freestyle, music, this Cd, except for an annoying humming during the first cut is excellent, (if you like freestyle) mixed by an old friend Dj Ciro of Casanova club.

http://www.discomusic.com/cds-more/5454_0_3_0_C/

[Thereza bizarre]

Thanks , i know what freestyle is and in britain at the time that came under the heading of break beat hip hop or freestyle at the time.

i need no help there. i was just suggesting things in a similar vain i guess but if you need to be exact i do understand as i do not like people "genre'izing" for the sake of it.

and the drum machine you refer to was used long before the obe you mentioned.
tr 808-1980
linn lnm1-1979
oberhiem dmx-1981
etc.....

[Dayna]

History of Freestyle Music | ClubFreestyle. com - Freestyle Music Community

Great article on the history of Freestyle..when I lived in Tampa if we wanted to hear freestyle we would have to drive close enough to south fla to pick up a ft lauderdale or Miami radio staion to hear it..
My fav freestyle tunes
Full Circle-Company B
Like a Child-Noel
Be Mine Tonight-Promise circle
Come Go With Me-Expose
Temptation-Corina.."thats my girl"
Notice Me-Sandee
Dancing On The Fire-India
Anything by Trinere
Funky Little Beat-Connie
Yo No Se-Pajama Party
100 Greatest Freestyle Songs

[Mixmachine]

Thanks , i know what freestyle is and in britain at the time that came under the heading of break beat hip hop or freestyle at the time.

i need no help there. i was just suggesting things in a similar vain i guess but if you need to be exact i do understand as i do not like people "genre'izing" for the sake of it.

and the drum machine you refer to was used long before the obe you mentioned.
tr 808-1980
linn lnm1-1979
oberhiem dmx-1981
etc.....

I was reading this topic again and I think this post was directed at me, and forgot to reply before :icon_rolleyes:

I'm glad you need no help with your "freestyle" knowledge, I know the "Drum Machine" was used before Man Parish's hit , after all George McCrae used a primitive one with his "Rock your baby" monster hit, this was in 1974 even before the examples you mentioned above.

But I was referring /discussing "freestyle" here, pioneering Hit freestyle records in particular, and I don't know of any Hit record before the Man Parrish's "Hip Hop" record in '82. ( Bernie added an image !! )

If you (anyone) knows of any other title that opened up the door to "Freestyle/Techno Funk (and Miami Bass music) before Parrish's hit, I 'd like to know,after all I'm always open to new knowledge.:icon_cool:

[Mixmachine]

If I knew what it was, I'd have probably liked it. This side of the Atlantic, so far as I'm aware, the term Freestyle didn't enter our vocabulary BITD.

It's one of those genres that confuses the hell out of me. I'm not so sure anyone really knows what it referred to, as this thread more than demonstrates.

Quinny, I was looking online for a freestyle song to id and came across this CD I'd seen a while back on TV, lots of Miami records in there..

Forever freestyle

Also , I had no idea how many Freestyle compilations you can find on Amazon :icon_eek:
Greatest freestyle

Just listening to the clips, of this CD (and the others) should leave no doubts as to what was/is Freestyle.

Freestyle hits

Of all this cds this one is the best for my taste, as almost all this songs I used to spin BITD.

Freestyle greatest hits

I wonder if any on this cuts played in the UK???

[DoughBoy]

I have many fond memories of Freestyle music. It was pretty much all the rage in South Florida from about '86-'90. Although I was too young to be going to clubs at this time, they played it all over the radio, skating rinks, theme parks, etc.
Ironically, at the time it was referred to as 'House music'. At least this is what I recall. I never heard the term Freestyle until well into the 90s'.

As noted, it never really died per se. Just kind of evolved a bit but the times and styles change. Things in the Dance genre are either heavily Electronica or pop minded basic hip hop beats. I view Freestyle personally as a faster, Latinized version of Disco/Hi-ENG...perhaps a bit darker in some respects.
Like many fine arts, grossly under appreciated and over looked.
It was hard not to grow up in the late 80s in places like NYC, Miami, LA, Chicago and Not be exposed to lots of Freestyle.

I still listen to many of the classics on my Ipod and in the car.