Super Breaks: Return To The Old School Various Artists (Super Breaks)

£12.56

Genre:
Funk
Label:
BGP
Format:
CD
Catalogue Id:
CDBGPD 204

This product is also available in these versions:
Super Breaks: Return To The Old School, LP (£23.23)

30 years ago this month hip hop made its way onto vinyl for the very first time. It was the start of a process that would replace the music’s original stars, the DJ, with a new one, the MC, who would be rechristened the rapper. This process would allow the music to have the stars that pop marketing campaigns could recognise, and from which international superstars could emerge. It was on the streets of New York and especially the Bronx that hip hop culture emerged in the previous six or so years. It emerged from a single man, whose DJ-ing style not only created the constituent parts of hip hop, but also for much of the dance music that has dominated musical culture in the last two decades. Clive Campbell was a Jamaican who went by the name of DJ Kool Herc. He started to DJ, influenced by the sound system parties that he had seen in Jamaica before his family moved to New York in 1967. The towering system he created gave him an advantage but he found that island sounds were not popular in the Bronx, where they preferred raw funk. He also discovered that certain parts of records raised the atmosphere in the dance. When he had the idea to just play these bits, strung together in a section of his set he called the merry-go-round, he had created the breakbeat. His MC-ing over the tunes, in a rhythmic style influenced once more by island systems, formed the basis of rap.

His unique style was a success and for the next few years he was one of the leading figures in the Bronx. His popularity meant that others copied and refined what he was doing. Grandmaster Flash brought a new level of technical expertise to the mix process, whilst Afrika Bambaataa brought a depth of record knowledge that spurred on a searching mentality and one-upmanship in the search for the ultimate break. The search would be based in the world of black music but would cross over into rock, easy-listening, children’s records and pop. Each DJ had their own specials but a series of anthems started to appear that would become the basis of hip hop’s rise to world domination. A cover of the Shadows UK pop hit ‘Apache’ by a US studio group called the Incredible Bongo Band became “the hip hop national anthem” according to Bambaataa, and no dance would be complete without the blast of James Brown’s ‘Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose’ from the “Sex Machine” LP.

“Super Breaks: Return To The Old School” pays tribute to those early days and the early breaks that rocked the clubs and block-parties of the Bronx and Harlem. We have gathered a selection of cuts that would have been played by Herc, Flash and Bam and also by the likes of Charlie Chase and Grand Wizard Theodore. We also pay homage to the original compilations such as Paul Winley’s “Super Disco Breaks”, which helped spread the message and opened the biggest breaks up to young kids on the streets who were influenced by the big names. I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the release of the first rap record than by celebrating the culture that went before it.

by DEAN RUDLAND

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Track listing

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Side 1

  • 01 Preview Blow Your Head - Fred Wesley & The JBs

  • 02 Preview It's Just Begun - Jimmy Castor

  • 03 Preview Scratchin' - Magic Disco Machine

  • 04 Preview Africano - Earth Wind & Fire

  • 05 Preview Got To Be Real - Cheryl Lynn

  • 06 Preview Apache - The Incredible Bongo Band

  • 07 Preview Johnny The Fox Meets Jimmy The Weed - Thin Lizzy

  • 08 Preview Let A Woman Be A Woman - Let A Man Be A Man (short version) - Dyke & The Blazers

  • 09 Preview Got To Get A Knutt - The New Birth

  • 10 Preview Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose (Live) - James Brown

  • 11 Preview The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap) - Shirley Ellis

  • 12 Preview Mary Mary - The Monkees

  • 13 Preview Get Up And Dance - Freedom

  • 14 Preview Get Ya Some - Melvin Sparks

  • 15 Preview Super Sporm - Captain Sky

  • 16 Preview Who Is He And What Is He To You - Creative Source

  • 17 Preview Funky President (People It's Bad) - James Brown

  • 18 Preview Shifting Gears - Johnny Hammond

Delivery & Returns

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We offer free P&P to UK addresses. For all other territories packaging is free and postage is charged on a weight basis.

We use Royal Mail First Class for UK deliveries and standard Air Mail for all other territories, very large orders will usually be sent via parcelforce. You may cancel your order at any time prior to your order being dispatched by emailing us at orders@acerecords.com ensuring that you quote your name, address and order reference number or by telephoning +44 (0) 208 453 1311 between 9am and 5pm GMT/BST, Monday to Friday. Please note: As music downloads are dispatched immediately after purchase, there is no possibility of cancelling these orders.

In the event that any products supplied to you by us are damaged or defective, we agree to replace or repair the damaged or defective products or refund the amount you paid for such goods (including postage & packaging) providing you notify us (either via post at or e-mail: orders@acerecords.com ) and return the goods within 28 days of purchase. Physical goods should be sent back to us in the same condition you received them to: “Returns” Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the e-mail address above including a copy of your notification.

You have the right to cancel your order within seven days of purchase, or seven days of receipt of the goods (whichever is the longer). If you choose to cancel your order, full payment will be returned to you. Returned items should be sent to: “Returns” c/o Ace Records, Such Close, Letchworth Garden City SG6 1JF, United Kingdom. Music downloads should be returned to us via the email address: orders@acerecords.com including a copy of your notice of cancellation and order number.

Press quotes

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A marvellous set of seminal building blocks reminds us how trailblazing and electrifying the music was in its formative first decade. ★★★★

Record Collector

Customer reviews

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