I watched
Beat Street again the other night. But what was different with this viewing was that I watched the whole thing from start to finish instead of just heading to the battle at
The Roxy as is the usual routine.
So here we have the film in pictures with some analytical commentary.
This is a nice shot of the action that's about to occur.
The Beat Street crew (or rather,
The New York City Breakers) ready for battle.
Look at
Lee's get-up; to paraphrase
Prince Vince, he's sporting it fresh, Homes.
Look Ramo. A white one!
And so it was. Gleaming, clean & fresh.
Unfortunately the subsequent burner sprayed by
Ramo was anything but fresh.
And here it is. I think even in 1984 we were looking at this and thinking, "
Was it Bring Your Daughter To Work Day when they shot this scene?".
Considering
Martha Cooper, Michael Holman, Tony Silver, Henry Chalfont, Kool Herc, The NYC Breakers, Rock Steady Crew, Afrika Bambaataa and
Jazzy Jay were on board then they should have treated the 4th element of hip hop with just as much respect.
And here we go again. What a waste of
Krylon.
Here's Jazzy Jay at The Roxy rocking those shades before Kanye was out of Rusks. Probably.
And proof that someone else other than Mastermind mixed on the GLI.
Richard Sisco. There he is.
With lyrics such as "
Often imotated but never duplicated" I'm wondering, like you, why he never reached the dizzy heights of fame that so cruelly passed him by.
He shoulda dropped that Wanda Dee like a bad habit. Then maybe it would've been HIM singing about thongs.
Here is '
The System'.
Now this guy deserves his own show. No, not the Michael Jackson-alike but the yuppy keyboard player on the right.
The way he grooves and gets down throughout the whole song? He was born with music in his bones, this dude!
Now I might be wrong but weren't these two in the beginning of that
Arena documentary,
Beat This! A Hip Hop History...? They were poppin' on the street in Times Square and peering into the electronics shop watching
Mel Brookes on one of the tv's.
They're called
Fantastic Duo btw. And they are, rather.
This was an influential scene for me when I was growing up.
I had various sound equipment around my room in homage to
Double K's bedroom. Oh happy days.
The man, the myth, the legend.
DJ Kool Herc live at the
Burning Spear.
While it was good to hear Kenny spinning the cool
Tommy Boy ish - well, mixed by
Jazzy Jay actually - it would have been even cooler to have Herc on the wheels of steel.
But then again, I dread to think what they would've made him play.
What a shot.
I mean, look at them. You're facing off with
Rock Steady!!
If this was my POV I'd be uprocking with cacky pants.
The legendary
Kuriaki (RIP) and the immortal diss to
Powerful Pexter:
Powerful Pexter : You're biters, all your homeboys are biters.
Kuriaki: I ain't never stole no moves from you, your moves ain't worth to be bit. So what's up with that, punk?
This was a great scene in that it tried to convey a sense of authenticity of the hip hop culture.
Like
KRS ONE said, "power from the streetlight made the place dark".
We see the guy hooking up the power cable to a streetlight and suddenly the whole room lights up.
US Girls are in the house which is always good. I must admit I had a thing for
Lisa Lee. I think it was the haircut.
But check out the turntable. Hmmm, Double K, I don't think Kool Herc would've let you play at the Burning Spear if he'd clocked this. Why and how did the needle get over there?
That's all for now. The next post will feature a 'cut-out-and-keep' guide to the b-boys at
The Roxy Battle! So what's up with that, punk?
