'you say one for the trouble, two for the time...'We hear new music all the time, but most of the time, of course, it's not new, it's a fresh take on familiar themes, or a little bit louder and faster than the known.
Has anyone now under 30 been dumbstruck by hearing something so fresh and new and so entirely different that they're rooted to the spot for the duration?
As a music obsessed whippersnapper listening to John Peel under the covers I was used to hearing new music but this Hip-Hop stuff was stunning and when 'The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel' and 'The Message' by GrandMaster Flash and the Furious Five dropped around '81 the deal was sealed.
And so The Wardrobe has done it again, seriously, those guys on stage were so old school they taught the teachers and everyone listened when they gave a rammed room a history lesson.
Melle Mel, Kid Creole, Raheim & Scorpio (sadly 'Cowboy' died years ago) joined Kurtis Blow to deliver a hour of rap's early hits with such energy and enthusiasm that no-one wasted time trying to work out how old they must be, just check those muscles!
In a period when rap is so lame that JLC look like the most dangerous, ground-breaking thing at the recent MOBOS, it's impossible to understate the impact that the half decade from 79-84 would have on black music and anyone touched by it. These guys were there at the start, though in the nature of things, their bloc party was quickly crashed by the harder more political edge of Public Enemy and the like.
So in between the encouraging us to wave our hands in the air and the somebody, anybody, everybody screams and the endless queries as to whether Hip-Hop was in the house or not we were treated to 'The Message', 'White Lines', Blow's 'The Breaks' and even 'Rappers Delight' (though I'm pretty sure that originally it had nothing to do with anyone on stage!)
We knew all the words and did the freeze when we were supposed to and yes, Hip-Hop was in the house and we did make some noise.
