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March 12, 2005
These Are The Breaks
Thanks to everyone who downloaded my year-old "The Beats Go On" track that was posted here last week. For those who are interested, here are the answers (in sequential order) to "Name That Beat":
1. "Scorpio" by Dennis Coffey & The Detroit Guitar Band
An instrumental Top 10 hit in 1971, "Scorpio" has a really hot drum break that served as the source of that funky fill in Young MC's "Bust A Move". Incidentally, the song's guitar hook (not used on my track) was sampled for LL Cool J's "Jingling Baby".
2. "Amen, Brother" by The Winstons
I can't hear the "Amen" chorus without thinking of Lefty Driesell-era Maryland basketball and that end-of-game singing that they used to do at Cole Field House. The "Amen" break, on the other hand, is pretty much the most (over)used drum-n-bass/jungle break of all time. I love the way that NWA slowed it way down for "Straight Outta Compton".
3. "Shack Up" by Banbarra
In my humble opinion this breakbeat might be the hottest of the six listed here, though the others are probably a little more famous. An awesome break that was put to very good use on Divine Styler's "Ain't Sayin' Nothin" and Dr. Octagon's strangely guitar-heavy "I'm Destructive". These days the song "Shack Up" seems to be more frequently associated with A Certain Ratio, who did a nice cover of it on their 1981 Do The Du EP.
4. "Apache" by Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band
Like "Scorpio", "Apache" was one of the original breaks that Kool Herc played at block parties back in the early-to-mid 70s. A classic percussion jam and a really important record in the early history of hip-hop. Kudos to MOD for naming that beat.
5. "Take Me To The Mardi Gras" by Bob James
Long after recording a "difficult listening" album for ESP and shortly before composing the theme to Taxi, Bob James released a series of numerically titled CTI albums that would later be sampled on a ridiculous number of hip-hop records. "Mardi Gras" is from Two and it's the bell-heavy break that absolutely made Run-DMC's "Peter Piper". Score a beat-recognition point for Jesse P.
6. "Give It Up Or Turnit A Loose" by James Brown
"Funky Drummer" is definitely the more classic break, but it was way too slow to match up with the Sonny & Cher song, so I used a similarly inclined "James Brown grunts over Clyde Stubblefield drums" section from this speedier JB jam. With its driving groove and awesome Bobby Byrd organ lines, this song was quite the early b-boy anthem.
So there they are. Not really my "Top 6 Breaks of All Time" or anything, but 6 classic beats that fit well with the general theme and also with the tempo of the Sonny & Cher tune. Thanks for playin'...
Posted by Tim at March 12, 2005 05:32 PM
Comments
There was a list of "The 50 most influential dance records of all time" on some website 4 or 5 years ago. I snarfed it before it disappeared and stuck it here.
Apache was also #4 on that list :)
BTW, your site says I can log in via TypeKey, but then it says I can't. I think yo need to set your site key.
Posted by: Dav at March 12, 2005 07:25 PM
Ah, I had set the site key but I had accidentally pasted in the URL of the weblog itself instead of the URL of the MovableType installation. Thanks for letting me know!
Posted by: Tim R ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tubafrenzy.org/weblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at March 12, 2005 07:48 PM
i love "apache" in a way that is more than unhealthy. good job, tim.
Posted by: yonni at March 14, 2005 05:48 PM