Double Dee & Steinski: The History Of Hip Hop

RP101A

Double Dee and Steinski

• Lesson 1: 'The Payoff Mix'

It's 1983, Tommy Boy Records have just held a remix contest to promote G.L.O.B.E. & Whiz Kid's "Play That Beat (Mr. DJ) and the winner has just been announced. It's unanimous: Steve "Steinski" Stein & Douglas "Double Dee" DiFranco's "Lesson One: The Payoff Mix.

It gets played everywhere on American radio but never gets commercially released. These guys can't afford the clearance on any samples, let alone the bucket load that they've used here.

It's all done with a trailer load of vinyl and a light touch on the pause button of a double tape deck. Loads of kids try and copy the feat.

Two more Lessons soon followed:

• 'Lesson Two: The James Brown Mix'

• 'Lesson Three: The History of Hip-Hop'

Together, these Lessons became history and a new genre was born.

quote monkeyfunk.net
Steve Stein was working with a large advertising agency in the early 80's. Between briefs, he and fellow music-nut Doug DiFranco (Double Dee), spent many hours languishing around legendary NY hiphop club the Roxy, and buckling the counters of every record store with vast hauls.

When Tommy Boy launched an open-door remix contest in 1983, to promote G.L.O.B.E & Whizz Kid's "Play that Beat (Mr.DJ)", Stein & DiFranco hunkered down over a weekend, armed with little else but the song, a turntable, an eight track deck...and a fuck-off record collection, and an already huge, gleaned and lifted library of quotes, out-takes and samples.

The result, "Lessons 1 : The Payoff Mix" won the prize, and cut-ups were born. The record went crazy on the radio, and to this day has inspired kids to start plugging their parents VCR's into a tape deck to lift choice dialogue and soundgrabs. Brainfreeze ? Ninjatune ? Skratch Piklz ? The Lessons series, and Steve's subsequent work including "The Motorcade Sped On", "it's Up To You" and the Nothing to Fear" mix continue to cast a long shadow...

White Label Bootleg 1985

All three mixes were collected together and pressed on a bootleg 12".

Lesson 3 was the A-Side and my white label features the serial number...

RP101A MT

...etched into the run out. (RP101B MT on the flip, of course)

quote fuelfriends
The famed Lessons, which were produced in '83-'85 by Double Dee & Steinski - the first records made entirely from other records. Their innovative purpose was to be fodder for the turntables, a collection of sounds to scratch into others. Self-confessed record junkie Steve Stein (aka Steinski) says he remembers thinking when he first heard these sounds: "There is nothing in this music that I don't want to hear. This is music that I've been waiting all my life to hear . . . and I didn't know it." That's a quote that could just as easily be applied to the birth of the rock 'n' roll, but here the same sentiment is cropping up 20-30 years later in the birth of turntablism and hip hop culture."

Steinski & Mass Media*
"The Motorcade Sped On"
Steve Stein created this cut-up of Kennedy assassination coverage. His label, Tommy Boy, was unable to officially release it because CBS refused to grant clearance for the use of Walter Cronkite’s voice. It was released as a freebie 7" single in the UK 1987.

The download link is here: Download
Filename: A History Of Hip Hop.rar Filesize: 28.04 MB

Street Sounds Edition 7 1983

Street Sounds STSND 007

Another great release on the Street Sounds label. Michael Jackson's Billie Jean was phenomenal at the time and Lydia Murdock grabbed a whole heap of limelight with Superstar with a few surprises, first it ripped off Billie Jean's groove, secondly it was an 'answer back' song and finally it consists of a female rap. Extraordinary at the time but oh so dated now. Instant Funk & Billy Griffin were popular here but for me it was all about side one. Dayton's Sound Of Music, Tom Browne and The Jones Girls in particular but Curtis and Lillo also high on the list.

• Dayton - Sound Of Music
• Curtis Hairston - I Want You
• Tom Browne - Brighter Tomorrow
• The Jones Girls - Knockin'
• Lillo Thomas - I Love It
• Lydia Murdock - Superstar
• Second Image - Don't You
• Instant Funk - You'll Be Mine
• Billy Griffin - Respect
• Lew Kirton - Talk To Me

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Street Sounds.rar Filesize: 78.31 MB

Street Sounds Edition 15 1985

Street Sounds STSND 15

The most memorable Street Sounds Edition for me. Not because of the choice of tracks but because of the climate at the time it was released. Aleem's awesome Get Loose was so overplayed by this time that I always skipped the track when playing this album. Packed full of goodies, as usual and the longevity on this selection is as good as the day it was released. Caprice, 100% still sounds fresh to my ears, as does Evelyn 'Champagne' King's, Your Personal Touch in it's short but efficient Dance Mix format. The beautiful ballad, Mated by David Grant & Jaki Graham is here in it's Extended Version but my favourite tracks are Mr DJ by The Concept, simple but effective, and the track I bought the album for, Princess, After The Love Has Gone the Chief Inspector Remix, which is based on the Wally Badarou classic, Chief Inspector, which was huge at the time.

• The Concept - Mr DJ
• Aleem - Get Loose
• Colonel Abrams - Music Is The Answer
• Brass Construction - Give & Take
• David Grant & Jaki Graham - Mated
• Princess - After The Love Has Gone
• Evelyn King - Personal Touch
• B.T. Express - Uptown Express
• Caprice - 100%
• Masquerade - One Nation

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Street Sounds Edition 15.rar Filesize: 110.98 MB

Street Sounds Edition 14 1985

Street Sounds STSND 14

Another iconic release from the Street Sounds stable. Packed full of goodies, as usual, although some of the big tracks are not so cool now, Five Star - Love Take Over, Ready For The World - Oh Sheila and pretend the Three Degrees - The Heaven I Need (it's not a bad track!) is not a Stock, Aitken & Waterman production. Starpoint - What You Been Missin' and Tramaine - Fall Down (Spirit Of Love) are good songs but for me Frankie Kelly - Ain't That The Truth, Collage - Romeo Where's Juliet, Gardenia - Chiquita Linda and Jeff Tyzik - Sweet Surrender still sound more than just good and Bernard Wright - Who Do You Love simply rules. What a tune, now that's the cherry, that's what it's all about!

• Ready For The World
• The Three Degrees
• Frankie Kelly
• Bernard Wright
• Jeff Tyzik
• Starpoint
• Five Star
• Collage
• Tramaine
• Gardenia

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Street Sounds Edition 14.rar Filesize: 103.38 MB

Street Sounds Edition 13 1985

Street Sounds STSND 13

Another iconic release from the Street Sounds stable. Packed full of goodies, as usual, although the big tracks Steve Arrington - Dancing In The Key Of Life, Atlantic Starr - Silver Shadow, Colnel Abrams - Trapped, Cool Notes - In Your Car and BB & Q - Genie are all fairly common place nowadays, I think Cheryl Lynn - It's Gonna Be Alright (yeah, I know?), Skool Boyz - Superfine (From Behind), One Way - Let's Talk and Rodney Franklin - Fiesta are not heard enough and Billy Griffin's Electrified still sounds so fresh!

• Steve Arrington
• Atlantic Starr
• Cheryl Lynn
• Billy Griffin
• Change
• Colnel Abrams
• The Cool Notes
• Skool Boyz
• Brooklyn Bronx & Queens
• One Way
• Rodney Franklin

...and Oh My Gosh!

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Street Sounds Edition 13.rar Filesize: 105.54 MB

Street Sounds Edition 5 1983

Street Sounds Records STSND 005

Another iconic release from the Street Sounds stable. Packed full of goodies, as usual, and a quarter of a century later there are still healthy tracks here. Oliver Cheatham's Linx ad is here. The first three tracks on each side do it for me but the jewel in this crown is The Funk Masters - It's Over.

• Freeez - I.O.U. (Megamix)
• Aretha Franklin - Get It Right
• Terri Wells - You Make It Heaven
• Kenny Lynch - Half The Day's Gone...
• La Famille - All Night Long
• The Funk Masters - It's Over
• Oliver Cheatham - Get Down Saturday Night
• MCB - I'm The One, You're The One
• Brass Construction - Walkin' The Line
• Wickett - Can't Get Enough Of You

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Edition 5.rar Filesize: 85.52 MB

Street Sounds Edition 1 1982

Street Sounds Records STSND 001

This was the moment that redefined the compilation album. Morgan Khan had worked in the UK record industry since the mid 70's. An Indian, born in Hong Kong, who grew up in London, Khan started the Streetwave record label in 1981 and within a year, Street Sounds was born Compiled from the hottest 12" imports of the day, these releases made the dance floor hits of the time available to the normal guy on the street. In the early 80's a 12" single was priced around £2 and you would pay over £4 for an import 12". The Street Sounds series offered usually 8 to 12 full-length 12" mixes for under a fiver. Understandably, the Street Sounds series was met with considerable enthusiasm and ran for over 6 years. They released 50 albums across the various series, Street Sounds and Electro being the most successful, reaching Edition 20 before restyling and losing the plot.

Strangely enough, the dodgey compilations that resulted from the advent of the House and Rave scene was not the cause of Street Sounds downfall. It was the labels magazine venture that caused them to go bust. It did mean that the label never got to suffer a slow lingering demise though. Respect to Morgan Khan!

On this debut release, Raw Silk & Peech Boys are both special mixes, Don't Make Me Wait is an exclusive 10 minute epic beginning with a long acappella that has been sampled to death. Northend's Tee's Happy is a remix and Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five are the hottest news of 1982.

• Raw Silk - Do It To The Music
• Grandmaster Flash - The Message
• Inner Life - Moment Of My Life
• Northend - Tee's Happy
• Greg Henderson - Dreamin'
• Dunn & Bruce Street - Shout For Joy
• Kadenza - Let's Stay Together
• Peech Boys - Don't Make Me Wait

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Streetsounds Edition 1.rar Size: 72.17 MB

Roshelle Fleming - Love Itch 1986

Crossover SLN 1

• Love Itch
• Love Itch (Instrumental)
• Love Itch (Radio Version)

Listen to that opening vocal, how many times have you heard that voice sampled? Roshelle Fleming, was once part of First Choice, of 'Let No Man Put Asunder' fame. The '70s Philly disco vocal group consisted of Roshelle Fleming, Annette Guest and Ursula Herring. Philadelphia native Fleming is one of the most distinctive lead vocalists in Soul & Dance music. Fleming's vocals are also one of the most sampled, heard on countless dance records from around the world.

This dancefloor cracker is like an extension of Fonda Rae's Electro anthem, Tuch Me (Touch Me). Hardly surprising as it's produced and arranged by Greg Carmichael and Patrick Adams, the guys who wrote and produced Tuch Me and were also behind Universal Robot Band, Inner Life, Phreek, & Bumblebee Unlimited. Love Itch was mixed by Elai Turbo, who has worked on Run DMC & Alyson Williams among others.

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Roshelle Fleming.rar Filesize: 25.5 MB

Malcolm McLaren - Double Dutch 1983

Chrysalis Records MALC 312

To be truly cynical for a moment, it's easy to suggest that McLaren preyed upon the stupid. After taking the dumb, young testosterone filled white teenage rock scene by storm with the Sex Pistols, he then proceeded to do the same with young black teenagers, taking the whole B-Boy/Hip Hop/Electro thing out of 'The Projects' and putting it onto the World stage.

('Of course we know who can really blow')

The true wonder lies in the fact that he was able to do it after being labeled as a 'con man' on the music scene. Of course, the fact of the matter is, he was bloody good at exploiting an opportunity. I was about to say talent but I don't think that description covers Sid Viscious? McLaren was a genius of sorts but love him or hate him, he did bring The World Class Supreme Team Show to our attention and for that alone, I'll allow him the room to exist in my little piece of the web.

The main release here is credited to Malcolm McLaren & The Ebonettes and is basically, Double Dutch is like a theme song for the skipping sport of the American Double Dutch League. That makes it sound like crap but I love it, it's not quite singing and not quite rapping either, set over a traditional African melody with a catchy chorus. Considering that this was the follow-up to the revolutionary Buffalo Gals, it must have taken some balls to put this out, or a good accountant.

"Schemin' on the meaning of a jazz thing."

The flipside is credited to Malcom McLaren & The World Class Supreme Team Show but McLaren don't figure on this except in the writing credits. She's Looking Like A Hobo seems to be either the track that was used in Buffalo Gals or an extension of the idea used in Buffalo Gals. Either way, if you like the music behind that track, you'll enjoy this. I like all of this release, it's fresh and interesting a quarter of a century down the line but the track that makes it essential to me is D'Ya Like Scratchin'? This track always makes me feel good with its hip hop scratch and rap skills set over a soulful melodic backbeat. Returning to my opening cynicism, this is probably an advert for their radio show but as with all McLaren's projects, it's done so well that you don't feel the pain.

Novacaine for the Soul?

• Double Dutch (New Dance Mix)
• She's Looking Like A Hobo
• D'Ya Like Scratchin'? (Special Remix)

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: Malcolm McLaren.rar Filesize: 33.26 MB

The Masterdon Committee - Funk Box Party 1982

Dee Jay Limited Edition BLUE-002

• Part 1
• Part 2

This is a Old School Hip Hop classic that I, once again, gotta give props to Marcus for. I didn't hear it until 1986/7 when Barry B put it out in one of his mixes layered with DSM's Destiny. The Mastermix Dance Party went out on the Thursday night and on Friday I would generally spend lunch down in the basement with Marcus and a cassette tape, playing name that tune on the car stereo. Good Times!

"Listen, listen, listen for the beatbox, Huh!"

The group came from the 147th street area of 70's Harlem, New York and comprised of MasterDon, Pebbly Poo, Gangster G, Keith KC, Boo Ski & Johnny D. It's a 'call and answer' style track that has been used many times since, a lively crowd in the studio alongside the crisp 808 beats and old school claps. It sounds like they were having a damn good party when they recorded it. Further in, the raps really kick in, Pebbly Poo's spot is one of the earliest examples of the aggressive female style developed by Roxanne Shante a few years later.

I was too late for the original pressing but managed to get a re-issue a few years later. Funk Box Party is an awesome tune and absolutely essential. Part 1 is the vocal and Part 2 is an Instrumental with vocal chorus.

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: The Masterdon Committee.rar Filesize: 23.26 MB

Direct Drive - I Need Some Sunshine 1985

DDR Records DRD 3

Paul Hardcastle made his recording debut on keyboards in 1981 on "Don't Depend On Me", a single by UK soul act Direct Drive. He left after their next release and formed First Light with vocalist Derek Green, whom he'd worked with on the Direct Drive sessions. While enjoying success with First Light, he was still engineering Direct Drives releases.

Helen Rodgers vocals are ably backed by the original band members, Mick Ward (Bass), Pete Quinton (Drums), Bob Williams (Guitar) and Bones (Congas).

• I Need Some Sunshine
• Pass The Paper
• I Need Some Sunshine (Instrumental)

The Download Link is here: Download
Filename: DRD 3.rar Filesize: 32.43 MB