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Mary Ishimoto Morris
ESSENTIAL TRUTHS ACCORDING TO THE GRANDMASTER FLASH
Joseph , aka Grandmaster Flash: Revolutionary. Music pioneering is sometimes a matter of being in the right place at the right time, but in Flash’s case, it’s more about being a Thomas Alva Edison. “Scientist of the mix,” as he’s been dubbed, Flash as a teen-ager in the early 1970’s searched obsessively for three years for a way to take climactic sections of records and manually edit them seamlessly so that “people that really danced, they could just dance as long as they wanted. I got to find a way to do this,” he thought.*
Not only did his invention, the “Quick Mix Theory” (cutting passages of music and ‘rearranging the arrangement by way of rubbing the record back and forth … or back-spinning the record’*) change forever the way DJ’s DJ’ed, but the former high school electronics “Dexter” also modified mixers, turntables and the Vox percussion box to do what he heard in his mind. His influence extends far beyond the hip-hop culture he helped found (he speaks almost grandfatherly of “Eminem”), to rave artists who give him props such as Paul Oakenfold, DJ Tim of the Utah Saints and junglist/turntablist AK1200, just for starters. Native of the Bronx, his family from Barbados, Flash created and performed with a rap group “The Furious Five” (Melle Mel, Cowboy, Kid Creole, Mr. Ness, Rahiem) in the late ‘70s, which would be signed by Sugar Hill Records’ Sylvia and Joey Robinson. Their debut single “Freedom” became an R&B hit in 1980. Blondie made them more famous singing of them in the huge dance hit “Rapture.” “The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel” album in 1981 became a rap landmark in which master DJ Flash blended samples from Blondie and Queen with other Sugar Hill recordings.
In 1982, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five made history again with their seminal hit “The Message,” with its biting social commentary on inner city life (“Don’t push me ‘cause I’m close to the edge / I’m try-ing not to lose my head / It’s like a jungle sometimes / It makes me wonder how I keep from going under”). The singles “Scorpio” and “New York, New York” followed, and in 1983, Flash recorded another single with Melle Mel, the anti-cocaine “White Lines (Don’t Do It).” After that Melle Mel, Cowboy, and Mr. Ness stayed with Sugar Hill, and Flash, Rahiem and Kid Creole went to Elektra Records.
Flash, who has been known to DJ with his toes, elbows and belly, and has been cheered as “The greatest DJ in the world,”* now enjoys gigs like being the musical director for HBO’s “Chris Rock Show” for the past five years, and gets calls from people like Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, to DJ parties, has a contract with Disney/ESPN to play special events, and recently played a fundraiser for Calvin Klein.
The DJ with a specially designed Luis Vuitton record case (which he keeps in a secret place) is also signed for a weekend show with Sirius Satellite radio and DJ’s around the world. He just wrapped up his US “Flash is Back Tour” to promote his new mix-CD, “Essential Mix: Classic Edition,” which features timeless groundbreaking tracks by James Brown, Afrika Bambaataa and the Soul Sonic Force, Indeep “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life”) and Blondie. Music Monthly caught up with the Grandmaster Flash by phone at his NY studio, a week before he came to DC where he went record shopping at Yoshitoshi with contest-winner Ginny Song, and played Buzz to a wild welcome …
*“Last Night a DJ Saved My Life” by Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton, copyright 1999, Grove Press.
MM: Were you involved in the June 4 NYC City Hall demonstration against drastic school budget cuts which a lot of prominent hip-hop artists participated in? GMF: I was definitely involved with that. Mr. (Michael) Bloomberg (NYC Mayor) has to be a little more thoughtful about where he’s going to take his cuts. If it’s going to affect the children, you know? They’re the future! Get the money from some place else. You can’t take it from the kids!
MM: Where were you on 9/11? GMF: Preparing to go to London on 9/13. I was home and my girl called me and says, “My dear, you might as well take it easy because you ain’t going nowhere in 2 days.” I said, “Listen, I’m getting ready to go to London” - we had a huge tour planned. She says, “Well, maybe you need to turn on the television.” I thought I was watching a real bad joke, a scene from James Bond or a war movie or something, but flipping through the channels, it was all the same thing. I was in my bed, in shock.
MM: What about post-9/11? GMF: I had to just re-think. You sort of really sensitize yourself to life. In America, we do tend to take some things for granted. I think I take less for granted now. In comparison to lots of other countries, we have lots of freedoms in America.
MM: Were you afraid to travel after 9/11? GMF: No. If it’s my time, then God will take me. Whether I walk out and get hit by a car, or whatever.
MM: You’re about to play Buzz. Have you played other rave-style events? GMF: I love raves! I don’t get many of those bookings, though. I’d have to say those are the most responsive of any type of people I’ve ever played for. If I want noise, I’m getting it ten-fold. If I want people to jump around, I’m getting the whole damn place to jump. If I wanted them to try to run up on the ceiling backwards, they probably would! It’s an incredible, incredible audience to play in front of. The last one I played, some place out in California, these young guys rented an old airplane hangar and sandwiched me in between house and techno acts, peak hours, maybe 3000 people. They said, “Flash, we don’t want you to play nothing like you hear. We want you to play like you play.” And I was able to do that and it was so amazing.
MM: How did you come up with your DJ name, Grandmaster Flash? GMF: Well, “Flash” was given to me by one of my best friends from the Bronx. Gordon Upshaw was his name. I was 17, 18, maybe. He gave me “Flash” because there was a comic book character “Flash” I used to like. My favorite superhero wasn’t really popular, but he was this mild-mannered businessman during the day, but at night he would change his costume and his name was Tobor the 8th Man, and he moved real, real, real, real, real fast. “Grandmaster” came along 6 or 7 years after from a fan of mine who was into chess and martials arts, that’s where he got the “grand master” from. His name was Joe Kidd, that was his street name. He would say, “You know, you should really call yourself a grand master because of the way you do that thing on the turntables.” It kind of stunned me when he said it, because I wasn’t sure what it meant or what it was. Sounded good, though. So I did some looking, some digging, then I did some thinking. Grand Master. Flash. Grand Master. Flash. Grandmaster Flash. It felt good. It flowed good. And definitively, I felt I was that.
MM: Many critics call your single “The Message” the “greatest rap record of all time.” I’ve also read that you hated it. GMF: Yeah. When we were asked to design a record like that, we had already had a pretty good run prior to that. When we were asked to do a record like that we didn’t really take it too seriously, so we didn’t realize a record like that would do what it did. My biggest problem with that record is, what it came down to is, only one of my MC’s is on that record, and four are off, which sort of messed with my formula. I had a really big problem with that.
Although Sylvia has these great intuitions on things and a lot of times she’s right, any record not done by the whole group is the start of the demise, and it was. And that’s what happened. So it was like to create something as great as that, the price behind that was our demise. She came up with the idea, she was even throwing fragments and ideas at us, like we need a record like this, we need a record like that, and we ducked it for, I don’t know, about a year. We’d come into the office and she’s like, “How’s that idea coming along?” We’d say, “Yeah! It’s coming along fine!” But we was lying, until we was cornered. (laughs) We were basically cornered to do it. It was a good cornering, though.
MM: About scratching, some sources say Grand Wizard Theodore created it and some say you did? GMF: Well, he was my student. When I first came up with this art form, I had a partner, Gene Livingstone. When my music started becoming too loud to play at my house, I brought my setup to 168th Street and Boston Road. There, me and Gene came together and put half his equipment, half my equipment, together and we created a little DJ group. While this was happening, I was just coming out of the final stages of inventing the DJ art form.
MM: Did you know you were doing that when you were doing it? GMF: No. I was looking for something. I was just mad at the way people were playing music prior to me. What I found pretty amazing was that whenever I would rehearse in Mean Gene’s room, there was this little kid in the living room. Where I would use the clock theory and reverse a record back X amount of times to re-arrive at the top of the break, he could do it by just simply picking up the needle and dropping it and be right at the top of the break. I found that so interesting. I was saying to Gene, Listen, the little guy in the living room? I really like what he’s doing. Is it okay if I teach him?” His nickname was “Mean Gene.” He was the bully of the block. So when I asked him he says, “Flash, if you let that little guy, if you let my little brother touch my set, it’s gonna be me and you.” You really didn’t want to piss Mean Gene off, so I would say, Okay, fine. So when Mean Gene would go outside or go to work, I would sneak Theodore in the room. He had to be 8, 9, 10. I would put a milk crate and have him stand on top of it. I would do something and he would do it back. But we kept it quiet for quite some time because I didn’t want to get my ass kicked by Gene!
But it got to the point, I don’t know how much time elapsed, where I sort of forced Gene’s hand, I said, “Listen, I want to show people that he can do this.” So I took that same milk crate and took him outside to a block party, and people were in awe to see this little kid do these things. Now I do credit him with needle drops and I do credit him with adding a new rhythm to the cut, but I’m sure if you were to ask him where did he get it from – like I got my inspirations from Kool Herc and Pete DJ Jones – his inspiration would have to be me. Nobody else wanted to tangle with his big brother! (laughs)
MM: When did you first debut scratching? GMF: It wasn’t called scratching, it was called cutting. My first moment was after I discovered how to do it seamlessly, I went to a park on Cypress Avenue and 138th Street and I played. I thought if I play the most climactic part of duplicate copies of records, let’s say ten duplicate copies, beat matching, one behind another, I should have this audience in this park going crazy. But the fact of the matter is, it was the exact opposite. They just stood there. I cried for a week and then realized that my formula needed accompaniment. And accompaniment was vocals, and it wasn’t until I met a gentleman by the name of Keith Wiggins, known as “Cowboy.” Cowboy was able to vocalize on this new arrangement.
Then I had another big problem. When I would go around trying to teach people how to do this, nobody else could get it. It wasn’t until Theodore was able to get it. And I think in each DJ’s embarrassment, they HAD to catch it. That’s just my point of view. To see this little kid on top of a milk crate doing what Flash does, they knew they had to go home and re-think their strategy. I used to get ridiculed and embarrassed whenever I walked into clubs. It was like, “No, you can’t get on the turntables.” I was trying to spread this thing. I was begging people in the clubs, “Please, can I just get on for five minutes? I have my own records. I’ll even play your records.” They were like, “No, we’ve heard about what you do with records.” So for a good 2 or 3 years it just was like, No. Ridicule. He ruins records. But eventually that had to stop and they would let me on for a few minutes, and DJ’s had to go home and re-think their strategy. So, let’s put it this way. Scratching is a new title for cutting, like rap is a new title for hip-hop. Theodore comes from a cutting era, comes from my era. So if he comes from my era, he could not come from the scratching era, which is 10, 15 years later. He’d be really late in the bunch. He was there early, and he was probably my second pair of eyes. You’ve got 2 more questions, I’ve got to split soon.
MM: I’ve got props to pass on from AK1200, a drum ‘n’ bass DJ – GMF: I’m familiar with him.
MM: He said to tell you he’d just like to pay ultimate respect to you as a forefather in DJ culture – GMF: Thank you.
MM: And tell you that he’ll be touring with Mixmaster Ice and he’d love to pair up with you one day, if you’re interested. GMF: Wooooh! Tell him to get in touch. Let’s see if we can make it happen.
MM: What do you feel your contribution to society is? GMF: I’d have to say the DJ aspect. Giving the DJ a place in music history. There are other things I’ve created – I created a rap group that made great records – but me, Joseph Sadler, the invention of the Quick Mix Theory, that gave DJ’s a way to make a living and gave DJ’s a position from which to show their art.
MM: What music do you listen to relax or get inspired? GMF: A lot of things. Probably everything opposite of a beat, I listen to. I listen to records that have lots of horn arrangements - disco, jazz, funk, whatever, doesn’t matter. Gotta go now! Thank you.
FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT! Maximum respect to David Montgomery, Washington Post reporter, for his July 18 front page article, “Ravers Against the Machine,” about the RAVE (Reducing Americans’ Vulnerability to Ecstasy) Act awaiting a vote in the US Senate. Montgomery’s insightful story reported Buzz’s 10,000-signature petition, the national rave community’s concerns about this bill, and the ACLU’s assertion that the bill violates ravers’ First Amendment rights. Call or write your senators now and urge them to vote against it! Re-pre-sent!
HAPPY 1ST ANNIVERSARY, SONAR! Sonar, Baltimore’s favorite dance music lounge created by LG Concannon aka LoveGrove (Sonic Soul) and Lonnie Fisher (Ultraworld), celebrated its first year on June 30 with both hosts manning the decks. What were some of the challenges and highlights of year one? Says LG: “The biggest challenge, as promoters of one-off events and weekly club nights, was making the switch to trying to get people through the door seven nights a week. Keeping things fresh and trying to please a diverse audience. “The highlights would have to be the array of top-notch guest DJ talent that we were able to showcase at a venue that holds less than 150 people. The fact that guys like Q-Burns Abstract Message, Robbie Hardkiss, Trace, Dieselboy, and the Tiger Hook guys all had so much fun that they wanted residencies.” Why is Sonar moving? “The new venue (407 E. Saratoga Street) will better suit what Lonnie and I do as promoters. It will allow us to bring the guests we want, in the environment that is appropriate. There are some intangibles that have made our Canton location not ideal. The parking, for example, is way better than our current home. It is a warehouse space with two rooms – a lounge and a club side.”
When will Sonar reopen? “September. We should only be down for 4-6 weeks. We are really excited about the move because it will truly allow Lonnie and myself to do what we do best as promoters. We will remain committed to bringing the best DJ talent, but now we have a proper dance floor for them to play to. The sound will be 100% Turbosound in the main room, same sound used at Ultraworld events, so it will be banging. We will also be able to utilize the talent within our family – Seth and Meredith (Double Helix/ Ultraworld) will handle some décor elements, and VJ Kaboom is doing some video work. The lounge side will look and feel very similar to the Sonar that has been on O’Donnell Street. “The lounge side will stay pretty down-tempo and chill, but we plan on mixing that up as well. In addition, we will have a live entertainment permit, so I will be able to host tours that come through, like the Ninja Tune guys. Where before when I was offered a tour I would have to use a rock venue like Fletchers, now I can promote the show in the proper venue. This is definitely more what Lonnie and I had in mind when we started talking about opening up a club together. Watch out, Baltimore!”
ROCK IT! Hook up with “Recline,” the double-mix-CD set with jazzy drum ‘n’ bass mixes by DC d ‘n’ b leaders Ransom aka Harry Schrecengost (Step Syndicate, Capitol City Records, DCDNB) and Bobby Jae (District Soul). Ransom’s reputation as the hardest, sickest, and freshest is solidly affirmed. Ransom mixes are as smooth as silk and precise as fine crystal. Tasteful, uplifting brockin’ out. Bobby Jae’s heart comes through in his warm, upbeat mix laced with rich, dreamy, soulful vocals and infused with love and light. Doubt you’ll be reclining much during these romps.
(The photo of Deep Dish receiving their Grammy in last month’s issue was taken by Daniel Traconis.) See you on the dance floor! Celebrate life! Dance! - MIM