Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash, 2007
Grandmaster Flash, 2007
General information
Genre (s) Hip hop
founding 1979, 1987
resolution 1983, 1989
Founding members
Grandmaster Flash
rap
 Melle Mel
rap
 cowboy
rap
 Kidd Creole
rap
 Mr. Ness aka Scorpio
rap
 Rahiem

Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five was an American hip hop group that developed from 1977. It came about when Grandmaster Flash performed together with the Furious Five ( Melle Mel , Cowboy, Kidd Creole, Mr. Ness aka Scorpio and Rahiem).

Band history

Grandmaster Flash began working with the Furious Five around 1978. The group earned an excellent reputation in New York City , based on Flash's skills as a DJ , but also on the powerful rap of the Furious Five with its characteristic lyrics. The debut single Superrappin was released in 1979 by Enjoy and just a year later the band signed a recording deal with Sugar Hill , the first major hip-hop label. With Freedom , the first single for Sugar Hill, the first hit hit in the R&B charts and around 50,000 units sold. After the similarly successful single, The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel was released in 1981 , one of the most important hip-hop taxis ever. For the first time, Flash managed to showcase his amazing DJ skills by creating a collage of song snippets by Chic , Blondie and Queen .

In 1982 the album The Message and the successful single releases The Message and 1983 New York, New York and White Lines (Don't Don't Do It) (also released under Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel) were released. They are probably the most prominent representatives of the early socio-critical trend in Hip Hop ( Conscious Rap ), which primarily described life in the shabby and violent South Bronx and was typical of early Hip Hop . A little later there was tension between Flash and Melle Mel with the result that Melle Mel left the band to go into business for herself under the name Grandmaster Melle Mel and The Furious Five. After a few solo albums, Flash reformed the band in 1988 for a charity concert at Madison Square Garden , followed by the comeback album On the Strength . However, this only got a mediocre response from both critics and fans. In 1994 the band got together again for a rap tour with Run-DMC and Kurtis Blow , in 1995 Flash and Melle Mel worked with Duran Duran on a cover version of White Lines .

In 2007 the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame .

Discography

The list is probably incomplete. In addition to the sound carriers of Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five, other albums and maxis of the various fragmentations are performed.

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
The message
  UK 77 10/23/1982 (3 weeks)
  US 53 10/16/1982 (24 weeks)
Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five
  DE 32 11/28/1983 (15 weeks)
Greatest Messages
  UK 41 06/23/1984 (16 weeks)
On the strength
  US 189 04/30/1988 (3 weeks)
Singles
The message
  AT 9 02/01/1983 (8 weeks)
  CH 11 05.12.1982 (4 weeks)
  UK 8th 08/28/1982 (11 weeks)
  US 62 10/16/1982 (7 weeks)
New York New York
  DE 18th 07/18/1983 (14 weeks)
  CH 9 08/21/1983 (5 weeks)

Albums

  • 1982: The Message
  • 1983: Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five (with the songs New York New York and White Lines )
  • 1983: Greatest Messages
  • 1984: Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five
  • 1985: They Said It Couldn't Be Done
  • 1985: Stepping Off
  • 1986: The Source
  • 1987: Ba-dop-boom-bang
  • 1988: On the Strength (Reunion album)
  • 1998: Flash Is Back
  • 2002: The Official Adventures of Grandmaster Flash

Singles

  • 1979: Super Rappin '
  • 1981: The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel
  • 1981: It's Nasty (Genius of Love)
  • 1982: The Message (Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five)
  • 1983: Scorpio (Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five)
  • 1983: New York New York (Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five)
  • 1983: White Lines (Don't Do It) (Grandmaster Flash & Melle Mel; also with The Furious Five)
  • 1984: We Don't Work for Free (Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five)
  • 1984: Step Off (The Furious Five / Cowboy, Melle Mel & Scorpio)
  • 1984: Beat Street (Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five)
  • 1984: Jesse (Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five)
  • 1985: Pump Me Up (Grandmaster Melle Mel & the Furious Five)
  • 1985: Sign of the Times (Grandmaster Flash)
  • 1988: Magic Carpet Ride (Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five)

Web links

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Jason Ankeny: Grandmaster Flash . In: Vladimir Bogdanov (Ed.): All Music Guide to Electronica: The Definitive Guide to Electronic Music . Backbeat Books, San Francisco CA 2001, ISBN 978-0-87930-628-1 , pp. 221 f .
  2. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH UK US