Search - Various Artists :: The New York Sound 2

In the late 70s, as disco was being purged from the American pop charts in a vicious backlash against the overkill of the previous couple of years, the scene that had spawned it got back to basics. In clubs and warehouses around New York's five boroughs soul was being fused with electronics and both dance music and hip hop were starting to take shape. The second volume of New York Sound continues our look at their genesis by gathering up 10 rare and influential 12-inch mixes from the Spring and Vanguard labels. This compilation gathers up the first jumps into hip hop, including the first time the music was put together by New York funksters the Fatback Band with `King Tim III (Personality Jock)', as well as the response of Millie Jackson who appears with the rowdy `Had To Say It' - available on CD for the first time in its full 12 inch mix. The birth of rap is also summed up well by the presence of the genre's earliest radio star Mr Magic, with his very hard to find 12-inch release `Magic's Message'. We are also able to give you the single by Spectrum City, the first CD release of a track by an act that would become Public Enemy - featuring the distinct voice of Chuck D. The bridge between this music and the out and out dance sounds is spanned by the influential early electro records that we include by the likes of Twilight 22, Frisky and Ritz, the last one a record produced and written by the legendary producer of `Planet Rock', Arthur Baker. Sought-after tunes by Rainbow Brown, Carol Williams and Fonda Rae, all of which have been heavily sampled, complete the collection. With sleeve notes by influential musician / journalist Chris Menist and pristine sound taken from original mastertapes this is a high quality look at the sounds that were beginning to change the musical landscape, not just of early 80s New York, but by the end of the decade, the whole world.