Download Break Beat Jones (Pt. 1) (right click and select “Save Link As…” or “Save Target As…”), or listen here:
01. Party Breaks Megamix Intro
02. Coldcut feat. Grandmaster Flash & DJ Food – Last Night A Cliche Saved My Life
03. Pepe Deluxe – B-Boy Breakdown
04. Hero No. 7 – Bring The Files, Jim
05. Radar & Z-Trip – Private Parts
06. Katalyst – Active Fusion
07. The Wiseguys – One For The Ladies
08. Zeb Roc Ski – Keep Prepared For The Battle
09. Faze Action – Samba (Rae & Christian Remix)
10. Aromadozeski Therapy – Strudel Strut
11. Runaways UK – In The City
12. Dynamo Productions – Variations
13. Dynamo Productions – Busta Beat
14. Mr. Dibbs – Judah’s Transmission
15. DJ Shadow – Hardcore (Instrumental) Hip Hop
16. Handsome Boy Modeling School feat. DJ Shadow & Quest – Holy Calamity (Bear Witness II)
17. Cut Chemist – 7 Minutes & 48 Seconds Of Funk
18. DJ Format – English Lesson
19. Aromadozeski Therapy – Ranchero-Hop
20. Jadell – Come On And Get Some
Download Break Beat Jones (Pt. 2) (right click and select “Save Link As…” or “Save Target As…”), or listen here:
01. Hero No. 7 – Cut Up Party Record 101
02. DJ Shadow – Numbers Song (Cut Chemist Remix)
03. Hero No. 7 – Cut Up Party Record 102
04. Zeb Roc Ski & Stieber Twins – B Boy’s Revenge (Zeb Roc Ski Remix)
05. Grandmaster Flash – The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel
06. Double Dee & Steinski – Lesson One (The Payoff Mix)
07. Double Dee & Steinski – Lesson Two (James Brown Mix)
08. Double Dee & Steinski – Lesson Three (History Of Hip Hop)
09. Coldcut – Say Kids (What Time Is It?)
10. Coldcut – The Payback Mix (Keep On Doing What You’re Doing But Make It Funky)
11. Coldcut – Beats & Pieces
12. Mantronix – King Of The Beats
13. DJ Shadow – Lesson Four
14. Cut Chemist – Lesson 4: The Radio
15. Cut Chemist – Lesson 6: The Lecture
In 2002, I made this double-CD mix to highlight some of the newer Breakbeat music that I was playing at Saint Andrew’s Hall (see my “Old School Hip Hop” post for more information about my residency there) and at various B-Boy battles in Detroit. At the time, I didn’t have enough of this particular style of music, so I decided to include a brief history of some of the early cut’n’paste essentials. (For additional info on tape editing and the cut’n’paste style of production, check out my “Sandcastles” post).
Here’s an interview with Grandmaster Flash from 1986:
There have not a lot of people in Rap music that I’ve idolized, but Grandmaster Flash was definitely one that I did! In 2000, Grandmaster Flash spoke on a DJ panel at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Later that night, I got the chance to see him up close, spinning records just like he used to do back in the day. I also got my photo taken with him!
While Grandmaster Flash used turntables to do “The Adventures Of Grandmaster Flash On The Wheels Of Steel”, Double Dee & Steinski used reel-to-reel tape edits to make their “Lessons”. It’s mind boggling to think that this is the technique that they used. The following is a basic instructional video that shows what is involved in rearranging a simple sequence of numbers… just think of the time and effort it took to make the “Lessons”:
And here’s what a tape edit mix looks and sounds like during playback: