It was twenty years ago today...

[freakytigger.livejournal.com]

Tomorrow's Pazz and Jop Poll Poll is no ordinary one - it is 1986, era of THE HIP HOP WARS. Now admittedly the Hip Hop Wars had very little if anything to do with the Village Voice but I'm sure we won't let that stop us. To get us in the mood here is an MP3 from each side of the battle lines:

Schooly D - "PSK (What Does It Mean?)" - the 'first gangsta rap' record (so says Wikipedia), Schooly D was championed by certain sections of the NME.

The Bodines - "Therese" - the second single by Glossop indie band The Bodines was included on C86, the legendary compilation put together by certain other sections of the NME.

These should whet your appetites for the feast of commentary (well erm possibly) to be unleashed at lunchtime tomorrow.

Comments

[dubdobdee.livejournal.com]

i reviewed schooly d -- he was performing in EGHAM (http://www.egham.co.uk/)!

[koganbot]

Interesting that this would be a hip-hop war. Indie generally had no trouble w/ hip-hop in the mid '80s, as hip-hop could be rationalized as raw and angry and underground and of the lower orders, hence acceptable to indie dopes. (Schoolly D was not on a major label, by the way.)

[braisedbywolves.livejournal.com]

Bodines better by virtue of being half the length.

[alexmacpherson.livejournal.com]

Isn't this war kind of unfair? I mean in what world could hip-hop NOT win?

[giddyoldgoat.livejournal.com]

As an NME reader during this period it was totally possible to like both Schooly D AND the Bodines - just as many, many Comics Journal readers cld like the X-men AND Love and Rockets - it def felt like the division between rap and indie was as much an NME editorial invention (to stir shit, excite debate, boost sales whatev) as it was a 'reflection' of ppl's rec consumer choices/tastes. Perhaps this kind of factionalism hardened during the 80s - especially as the music papers got more and more indie-rock focussed/friendly.

since nobody is saying much about them...

[mcarratala.livejournal.com]

...I'd just like to say I have always loved both of these tracks. They are kind of complementary: Therese is best listened to with the treble right up, whereas PSK... would have actually blown up my speakers with the bass on full, probably. Therese is fabulously urgent and sort of tripping over itself...