Grandmaster Flash was just inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of fame. My question for everyone. Does he deserve to be in the rock and roll hall of fame?
I believe he does, but i have a few friends that are in an uproar over a person who simply “just scrached records that other people created.”
He was the 1st mainstream band dj to originate that “hypnotic” sound known as a scratch on radio air play. I feel he should be!
Sure, he influenced alot of artists. That leads me to think he deserves to be there.
Anyone know any facts, acheivements or awards GMF has won? I’m trying to put this kid in his place but i can’t access crap from work.
Grandmaster Flash
Hip Hop Pioneer - DJ
Beginnings
During Hip-Hop’s 30yr history, few names have become as well known to music lovers across the globe as that of DJ Grandmaster Flash. Not only is he one of the three pioneers responsible for the musical genre called Hip-Hop, but his use of the turntables made him the first dj to play the turntables as a musical instrument, thus helping to elevate the status of the dj to a masterful, artistic position. He is also responsible for assembling one of the earliest and greatest rap groups of all time - The Furious Five. These are some of the hallmarks of a career which has extended from the Bronx in the early 1970s to all corners of the globe into the 21st Century.
Of Bajan decent, Joseph Saddler, professionally known as “DJ Grandmaster Flash”: was born and raised in the Boogie Down Bronx. It was the area’s streets and nightlife that provided his inspirations. He developed his first crush on vinyl when he was just a boy playing with his father’s records. By the time he was a teenager he was studying electronics and engineering in school, and spinning records at block parties and public parks.
Creating And Displaying The Technique:
By 1971, Flash was inventing and demonstrating innovative dj techniques with turntables in response to his many observations at parties, and of other djs, thus later claiming the turntables to be an instrument… The invention and technique of djing that Flash displayed and changed the way djs played forever was “Cuttin”. This is when the dj literally places their hand on the embodiment of the vinyl, or middle section of the record, and proceed to move or rub the material in a backward or forward motion in conjunction with their fingers on the dj mixer in a left to right, or right to left lateral movement. In Flash’s first years of displaying this technique he was known for “making the record dirty” because not until his time did djs ever place their hands in the body of a record.
“The Quick Mix Theory”, which encompassed the innovative technique of “cutting”, is the technique of using duplicate copies of a vinyl record and scientifically and percussively rearranging the arrangement of the music and extending the break parts of songs. This technique of cuttin’ included sub techniques such as: “Front door/Back door”, which is the on-time repeat of a song with the use of duplicate copies both playing while one is one beat behind the other to give the song an echo effect. “Fake Phasin” is using duplicate copies of the record, allowing one copy to be playing and having the other copy used to insert a short musical section in momentarily. Ex: Good Times break playing on 1 turntable and throwin in or rubbin the word “Good” on top as an enhancement to the song. And, doing tricks with toes, mouth, elbows, behind the back, and 360’s are all techniques that are a part of the Quick Mix Theory of Cuttin’.
NOTE: Some of the scientific thoughts that DJ Grandmaster Flash used to create the Quick Mix Theory were the following:
(Needle shape: Conical or Elliptical, Needle type: Diamond and Sapphire, Turntable (Torque Factor): Rubber Wheel driven, Belt driven, Direct driven, Amplifier type: Vacuum Tube vs. Solid State, Resistor, Capacitor, AC vs DC, Diodes, Oscilloscopes, Signal generators, OHM meters, I=E over R, R=I*E)
The “Clock Theory”, another technique of cuttin’, allowed Flash to find the break of a recorded song quickly by eye, and chooses to repeat or percussify an element or fragment of a sound by, once again, moving the disc in a backward