Planet Rock (song): Difference between revisions
No edit summary Tag: references removed |
No edit summary Tag: section blanking |
||
| Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
==Sample== |
|||
The main [[melody]] of "Planet Rock" is borrowed from the title track of Kraftwerk's influential album ''[[Trans Europe Express]]'', while the drum pattern is based on the song "Numbers" from the Kraftwerk album ''[[Computer World]]'', another popular underground club record. The borrowings eventually resulted in an [[out-of-court settlement]] between Kraftwerk and [[Tommy Boy Records]] head [[Tom Silverman]]. |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
Revision as of 21:29, 12 January 2010
| "Planet Rock" | |
|---|---|
| Song |
"Planet Rock" is a 1982 song by Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force. Although it was only a minor hit in the US, Canada, and UK, it helped change the foundations of hip-hop and dance music. It is credited with re-developing the electro styleand helped pave the way for other genres such as techno, house, and trance. In November 2004, the song placed at #237 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs Of All Time" and #10 in About.com's Top 100 Rap Songs.[1]. "Planet Rock" peaked at number four on the soul chart and number forty-eight on the Hot 100 [2], and went to number three on the dance charts [3].
Produced by Arthur Baker, "Planet Rock" blends synthesizer and vocoder sounds with breakbeating.funk pioneer George Clinton. It was the first hip-hop recording to use a drum machine.[citation needed]
The record was recorded in the NYC upper eastside Intergalactic Studios, a popular site for NYC clubscene productions. Toward the end of the scheduled recording session, NYC music clubscene fixtures DJ David Azarc, soundman Jim Toth, and promoter Tom Goodkind—all from the Peppermint Lounge—asked Arthur to please hurry. The three had scheduled the next recording session for a band that would become the Washington Squares. Ever accommodating, Arthur told them that things would move faster if they assisted him with the backup vocals. The voices singing "rock it don't stop it" on Planet Rock are in fact those of the Washington Squares.
The influence of "Planet Rock" can still be heard in hip-hop genres like G-funk and in the work of producers such as The Neptunes who use electro-based sounds in their productions.
A music video was also created for the song.
The song was used as the main theme of the 2006 basketball video game NBA 2K7
It was sampled by LL Cool J in the song "Control Myself".
In 2008, it was ranked number 21 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
Rapper Common cited this song as a major influence for his latest album Universal Mind Control especially for the title track.
In the Black Star song "Children's Story," Mos Def criticizes a fictitious DJ for the overuse of sampling the classics. He says "...jacked the beat from Planet Rock."
References
- Ross, Sean (1992). In Street Jams: Electric Funk Part 1 [CD liner notes]. Burbank, CA: Rhino Records.
- ^ Top 100 Rap Songs
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-2004. Record Research. p. 44.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 28.