The Story Behind "Rapture" by Blondie

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Music, New Wave, Pop Music, Rap, Retro, Video  No Responses »
May 242013
 

 

Blondie released “Rap­ture” on Jan­u­ary 12, 1981. It peaked at #5 on the U.K. Sin­gles Chart and #1 on the U.S. Bill­board Hot 100. It was Blondie’s last U.S. hit until they released “Maria” in 1999.

“Rap­ture” is a fusion of musi­cal styles (post­punk, new wave, and hip-hop. It was the first sin­gle with a rap to top the music charts, as well as the first rap music video broad­cast on MTV. The U.S. 7″ record con­tained the album ver­sion, while the U.K. 7″ offered an edit. The U.S. 12″ vinyl included an addi­tional verse and is not even an entire minute longer than the album ver­sion. Pro­ducer Mike Chap­man remixed “Rap­ture” to cre­ate a Spe­cial Disco Ver­sion. In 1988, D.J.‘s would remix some of the most pop­u­lar Blondie songs with a cur­rent sound. The remixes proved so pop­u­lar, a com­pi­la­tion of Blondie and Deb­bie Harry’s solo hits was issued, enti­tled Once More into the Bleach.

Lead singer Deb­bie Harry had an ear for new trends. She used to take Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic to New York clubs and expose them to new things. While club­bing, Deb­bie became friendly with Fab Five Freddy and name-checked him in “Rap­ture.” Fab Five Freddy actu­ally appears in the music video for “Rapture.”

Ver­sions
Rap­ture [U.K. 7″ Promo Ver­sion] 3’53
Rap­ture [Edited Ver­sion] 4’50
Rapture [U.K. 7″ Mix] 4’59
Rap­ture [Album Version/Long Ver­sion] 6’33
Rap­ture [U.S. 12″ Mix] 7’13
Rap­ture [Spe­cial Disco mix] 10’01
Rap­ture [The Teddy Riley Remix] 6’58

Music Video
The music video for “Rap­ture” is shot to appear as if it takes place in the East Vil­lage of Man­hat­tan. While Deb­bie Harry sings and raps to the cam­era, William Barnes, a dancer in a white suit and top hat, fol­lows her. Rap­per Fab Five Freddy and graf­fiti artists Lee Quinones and Jean-Michel Basquiat appear in the video. Sup­pos­edly, Basquiat, an Andy Warhol pro­to­gee was asked to be in the video when Grand­mas­ter Flash did not show up.

Mem­o­ries
I can remem­ber shortly after we moved from Waco to Burleson, watch­ing Solid Gold on TV in my bed­room. Deb­bie Harry hosted the show and sang “The Tide Is High.” I liked the song, but it was no “Heart of Glass” or “Call Me,” in my opin­ion. Later in the pro­gram, she played the music video for Blondie’s new sin­gle, “Rap­ture.” It totally blew my lit­tle 7th grade mind. I wanted to rush out and buy the song after I heard it once. After the hol­i­days, “Rap­ture” began to receive air­play and it always seemed to be on the radio when my sis­ter Vicki drove me to school or picked me up after­wards. I always loved the rap, prob­a­bly because I loved old sci­ence fic­tion movies from the ‘50s.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Rap­ture” by Blondie?

The Story Behind "Push It" by Salt-N-Pepa

 80s, Flashback Fridays, Hip Hop, Music, Pop Culture, Rap, Retro, Video  No Responses »
Feb 172012
 

Salt-N-Pepa orig­i­nally released “Push It” as the B-Side to “Tramp” on Sep­tem­ber 8, 1986.  The sin­gle peaked at #21 on the U.S. R&B Chart.  Cameron Paul, a DJ and pro­ducer in San Fran­cisco, remixed “Push It,” and Next Plateau Records released it as a sin­gle.  “Push It” peaked at #19 on the U.S. Bill­board 100 on Feb­ru­ary 20, 1988.  The song charted at #2 on the U.K. Sin­gles Chart.  The suc­cess of the sin­gle helped their debut album, Hot, Cool & Vicious sell one mil­lion copie.  Salt-N-Pepa was the first female rap act to score a gold or plat­inum album.  “Push It” was also nom­i­nated for Best Rap Per­for­mance at the 1989 Grammy Awards, but lost to DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “Par­ents Just Don’t Under­stand.”  The song was released again on Feb­ru­ary 8, 1999 as “Push It (Again)” to pro­mote The Best of Salt ‘n Pepa compilation.

Ver­sions
Push It [Remix/7″ Remix/Full Length Remix] 4’29
Push It [U.S. Remix] 3’30
Push It [UK Mix (The Shuv’d Mix)] 6’50
Push It [Orig­i­nal 4’09

Music Video
The music video for “Push It” cap­tures Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandy “Pepa” giv­ing an ener­getic per­for­mance in front of a crowd, while Dee Dee “DJ Spin­derella” Roper scratches records, Hurby “Luv Bug” Azor pro­vides spo­ken bits and plays key­boards, and two males dance behind the James and Denton.

Mem­o­ries
Salt-N-Pepa have always had an empow­ered sense of humor in their music that I’ve appre­ci­ated. How can you not want to get up and move when you hear “This dance ain’t for every­body, just the sexy peo­ple”? I remem­ber hear­ing “Push It” on the radio and in clubs, but I don’t remem­ber ever see­ing the music video on MTV.  As sur­pris­ing as it may seem, I don’t recall the sug­ges­tive nature of the title reg­is­ter­ing with my friends or myself, we just like the exu­ber­ant energy of the music and rap.  I remem­ber bor­row­ing my friend Duane’s cas­sette of Hot, Cool & Vicious.  I’m not sure if I ever gave back to him.

What are your mem­o­ries of “Push It” by Salt-N-Pepa?