:: ON THE WHEELS OF STEEL ::

	The legendary Grand Master Flash We all witnessed the show, now here is a brief background on the Turntable Legend of all time.
	Grand Master Flash's influences came from a man name Kool Herc who was a Jamican born that migrated to the states in the late 60's. He brought with him a style called Jamican "Toasting" which is an adaptation of a much older african tribal tradition of recounting stories. In the 70's Kool Herc would DJ at the parks of the Bronx, N.Y (Block Parties) and use 2 turntables to cut back and forth two separate records to create a new sound, and at the same time he would shout over the mic "Throw ya hands in the air, and wave them like you just don't care". As he focused more on the decks, he brought in two friends Coke La Rock and Clark Kent to jump on the mic to get the crowd participation and enthusiasm going. Because Rap was not defined yet, they were classified as the first MC/ DJ Team under the name of Kool Herc and the Herculoids. The parks later became a traditional place for DJ Competitions where the winner was the DJ with the loudest Sound system. Africa Bambbatta (Founder of the Zulu Nation) was also a key figure in these parks bringing over 20 crates of records to every set. He was known for having the biggest record collection and constantly would suprise the audience with throwing in records they would not expect. More on Bam .. When Flash, as a kid named Joseph Saddler came into the parks and saw Kool Herc play, he was fasinated by what he was doing but felt that something was missing. So he would go home and practise for a whole year and developed what he called a "quick mix theory". He would do things that had never been done before like extending the "Break" usually a 4 bar instrumental section of the song and extend it by using two copies of the same track and spinning back and forth, replaying the same 4 bars.
This method then later became the original accompaniment to the rap. Through his passion of electronics and having an electronics degree, he also invented the "cue system" on his mixer. This would allow the DJ to hear the next record in the headphones before it being heard on the P.A System. With all this amunition behind him, he nicknamed himself as Grandmaster Flash (from the influence of "Grand Master" Bruce Lee) and stepped up to the parks with his incredible techniques. To his surprise, instead of the crowd going crazy they would stand there and watch him with total fasination as it was something totally new. This was not what he wanted, so later on he brought the mic along and asked the local kids to rap over what he was doing. Keith Wiggins, known as "Cowboy" (R.I.P) stepped and would hook up with Flash at every park he played at. Within just 6 months, 4 other rappers joined the team : Kid Creole, Mr. Ness, Rahim and Melle Mel. They officially debuted in late 1976 as Grand Master Flash and the Furious Five. Rap progressed through many tapes that floated throughout the Bronx and finally in 1979 the term Hip Hop was coined with the release of Rappers Delight by Sugarhill Gang which sold over 2 million copies worldwide. Then came along a definate historic moment for Hip Hop and the DJ Culture, the release of Grand Master Flash's "Adventures of Grand Master Flash on the Wheels of Steel" in 1981. Flash combined scratching with his quick mixing skills to blend tracks like Blondie's "rapture", Queen's "Another one bited the dust", and Chic's "Good Time" in a way that was out of this world for it's time, and shocked the whole music industry. With this popularity, Sugarhill Records soon released their next hit "The Message" in 1982 which sold over 1 Million copies. This was the first rap record to break away from lyrics of 'who is the better MC, etc.' and concentrate on what was really going on in the ghettos of America. The same year, they also released the classic B Boy Track "Scorpio". But behind the scenes, all was not what it seemed.
	Sugarhill records had a major impact on the group and was calling most of the shots. Most of the raps on "The Message" was actually done by Duke Bootee "Ed Fletcher" (Sugarhill's percussionist) and Melle Mel with the verse "A child is born" from an earlier track "Superrappin". Flash hated the fact that it was advertised as "Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five featuring Melle Mel and Duke Bootee" because the whole Furious five was not involved in the track. Regardless of who had a better voice or writing skills he wanted each of the members to make each other shine. Unfortunately, Flash didn't have much say and it was left in the form with Melle Mel and Duke Bootee. Sugarhill like most record companies continued to tell the group which direction to take and soon Flash decided to leave, taking Kid Creole and Rahiem with him. They signed up with Elektra Records while Melle Mel stayed with Sugarhill, leading the remaining group as Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five. Sugarhill later decided on a anti-cocaine campaign with the group and they released "White Lines - Don't do it" in 1983. It was ironic that around the same time Flash started getting addicted to cocaine.
	Flash quickly overcame the addiction and recorded a lot of underground hit albums for electra. Melle Mel later finally felt the exploitation of Sugarhill and decided that Flash was right, and the group was reformed in 1987 with the album 'On the strength'. Today Grandmaster Flash is still actively in the DJ/ Turntablist scene with many residencys, tours and hosts a radio show on New York's WBLS doing what he does best, Scratching, cutting and spinning the "wheels of steel". Australia welcomes the Grand Master to a new adventure down under ! Grand Master Flash performed at the Hordon Pavillion (Sydney) on Saturday the 17th May 2003.