THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

444-De La Soul-A Rolling Skating Jam Named ”Saturdays.”

1991-Number 22 single.

Best Bit-At 0.17.’All that scratchin’ is makin’ me itch.’

De La Soul were formed in high school in the Amityville area of Long Island, New York, United States, in 1988 by Kelvin Mercer, known by his stage name ‘Posdnuos,’ David Jolicoeur ‘Trugoy the Dove,’ and Vincent Mason Jr. ‘Maseo,’ all three have used other stage names on occasions. A demo of the song ‘Plug Tunin” came to the attention of Paul Huston who is better known by his stage name ‘Prince Paul,’ which led to him working with and producing the first three critically acclaimed Albums of De La Soul.

De La Soul (see also best songs 246) had released their debut Album ‘3 Feet High and Rising’ in 1989 to critical acclaim, with many of the songs themes being focused on peace and harmony, this led to them being labelled the ‘Hip-Hop Hippies,’ an image they attempted to shred on the second Album ‘De La Soul Is Dead,’ from where this song was released as the first single. ‘A Roller Skating Jam Named ”Saturdays” is a lighthearted song about having fun, the songs title is derived from the roller skating fad of the 1970’s.

The songs writing credits are attributed to all three members of De La Soul, along with the tracks producer Prince Paul who also raps the intro. There are also two other credited writers, Kamal Fareed who is better known by his stage name of ‘Q-Tip’ and a member of the Rap group ‘A Tribe Called Quest’ raps the first verse, and Rodney Mathews whose song ‘Evil Vibrations’ performed with his band ‘The Mighty Ryeders’ from 1978 is heavily sampled, and for that he also receives writing credits. The female vocals on the track are performed by the unaccredited Vinia Mojica.

‘A Roller Skating Jam Named ”Saturdays” featured several samples including the horn riff from ‘Grease’ from 1978, there are also vocals taken from the 1972 song ‘Saturday in the Park’ by the band Chicago (see also best songs 631 and 328.) Samples are also taken from ‘Light My Fire’ by Young-Holt Unlimited from 1969, and ‘I Got My Mind Made Up’ by Instant Funk from 1978 (see also best songs 1041,) there are also others used.

‘Back once more with the wallop in the score. Must I ride and rip, should I make you rock your hip, reviver of a roller boogie in a rink.