THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

87-Grandmaster Flash-The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel.

1981-It has never charted in the UK.

Best Bit-At 5.39. The kids today don’t know they’re born. This is how granddad had to get the party started.

Grandmaster Flash (see also best songs 523 and 290) is the stage name of Joseph Saddler who was born on January 1st, 1958, in The Bronx, New York, United States, he is considered to be one of the pioneers of ‘Hip-Hop DJing, which involves, cutting, scratching, and mixing. Saddler wasn’t the first to experiment with these techniques, but it was he who popularised and advanced the skills, bringing them into the mainstream. The artists who influenced Saddler included the DJ Pete Jones, DJ Kool Herc, and Grandmaster Flowers (1954-1992.)

Grandmaster Flash was a founding member of ‘Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five which formed in The Bronx, New York City, in 1978, they signed with ‘Sugar Hill Records’ (see also best songs 597-523-466-290 and 17) in 1980, and were active until 1983. They did reform in 1987 releasing one studio Album ‘On the Strength,’ which met with a lukewarm reception, and the original line up then broke up for good in 1988. The discography of Grandmaster Flash includes 11 Albums issued between 1982-2009, and nine singles released between 1979-1996.

If you were born after 1985 you’re probably listening to this song and wondering what the fuss is all about, because after all it’s just a bunch of songs mixed together. Well the fact is, it was the first song ever made by mixing different tracks together in order to create a new song. It also introduced sampling, and the cutting and scratching techniques that we’re the hallmarks of early Hip-Hop. Today anybody with a computer and the correct software can create their own music, but that technology was not available in 1981. In order to achieve what Grandmaster Flash did required three turntables, a mixer, headphones, and a complete knowledge of the music he was mixing, plus endless hours of practise. There was no fancy editing on this track, Grandmaster Flash recorded it live in one take. His unique foresight, and DJ skills cannot be overstated, especially in the development of ‘Hip-Hop,’ and ‘Dance Music.’

There are 10 different songs mixed into ‘The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel,’ and also sampled is the spoken word vocals from a 1966 album titled ‘The Official Adventures of Flash Gordon.’ The only artists who receive the songwriting credits are Clifton ‘Jiggs’ Chase, Melvin Glover, (see also best songs 228) George Jackson, and Sylvia Robinson (1935-2011) who participated in the writing of ‘8th Wonder,’ ‘Birthday Party,’ ‘Freedom,’ ‘Monster Jam,’ and ‘Rappers Delight,’ (see also best songs 17) which were the songs that were licensed to ‘Sugar Hill Records.’ The other five songs that were used are Chic-‘Good Times,’ (1979) (see also best songs 175) Blondie-‘Rapture,’ (1980) Queen-Another One Bites the Dust,’ (1980) Michael Viner’s Incredible Bongo Band-‘Apache,’ (1973) and The Hellers-‘Life Story’ (1968.)

‘Fab Five Freddie told me everybody’s high, DJ’s spinnin’ are savin’ my mind. Flash is fast, Flash is cool. Francois c’est pas.’