Chuck Chillout, KISS FM radio show August 28, 1986 (YSI link)
Here's something fun to kick off the week, as we continue to try to dig into the first decade or so of rap music. A real radio show from the mid-80s NYC! It's a great blast from the past, a chance to hear the earliest days of rap music in its most natural setting, the hour and fifteen minute straight mix. Hard to overstate how important these shows were to the development of hip-hop, as they gave the new genre a sense of importance and permanence, a real outlet that could be heard by anyone with a radio.
Chuck Chillout was one of the biggest names in NYC radio during this time. He should also be familiar to Pound for Pound readers, as he was a member of The B-Boys, who we discussed last week. Dude was a master scratcher, releasing a 3 part solo series, worked with Run-DMC, discovered Black Moon and has been an instrumental force in bringing rap to the world. The show's a lot of fun, as you hear the biggies from the day like Run-DMC, LL Cool J and Boogie Down Productions. Chuck mixes it all impeccably, taking us back to stripped down, sample-heavy days.
All of this got me to thinking about how much I miss having the chance to hear great radio shows. I can remember when I was growing up in Philly, trying to catch Friday night rap show on Power 99 or the college radio stations at Princeton and Drexel that played experimental music. There was something wonderful about those early days, these secret little sessions you could have to discover all of this amazing music that seemed endless. Not sure we have that today, since it's so easy to find out about every band or artist ever with blogs and podcasts and whatnot. Obviously, it's much better now, as we want everyone to be able to hear great music as easily possible, but there's something inside of me that thinks the music was a lot more special when it was harder to find.
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