The Message (Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five album)
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The Message is the debut studio album of American hip hop group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, released in October 1982 by Sugar Hill Records.
Release and reception
The Message was released July 1, 1982 by Sugar Hill Records.[2] It was the only album released while the group's original line-up was together.[3] The album charted at number 53 in the United States and at number 77 in the United Kingdom.[2] Music journalist Robert Christgau gave it an "A–" and said that, although "She's Fresh" is the "only instant killer", each song's attempt to experiment and "touch a lot of bases with a broad demographic ... justifies itself".[4] He named it the 21st best album of 1982 in his dean's list for the Pazz & Jop critics' poll.[5]
In a retrospective review, AllMusic's Ron Wynn gave The Message four-and-a-half out of five stars and called it the group's "ultimate peak" whose highlight was the title track.[6] Miles Marshall Lewis, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), gave its 2002 British reissue four out of five stars and cited "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" as the album's "clincher" and "the only prime-period example of Flash's ability to set and shatter moods, with his turntables and faders running through a collage of at least 10 records that sound like hundreds."[3] Colin Larkin also gave it four stars in his Encyclopedia of Popular Music (2006).[7] Mark Richardson from Pitchfork said The Message features "two absolutely essential songs"—the title track and "Scorpio", which he dubbed "the greatest early electro track". However, he felt the rest of the songs were inferior and gave the album a score of 6.4 out of 10.[1]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Composer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "She's Fresh" | Milton Edwards, Bobbie Knight | 4:57 |
| 2. | "It's Nasty" | Clifton Chase, Melvin Glover, Sylvia Robinson, Tom Tom Club | 4:19 |
| 3. | "Scorpio" | Melvin Glover, Nathaniel Glover Jr, Eddie Morris, Keith Wiggins, Guy Williams | 4:55 |
| 4. | "It's a Shame (Mt. Airy Groove)" | Stevie Wonder, Syreeta Wright, Lee Garrett, Curtis Harmon, James Lloyd, Cedric Napoleon | 4:57 |
| 5. | "Dreamin'" | Melvin Glover, Nathaniel Glover Jr, Gary Henry, Eddie Morris, Keith Wiggins, Guy Williams | 5:47 |
| 6. | "You Are" | Gary Henry | 4:51 |
| 7. | "The Message" | Clifton Chase, Edward Fletcher, Melvin Glover, Sylvia Robinson | 7:12 |
| No. | Title | Composer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8. | "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" | Sylvia Robinson, Melvin Glover, Gabrielle Jackson, Jiggs Chase, Gwendolyn Chisolm, Cheryl Cook, Michael Wright, Guy O'Brien, John Richard Deacon, Joseph Saddler, Angela Brown | 7:06 |
| No. | Title | Composer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8. | "Message II (Survival)" | Sylvia Robinson, Melvin Glover | 6:46 |
| 9. | "New York, New York" | Sylvia Robinson, Edward G Fletcher, Reginald Lamar Griffin, Melvin Glover | 7:19 |
| 10. | "The Adventures of Grandmaster Himself" | Unknown - see '2010 Expanded Edition' notes | 5:45 |
| 11. | "The Message (Instrumental Version)" | Edward G Fletcher, Clifton Chase, Sylvia Robinson, Melvin Glover | 7:11 |
- Sample credits
- "She's Fresh" contains samples from "It's Just Begun" by The Jimmy Castor Bunch and "The Lovomaniacs" by Boobie Knight.
- "It's Nasty" contains samples from "Genius of Love" by Tom Tom Club.
- "It's a Shame" contains samples from "Mt. Airy Groove" by Pieces Of A Dream.
- "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel" contains samples from "Good Times" by Chic, "Apache" by The Incredible Bongo Band, "Rapture" by Blondie, "Another One Bites the Dust" by Queen, "8th Wonder" by The Sugarhill Gang, "Monster Jam" by Sequence, "Glow of Love" by Change and "Life Story" by The Hellers.
Personnel
- Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Saddler) - turntables, drum programming, Flashformer transform DJ device
- Keef Cowboy (Keith Wiggins) - Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
- Grandmaster Melle Mel (Melvin Glover) - Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
- The Kidd Creole (Nathaniel Glover jr) - Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
- Scorpio (Eddie Morris) - Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
- Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams) - Lead and background vocals, writer and arranger
- Bass - Doug Wimbish
- Guitar - Skip McDonald
- Prophet Sequential - Reggie Griffin, Jiggs, Sylvia Robinson
- Keyboards - Gary Henry, Dwain Mitchell
- Drums - Keith Leblanc
- Percussion - Ed Fletcher
- Brass - Chops Horn Section
Charts
Album
| Chart (1982) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| New Zealand Albums (RIANZ)[9] | 14 |
| UK Albums Chart[2] | 77 |
| U.S. Billboard 200[2] | 53 |
| U.S. Top Black Albums[10] | 8 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Hot 100 [11][12] |
U.S. R&B [11][12] |
U.S. Club Play | NZ [9] |
UK [13][14] | ||
| 1981 | "It's Nasty (Genius of Love)" | — | 22 | — | — | — |
| "Scorpio" | — | 30 | — | — | 77 [14] | |
| 1982 | "The Message" | 62 | 4 | 12 | 2 | 8 |
References
- ^ a b Richardson, Mark (July 14, 2005). "Grandmaster Flash / Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five: The Message / They Said it Couldn't Be Done". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Strong 2004, p. 619.
- ^ a b Lewis et al. 2004, p. 341.
- ^ Christgau 1990, p. 270.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (February 22, 1983). "Pazz & Jop 1982: Dean's List". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
- ^ Wynn, Ron. "The Message - Furious Five, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five". Allmusic. Retrieved May 11, 2013.
- ^ Larkin 2006, p. 308.
- ^ Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message (Vinyl, LP, Album). Discogs. Retrieved on July 27, 2010.
- ^ a b "Discography Grandmaster Flash". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved October 19, 2011.
- ^ "The Message - Furious Five, Grandmaster Flash, Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five : Awards". Allmusic. Retrieved May 12, 2013.
- ^ a b "Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five". Rolling Stone. July 8, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2009.
- ^ a b Billboard chartings. Accessed October 17, 2009.
- ^ "Chart Stats - Grandmaster Flash And The Furious Five". chartstats.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
- ^ a b "Chart Stats – Grandmaster Flash". chartstats.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
Bibliography
- Christgau, Robert (1990). Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 067973015X.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music: Selected Albums. Bibliographies (4th ed.). Muze. ISBN 0195313739.
{{cite book}}: Invalid|ref=harv(help) - Lewis, Miles Marshall; et al. (2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
- Strong, Martin C. (2004). The Great Rock Discography (7th ed.). Canongate U.S. p. 4. ISBN 1841956155.
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External links
- Groups Official Website
- The Kidd Creole's Official Website
- The Message (Adobe Flash) at Radio3Net (streamed copy where licensed)
- The Message at Discogs (list of releases)