DJ Grandmaster Flash

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In this day and age, when we think of DJs, we think of such DJs as Kid Capri, DJ AM, DJ Spider, Funkmaster Flex, the late Jam Master J, DJ MOS, DJ Quick, Samantha Ronson, DJ KISS and a host of others. But, there is one DJ who paved the way for all the rest, and that person is none other than Grandmaster Flash. Grandmaster Flash, born in Barbados, moved to the South Bronx as a young child. Known as Joseph Saddler in those days, his father was a huge influence in getting him into music at a young age. Grandmaster Flash's father was a huge collector of Caribbean and African American music records, which he kept in a closet solely dedicated to them. The closet was always off limits to young Grandmaster Flash, but of course he didn't listen to his father's warnings. He spent many days playing these records but it was the stereo he played them on that really held his interest, as he was a total technology junkie who was infamous for going into his sister's room and taking apart her hair dryer and other appliances and trying to put it back together. His family would often try to turn on these electronics that he had been tinkering with and they would not work right or just not work at all.Instead of punishing Grandmaster Flash, his parents decided to channel his energy into something positive. They enrolled him into a technical school, where he earned a degree in Electronics. He would comb the junkyards for old and broken appliances, including stereos and record players, and try to take them apart and reassemble them. He would study these various electronics in order to get to know the role of every piece that he collected. Grandmaster Flash was a modern day MacGyver in his early years. The knowledge he gained through both the technical school and his own little adventures proved to be very beneficial.Fresh out of technical school, Grandmaster Flash purchased his first turntable, which he used to play his records and figure out ways to isolate parts of the song, particularly a certain drum beat or hook. This is known as the Quick Mix Theory, which is when you turn 10 second fragments of a song into a rhythm track that could last as long as you want it. Grandmaster Flash has always felt that with good music, there is a great part in a song.When Grandmaster Flash started out in the early 1970's, Disco was the music of choice for the majority. The songs that he was used to cutting or mixing had short drum breaks unlike Disco, which was unique in the sense that the drum breaks were as long as 15 seconds. This meant that Grandmaster Flash had to find a way to extend the song without the audience realizing that he extended it. To do this, he converted a microphone mixer to a modulate sound from his turntables. He then created a cue system, which allowed him to listen to the next song to be played without playing it over the main speakers. He assembled this whole contraption with spare parts from Radio Shack. Thanks to his technological background, he was able to upgrade his turntables and soon began to hone his skills.Soon, Grandmaster Flash started mixing at neighborhood parties in the Bronx, creating buzz that made him high in demand. At his parties, he would often leave a live mic at the other side of the performing table for any rappers or vocalists who were brave enough to entertain the crowd while he worked the turntables. By doing this, he met Keith Cowboy Wiggins, who was known by many to please the ladies with his rhymes when on the mic. Six months later, four other rappers joined Cowboy on Grandmaster Flash's party crew. They were Melvin Melle Mel Glover, Guy Todd Rahiem Williams, Nathaniel Kid Creole Glover, and Eddie Mr. Ness Morris. They named themselves Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five because of how they passed their rhymes back and forth to each other, much like basketball players passing the ball to each other on the fast break.Grandmaster Flash and his crew performed in those days on what was called the B-boy Circuit, which included public parks, vacant lots, and basketball courts where people gathered for free and partied all night. The rest was history. They stayed together well into the early 1980's and have also done several reunion tours.These days, Grandmaster Flash is doing radio. He hosts a radio show for a station in New York, where he takes his listeners back to the old school B-boy Circuit days. Grandmaster Flash is an innovator in not only the art of mixing but of hip-hop as well. He has also done some producing. However, don't think that Grandmaster Flash's contributions were not recognized. Just recently, Bill Gates, founder and Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, honored him with the DJ Vanguard Award for being the first to utilize the turntable as a musical instrument. He also has the honor of being the first DJ ever inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Grandmaster Flash has been in the game for over 30 years and is well known all over the world. He has become a living legend not only as a DJ but in the hip-hop community as well. To learn more about Grandmaster Flash, please visit his website at www.GrandmasterFlash.com.