TOP 5 TRACKS
SOUL SONIC FORCE
TOMMY BOY
I was in the studio when they were recording it. We all recorded in
the same studio [Vanguard in NYC] Soul Sonic was first - then I'd
record - then after my session was Freeze Force with "I.O.U." I
remember hearing Planet Rock and thinking that "this song is gonna be
MAJOR "... It was...!!
2. I.O.U
FREEZE FORCE
TOMMY BOY
I was on of the first people in NYC to have an Emulator 1 Sampler.
Since it was always in the studio, everyone used it. I remember
sitting outside the control room listening to the playback of the
track and hearing the "vocal sample solo" on that track. We did vocal
solo's, but the playing on that was great, for that type of track...
3. PLAY AT YOUR OWN RISK
PLANET PATROL
TOMMY BOY (AGAIN)
One of the first good Planet Rock rip-off tracks. They were smart and
knew people would rip off Planet Rock, so they did it themselves. The
vocals were styled off old Motown male group vocals, and they were
GREAT!
4. SALSA SMURF
SPECIAL REQUEST
TOMMY BOY (WHO ELSE)
The group's name "Special Request" was requested by Carlos DeJesus,
who was the program director of WKTU in NYC (1983). He heard my track
"Man Made" (2nd cut on my first Parrish album), and he loved it. He
made a special request from one of the stations mix DJ's ( Jose
"Animal" Diaz ) to make a Latin electro record that would capture the
dark feel of "Man Made." I LOVE the record, not for the technical
quality, but it was one of the few first electro records that had a
dark trippy overtone. In those days, it was something completely new.
People thought it was weird...I loved it !
5. ANYTHING FROM KRAFTWERK
FRANZ SCHUBERT - ENDLESS ENDLESS
TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS
CAPITOL / EMI RECORDS
What can I say? Kraftwerk was the inspiration for dozens of "Hip Hop"
artist back then (now it's called electro or freestyle). I just
happened to be one of the first to combine Kraftwerk stylings with
sounds and words we experienced on the New York Street Scene. Other
than Kraftwork, there were few other sources of that amazing "new"
sound, so we made our own!!
www.manparrish.com