GRANDMASTER & MELLE MEL "White Lines (Don't Do It)" Pic Disc! 40 Year Old 12"!!
The interesting tale of Grandmaster Flash, the Furious Five, and Melle Mel is long and complicated. I'll try to condense it here, so I don't lose you! Melle Mel, who became 'Grandmaster Melle Mel', was the lead singer and a songwriter in the group Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five in the late 70s. By the early 80s, Melle Mel became the leader of the Furious Five (after Flash departed). Melle Mel had a hit with the song "White Lines (Don't Do It)", but the label (Sugar Hill Records) titled it Grandmaster & Melle Mel, in order to trick the public into thinking that Grandmaster Flash had participated on this track (he did not).
Sugar Hill eventually folded, mainly because they were sued for using an unauthorized sample of another song by a band called Liquid Liquid. (The song sampled was titled "Cavern".) Sugar Hill was also sued by Grandmaster Flash for unpaid royalties, and all of that caused the label to file for bankruptcy.
Flash and Melle reunited in 1988 for an album that bombed, and even worked together again in 1995, when Duran Duran remade the song "White Lines" and featured them both in the video and on the track itself! The original song has actually been credited to Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel through the years, but Flash really didn't have anything to do with it. In today's really good deal, you'll receive a copy of that FORTY year old song, on a 12" picture disc! This comes in its original black die-cut sleeve, which is starting to show it's age, but still intact and holding together well. The vinyl itself looks really good, with only a few light surface marks that I can see on it. Nothing bad, and no heavy scratches, gouges, or scuffs. I can't vouch for the sound quality, as I never play specialty vinyl, such as pic discs or colored records. And always; remember, the older vinyl pic discs usually sound terrible, with plenty of surface noise.
The A side is a black and white desolate street scene, and the B side is an X-ray reverse, with song titles and credits. An awesome piece of hip hop history, FORTY years old last year, and a nice conversation piece! Without Grandmaster Flash, the Furious Five, and Melle Mel, we may not have had east coast hip hop as we know it today! Flash and Melle are still around to this very day, remaining somewhat active in the music world. Active or not, their contributions will never be forgotten! A great gift idea for fans of hip hop, or 80s 12" picture discs. With vintage Melle Mel, you just can't go wrong!
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