Old-Time Rock ‘n’ Roll:How The 1980s Embraced 1950s and 1960s Oldies Music
Hip Hop in the early days of DJs running block parties used James Brown beats and bass to enhance their sound. Feeling that the music creation process involve quite a bit of time and resources. DJs incorporated pieces of other peoples music into their own music collage, mixing different genres together. DJs went to record stores to find anything that had a distinctive funky sound. All kinds of music were sampled, including oldies tunes.
At the end of 1987, Kool Moe Dee, released How Ya Like Me Now. This platinum album, widely known for dissing LL Cool J, samples music from James Brown, Paul Simon, Aretha Franklin, and Cameo. N.W.A.’s 1988 certified triple platinum album Straight Outta Compton samples Funkadelic, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Big Daddy Kane, and the Ohio Players. N.W.A.’s Andrew Young, a.k.a. Dr. Dre, grew up listening to artist his mother introduced to him, such as James Brown, Isaac Hayes, and Marvin Gaye. He made his mark as a DJ mixing oldies tunes with funk. One of his creations in 1982 mixed the 1963 Marvelettes version of Please, Mr. Postman
with Afrika Bambaataa’s Planet Rock,
hence, his nickname Master of Mixology.
Some artists feel that if they change something that they borrowed and make it into something slightly different, it’s not stealing. Other artists feel when a piece from a song is used in their works, it triggers a nostalgic memory of that song, which benefits the original artist.
©2021 Tim Sheehan