Sign of the Times. Grandmaster Flash had it right in 1985

So the older I get, the more I realize the world really hasn't changed much over the course of my 50 trips around the sun. Without getting too deep, there has always been pestilence, famine, war and death. Now with smart technology, its in our faces all of the time. Whatever ends of the earth bad things are currently taking place on, we can now hear about it almost instantly. The world has definitely gotten a lot smaller. Which brings me to the topic of this post, the 1985 song called 'Sign of the Times' by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. 

As a naive kid growing up in a small Northwestern Colorado town, I was oblivious to just how much evil and injustice was out there in the real world. I got into rap music in 1981, mainly because my older brother had already turned me on to Funk and R&B, and the rap of that era just sounded good to me. 

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was one of my favorite rap groups in the 80s. I'm the type of person that really listens to lyrics in songs, and the Furious Five started opening my eyes in ways I never imagined.

The first time I heard them rap about situations involving police brutality, I thought it was surely a lighthearted jab at authority. However, my mind was opened as a pre-teen and suddenly news articles or short news spots on the exact same situations they were rapping about, started catching my eye. What's more, it seemed to me that no one wanted to talk about these uncomfortable situations, or quickly dismissed them. When they did make it to media, it also seemed like they were buried or minimized.

The other day I was listening to my 80s rap playlist for old times sake, and started singing along to 'Sign of the Times'. I suddenly stopped and realized everything they were rapping about are the same exact issues people still ponder on to this very day. Without further ado.. read the lyrics for yourself to see the correlation.

A side note:
You'd think you could find everything on the internet in 2021, but I simply could not find the full and accurate lyrics to this song anywhere online. I listened to the song myself to fill in the gaps, and I think I nailed them down, with the exception of only one lyric at the end of the second verse which I've italicized.

Sign of the Times - Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Now listen up 'cause I got a little something to say

To educate you bout the life in the streets today

Now everybody's confused about what to do

and what this world is coming to

Chorus-

Sign of the Times. Can really Blow your mind.

Inflation rises every time that opportunity knocks

The rent's crazy for the house the size of a box

It's an arm and a leg to keep clothes on your back

The daily run, push and shove, you just can't hack

The payday comes around you go to pick up your check

The money never seems to get you out of debt

Hinkley shot the president, he had nothing to lose

? - when a journey to see a brother eyewitness knew - ?

Cops shooting up all of the citizens

To find out the next day the guy's innocent

Young girls being raped and taken by force

All the people getting married just to get divorced

Working for minimum wage, one foot in the grave

And all the rich folks screaming they're underpaid

Daddy's in jail doing twenty to life

He has a family back home, five kids and a wife

Girls run away from home with no way to survive

And have to sell her body to stay alive

Nowadays in the trains and the buses you see

People fighting for seats with the elderly

Momma down by the bedside on her knee

So much crime it ain't safe for her to walk the street

Because times are hard, either do or die

You can run and ignore, but you can't hide

Politicians like to max and relax

Sayin 'Vote for me, and I know what to tax'

Sipping on Martinis with a little coke

and then the headline reads 'Drug overdose'

Magazines expose our beauty queen

The American Dream, what does it mean?

For tis' of thee in our country

Don't take things as they appear to be

You say babies cry by their mothers side

Sweet land of liberty for spacious skies

We got actors running for president!

So what the hell's going wrong with this government?

No hurt is worse than a mother's pain

when the love for her child goes down the drain

Been used and abused but would never expect

that the child that she birthed would give her no respect

Car dealer wanted to make quick cash

Try to buy the coke and don't do got over glass

Nowadays kids are growing up too fast

Learning more in the street than they do in class

Dealing drugs on the corner at the age of ten

I say, if you go to jail, you got to stay in

Speeding in the fast lane, going no place

And when it's over, you see that it was all a waste

Found with a letter by your bedside

you ended your life, committed suicide

Mom is searching in the trash for bottles and cans

while the kids stood by with outstretched hands

While a man holds a dollar and so must pray

in this land of the free, home of the brave

You see people getting shot over nickels and dimes

Don't you know that's all a sign of the times?

I just shake my head and laugh at parts of this song. I mean c'mon.. Actors running for president, rich people screaming they're underpaid? I've seen two actors run for president in my lifetime and win. And.. just today, a bipartisan group of politicians passed a new law that.. SURPRISE, yet again protects the rich from paying more taxes. Other parts of the song make me shake my somberly shake my head in disgust with society. Working for minimum wage, one foot in the grave, and lets not even start talking about police.

I've always strived to keep it 'light' on this blog, but as you get older you find yourself pondering on life. You begin to analyze history, politics, poems, the meaning of life, your own existence and even song lyrics. Thanks for reading another one of my cathartic ramblings. I'm sure it won't be the last.

By the way, here's the video below.
(in case you'd like to reminisce about just how much rap has changed)

And.. a link to their music you can get on Amazon Digital!
. .

Remembering The FAT BOYS

Today I got the sad news that Prince Markie Dee of the Fat Boys has passed away at the age of 52. I've got to say that I was really shook when I read the news story during my lunch break at work. The Fat Boys were the hilarious and lighthearted soundtrack of my youth. I wore out cassette tapes of theirs multiple times, and all my friends and acquaintances without a single solitary doubt, knew they were my favorite rap group. 

The trio were teenagers just as I was when they blew up in the mid 80s. Being very close in age to them, along with being a lifelong member of 'The Big Guys Club'.. I related to much of what they rapped about. Due to my upbringing, I took myself much too seriously for a good part of my youth and even adulthood. These kids embodied an attitude towards life that was the total opposite of mine. It was a carefree spirit I desperately wished I could experience myself.

I spent my hard earned money from mowing lawns on all of their albums, 12 inch singles, and cassettes. Many simply considered them a novelty act, but I saw them as much more. These were big guys with BIG appetites for life. They rapped about stuff that made me laugh, and things that I loved, like Pizza and buffets. They also rapped about life, love, the struggle, and I hung on every lyric they spit.

To me.. it always seemed like Big Guys had to sit on the sidelines while other guys bragged, boasted, and exuded confidence. This was the first time I had ever seen guys like this actually Flex and proudly rap about  themselves in detail.

The members of the Fat Boys consisted of Mark Morales, a.k.a. Prince Markie Dee, Damon Wimbley a.k.a. Kool Rock Ski, and last but certainly not least, one of the Godfather's of Beat-boxing, Darren Robinson, a.k.a. 'Buff Love, but most commonly known as.. The Human Beat Box! The three friends grew up rapping in the same neighborhood, and when Darren's family couldn't afford a drum set for him, he perfected mimicking percussion beats with his mouth for Markie Dee and Kool Rock to rap to.

The group originally called themselves The Disco three, and actually won their first recording contract by winning a rap contest at Radio City Music Hall. It was during an early European tour when their manager received a $400.00 hotel bill for extra breakfasts the 'Disco Three' had consumed. It was at that point when he angrily confronted them with the bill and told them they ought to call themselves the 'Fat Boys'. The rest as they say is history!

The rap game has changed immensely since I was a kid, but there is one constant I've always been aware of, and that is.. rappers that take themselves too seriously.  The Fat Boys did anything but that. They had a style that was all their own, straying from the conventional rappers of the day. They weren't ashamed of who they were, had a good time in everything they did, and rapped about it in a humorous and non vulgar way. That positive vibe they were throwing down, was picked up by millions of fans, and they had an incredibly successful musical career throughout the entire decade of the 80s.

I've personally owned the Fat Boys debut album on cassette, CD, and vinyl. Today it still gets regular playtime on my MP3 player. However, my favorite version I've owned HAS to be this Limited Edition Pizza Box Set! The CD comes with a sticker, bonus audio, liner notes, and rare photographs, all buttoned up in its very own little pizza box. 

Solidified in pop culture

The Fat Boys were everywhere in the 80s, and were truly a force that could not be ignored.  They co-starred in the 1985 hip hop movie Krush Groove with RUN DMC, and starred in their own movie "The Disorderlies".  They even made appearances on many hit shows of the time like Miami Vice.  Below are a few musical collaborations you may or may not remember..

In 1988 during the height of The Nightmare on Elm Street craze, The Fat Boys recorded a single entitled "Are you ready for Freddy?"  Robert Englund who played Freddy Kruger, even co-starred in the music video with the boys.

In 1987 The Fat Boys recorded a remake of The Surfari's song 'Wipeout' with the Beach Boys. The song was an instant hit and garnered lots of playtime on the radio.  It was a fun song that I remember lots of people playing at barbecues and parties. My bride who despised rap was even a fan of this song.

Another collaboration was 'The Twist'. They sang it with Chubby Checker who recorded his original version almost thirty years earlier. The interesting thing about this song, as with their single Wipeout, was that it appealed to people who didn't necessarily care for rap music. The Fat Boys crossed over and snagged a whole new demographic of music fans, including those who were a little bit older.

Into the 90s
Prince Markie Dee broke off from the Fat Boys in 1990 to pursue a solo singing career with modest success. He then found his forte successfully producing music for artists like Mary J. Blige and Mariah Carey.  Kool Rock Ski and The Human Beat Box kept the group together as a duo, recorded one last album in 1991 and disbanded shortly thereafter.  Kool Rock Ski dropped some serious pounds, got physically fit, and even became a personal trainer!  In 1994, all three members of the group were talking about a Fat Boys reunion and new album, when Buff Love was diagnosed with lymphedema.  On December 10th of the same year, Buff passed away at the age of 28 due to cardiac arrest.

Buff is often referred to as one of the pioneers of beat-boxing. Back in the 80s, kids would try their hardest to mimic his technique (myself included). Fast forward to today, and all kinds of artists including acapella groups utilize the skill. Kool Rock and Markie Dee were talking about future plans for a new Fat Boys album a couple of years back. I heard at one time, they were even considering doing a reality show to search for the next Fat Boy. Now, their dreams will never come to fruition. It's now truly the end of the Fat Boys era, and the finality of it all really bothered me.

I slowly lumbered to my car after work today, feeling like a dark cloud was hanging over my head. I sat in my car for a moment and then picked up my phone. I pulled up YouTube and began streaming my Fat Boys playlist to the stereo. On the drive home I reminisced about the good old days, attaching clear memories to songs I was listening to. Memories like the warm summer afternoon in 1987 I spent cruising around town all day in my old car with friends, jamming out to the Fat Boys album 'Crushin'. Or the time I snuck out for a couple hours to attend a house party and the Fat Boys song 'Sex Machine' was playing when I walked into the garage where everyone was dancing.

I found myself rapping along to lyrics I learned in 1984, and was visibly cracking up at funny verses from multiple songs. I couldn't believe it. I actually felt better. Yes, Markie Dee and the Human Beat Box are gone and the Fat Boys will never again perform together. However, their music lives on and has a life of its own. I'm sure millions of others who grew up with them feel the same way I do. I'm truly thankful for all the joy and happiness their music provided, and I can attest that I will personally carry that with me for the rest of my life. That 90 year old cat you see on his porch jamming out to the Fat Boys.. that will be me.

Rest in peace Markie.. rest in peace Buff.

Ahh Memories...

      

Adam Yauch aka MCA of the Beastie Boys

It's been exactly three years since I got back from a wonderful 11 mile bike ride, opened up my laptop, and learned that Adam Yauch from the Beastie Boys had passed away.  This terrible news ruined my week, and had me bummed out on so many levels.

I had heard in the news in the years prior, that he was battling cancer (cancer of a salivary gland of all things).  Mike Yauch expected to make a full recovery, as it was thought that the cancer was very treatable.

The release of the Beastie Boys newest album at the time "Hot Sauce Committee, Pt. 2." was postponed in 2011.  When Adam wasn't in attendance for the Beastie Boys induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier in 2012, I wondered if his health was suffering again, and sadly it obviously had been.

What kid didn't dig the Beastie Boys in the 80s?  When "You Gotta Fight for Your Right To Party" came out, almost every kid in my school were instant fans of the song.  It didn't matter what kind of music you were into, or what high school social class you belonged to.  The song transcended all of that, and simply made you happy (and maybe a wee bit rebellious).

I've always been a fan of the Beastie Boys, and it was truly sad that one of the founding members of a band I had followed since my youth, was now gone forever.  I'm sure millions of folks worldwide felt the same way.

I leave you now with a Beastie Boys video from 1986 called "Hold it now hit it".  It features Adam Yauch (in the plaid shorts) as I like to remember him.. Rowdy as ever, and full of laughs.

Rest in Peace MCA.  You are still sorely missed.