Two Culture (Club) Clash0
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A couple of weeks ago we did our Double Take special, where the aim was to play a track where, if given 10 tries to name the artists, you would invariably fail.
You can imagine then that when I heard this track for the first time last week, I was bit gutted at not having heard it sooner to include it on the aforementioned special, as there’s no question you’d struggle to spot this one unless you were a fan of everyone’s favourite early-80s gender benders, Culture Club. I played a bit of this on last week’s show, but thought it warranted a post of its own.
“Murder Rap Trap” is actually a b-side from their second single “I’m Afraid Of Me”, and aside from being quite an odd piece in terms of the music, its most notable for not featuring Boy George on vocals, but one “Captain Crucial” – more of which in a mo…
Check the track out and you’ll see why Daniele Baldelli was a fan of it at his Cosmic club. It comes off like proto-hip hop of sorts; that same kind of mekanik drum machine sound you heard of initial efforts from NYC’s nascent rappers. Rather than have a rapper though, the track features curious patois MCing, turning the whole track into more of a strange digital dancehall piece of sorts. All very weird – but really rather good.
Its one thing to know that this is Culture Club – and be honest, you wouldn’t have guessed who it was unless you owned the single – but it becomes something else altogether when you realise that the Captain Crucial in question was in fact one Amos Pizzey – better known for his succession of housey tracks with another 80s hangover, Jeremy Healy. It seems back in the early 80′s, Amos’s sister was dating Mikey Craig from Culture Club and things went from there. After working on a couple of Boy George releases, Amos then dropped into the dance circuit alongside Healy, releasing numerous rather forgettable tracks. Not enough trivia for you? One last one then: Amos’s half-brother Cass was in Skunk Anansie. OK I’m done now.
Culture Club feat. Captain Crucial – Murder Rap Trap
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