This Is R.I.P Hop.
We never intended on this blog becoming an obituary but a glance back through the archives would suggest otherwise, I have endeavoured to write about something other than death but when the news broke that Rammellzee had passed I couldn’t let it go without at least saying a couple of words.
There’s little to no info about this terrible news as yet, bar Fab Five Freddy tweeting about it earlier this evening but whatever the facts are I’m more gutted about this than most of the others we’ve covered.
I’m guessing if you’re reading this there’s nothing I could tell you about Rammell that you don’t know already and by now various social networking sites and blogs are no doubt inundated with links to Beat Bop, Crazy Sneaker or Death Comet Crew so instead I thought I’d share a snippet of a rare cinematic siting of the former Getovett who once rode a bus talking to our friend Long Distance Dan about Iconic Panzerisms much to the bewilderment of the local grannies hoping for a quiet trip back to Raynes Park.
This is a quick glimpse of Rammellzee on the hustle in Jim Jarmusch’s Stranger Than Paradise, which also featured fellow lower east siders John Lurie and Richard Edson from The Lounge Lizards and Konk/Sonic Youth respectively, Jarmusch himself having a brief stint on the downtown music circuit with The Del Byzantines who appear alongside Rammell & Death Comet Crew on the excellent Anti NY compilation.
Anyway, I’ve got work to do and quite frankly I’m sad so I’ll leave you to watch this…
Rammellzee in Stranger Than Paradise
I’ll have one from the bottom…
It’s sad that my 1st post on here in months is yet another about death but as ever I’ll sidestep the morbid facts of Frank Sidebottom’s demise in favour of some FANTASTIC music.
For those unaware of his work, Frank started life as Chris Sievey, his music career kicking off with Manc-punks The Freshies who shaved the never regions of the UK charts with the really really fantastically titled “I’m In Love With The Girl On The Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout Desk” back in 1981.
Sievey’s scope went way beyond his band, what with running DIY label Razz records, and releasing the Spectrum game The Biz which introduced Frank to the world with his confusing combination of working man’s club cabaret whilst looking like The Residents’ road manager.
After the Freshies disbanded Sievey continued his recording career with Frank turning out fantastic versions of Sex Pistols songs, Beatles classics and as you’re about to hear, quasi-post-punk-funk-rap songs about abstaining from eating pork.
“The Oink Psycho Rap” was a reworked version of the Uncle Pigg Rap originally released as a pink flexi on the cover of the curious Oink magazine published in the mid 80’s in the UK. Only available to Oink readers who’d cut out and sent off a voucher, featuring 3 songs produced by Frank, this 7″ was among my 1st handful of purchases back in 1986, maybe not what you’d expect of your average UK rap fair but still a little piece of forgotten history and one more fantastic feather in Frank’s cap.
Mr Sidebottom, we at Trick n Tom towers salute you…
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