GRANDMASTER MELLE MEL AND THE FURIOUS FIVE
Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five was released in 1984 by Sugarhill Records after the split between Grandmaster Flash and Melle Mel. For this album, Melle Mel kept the group name ‘the Furious Five’ (although the line-up changed) and used the title ‘Grandmaster’. (More from Wikipedia)
“Beat Street”, the debut single by Lightning Strike has true royalty among its songwriters: Melvin Glover (rapper Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five), Sylvia Robinson (“the mother of hip hop”), and Reggie Griffin. As recorded by Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five, “Beat Street” is the title song of the 1984 hip hop movie Beat Street, featuring a host of rap pioneers.
Oddly though, “Beat Street” does not appear on the Beat Street soundtrack albums – issued in two volumes – although “Beat Street Breakdown” by Grandmaster Melle Mel and the Furious Five does (along with several other songs having “beat street” in the title). “Beat Street” is included in the Rhino Records retrospective from 1994, Message from Beat Street: The Best of Grandmaster Flash, Melle Mel & the Furious Five.
(September 2016)
