Dec 14

MC Hammer

MC HAMMER
 
 
MC Hammer  (born Stanley Kirk Burrell; March 30, 1962) is an American hip hop recording artist, dancer, record producer, and entrepreneur.  He had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s, until the early 1990s.  Remembered for his rapid rise to fame, Hammer is known for hit records (such as “U Can’t Touch This” and “2 Legit 2 Quit”), flashy dance movements, choreography, and eponymous Hammer pants.  (More from Wikipedia)
 
 
 
 
Not long after we moved to New York City in January 1990, THE song on the radio and on videos and even in the air was the huge rap hit “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer.  It is almost impossible not to like this song, or at least I found it that way, and my landing in the big city about the time that “U Can’t Touch This” was hitting its stride in the charts helped that along.  The song was not initially available as a single, so album sales of Please Hammer, Don’t Hurt ’Em hit 18 million.  MC Hammer had other hit songs over the years but, not surprisingly, was never able to top this one.
 
Initially, MC Hammer took full writing credit for “U Can’t Touch This”, but anyone familiar with “Super Freak” knew exactly where the song came from.  The lawsuit brought by Rick James and others was settled out of court when MC Hammer agreed to give Rick James a songwriting credit (and thus a whole lot of cash) for “U Can’t Touch This”.
 
(September 2016)
 
* * *
 
Since I am down to a quarterly schedule rather than a monthly schedule, my annual list is a lot shorter, so I will try listing all of the people that I have discussed in some depth rather than just the Under Appreciated Rock Band and the Story of the Month. They are all punk rock bands of one kind or another this year (2015-2016), and the most recent post includes my overview of the early rap/hip hop scene that an old friend, George Konstantinow challenged me to write – probably so long ago that he might have forgotten.
 
(Year 7 Review)
Last edited: March 22, 2021