ROCK Sex: "Scorpio" - Dennis Coffey > Grandmaster Flash > Public Enemy> Moby

ROCK Sex is back to show how songs link together.

Today's topic is the FunkRock classic "Scorpio".

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What may have kicked it off is this song by Lalo Schifrin for the DIRTY HARRY (1971) soundtrack. The villain 'Scorpio' was a clear swipe of the notorious serial killer, Zodiac, who terrorized San Francisco in this period. Schifrin's score merges some Funk moments with some musique concrete firmly in the style of Ennio Morricone's thriller scores, even down to the wordless female vocal emulating his muse Edda Dell Orso.

(This song was later sampled by N.W.A.'s "Approach To Danger" and General Electric's "Facing That Void".)

LALO SCHIFRIN -"Scorpio's Theme" (1971)



At the same time, Dennis Coffey broke out with his FunkRock monster, "Scorpio", which may've been as much about Astrology as anything. Dennis had been laying down the Funk and Rock for all of Motown's psychedelic era hits, and this lit him in his own spotlight.

Dennis' song is firmly in the 'Cop Rock' style of the hip film scores from the time, merging Rock riffs, Funky rhythms, and conga percussion into a imagined car chase of the mind.

DENNIS COFFEY & The Detroit Guitar Band -"Scorpio" (1971)



The first act to respond to his killer groove was himself! This is basically a sequel theme to a movie that didn't exist.

DENNIS COFFEY & The Detroit Guitar Band -"Son Of Scorpio" (1972)



Dennis Coffey's "Scorpio" was one of the secret weapons in AFRIKA BAMBAATAA's arsenal of groovy breaks in the dawn of HipHop. As if the scratch guitar and horn blasts weren't enough, it had that ferocious drum and bass throwdown in the middle for two minutes. A new generation soon heard it spliced into club mixes everywhere they danced.


Vibing off that but going the Kraftwerk route with their own jam, here's the original HipHop cutmaster and crew to spin some ElectroFunk.

GRANDMASTER FLASH & The Furious Five -"Scorpio" (1982)



The unparalleled architects of sample assault, Public Enemy, use Coffey's beat almost subliminally in this classic...

PUBLIC ENEMY -"Night Of The Living Baseheads" (1988)



With bass chops from Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, here's Marvin Young with one of the biggest breakthroughs into the mainstream that Rap had ever had.

YOUNG MC -"Bust A Move" (1989)



Much more explicitly, here's Coffey's song as the basis of one of LL's standards...

LL COOL J -"Jingling Baby" (1990)



Taking an almost Ambient approach is this take on Coffey by Moby.

MOBY -"Mobility" (1990)



Though not as widely sliced as the evergreen Beat "Apache", this groove continues to be re-dug: West Coast All-Stars' "We're All In The Same Gang", Lord Finesse & DJ Mike Smooth's ("Keep It Flowing"), and The Fugees' "The Score", among others.

Now if someone would just make a movie...




© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• "APACHE", HipHop's Sacred Secret Beat! - Bongo Band > Bambaataa > EVERYONE EVER

• "Amen Break" - How 6 Seconds From 1969 Propel All Modern Music

• "Good Times!" - Chic > SugarHill Gang > Queen > Defunkt > Ting Tings

• ROCK Orgy: "Genius of Love"

• Kraftwerk > Trouble Funk > Afrika Bambaataa > New Order


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: The Music Player Checklist

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ROCK Orgy: "Genius of Love"

ROCK Sex Orgies are songs where everybody gets rewarded.

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Here's another example of a song giving a giant shout-out to other musicians.

The rhythm section of Talking Heads, bassist Tina Weymouth and drummer Chris Frantz, had more to say with their side project, TOM TOM CLUB. "Genius Of Love", their celebration of funk, soul, reggae, and dance heroes became a surprise dance hit in 1981 with massive influence.

Listen for the call-outs to James Brown, Bob Marley, Smokey Robinson, Hamilton Bohannon, George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, Sly and Robbie, and Kurtis Blow.

"Clinton's musicians such as Bootsy Collins/
Raise expectations to a new intention!"
Also beloved is the graffidelic video, based on the album art of James Rizzi.

TOM TOM CLUB -"Genius Of Love" (1981)


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"We met (Grandmaster Flash) and he said to us, 'You know this is a very cool beat. You're going to be hearing a lot of this.' I said 'Oh really?' He said 'Oh definitely.'"
-Chris Franz


The song was a perfect synthesis of the early '80s New York scene, where Disco, Punk, HipHop, Dub, and noizey Jazz were intertwined in the dance clubs, vinyl stores, art galleries, and indie films. Naturally it had an immediate impact in HipHop where responses were swift.

Here's are the first two HipHop responses made:

DR. JECKYLL AND MR. HYDE -"Genius Rap" (1981)


GRANDMASTER FLASH & THE FURIOUS FIVE -"It's Nasty (Genius Of Love)" (1981)



From there it became one of the most sampled songs of all time, popping up in tracks by The X-Ecutioners, Redman, Cam'Ron, 2nd II None, Fresh Kid Ice, Tupac Shakur, Mark Morrison, Busta Rhymes, Ant Banks, P.M. Dawn, Annie, Menajahtwa, and Eric Sermon. It also dreamt up Mariah Carey's huge hit "Fantasy".

"Genius of Love" is a shout-out song that got plenty of amen corners itself!


"There's no beginning and there is no end/
Time isn't present in that dimension..."


© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• "Wordy Rappinghood" - Tom Tom Club > Chicks On Speed

• "Take Me To the River" - Al Green > Bryan Ferry > Talking Heads

• "Slippery People" -Talking Heads > The Staple Singers

• "Radio Head" - Talking Heads > Tito Lariva > Radiohead

• "Warning Sign" - Talking Heads > Local Natives

• "Crosseyed And Painless" - Fela > Talking Heads > Brazilian Girls > Angelique Kidjo


• "APACHE", HipHop's Sacred Secret Beat! - Bongo Band > Bambaataa > EVERYONE EVER

• "Amen Break" - How 6 Seconds From 1969 Propel All Modern Music


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: A Music Player Checklist


Read:
• • Love Goes To Buildings On Fire: Five Years in New York That Changed Music Forever, by Will Hermes

• • Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980–1983, by Tim Lawrence

• • Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984, by Simon Reynolds

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ROCK Sex: Kraftwerk > Trouble Funk > Afrika Bambaataa > New Order

ROCK Sex is about how the liquid nature of culture involves everyone.

Today's example is how the relay baton of a musical idea moves easily between supposedly different music movements.


IN the mid-'70s, German progressive rock groups were challenging the structures and rhythms of Rock. Here's the pioneers Can, during their transition from noize jazz toward funk, churning a hupnotic sitar figure into a locomotive rhythm.

CAN -"Transcendental Express" (1975)



Following a train of thought, the german progressive group Kraftwerk had the masterstroke idea of becoming robots, making robotic music for the future. As 'anti-Rock' as this seemed, it was one of the most influential strategies and unending sonic revolutions in Rock history. Countless musical doors were opened by this move...

KRAFTWERK -"Trans Europe Express" (1977)



The Washington D.C. scene in the early '80s was dominated by GoGo, a heavily percussive funk with horns and synths. The prime band Trouble Funk intersected with Kraftwerk on this anthemic cover...

TROUBLE FUNK -"Trouble Funk Express" (1981)



The New York music scene between 1975 and 1982 was a hotbed of colliding styles -including the original Punk, HipHop, NoWave, PunkFunk, Salsoul, World Dub, Disco, Mutant Disco, and Noize Jazz. One of the originators of HipHop, Afrika Bambaataa ushered in Electro (which he called Electro Funk) with his merging of Rap and Kraftwerk...

AFRIKA BAMBAATAA And The Soulsonic Force -"Planet Rock" (1982)



When the postpunk band Joy Division suffered the loss of their leader, the remaining members became New Order, trading Manchester, England's grey factories for the excitement of the New York scene. They worked with rising 12" remix producer Arthur Baker on this classic track which extends the palette of the fusion of Kraftwerk and Electro Funk ...

NEW ORDER -"Blue Monday" (1983)



There are tributaries from this linking to New Wave, Darkwave, Coldwave, Industrial, Synth Funk, GoGo Funk, Techno, Rave, Jungle, and Electronica. But water is water...bask in it all.


The Mighty Mocambos crosses tracks with Can's title, a Dick Dale guitar approach, and a horn fanfare of Kraftwerk in this modern instrumental sequel.

THE MIGHTY MOCAMBOS -"Transcendental Express" (2011)



Her's the original song rethought by a legendary Jamaican steel drum ensemble.

THE EBONY STEEL BAND -"Tanzmusik (Jump Up)" (2019)



Here is it is interpreted as a Brazilian dance samba.

Guga Stroeter, Lucio Agra, Renato Soares -"TEE" (2020)


All aboard!

© Tym Stevens

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See Also:

• DOCTOR WHO Theme - Delia Derbyshire > Gary Glitter > KLF > Human League

• "APACHE", HipHop's Sacred Secret Beat! - Bongo Band > Bambaataa > EVERYONE EVER

• "Amen Break" - How 6 Seconds From 1969 Propel All Modern Music


• The Real History of Rock and Soul!: A Music Player Checklist

Read:
• • Life and Death on the New York Dance Floor, 1980–1983, by Tim Lawrence

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