#86: Herbie Hancock: "Rockit"
Comp: origami 15
Genre: 80's/jazz
I first heard this song when it came out, in 1983. I was 10 at the time, and the video for the song was an odd thing. It had robot limbs, some wearing wigs. Also a brief glimpse of Herbie himself. Later on, in college, I went to a record store, looking for this CD. Little did I know that he is a jazz musician, since this is the only song I had heard at that time - it was funky and synthy and very 80's, and I had no idea it was jazz! So I had to ask someone working at the store and he pointed me to the right place. Got the CD and have been a fan ever since (I have a bunch of his other albums too, he's very talented). Later discovered that this album was produced by Bill Laswell (featured elsewhere in this blog) and with turntable scratching by Grand Mixer D.ST. According to allmusic, this song was recorded live, which is pretty awesome. They say it didn't make much of an impression on the American charts, but it certainly made an impression on me to make me suddenly decide to buy it on CD a decade after it came out.
Some description - funky, synthy, driven by the turntable scratching. A definite sense of humor is evident. The main synth line is very distinctive. Mr. Hancock can record a mean keyboard.
Here is a copy of the video. Yes, it's just as weird as I remember.
-bill
Genre: 80's/jazz
I first heard this song when it came out, in 1983. I was 10 at the time, and the video for the song was an odd thing. It had robot limbs, some wearing wigs. Also a brief glimpse of Herbie himself. Later on, in college, I went to a record store, looking for this CD. Little did I know that he is a jazz musician, since this is the only song I had heard at that time - it was funky and synthy and very 80's, and I had no idea it was jazz! So I had to ask someone working at the store and he pointed me to the right place. Got the CD and have been a fan ever since (I have a bunch of his other albums too, he's very talented). Later discovered that this album was produced by Bill Laswell (featured elsewhere in this blog) and with turntable scratching by Grand Mixer D.ST. According to allmusic, this song was recorded live, which is pretty awesome. They say it didn't make much of an impression on the American charts, but it certainly made an impression on me to make me suddenly decide to buy it on CD a decade after it came out.
Some description - funky, synthy, driven by the turntable scratching. A definite sense of humor is evident. The main synth line is very distinctive. Mr. Hancock can record a mean keyboard.
Here is a copy of the video. Yes, it's just as weird as I remember.
-bill