Wonder What A 1977 New York City Park Jam Sounded Like? Press Play… (Mix)

from Ambrosia For Heads:

Bringing the earliest days of Hip-Hop to the digital age is a challenge. While DJ Kool Herc, DJ Red Alert, and Grandmaster Melle Mel (among many others) are highly active in telling the story, and presenting the culture they helped create, other things are harder to find.

Pioneering DJs like Grandmaster Flash, Afrika Bambaataa, The Disco Twins, Pete “DJ” Jones and others can tell you about their playlists. These icons can recall which 12″ singles (some of which had covered-up labels at the time) really opened up the party. These mixmasters can debate who played which breaks first, and who freaked these musical moments better. But how often can Heads in the 2010s really hear it as it was?

This weekend, cultural purveyor Hass718 shared a 40-minute segment from Elmhurst, Queens believed to be in the iconic 1977 year. The same calendar that brought the Blackout, Reggie Jackson’s “Mr. October” New York Yankees slug-fest, and the Son Of Sam’s arrest, delivered this party-in-audio. Recorded at P.S 127, Heads can hear the slang, catch the amazing rarities spun, and even get a taste of the Colt 45 beers for sale for 60¢ a pop—with some crazy on-the-mic advertising. This is just one party among many that era (and one that’s short on much info), but to the folks behind the wheels of steel, it rocks in ’15 just like it sounds like it did in ’77!