100 Greatest Songs of the 70’s #44 The Sugarhill Gang – Rapper’s Delight

Released: 1979

Whilst the MC’s, rappers and taggers of the South Bronx had been brewing their unique sonic potion for nearly a decade, the song that first took it overground was in their eyes little more than a parody of what they were doing. In fact, this perceived caricature wasn’t even the first rap tune to make it onto vinyl – that distinction had gone to King Tim 111’s ‘Is This The Future’ six months previously – but when all publicity = good publicity, then eventually the bigger picture would take care of itself.

Whilst rap’s high concept might’ve been new to millions, The Sugarhill Gang were that most traditional of pop vehicles, a manufactured group of individual talents collectively plucked from obscurity. Assembled by the husband and wife team of Sylvia and Joe Robinson, Henry “Big Bank Hank” Jackson was discovered whilst working in a New Jersey pizza restaurant, whilst Michael “Wonder Mike” Wright and Guy “Master Gee” O’Brien were both dancers at the Harlem World club. Almost immediately after being introduced they were in the studio laying down Rapper’s Delight.

In hindsight it’s probably true to say that as opposed to breaking a new musical form, it was a track which bridged the divide between the street sounds of New York and disco. A noisy campaign from disgruntled rock fans had eventually succeeded in tarnishing the popularity of the latter, and Chic’s Good Times – from which almost everything was appropriated onto the trio’s thundering hit – had been it’s last top ten single.

In what would become a familiar story over the decades to come the legal argument about borrowing other people’s music was settled out of court. That meant that the tune’s greatest weakness remained it’s greatest strength, giving Rapper’s Delight a highly danceable sheen which, although purists knew the real deal was something else, performed a Horse of Troy appreciation act which would help change the course of music.