Grandmaster Flash's Overplayed Records

8 months ago 02nd Mar 13:15

Grandmaster Flash plays records until they sound like "frying eggs".

The legendary DJ - real name Joseph Saddler - keeps his vinyls until they can't be played anymore because he loves the strange sounds warped records make.

Asked how many copies of Incredible Bongo Band's 'Apache' he has worn out during his 30-plus years spinning tracks, Grandmaster Flash replied: "About 30, because I play it until it's really disgusting, because the deeper the cavern is, the more you can do with it. I play it until it sounds like eggs frying on a Sunday morning."

I went to junkyards, abandoned car lots. I asked supermarkets for the big jugs they put pig guts in, to make cabinets for my bass speakers.

The 51-year-old musician was the first DJ to mix two records together without missing a beat, and pioneered scratch.

However, he admits his career started out from lowly origins.

Referring to Kool Herc - a Jamaican-born DJ who first made hip-hop music popular in New York in the 70s - Grandmaster Flash told Britain's Guardian newspaper: "When he switched a record, heads would go into disarray, to find the beat.

"I needed to find a way to have the platter continuously spinning while I'm moving the record. I went to a fabric store. When I touched felt I found it. After that, I was able to stop time.

"I went to junkyards, abandoned car lots. I asked supermarkets for the big jugs they put pig guts in, to make cabinets for my bass speakers."