A HISTORY OF BREAKING - PART 3
"Breakdancing" goes global
The three New York breaking crews to dominate the early 80s and take the dance around the world were the Rock Steady Crew, the New York City Breakers and the Dynamic Rockers, or perhaps more specifically their offshoot group, Dynamic Breakers.
By 1979 there were breaking crews all over New York, but back in the Bronx a new crew would rival the Zulu Kings for notoriety. The first generation Rock Steady Crew included breakers and rockers such as Jimmy Dee, Jimmy Lee, EZ Mike (not the same one down with Grandmaster Flash) and Popeye, all from The Bronx Boys. Plus there was Joe-Joe from Crazy Commanders. Undoubtedly there were many others but it’s tricky to confirm exactly who as there are various conflicting reports about early members. A little later they were joined by Lenny Len from Rockwell Association and his little cousin Crazy Legs.
Crazy Legs asked if he could open up a Manhattan chapter of the Rock Steady Crew, and was given the nod by Jimmy Dee and Jimmy Lee. By 1981 he had recruited some of the best breakers and rockers in the city, including: Frosty Freeze from the Rock City Crew; Ty Fly, Devious Doze aka acclaimed street artist Doze Green, and Ken Swift from the Young City Boys; Mr Freeze; B Boy Fresh, Take One, Lil Crazy Legz; and Lenny Len. There were also electric boogie dancers such as Kippy Dee, King Keith (not to be confused with rapper Kool Keith who was a boogie dancer with the Shack Crew), Ravi and later Normski (not our Dance Energy guy).
The Electric Boogie was New York’s interpretation of the Californian dance styles popping and locking, under one banner. I could write a whole other chapter on the history of popping and locking but I’ll save that for another time. In the early 80s there were whole crews of boogie dancers in New York such as the Lock-A-Trons, the Pop-O-Matics, Shack Crew, Electric Force and The Electric Company. They would have their own battles and performances in the clubs, community centres, streets and subways (helped in part by the new ‘boomboxes’ that had hit New York from the late 70s), but then some of them would also be incorporated into the breaking crews. The ‘breakdance’ era would very much see these disciplines combined.
Two of the most prominent from this period are Mr Wiggles and PopMaster Fabel, who started as breakers in the late 70s, but then when boogie hit they jumped ship and created The Electric Company, before merging with the Rock Steady Steady Crew. They would later join Magnificent Force for an appearance in the movie ‘Beat Street’ and then the New York City Breakers. More about them shortly.
Another important change was happening within hip hop culture around this time. Although DJs and crews had found their way to the community centres of Downtown Manhattan in the late 70s, the early 80s saw a whole new audience beginning to take notice down there.
Culturally, the East Village and Lower East Side of Manhattan are perhaps best known for the early days of punk, hardcore and new wave, but there was also a burgeoning arts scene. Plus seminal night clubs such as the Dancetaria, Club 57, Mudd Club and Negril.
Thanks in no small part to graffiti writer and cultural connector Fab 5 Freddy, hip hop culture was beginning to find its way into this world, largely due to his efforts to legitimise graffiti as modern art. This was at the same time that folks were beginning to take notice of Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. DJs and breakers would add cultural context to exhibitions that featured graffiti, and they fitted perfectly into the area’s DIY post-punk, post-modern club scene.
Through entering this world, Rock Steady Crew met figures such as Charlie Ahearn, who would put them into the new movie about hip hop culture he was making with Fab 5 Freddy called Wildstyle. They also met legendary photographer and filmmaker Henry Chalfant who in May 1981 went to record a battle between Rock Steady and a crew from Queens called the Dynamic Rockers. This took place in the United Skates of America roller rink, with the footage being used in the classic documentary film Style Wars. The battle ended in a tie but neither side were happy about this and so Chalfant helped to organise an August rematch at the prestigious Lincoln Centre in Upper West Side Manhattan. This also ended in a frustrating tie, but the coverage to this momentous battle helped to catapult both crews into the limelight.
Although Joe-Joe and Jimmy Dee from the original Bronx born Rock Steady Crew had been involved at the battle, the crew would continue with Crazy Legs at the helm. His Manhattan chapter making up the core members.
Two other important members of the Downtown crowd were: Michael Holman, who had moved to New York from San Francisco to work on Wall Street, but had ended up becoming a mover and shaker in the arts scene; and Kool Lady Blue, who had arrived there from London and was working with Malcolm McClaren and Vivien Westwood. Both decided to start a hip hop night at the Negril, and in 1982, to create some hype, they arranged a battle between Rock Steady Crew and a Bronx crew called the Floor Masters.
According to Michael Holman, who depending on who you ask was either managing Rock Steady Crew or simply trying to, Floor Masters came out on top this time. I'm sure Rock Steady members would see it differently but either way Holman saw the potential in building Floor Masters into a crew that could shine under the new found spotlight that breaking had acquired.
Suddenly with a media storm around the ‘new’ “breakdance” sensation,some of the more recognisable breaking crews got managers and started to turn from street gangs with a loose, sprawling membership into professional outfits. Only the very best of the bunch made it into the refined line ups and with Holman at the helm the Floor Masters morphed into the New York City Breakers, losing many of the original members and scouting for new blood from the city's elite.
The final crew consisted of Action, Kid Nice, Glide Master, Powerful Pexster, Flip Rock, Mr. Wave, Icey Ice and Lil Lep who had originally been with the 7 Deadly Sins. They featured on Soul Train, and Holman’s ‘Graffiti Rock’. Which despite not making it past the pilot episode, is recognised as the first ever hip hop TV show. They also performed for President Reagan in 1984 and battled the Rock Steady Crew on Harry Belafonte’s seminal hip hop movie Beat Street.
Rock Steady Crew themselves picked up Kool Lady Blue as their manager and also joined the Zulu Nation. As well as featuring in Style Wars, Wildstyle and Beat Street, members were in the hugely popular 1983 movie Flashdance. All integral moments to the spread of breaking worldwide. They also featured on hip hop’s first proper global outing to Europe in November 1982 as part of the New York City Rap Tour, produced by Lady Blue and Bernard Zekrit. Around 30 rappers, DJs, graffiti artists and breakers made their way to Paris and London, which also coincided with the release of Malcolm McClaren’s ‘Buffalo Gals’.
Although breaking had made very small inroads into the UK already, it was actually Malcolm McClaren who helped to kick things off properly. He’d been introduced to hip hop through Michael Holman and had booked Bambaataa and the Rock Steady Crew to open for New Wave band Bow Wow Wow in New York. For his 1983 album Duck Rock, he decided to incorporate elements of the new culture into his post punk palette. The video to the first single ‘Buffalo Gals’ featured the Rock Steady Crew alongside graffiti from Dondi and DJ / radio duo the World’s Famous Supreme Team. It was the first time that many folks around the world had a proper visual representation of hip hop, and here in the UK it was the primary inspiration for the first wave of hip hop, with graffiti and breakdancing taking off first.
Rock Steady Crew also released a chart topping single which included new members Buck 4 and Kuriaki (both tragically murdered later in life), plus their own female member of this era, Baby Love, who had joined them from the Young City Girls. They weren’t the only crew to release music either.
Although Dynamic Rockers continued as a crew after the Lincoln Centre battle, a few of their members signed a management deal (with Breakdance Int’l) and went on to enter the mainstream under the name Dynamic Breakers. These were Airbourne, Spider, Kano and Flip. They were also joined by Duce from New Jersey and later Mr Wiggles and PopMaster Fabel as I mentioned earlier. They also had a counterpart female crew led by Kim-A-Kazi called The Dynamic Dolls who featured in Beat Street. The Dynamic Breakers themselves missed out on that one due to a financial dispute but they went on to feature in ‘Delivery Boys’ and Motown’s mid 80s martial arts movie ‘The Last Dragon’. Dynamic Breakers recorded two singles for Sunnyview Records, although they never quite got the attention of ‘Hey You (The Rock Steady Crew)’
It was actually the Dynamic Breakers who first seeded the idea of breaking in the Olympics, when they challenged the Olympics gymnastic team to a battle back in 1984 (see video above). They also went out on the first hip-hop arena tours, Fresh Fest and Fresh Fest 2, but eventually faded out along with the mainstream’s attention for breaking. Today the wider Dynamic Rockers crew have chapters all over the world. I met one of their current generation in New York last year, B-boy Eli Elite, who was due to enter the Olympics on the Puerto Rican team, though I’ll have to wait til this weekend to see if that happened or not. He told me that Dynamic Rockers members were involved in the Olympic scoring system and he broke down breaking into the following elements: Top Rock, Foot Work, Power Moves and Freeze.
The Team GB website extends this further into: Top Rock, Go Downs, Footwork, Freezes, Power Moves, Transitions, Tricks and Individual Style, whilst the judging system in this year’s Olympics focuses on vocabulary, technique, execution, originality and musicality. Each of which makes up for 20% of the final score. I’m looking forward to seeing how it all plays out!
I’m leaving Boomtown tonight to make sure I’m back home in time for it all. The times are here if you’re planning to check it out. Although it can be argued that breaking in the Olympics has come a long way from where it first began, it’s very much still breaking, and so hopefully I’ve helped give you some context as to how it all started.