Flash (The "Grandmaster" moniker came later) was a BBoy in its very early stages (meaning not many floor moves like the Twins, Clark Kent, myself and others popularized in the mid-70s evolving from the "burning" phase of it... Ask MY BROTHER Fuji Tony Fuji Lalande who was with Flash, Merle Mel - also a BBoy - and their crew during that era!... Kool Herc was the preeminent BBoy DJ (It's NOT called Hip Hop yet - but that's what it was!) Grandmaster Flowers, Pete DJ Jones, Moboya and others were DISCO DJs!... They played for a COMPLETELY DIFFERENT AUDIENCE! (and by disco, I mean "Black Disco" which is a different animal from the White commercial "Saturday Night Fever" type Disco" of the 70s) THEY WERE NOT BBOY DJS - and for the record, I'm not concerned with Flowers playing for "Rockers" in the 60s/early 70s... A DIFFERENT ERA! NOT BBOYS!... Flash comes into the picture as a DJ, around late 75-76 as a direct rival to Herc ... OUR crew - meaning The Black Spade DJs Disco King Mario, Kool DJ Dee (Who is ACTUALLY in the conversation with Flowers and Jones as a Disco DJ who played BBoy music when he played for US in the neighborhood!) and Tex DJ Hollywood were playing our area (Soundview) and were known to us... And of course, Bam and the Zulu Kings (MY CREW!)... I TRAVELED! - and had friends EVERYWHERE!... And I WENT TO CLUBS! As well as BBoy venues since I was a BBOY!... So I HEARD PETE, FLOWERS AS WELL AS HERC, FLASH ETC!... COMPLETELY DIFFERENT STYLES, VENUES, AND AUDIENCES!... Flash WAS NOT BEING CALLED "Grandmaster" until around 1977!... Where he got the moniker from is irrelevant - it's AFTER FLOWERS!... And as I said in a previous video on YouTube a couple of years ago, The inventing the crossfader stuff is myth! - further perpetuated y the KRS dude and others who were NOT AROUND DURING THAT PERIOD! (If you're UNDER 54, YOU WERE NOT THERE! And ONLY KNOW 2nd and 3rd hand accounts!!... The BBoy era, meaning 1st Generation BEGINS IN 1972-3 to MID 70s and ENDS IN 1977-78! And THOSE YEARS are THE BEGINNINGS of what TODAY is known as Hip Hop!... And DURING THAT PERIOD IT WAS EXCLUSIVE TO THE BRONX!
Ron Plummer Flash should be respected for only the period he was active and it didn't begin in 1972. That part is bullshit - don't know if it was concocted by him or his marketing team. Unfortunate...
1. Flash was only 13-14 years old in 1972
2. I was out there in NYC lights with Flowers, Pete DJ Jones, Maboya, the Smith Brothers and a host of others between 72-76 and Flash was not out there with us. I stopped playing and became the road sound engineer for the Trammps in 76.
3. Prior to the direct drive Technics tables, those of us who worked had Thorens MkII 125TD belt driven turntables with suspensions that could deal with the high volume acoustical feedback problems.
3. The Technics SL-23 wasn't sold until 1976
4. I had one of the first prototype GLI mixers thanks to Richard Long and the GLI engineers, which didn't hit the street until 74-75.
5. Mike Glasco, one of the original GLI engineers and later President of GLI and then Menlo Scientific resides in California for those looking for serious confirmation.
1. Flash was only 13-14 years old in 1972
2. I was out there in NYC lights with Flowers, Pete DJ Jones, Maboya, the Smith Brothers and a host of others between 72-76 and Flash was not out there with us. I stopped playing and became the road sound engineer for the Trammps in 76.
3. Prior to the direct drive Technics tables, those of us who worked had Thorens MkII 125TD belt driven turntables with suspensions that could deal with the high volume acoustical feedback problems.
3. The Technics SL-23 wasn't sold until 1976
4. I had one of the first prototype GLI mixers thanks to Richard Long and the GLI engineers, which didn't hit the street until 74-75.
5. Mike Glasco, one of the original GLI engineers and later President of GLI and then Menlo Scientific resides in California for those looking for serious confirmation.
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