Before Run DMC,before Jurassic 5,before the Visionaries there were the originators of the flow between MCs on the mic. These brothers inspired a host of groups and Mc's like KRS One,NAS,Will Smith,Whodini,The Beastie Boys and the microphone fiend himself Rakim.The crowd rockers,the microphone kings....
As one of the first Hip Hop crews to come out of the Bronx in the late 70's, the Cold Crush Brothers raised the standard for the groups of the time. With their synchronized routines and flashy costumes, the Cold Crushers were definitely the crew to see live. As the Crushers stand today, there members include DJ Tony Tone (Angelo King), Easy A.D. (Adrian Harris), DJ Charlie Chase (Carlos Mandes), GrandMaster Caz (Curtis Fisher), Almighty KG (Kenneth Pounder), and JDL (Jerry Dee Lewis). The original crew included Chase, Tone, A.D., WhipperWhip, Mr. T, and Dotarock. This lineup never recorded anything together. WhipperWhip and Dotarock left and became members of the Fantastic Five.
DJ Charlie Chase was one of, if not the first Latin American DJ to get involved in the Hip Hop movement. He was raised in a family of musicians, and was a bass player before he became a DJ. He got his first chance to start spinning with the DJ crew Tom and Jerry. They would play disco records and let Chase get on in the middle of their sets. Crowds of the times were getting tired of disco, so when the party started dying, the two DJ's Tom and Jerry would let Chase spin his Hip Hop albums to get the crowd going again. Most of the time, after hyping the crowd back up, the other DJ's would make Chase get off the tables so they could look like they were the party pleasers. After leaving Tom and Jerry, Chase took to the streets to build his own reputation and following. He got up with a few MC's around the area such as Cisco Kid, and RC. RC introduced Chase to Tony Tone one day, and that was the beginning of the Cold Crush. Tony Tone was part of the Brothers Disco (DJ Baron and DJ Breakout) at the time and took Chase to one of their shows. It was the first all Hip Hop show Chase had ever been to, and he loved it.
Tony actually came up with the name Cold Crush, after waking up from a dream one night. Tone said in the book Yes, Yes, Ya'll ," Cold Crush, when I thought up the name meant anybody steps in our way, they get crushed, cold crushed, no remorse. Once we get on stage, it's no friendship, we got to walk off the stage victorious." Eazy A.D. was first part of the group the As-Salaam Brothers. They broke up, and he joined the Cold Crushers.
Grandmaster Caz (one known as the DJ Cassanova Fly) hooked up with the Crush after his crew, the Mighty Force disbanded. Dotarock and WhipperWhip also came along for the ride. It just so happened that Kevie Kev and the guys from the L Brothers were looking at the two MC's to join their crew. Back then, it was all about the system you had to perform on, the louder the better, and Chase and Tones system wasn't the best of the time. So, Dota, and Whip chose the crew with the better sound, and joined the L Brothers to form the Fantastic Five. Later the Cold Crush even took in some of the Furious Five MC's, after they were pissed at Grand Master Flash for taking too much of their money. They later went back to Flash, only after he had them ruffed up. What a world.
One of the most funked up parts in the history of Hip Hop, involved GrandMaster Caz and the first mainstream group of HipHop, The Sugarhill Gang. As the story goes, Sylvia Robinson of SugarHill Records heard a demo of the Cold Crush with Caz rocking the mic, and decided to make a rap album. She over heard a bouncer of a local club named Hank, rapping along with a Cold Crush tape and asked him to join her new group. Now, Big Bank Hank as they called him, was a friend of the crews, who helped them get the big sound system that they needed. So Hank goes back to Caz, and asks him if he could use the lyrics he wrote. Thinking that after he let him use the lyrics, he would help bring him into the SugarHill Gang, Caz let him use them. As history goes, Hank goes on to be part of the first platinum HipHop album ever "Rappers Delight", with Caz's lyrics. Caz never sees a dime from Hank or SugarHill, and doesn't even get credit for his rhymes. It's a major lesson to learn in the industry. Never let anyone use your stuff if your not getting something out of it.
Cold Crush started to attract a lot of attention from other crews, and was approached constantly to battle. Caz one said, "It's like I don't care if God, Moses and Abraham, come down here to battle us, we bustin' they ass".
Some of their most famous battles were against Grand Wizard Theodore and the Fantastic Five. Both of the crew were featured in the film Wild Style, and were both on the soundtrack. They were the first crew to sign with Tuff City, a label under CBS records. The Crushers went on to release numerous singles like, "The Weekend, "Punk Rock Rap", "Fresh, Wild, Fly, and Bold," and "Heartbreakers." The group never recorded a full-length album though. The Cold Crush broke up in 1986, but today are still affiliated with one another. The members have released solo material throughout the late 80's and 90's such as KG's and Tony's 1988 album "Troopers", and GrandMaster Caz's 2000 release "MC Delight", which was an album done as a comeback for not receiving credit for "Rapper's Delight".
The group as recently performed at the grand opening of the Experience Music Project in Seattle, and brought down the house during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum's "HipHop Nation: Roots, Rhyme and Rage" exhibit when it opened at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in Sept. of 2001.
To learn more about the Cold Crush Brothers, check out these myspace sites:
Cold Crush Brothers
Grandmaster Caz
Tony Tone
Easy AD
Prince Whipper Whip
Source: HeavyContact.com
Bonus:Check out the Audio section on the website of one of the sickest DJ crews...5th Platoon. Especially Neil Armstrong's sample of "Bitter Sweeet" and "Smoove"...that's what a mix CD should sound like!!!! Speaking of which I came across a mix I made about two years ago and I will be posting a link to hear it by the end of next week so be on the look out that. So until next week..
Next Thursday:The Chief Rocker Busy Bee Starski
Graffiti Legend Futura 2000
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