A few years ago I was out in Rotterdam visiting my man Erwin (a/k/a DJ Git Hyper) - big-shot Dutch turntablist dude, and the co-owner/proprietor of this world renowned vinyl emporium. My first day out there he says to me, "You ever hear of a movie called Big Fun In the Big Town?" I reply that I haven't. Erwin just kind of goes, "Mmm...," and changes the subject. I don't think too much about it. I'm more focused on going through as much of his store's stock as is humanly possible within the next 36 hours (the duration of my stay).
Fast forward a day and a half. It's the night before I'm supposed to head back home. I've got a nice haul of new vinyl acquisitions from the shop, and Erwin's playing a bunch of crazy sh*t from his collection that I've never heard before. All of a sudden he shuts off the music, pops a VHS in the VCR, and says somewhat cryptically, "Check this out." I've got no clue what I'm about to witness (XXX porn? Snuff film? Or, god forbid... DJ battle video?) but once the images of Mr. Magic and Marley Marl and that big apple red title graphic - BIG FUN IN THE BIG TOWN - fill the screen, it's all adding up like Gordon Gano studying Baseball Prospectus.
And I can't believe what I'm seeing with each successive scene: MC Shan performing "The Bridge" live on stage; Grandmaster Flash giving a walking tour of the BX neighborhood around the old Dixie Club, and then demo-ing his "Mardi Gras" cutting technique; Doug E. Fresh beat-boxing Kraftwerk's "Tour de France" on the streets of Harlem; a crew of unknowns from Chicago auditioning for Russell Simmons and Bill Adler in front of the old Def Jam offices on Elizabeth St., the camera panning past a svelte Ricky Powell at one point; DMC proudly showing off his Caddy alongside Jalil of Whodini, then jumping inside to pump the system and rhyme over a tape of "Funky Drummer"; Roxanne Shanté and Biz Markie doing "Def Fresh Crew" live on stage; Schoolly-D performing at Latin Quarter, then sharing some profound thoughts backstage...
The more I watch, the more flabbergasted I am not only that this thing exists, but that I've never even heard of it till this moment. (According to Erwin it apparently aired on Dutch TV just twice - once back in 1986, and then once in more recent years when he was shrewd enough to tape it.) As I watch, my jaw's on the floor, and I keep putting my hands to my head to prevent my brains from spontaneously spilling out onto Erwin's living room, my mind's so blown. At the end of 40 minutes I'm stunned and speechless, but incredibly thankful to have seen something this special: perhaps the definitive mid-80s cinematic hip-hop document. An encapsulation of a really unique moment in hip-hop's history - a time during which the music was generating huge sales and gaining enormous global recognition, yet the community was intimate enough and its biggest stars still down to earth and cooperative enough to allow director Bram van Splunteren's camera crew such great access. And to think I had to go all the way to Rotterdam to find out about it.
When the homie Andreas Vingaard initiated the idea of ego trip co-curating a program at the Maysles Institute last year, Big Fun In the Big Town was the first film that came to mind. What started as a conversation about a single film screening wound up expanding to a three part series, with six films shown over three months. But this Thursday we wrap it all up by finally showcasing our original inspiration (and pairing it with a great, rarely seen P.E./LL tour film as well). For anyone reading this who has yet to see Big Fun and was planning to hit the Maysles showing this week (limited advance tix on sale here, btw), well, hopefully I haven't entirely spoiled it for you by describing its content so enthusiastically. Actually, I don't think mind melt-age can be avoided when it comes to this film. Some things just have to be experienced for one's self.
Plus, we'll have some pretty special guests in the place for the post-film discussion and Q&A: director Bram van Splunteren, former Def Jam/Rush director of publicity and longtime friend of ego trip Bill Adler, and the one and only Schoolly-D! (Plus, this being NYC n' all you never know what other great entertainers might happen to show up...)
Try duplicating that experience, youtube!
0 comments:
Post a Comment