taking sides: breakin vs. beat street

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Okay, so one the one hand we've got a "Save the Last Dance" white girl learning the wayz ov da street inna Hollywood style, replete with legwarmers and romantic subplot ("I Feel For You" inexplicably NOT on the soundtrack, even though Ozone and Turbo feature heavily in the video). On the other we've got the rawer edge of Beat Street, a dark movie (= somebody dies) that includes all the Hip Hop Components (music, graffitti, breaking, and uh...?) though no strong female characters. Did you see these movies? Which do you like? And of course: who had the better soundtrack?

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

tracer: music isn't an element of hip hop. Rather, you have djing and mcing, thus yeilding for total elements.

Breakin'.

― Sterling Clover, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Thank you Sterls.

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

music isn't an element of hip hop

Has Sterl become Don Henley?

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I love Save The Last Dance because it is funny in that sad way. Her arabesque barely gets off the ground and yet she's the Julliard champion? Also, 18 years of dance and suddenly she hears hip-hop and can't dance...can't understand the crazy beat! I love all the dramatic bits. "Is the baby yours?" "Well he ain't grammas!" and "Yeah, I used to dance". I liked the Montell Jordan song on the soundtrack. Remember when the Dangerous Minds cd was like THE cd to have? Oh those were the days.

― Evangeline, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I was watching "Save The Last Dance" with some friends. At the father-daughter heart-to-heart near the end, there was a moment where their eyes met and they just stared at each other. One of the people watching quipped, "This is the part where they make out." I have no idea what happened for the next five minutes of the movie because of the bedlam caused by that comment.

― Dan Perry, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ha! The dad was excellent. I especially loved the over-emphasized poorness of his abode. Doors not shutting properly. Frozen dinners. Of course, at the end her room is transformed into a Better Homes & Gardens photo. "Dad it's a school night!" This all makes me want to go rent Buffy now (the movie, not that series) oh I used to practice her cheerleading bits over and over again.

― Evangeline, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

talking of movies like this, what the fuck was 'breakdance'? anyone see nthat? its got chaka khan 'aint nobody' on the soundtrack. i picked the s/t in oxfam, but have no idea about the film. sounds pretty similar to the aforementioned....

― ambrose, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

How many "white girl learns from black people how to use her body" movies are there?? I think "Bring It On" fits here.

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Does porn count?

― Kris, Wednesday, 20 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo

― Graham, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I fucking hate that movie. It's like the difference between a card magician and a guy who buys all his tricks from a shop.

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 21 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Is Sonny Sharrock on the Beat Street soundtrack?

No. SERIOUSLY. R. Christgau winds up his capsule review of this rekkid with the engimatic comment "And Sharrock returns" and I have never ever understood what he meant by that.

― Michael Daddino, Saturday, 23 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

To be honest I just posted it because of the name.

― Graham, Saturday, 23 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Michael, I have a 'Space Ghost' S/T CD by Sonny Sharrock, so anything is possible...

― Andrew L, Sunday, 24 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

http://www.yesterdayland.com/images/popopedia/shows/m ovies/mv1640.jpg

― bnw, Sunday, 24 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Save the Last Dance" is LIES LIES LIES. There are no good hip-hop clubs like that on Chicago's southside. There are few good hip-hop clubs in Chicago at all. And none for high-school youth. Hidden worlds are the extent of your imagination, and scenes matter and exist to those within them. You wanna dance on the southside, you go to a house party.

― Sterling Clover, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

typical equivocation

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

is it not clear that I'm fishing for responses??

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sorry, Tracer, I'm too busy imagining Sterling making ill-fated sojurns to the skanky south-loop hip-hop clubs.

― Nitsuh, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dude, when I was in Chicago (95) there was no WAY I as going to the South Side. I did some community work hooking up computers in Pilsen and that was easily far enough south for me. Pilsen = orig. settled by Germans (geddit?) but now (?) mainly Hispanic. I remember a sunny day in Pilsen, walking along in a light breeze towards the Center for Latin Progress, every window thrown open and hung with some kind of bunting, and a haunting salsa version of "Strawberry Fields" following me the entire way... strange things happen on the South Side...

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 25 March 2002 01:00 (twenty-four years ago)

three months pass...

Dude, you're asking the wrong crowd here, most of these comments don't seem to come from anyone older than 25 - they're not going to remember breakin. BTW, it's one of my favorites...it's also extremely hard to get copies of it. Beat Street? Eh? I think Breakin had the better sound track. 1. Breakin'...There's No Stopping Us- Ollie & Jerry 2. Freakshow on the Dance Floor- Bar-Kay's 3. Body Work- Hot Streak 4. 99 1/2- Carol Lynn Townes 5. Showdown- Ollie & Jerry 6. Heart of the Beat- 3V 7. Street People- Fire Fox 8. Cut It- Re-Flex 9. Ain't Nobody- Rufus & Chaka Khan 10. Reckless- "The Glove" Taylor & David Storr

Oh and don't forget the cameo appearance of up and coming Ice T. ;)

― Amy M., Sunday, 7 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Hahaha and for Ice-T's big song (which was the best thing on the album easily I think) he spends the whole song bigging up his DJ! Whatever happened to "The Glove" I wonder...

― Tracer Hand, Sunday, 7 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

BREAKING is one of the best movies ever made. 'Nuff said. Soundtrack is awesome, too.

― DavidMSC, Tuesday, 9 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"99 1/2" is an EXCELLENT song!

― Dan Perry, Tuesday, 9 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

three weeks pass...

Just watched Beat Street again for the first time in years. That movie summed up my white suburban chicago childhood. ;) I used to pause it and draw the burners on my school folders. That was when I took breakdancing lessons from two white jewish people in skokie. hahaha. The things parents will do. I still know every word to the movie and collect Afrika Bambataa mp3s. Working on getting the soundtrack on CD. Breakin sucked!!!

Tickets to the Roxy..... F-r-e-s-h!!!

― Cantalop, Thursday, 1 August 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

three months pass...

i still remember that i traded my beat street soundtrack cassette for my friend's breakin soundtrack right before he moved to texas. every time he came back to visit i tried to get him to bring the cassette back so we could trade back. he always 'forgot'. of course we all know that the beat street cassette ruled the house over the breakin' cassette.
damn.
played me for a sucker.

― 1001 years old, Tuesday, 12 November 2002 04:31 (twenty-three years ago)

four months pass...

This thread must be worth a revival

So who remembers the scene with Turbo dancing to "Tour de France" with the broom while sweeping up the yard?

― bluey, Thursday, 27 March 2003 22:49 (twenty-three years ago)

I never saw Beat Street as a tyke, but Breakin' was one of the first videos that mi familia rented when we got our first VCR. Me and my sisters watched it like 10 times, and liked it in a non-ironic way.
Watching it now is frickin' hilarious...that Kelly sure can act, can't she? And the big finale where the win over those stodgy judges=80s cheesiness at its finest.

― oops (Oops), Thursday, 27 March 2003 23:05 (twenty-three years ago)

Beat Street was the first movie I remember seeing in a theater. I loved it then and I still love it.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 27 March 2003 23:37 (twenty-three years ago)

They were both great; phenomenons really.

Even though I think Breakin' got there first, I'd have to go w/ Beat Street. Better music (live Soul Sonic Force!), more realistic (more "authentic" haha), and Rae Dawn Chong.

― Mr. Diamond (diamond), Friday, 28 March 2003 00:05 (twenty-three years ago)

But where does Krush Groove fit into all this?

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 28 March 2003 00:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Krush Groove had Debbie Harry on the soundtrack.

― Jody Beth Rosen (Jody Beth Rosen), Friday, 28 March 2003 01:02 (twenty-three years ago)

DO NOT SULLY MY MEMORIES OF BOOGALOO SHRIMP BROOM_DANCING WITH YOUR FOUL "Krush Groove" SHENANIGANS. (NOTE: I have never seen "Krush Groove".)

― Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 28 March 2003 01:02 (twenty-three years ago)

Man, when I try to think that far back all I see is Starbuck in his headgear launching from the Battlestar Galactica. I'd like to see a Cylon breakdance. What would be the mormon subtext of that?

― Millar (Millar), Friday, 28 March 2003 01:24 (twenty-three years ago)

that broom dancing scene was like totally fake man. you could see the string at one point

― 6 year old oops (Oops), Friday, 28 March 2003 16:27 (twenty-three years ago)

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