House Music History Video Flashback Sharon Redd, ‘Beat the Street’ on Prelude 1982

There were a few songs back in the day that were responsible for my addiction to dance music.  One of them that stands out is “Beat the Street” by Sharon Redd.

At the time it was produced in 1982 most of the country was just coming out of disco, but in Detroit, we had a nice underground of week end parties that were made known to the House heads of Detroit’s Parochial Schools like St. Benedictine, St. Mary’s, St. Martin Depores, and the “preppie” public High Schools like Renaissance, Cass Tech, and Redford High.

Back then, you were either a “Prepp”(short for Preppie) which meant you listened to House Music, wore Roots Shoes (with the Beaver on the bottom), Skinny legged Levi corduroys, Polo and La Coste Emblemed Shirts, Argyle Socks and Sweaters in a generous smattering of bright pinks, blues, and greens, and all the girls had Coach Bags..or…. you were a “Jit” (short for Jitterbug, actually from the 1920’s), Track suits, and Starter Team Jackets, and Max Julien Jackets with the fur around the hood, and you listened rap music  which in it’s own was also brand spanking new, and all the “Jits” with a chip on ther shoulder, or a small time drug operation carried pistols.

The 2 groups rarely got along and keeping the party location away from the “Jit” crowd took some logistics…pretty much the first raves…secret location only known to a certain crowd (a rented hall or an old building or store front would do), dance music with rhythmic,driving bass lines, liquor and marijuana, and colorful/designer dress code. (exstacy hadn’t quite made a solid appearance yet, or if it did, I was out of the loop on that one.), and unless a crowd of “jits” crashed the party…pretty much no trouble.

This was the atmosphere in Detroit where House Music flourished..  Back then you were “king shit” if you had a cousin or something that would send you a fresh mix tape off the air from WBMX in Chicago.  If Chicago was the Holy land of House, then WBMX was it’s main temple of worship.  In Deroit, we had The Electrifying Mojo who was just about the only radio jock who would play the up and comming style called “Techno” from the local DJ’s like Alan Ester and Derrick May.

“Beat the Street” was one of those tracks that made me fall in love with female vocals in Dance Music and was the starting point of my love for artists like Sade, Martha Wash, Liz Torres and today’s Nastala, and Nadia Ali among many others .

It was a staple of the (what they now call) the underground House scene, and was one of those songs that the DJ would hold off on, until the height of the party, somewhere after midnight.

About Sharon Redd:

Sharon Redd was easily the most successful artist at New York City based dance music label Prelude during the early to mid 1980s. Redd placed several songs on the Hot Dance Club Play chart in the early 1980s, the most successful being the “Beat the Street” and “In The Name of Love” from the LP ‘Redd Hott’ which hit number one in 1982 and “Love How You Feel” from the album of the same name.

Although the single, “Love Insurance” was credited to the group Front Page, it was Sharon’s contralto vocals that fronted the song. Her father, Gene Redd, was an executive producer at King Records and her stepfather performed with the Benny Goodman band. Her brother was a writer and producer for Kool & the Gang and BMP, her sister Pennye Ford is also a singer with two albums to her credit.

While mounting a comeback in the early 1990s, Redd died of pneumonia in 1992. Dance Music Report magazine reported her death was due to AIDS.- Source Wikipedia.

Sharon Redd – Beat The Street

Label :Prelude Records

Catalog#: PRL D 639

Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ? RPM

Country: US Released: 1982

Genre: Electronic, Funk / Soul

Style: Disco

Credits: Arranged By [Strings, Horns] – Jay Leon

Mastered By – Herb Powers Jr.

Mixed By - Francois Kevorkian*

Producer - Darryl Payne , Eric Matthew

Written-By – D. Payne* , E. Matthew*

Notes: Published by Phylmar Music / Eric Matthew Music / Paynetronics Music.

Of course by today’s standards the video and style seem old school, but I am just glad that they had the forethought to make a video and preserve this bit if Dance Music History.  You have to remember, in 1982, music videos didn’t have an outlet outside of local TV dance shows, and Dance Music Videos, post disco, really didn’t have a home at all. MTV launched in 1981, but they were oblivious to House and Techno music at the time, much like they are again today.

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Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Redd

http://www.discogs.com/artist/Sharon+Redd

http://www.artistdirect.com/artist/bio/sharon-redd/

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