| |
|
Before there was 2 Live Crew - before there was hip hop, for that
matter - there was Blowfly, performing X-rated songs with a funky
groove. Born 45 years ago in Cochran, Georiga, Miami's Clarence Reid
has recorded more than 40 albums during his illustrious career. He
got his nickname as a child when his grandmother, after hearing him
sing dirty versions of then popular songs - like "Suck My Dick" for
"Do The Twist" - proclaimed, "You is nastier than a blowfly." |
|
| In
reality, there's a split personality involved in this man's music:
there's Blowfly, the outrageously garbed creator of trash classics
such as "Shittin' on the Dock of the Bay" and "Porno Freak," and then
there's Clarence Reid, who has recorded more than a dozen "clean"
albums over the years and penned songs for the likes of K.C. and the
Sunshine Band, Gwen McRae, Betty Wright, and Sam ans Dave. |
|
| Many
people cite Blowfly as being the first rapper with his 1965 "Rap Dirty"
record, which was recorded for disco giants T.K. Records after the
smash success of Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight." Blowfly himself
credits the "soul talking" Southern radio DJs of the '50s and '60s
as the pioneers of rap, but he is without dispute the first rapper
to have a song banned, after an Alabama record store was busted for
peddling "Porno Freak." Blowfly was also sued by the President of
ASCAP for his "What a Difference a Lay Makes." (The music publishing
honcho also happened to be the composer of the popular "What a Difference
a Day Makes.") |
|
| Blowfly's
sounds are a staple of modern-day hip hop. His music has been sampled
by many rappers, including his buddies 2 Live Crew. |
|
| This
year Blowfly hooked up with Fishbone's Fish and Red Hot Chili Peppers
bassist/wild man Flea to record "Shake Your Thang" (clean) backed
iwth "Shake Your Ass" (X-rated), both of which are included on the
soundtrack of Blow's new film, The Twisted World of Blowfly. |
|
| Over
the years, Blowfly's seen a lot of his contemporaries fall by the
way side. His survival can partially be credited to the fact that
while Blowfly is totally wacked in the head, Reid is a God-fearing,
Bible-carrying Christian. " I never drink, never smoke, and I never
use drugs," confesses Reid. "I may go to hell, but it won't be for
those things!" |
|
 |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
|
| |
Copyright
1997 OOPS! RECORDS |
| For
Sales Info email sales@pandisc.com
|
| For
More Bass - Return to Pandisc |
| For
Music to Rave About - visit StreetBeat |
| |
| THE
BEST OF |
Blowfly
Extended Bio 