Afternoon Flashback: Doug E Fresh & Slick Rick

Please indulge me whilst I sashay down Memory Lane a bit...

I began my 6 (count em!) years at Penn State during the fall of 1985. Around that same time, hip-hop pioneers Doug E Fresh (AKA "The Human Beat Box") and Slick Rick (AKA "MC Ricky D") released a single with The Show on one side, and La Di Da Di on the other.

That first semester, my friend Alan would introduce me to the joys of these two tracks and other early hip hop. Other (AKA "whiter") dorm-mates would introduce me to classic rock like Pink Floyd ("Comfortably Numb" became our unofficial anthem); and others to bands like the Violent Femmes and Depeche Mode. But, I must say, hip-hop was the most fun - so when my friends and I got drunk (which was often) The Show and La Di Da Di were played loudly and repeatedly. And even the white guys rapped along.

FYI for you young Bitches - these songs were contained on something called a RECORD, which had to be played on a machine called a TURNTABLE. These "turntables" were made out of Dinosaur bones, Model T Ford parts, and old milk churns - just so you know ...