My #33 Greatest 80's era band is RUN-D.M.C. This blog covers 1984's "Run-D.M.C." to 1993's "Down With The King". I have 30 RUN-D.M.C. songs on my iTunes and I probably won't be adding more songs to my iTunes.
RUN-D.M.C. was Joseph Simmons (Run) , Daryl McDaniel (not McDonalds, aka D.M.C.) and Jason Mizell (Jam Master Jay).
In my opinion the best rap CD of all-time is their 1986 classic CD "Raising Hell". It's a collection of great songs, mixing the genres of rock and rap to those songs best possible songs. Listen to their collaboration with Aerosmith with fresh ears and it's amazing how great "Walk This Way" sounds. But that CD also features "Hit It Run", "You Be Illin'", "Peter Piper", "Raising Hell" and their best song "It's Tricky".
What makes "Raising Hell" sound so fresh today is that the songs were the first songs that mixed rock and rap in a very enjoyable way. Also they weren't sexually graphic, had few swear words and didn't glorify drugs. They also didn't refer to women as "ho's". Fusing rock into their sound made them accessible to both rap and rock fans. Although that probably also turned off some rock and rap fans as well.
The only problem with that sound is that they had a tendency to repeat it over their next few CDs. As the CDs continued being released, the use of the "n" word and swear words increased. With few exceptions that sound grew tiresome and the songs started sounding the same. By the time I got to 1993's "Down With The King" the sameness sounds of songs was too much. It seemed like I was listening to the same CD for the third time. I was no longer listening to songs to determine their quality, but to see if there was a song that sounded different. From the last 3 CDs being considered for this blog, the most unique sounding song is "Christmas In Hollis".
Here are a couple of songs that aren't on the actual countdown, but still have some interest:
As with many RUN-D.M.C. songs I love the bass on this song. This is the edited version and would be higher on my countdown, but the song on "King Of Rock" goes on too long. It sadly loses it's charm when played at it's full 5:59 length. "You Talk Too Much":
A tribute to the man who would become a legendaryDJ. He was taken too soon from us. R.I.P. Jason "Jam Master Jay":
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