Beat Street Soundtrack
COMPILATION
1 LP, standard sleeve
Original analog Master tape : YES
Heavy Press : 180g
Record color : black
Speed : 33RPM
Size : 12”
Stereo
Studio
Record Press : unspecified
Label : Friday Music
Original Label : Atlantic
Produced by Arthur Baker, Harry Belafonte
Originally released in 1984
Reissued in 2015
Tracks:
Side A :
1 Grandmaster Melle Mel & The Furious Five-Beat Street Breakdown
2 The System-Baptize The Beat
3 Jenny Burton & Patrick Jude-Strangers In A Strange World (Love Theme From Beat Street)
4 Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force-Frantic Situation
Side B :
1 Juicy w/ Deodato-Beat Street Strut
2 Sharon Green, Lisa Counts & Debbie D-Us Girls
3 Cindy Mizelle-This Could Be The Night
4 Arthur Baker-Breaker’s Revenge
5 Ruben Blades-Tu Carnio/Carmen’s Theme
Reviews :
"Since it was the soundtrack to one of the first major motion pictures about hip-hop culture, it was a little disappointing that this album only contained two legitimate hip-hop songs among its nine tracks. Luckily, those two tunes happen to be classics. The Melle Mel showcase "Beat Street Breakdown" tackles everything from graffiti tagging to Armageddon with rhymes of hair-raising power, demonstrating why he was one of the greatest rappers to ever step up to the mic. And Afrika Bambaataa & the Soulsonic Force's "Frantic Situation" is equally stunning from a sonic perspective, as Arthur Baker's dense, cutup mix even makes room for a trombone solo. True, there are traces of hip-hop among some of the other offerings, including the System's electro-funky "Baptize the Beat and Baker's instrumental "Breaker's Revenge." But it certainly seems unnecessary for not one but two string-soaked ballads -- "Strangers in a Strange World," the movie's official "love theme," as well as Rubén Blades' Latin lullaby "Tu Carino (Carmen's Theme)" -- to have been included, instead of another couple of rap tunes. Take away the Melle Mel and Bambaataa songs, and the album is actually less impressive than Breakin', another hip-hop movie soundtrack of the same vintage that also avoided hip-hop -- but had better alternatives than can be found here." AllMusic Review by Dan LeRoy
Ratings :
AllMusic : 1,5 / 5 , Discogs : 4,07 / 5