Hodisk Records, “Super Rat,” and the Sugarhill Gang
Outtakes from “How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s”
On April 5, KQED published my 6000-word story on the early history of Bay Area rap: “How Bay Area Hip-Hop Found Its Sound in the 1980s,” as part of “That’s My Word,” its yearlong series on the region that coincides with the 50th anniversary of hip-hop. It focuses on the years 1981 to 1988. Here’s some unused material from my reporting.
Hodisk Records, “Super Rat,” and the Sugarhill Gang
In Mickey “Mo” Moore’s 1996 autobiography, The Man: The Life Story of a Drug Kingpin, he claims that in 1981 his label, Hodisk, became “the first record company on the West Coast to release a rap record” with Philip “Motorcycle Mike” Lewis and the Rat Trap Band’s “Super Rat.” “Slick,” a local songwriter, recommended Motorcycle Mike to Mickey Mo. But it’s unclear if “Slick” is an alias for Numonics songwriter Scott Harralson, or someone else.
The label Hodisk refers to one of Mickey Mo’s nicknames. Before he got deep into heroin distribution, he was also a pimp.
Is it true that “Super Rat” is the first authentic West Coast rap record? In L.A., Duffy Hooks’ Rappers Rapp Co. released Disco Daddy & Captain Rapp’s “The Gigolo Rapp” in 1981. Release dates/months are unavailable for both. It’s worth distinguishing between novelty raps, and artists actively engaged in the club scene. There’s a lot of documentation that Disco Daddy and Captain Rapp fulfill the latter requirement.
By comparison, I struggled to find anything about Motorcycle Mike. Unlike Captain Rapp, who went on to national fame with the 1983 Jimmy Jam-Terry Lewis production “Bad Times (I Can’t Stand It)”; Motorcycle Mike appears to have gone quiet after “Super Rat.”
But that doesn’t necessarily mean he wasn’t active. These were years when the Black community was very insular. Daily and alternative newspapers rarely paid attention unless there was a wider — and often negative — mainstream impact. It’s possible Motorcycle Mike had a name in East Bay discos, or that a now-forgotten community newspaper interviewed him.
Plenty of rap novelties appeared on the West Coast before 1981. At the beginning of 1980, L.A. label AVI Records put out “Casper’s Groovy Ghost Show.” However, the rapper was Chicago disc jockey Howard “Casper” Tucker, and Terry Marshall produced the session in Chicago. Also released that year was “Badd Mann Dann Rapp” by L.A. comedian Jimmy “King Monkey” Thompson on comedy label ALA/Laff Records.
In 1980, Moore writes about a three-date concert series he promoted under his company Hodie’s Productions, with War, the Gap Band, Sugarhill Gang, and Moore’s soul group the Numonics. Note how Moore subtly stretches the truth — his concerts hit Billboard’s top 20, not the top five.
After the success of those three concerts, Mickey Mo tried to set up a 10-date West Coast tour with the Gang, the Numonics, and Seguins. (Both Numonics and Seguins were local soul acts at the time; Mickey Mo eventually put out several Numonics records. I can’t find any evidence that Seguins released music.) However, the tour only lasted through Sacramento, San Diego and Hollywood before falling apart.
A final Moore anecdote: Bas-1 told me about how he used to hang out at Tony’s Liquor, one of Mickey Mo’s several businesses on 23rd Avenue in East Oakland.
Here’s Lee Hildebrand’s Oakland Tribune story on the Gang, timed to coincide with the Hodie’s Productions concert. As far as I know, it’s the first time rap music was mentioned in the Bay Area press. Hildebrand quotes Wonder Mike and Master Gee as well as Sugar Hill Records owner Sylvia Robinson and national promotion director Regina Jones.
Music to Break By
On August 5, 1984, the San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle published a story by Leslie Goldberg about the breakdancing fad. Here’s a list of records they recommended for kids to practice their backspins and centipedes to. Prince may seem an odd choice, but I can personally attest to a certain youngster trying (and failing) to pop-lock to “When Doves Cry.”
Just Say No
One of the themes in the story is how various “Just Say No” groups hired rap acts for their anti-drug youth events.
Here’s an Oakland Tribune event listing for the Friday Night Live Summer Fest in Concord, an August 25, 1989 event. “Have fun this summer, but play it smart and do it drug free,” it reads. The entertainment was courtesy of electro-bass acts Keisha Boom — who recorded “Just Dance” for Cameron Paul’s Tandem Records label — and Chill E.B.
This is a May 11, 1989 listing in the San Francisco Examiner for a rally at Justin Herman Plaza. Among the talent is Dominique DiPrima and Petite & Elite. DiPrima had a very interesting journey in the 80s Bay Area arts scene.
Ray Billingsley’s Curtis
In the March 5, 1989 Sunday edition of Curtis, cartoonist Ray Billingsley gently satirized rap mania.