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Herbie Hancock - Rockit

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Is a composition recorded by Herbie Hancock. It was released as a single from his 1983 album "Future Shock". The composition was written by Hancock, bass guitarist Bill Laswell, and synthesizer/drum machine programmer Michael Beinhorn.


Constructed and composed during the recording process at various studios, including Martin Bisi's in Brooklyn NY, the composition is the first recognized popular single to feature scratching and other turntablist techniques, performed by GrandMixer D.ST - an influential DJ in the early years of turntablism.


Some years later turntablists such as DJ Qbert and Mix Master Mike cited the composition as 'revelatory' in the documentary film Scratch, inspiring their interest in the instrument. The single was a major radio hit in the United Kingdom and a popular dance club record in the United States.

The music video, directed by duo Godley&Creme[1] and featuring robot-like movable sculptures (by Jim Whiting) dancing, spinning and even walking in time to the music in a "virtual house" in London, England, garnered five MTV Video Music Awards in 1984, including Best Concept Video and Best Special Effects. The video is unique in that it was edited to the sounds of the scratching of the composition, and it employed new techniques never seen in a music video up until then. Hancock himself appears and plays keyboard only as a black-and-white image on a television, which is smashed on the pavement outside the front door of the house in the closing shot.

Category
New Wave