According to the Freshest Kids documentary breaks also come from everyday life terminology. It basically means when one reaches his/her breakin point. For example, one might say why are you breakin on me, why is my mom breakin on me, etc. So basically, this term is exaggerated to the dancing.
Still nowadays the most famous and played records on B-Boying events and in practicing spots are records from that time when everything started (60ies and 70ies). Make sure to also checkout these dance tracks to dance to. Remember that music is the key to dancing. If you are not on the beat and don't have any rhythm you are not dancing.
This song is simply legendary in the world of dance music. The track has become an all time b-boying anthem and is revered as the original break of all original breaks. Michael Viner formed the Bongo Band as a loose, informal conglomerate of musicians (Jim Gordon on drums and King Errisson on percussion) who came together to record the soundtrack of an blaxploitation movie called "The Thing with two Heads" or percussive versions of established pop classics from the The Shadows "Apache" to Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" and the Rolling Stones "Satisfaction".
The Status of The Incredible Bongo Band was comparable with James Last records in Europe till DJs like Kool Herc used some tracks in their mixes. Nowadays "Apache" can be found on every funk/b-boy compilation.
Discographie:
Bongo Rock (Pride 1973)
The Return of the Incredible Bongo Band (Pride 1974)
Jimmy Castor Bunch - "It's Just Begun"
Jimmy Castor is a singer, writer, arranger, saxophonist, percussionist, and producer in one person. With the exception of James Brown, no other performer's music has weathered the changes in R&B over the last 40 years as well as Jimmy Castors. From the street-corner harmonies of Sugar Hill to scratching turntables of today, Castor's music has been in the limelight for almost four decades now.
"It's Just Begun" is Castor's masterpiece, the most fully realized example of his vision. In addition to tapping into his doo-wop and Latin soul roots, "The Jimmy Castor Bunch" had developed a funk groove, with thumping, slapping bass, fuzz-tone guitar, and layered percussion. "It's Just Begun" has never been issued as a single but remain one of Castor's best-known classics. The track turned up in "Flashdance" and "Beat Street" in the film's big break dance "battle" scenes.
Discographie
It's just begun (RCA LP, 72)
Phase II (RCA LP)
Dimension III (Atlantic LP)
Butt of course (Atlantic LP, 74)
Supersound (Atlantic LP, 75)
Bertha Butt Boogie (Atlantic, 74)
The everything man (Atlantic, 74)
Potential (Atlantic, 75)
Supersound / Drifting (Atlantic, 75)
Bom Bom (Atlantic, 76)
I love a mellow groove (Atlantic, 76)
E-man boogie (Atlantic, 76)
Everything is beautiful to me (WEA, 79)
James Brown - "Give it up or turn it a loose"
Todays music such as rap or techno is based on the roots of James Brown's funky people and their records of the late 60is and 70is.
The most common criteria for breakbeats are clear drums and percussion in a 4/4 measure. The snare usually plays on 2 and 4 (so 1 2 3 and 4). Nearly all breakbeats descend from the breaks on James Brown records, where he goes crying and shouting and the band stops. Basically, a breakbeat is the beat in that break.
One of the first such beat was James Browns "Give it up or turn it loose" from 1968, this original version (that's not the one everybody thinking of with the "clap your hands, stomp your feet" break) was the base inspiration for the original hit version of "Sex machine".
Discographie:
Too much to name. Check: allmusic.com or godfatherofsoul.com
Kool DJ Herc, the godfather of hip-hop, was born in Jamaica in 1955. He moved to the Bronx in 1967, at the age of twelve. With his unique playlist of R&B, soul, funk, and obscure disco, Herc quickly became the catalyst of hip-hop way of life. The kids from the Bronx and Harlem loved his ghetto style, which gave birth to the concept of the B-Boy. The B-Boy -- or beat boy, Bronx Boy, loved the breaks of Kool Herc, and as a result soon created breakin. These were the people of the hip-hop culture. While Pete DJ Jones was #1 for the black disco crowd in NYC, Herc and the B-Boys were the essence of the hip-hop movement, because of they lived the lifestyle. The way they danced, dressed, walked, and talked was unique, as opposed to most of the disco artists.
Extend the Break
By most accounts Herc was the first DJ to buy two copies of the same record for just a 15-second break (rhythmic instrumental segment) in the middle. By mixing back and forth between the two copies he was able to double, triple, or indefinelty extend the break. In so doing, Herc effectively deconstructed and reconstructed so-called found sound, using the turntable as a musical instrument, making music with music.
When DJ Kool Herc performed to Breaks at crowded venues, he would shout ludly 'B-Boys go down!' and this was the cue for dancers to cut and jump their gymnastics. Even today nobody is quite clear what Kool Herc meant by his phrase. Some suggested B-Boys stands for 'Boogie Boy' while others insist it means 'Break Boy'. The later has become the favored choice.