TOP 5 STUDIO SCRATCHES OF ALL TIME!
NUMBER ONE
1982: Buffalo Gals (Malcolm McClaren)
As a fan of scratch music you’re probably questioning this selection cause yes, there are slew of other songs which feature more technically progressive scratches on them. However, we would argue a top 5 list in any category merits the acknowledgement of the first, original, pioneer or in this case pioneers in said art or sport. Let it be known, Malcolm McClaren’s “Buffalo Gals” is the first song to ever feature scratches on it.
In 1982, a British record producer named Malcolm McClaren flew across the Atlantic Ocean and landed in NYC. His mission, to seek help from DJ gods (we call them gods cause they were 5 Percenters) The World Famous Supreme Team in the recording of what would be the classic maxi-single release, “Buffalo Gals”. Started in 1979, Supreme Team members See Divine the Mastermind and Justice Allah the Superstar initially stepped into the Hip Hop scene as hosts of an undergound radio show on WHBI alongside none other than the legend Mr. Magic. It only took a couple of years before McClaren recruited them for their DJ expertise.
As far as we’re concerned, “Buffalo Gals” will forever rank as one of the top songs to feature scratches. The Supreme Team did a superb job of performing their cuts in a way that enhanced McClaren’s sound. “Buffalo Gals” just isn’t “Buffalo Gals” without the presence of The Supreme Team’s WIGGY WIGGY WIGGY WAAAA. What’s more, the impact the song has had on “Skratch culture” can be felt 4 decades after it’s debut. Right now, there’s a “skratcher” somewhere on this earth scratching “Boy that scratchin’s making me itch WAAAAAA” or “Do Ya Like Scratchin” over a looper, oblivious to the origins of these two staple scratch sounds. Peace to the gods.
NUMBER TWO
1983: Rock It (Herbie Hancock)
In at number two we got the Grand Mixer DST’s work on “Rock It”. What Q-Bert is to scratching today, DST was back in the day.
If you’ve never listened to “Rock It” and you’re a fan of scratch driven music, punch yourself in the jaw. Once you’re done, climb up out of that rock you’ve been living under and give the song your undivided attention. The genius of this song is the fusion of Jazz musician Herbie Hancock on Key Board and DST’s on the turntables. Guided by producer Bill Laswell, the approach to the song is by these 3 musical savants is revolutionary.
Although the term “Turntablist” was coined a decade after “Rock It” debut, Grand Mixer DST was manipulating the turntable like instrument way before any of his contemporaries or offspring thought to.
NUMBER THREE
1988: Terminator X to the Edge of Panic (Public Enemy)
Juice aka Jugo has been working with Public Enemy as a ghost scratcher since their first album YO BUM RUSH THE SHOW. Except no one knew the dude scratching “ROCK AND ROLL EEEEHHHH – URRRRR – EEEEHHH – URRRR – EEEEHHHH – URRRRR – ROCK AND ROLL…” while Chuck D yelled “TERMINATOR X” was actually Juice. But it was Chuck’s ode to Terminator X on “…the Edge of Panic” that arguably showcased the best cuts ever performed on a DJ themed song ever. The scratches were super intense, yet they don’t overwhelm me as a listener. They struck the kind of sonic balance most DJs fail to achieve as studio scratchers to this day.
“My goal was to make the records I worked on compete, to complement the musicianship. No more, no less. A great song is a great song. To do too much ruins the dynamic of the song. When approaching any song, I listen for what the song NEEDS. Sometimes that requires very technical riffs and other times, it requires simplicity. This is the same approach no matter what instrument you play. I am a drummer/percussionist and I treat the turntable as a percussive instrument. If the passage requires melody, I try to incorporate melodic scratching. This approach has worked well for me.
I looked at my work with PE like most session musicians from the 1950s and 1960s. All of those unsung heroes who made magic like the Funk Brothers with Motown and the session musicians from Chess Records like Pete Cosey (R.I.P.) Louis Satterfield (R.I.P.) Morris Jennings (R.I.P. – P.S. He was the drummer on the break beat Different Strokes by Syl Johnson,) Gene Barge (producer of Here Comes the Judge by Pigmeat Markham) Phil Upchurch, and Maurice White (R.I.P.)” – DJ Johnny Juice
NUMBER FOUR
1994: Resurrection (Common Sense)
Mista Sinista’s body of work as a studio scratcher may not be as extensive as let’s say a Premier, a Pete Rock or even me, but his contribution to Common’s sophomore album RESURRECTION LP has stood the test of time. For that reason, the albums single “Resurrection” ranks number 4.
“Either DJ Mista Sinister or No I.D. suggested ‘Nice & Smooth is your resurrection’ and that was so right because the way he was saying ‘resurrection.’ Then, Mista Sinista would create a rhythm with his scratching and eventually after, I laid the rhymes to fit the ‘resurrection’ scratches.” – Common
“Joey did the scratches on that. Joey was a major creator when it comes to turntablism and scratching—he was insane. He was so precise with everything.” – No I.D.
NUMBER FIVE
2002: Clifford’s Mustache (D Styles)
D Styles is our modern day DST, PERIOD! He can do it all. Want him to sound musical, no problem. He’ll flip a guitar riff so melodic, he’ll have you thinking a Guitarist was actually playing if you weren’t watching him. Then put him in a room with the most technical portablist “skratcher” and their skill level will sound pedestrian in comparison. Dave’s work on Phantazmagorea is the proof. Peep “Clifford’s Mustache”. Assisted by another one of our favorite scratch DJs in Q-Bert, D Styles puts on a scratching clinic. I mean, the entire song is composed of scratches.
So there you have it, our top 5 studio scratches of all-time. Honorable mention to all of the DJs who’ve contributed to DJ art, you know who you are. Respect!