Date: Thu, 1 Jun 1995 16:27:58 +0300 From: Stewart Mason Subject: Re: Query about terms >Thanks, Christopher. What's your first recollection of "rap"? > I don't know about Christopher, but I first heard "rap" in my brown-rice-and-sandals hometown of Boulder, Colorado, in the mid-1970s, used by the people who later became New Agers. To "rap" was to talk openly and honestly about one's feelings, and it probably involved hugging. I wouldn't know for sure, because I tended to avoid people who said such things, even at such a tender age. I first heard the term used in a musical context in the 1979 single "Rapper's Delight" by the Sugar Hill Gang (available on the album _Sugar Hill Gang_, Sugar Hill Records, or any number of recent compilation CDs). However, this was merely the first rap record to penetrate to my upper-middle-class suburb (it was the first to reach the top 40), so I have no doubt that it was being used in Harlem and Brooklyn, where rap was born, well before that. Therefore, it's probably pretty unlikely that the two words are directly related, though they may have a common source. Nelson George's book _Buppies, B-Boys and Bohos_ includes a couple chapters on the development of rap, and can also point you towards other histories of the music that may be useful. Stewart _______________________________________________ Stewart Allensworth Mason PO Box 4056 Portales NM 88130 ***MY FAVORITE OBSCURE INDIE SINGLES*** 1. "New Love"/"I Don't Like You"--The Muffs (1991) 2. "Hard Look At Perfect"/"Heyday"--Matt Allison (1989) 3. _ALRN_ e.p.--Alternate Learning (1979) 4. "Try Happiness"/"Stephanie"/"A Gentle Sigh"--Blueboy (1992) 5. _Stance_ e.p.--R. Stevie Moore (1977) 6. _Angels of Epistemology_ e.p.--The Angels of Epistemology (1990)