Celebreak

The Breakploitation of the 80’s

Posted on November 29, 2008

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. This is not a tale of two cities, I’m talking about the 80’s. The break-heard-around-the-world had taken breaking from NY to new frontiers. But with it came the trouble that many think ultimately killed it’s first rise to popularity in the 80’s: the media and commercialism.

Today there are many examples of companies tactfully using breaking in commercials, shows, etc…to push their products but back in the 80’s, it wasn’t the case. When it first became popular, breaking itself was something that companies thought they could commercialize and sell.

This period of breakploitation was horrible. And awesome. When I look at some of the stuff from back them I want to shake my head and smile at the same time. I’d be embarrassed to have bought into it back then but would love to cop some of the stuff now, even just for novelty’s sake.

There were a ton of books, like Breakdance by William H. Walkins, which were written to sell breaking as the newest fad (I guess pet rocks were sold out) and were targeted towards the youth. Some of these were how-to picture books and others were purely informative.

Continue reading The Breakploitation of the 80’s…

25th Anniversary of the movie Wild Style

Posted on November 12, 2008

Another movie that helped spread breaking (as well as other elements of hip hop) was 1982’s indie film Wild Style, which was written, produced and directed by Charlie Ahearn. The plot is focused around the life of graffiti writer ‘Zoro’ (legendary graffiti writer Lee Quinones), but also includes performances by the Cold Crush Brothers, Grandmaster Flash and many more. Mr. Freeze, Ken Swift, Crazy Legs, Frosty Freeze and other members of the Rock Steady Crew are the b-boys featured in the film.

It’s a cult classic for any hip hop head, breaker or not. Also be sure to check out the NY Times article on it by David Gonzales.

Ken Swift and Crazy Legs on David Letterman in 1984

Posted on November 8, 2008

The year was 1984. In response to the previous year’s hit movie Flashdance, breaking had become a new sensation. And people were hungry for more. 

To feed the public’s appetite, the media cooked an all-you-can-eat breaking buffet. You could find it everywhere; newspaper articles, magazines…and even on Late Night TV. Check out a young Crazy Legs and Ken Swift from Rock Steady Crew getting down with David Letterman to promote the 1984 hip hop film Beat Street.