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The First Rap Song

J

Jay F

Sorry if this song was mentioned in the novelty thread but I just discovered it today. Nervous Norvous-Transfusion, a #8 hit in 1956. It's somewhere between funny and in total bad taste. But what really stood out to me is that it is basically a rap song...in the 1950s who would have ever thought?

After hearing this song I googled it to see what people thought of it. I wasn't the only one who thought this was the first rap song...many others had the same impression.
 
"Rapping" as such could go back before that. I have an old 1950s commercial for either Cheerios or Wheaties where the announcer just speaks in quick rhyming lines with light cymbal beats in the background.

I had a relative tell me that there was even a "rap" during the Abbott & Costello film "Buck Privates" (40s?).

"Rap" is certainly subjective....This could be a long thread. :)

cd
 
Jay F said:
Sorry if this song was mentioned in the novelty thread but I just discovered it today. Nervous Norvous-Transfusion, a #8 hit in 1956. It's somewhere between funny and in total bad taste. But what really stood out to me is that it is basically a rap song...in the 1950s who would have ever thought?

After hearing this song I googled it to see what people thought of it. I wasn't the only one who thought this was the first rap song...many others had the same impression.
Click to expand...

Maybellene Chuck Berry

or.....................

No Money Down also by Chuck Berry
 
Define the term "RAP".

This could get long and tedious....
 
One dictionary definition is; "rap music - genre of African-American music of the 1980s and 1990s in which rhyming lyrics are chanted to a musical accompaniment; several forms of rap have emerged"...... personally, having played Rap from It's popularity origins "Rapper's Delight" and "The Breaks" this definition claims several forms of Rap have evolved...bunk I say, the only evolution is the profanity :'(.

back to the original question:
Is "Tranfusion" a rap song ???

Is "The Auctioneer Song" by Leroy VanDyke a rap song ???

Is James Brown's "Big Payback" a Rap Song???

The 70's coined term "Doo-Wop" has been retro-fitted to the mid-50's, and has caused a great deal of debate. I think retro-fit of "Rap" is an even tougher cookie to sell.
 
I'm going to add Phil Harris' "Smoke Smoke Smoke" (That Cigarette) to the running.

I knew this song from radio and when it became a hit again in 1968 ( ?) I bought a copy of the new 45.

Then when Blondie released "Rapture", I thought it was mighty similar in style.

Then rap music came along didn't it.

If you you really what to hear Nervus Norvus raps like look up "Dig".
 
Tom Wells said:
I'm going to add Phil Harris' "Smoke Smoke Smoke" (That Cigarette) to the running.

I knew this song from radio and when it became a hit again in 1968 ( ?) I bought a copy of the new 45.

Then when Blondie released "Rapture", I thought it was mighty similar in style.

Then rap music came along didn't it.

If you you really what to hear Nervus Norvus raps like look up "Dig".
Click to expand...
Billboard historians refer to "Rapture" by Blondie (1981)as The first Rap Song to chart #1....
 
D I G means Goggle.
 
I would definitely consider "Hot Rod Lincoln" by Commander Cody as a "rap" song. To some extent, I would also consider some Charlie Daniels titles like "Devil Went Down to Georgia" and "Uneasy Rider" as "rap" songs.
 
How about virtually everything done by Walter Brennan?

Old Rivers. Shep. The Dutchman.

Those were properly called "spoken word", not rap.

There is no such thing as a "rap song". Rap may have a beat but it isn't music.
 
landtuna said:
How about virtually everything done by Walter Brennan?

Old Rivers. Shep. The Dutchman.

Those were properly called "spoken word", not rap.

There is no such thing as a "rap song". Rap may have a beat but it isn't music.
Click to expand...

let jump in my time machine...1957..........I got my radio going..chuck berry, little richard, fats domino, elvis ..my dad sez that ain't music...glen miller, jimmy dorsey, harry james ,now that's music...fast forward to 1988.....my daughter is listening to soft cell, toni basil, petshop boys, and i interject, that's not music , fats domino, elvis , little richard , now thats music..
Music is in the age of the beholder...
 
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