Newcleus
Encyclopedia
Newcleus is an American electro and old school hip hop
Old school hip hop
Old school hip hop describes the earliest commercially recorded hip hop music , and the music in the period preceding it from which it was directly descended . Old school hip hop is said to end around 1983 or 1984 with the emergence of Run–D.M.C., the first new school hip hop group...

 group that gained popularity in the early 1980s. They are primarily known for their 12-inch single
12-inch single
The 12-inch single is a type of gramophone record that has wider groove spacing compared to other types of records. This allows for louder levels to be cut on the disc by the cutting engineer, which in turn gives a wider dynamic range, and thus better sound quality...

s "Jam-On's Revenge", re-released as "Jam on Revenge (The Wikki-Wikki Song)" (1983), and "Jam on It" (1984).

Formation

A precursor to the group, known as Jam-On Productions, formed in 1977 in Brooklyn, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

, which included teenagers Ben "Cozmo D" Cenac and his cousins Monique and Pierre (Pete) Angevin. The group's popularity grew as it played block parties
Block party
A block party is a large public party in which many members of a single neighbourhood congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire city block to vehicle traffic...

 in Brooklyn. By 1979, the primary group's members were Cenac, Yvette "Lady E" Cook (who would later marry Cozmo D), Monique Angevin, and Bob "Chilly B" Crafton (who would later marry Angevin). The coming together of families inspired the name change to Newcleus.

Chilly B died of a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

 on February 23, 2010.

Singles

Newcleus recorded "Jam-On's Revenge", a block party favorite that featured vocals that were sped up to resemble Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks
Alvin and the Chipmunks is an American animated music group created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958. The group consists of three singing animated anthropomorphic chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual;...

. The track impressed record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 Joe Webb, and it became the group's first single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 in 1983 on Mayhew Records. It was re-released later that year on Sunnyview Records as "Jam On Revenge (The Wikki-Wikki Song)", and it made the Top 40 on the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...

 chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....

.

The follow-up, "Jam on It", did well on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

, reaching #56. "Computer Age (Push the Button)" was a more mature single with accomplished rapping
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...

 and better synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

 effects, and it also hit the R&B Top 40. Though the Cenacs and the Craftons continued to record sporadically until 1989, they did not hit the R&B charts after 1986.

Albums

The first Newcleus album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, Jam on Revenge, was not a great sales success on its release, and their second album, Space Is the Place, did even more poorly upon release in 1984. The out of print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....

 Jam on Revenge album is now regarded as a classic, not only because of the well-known singles, but also because of album cuts like "Destination Earth".

In 2005, Cozmo D released an album, Destination Earth: The Definitive Newcleus Recordings, a collection of hip-hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 tracks from their entire catalog. This collection supersedes the Rhino Records compilation
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

, Jam On This! The Best Of Newcleus. The majority of the songs on this release have been restored and remastered from the original master tapes. The 'definitive versions' of the songs "Destination Earth" and "Why" taken from this CD were also released on 12 inch vinyl on the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...

, Dominance Electricity. Together with remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....

es by Sbassship and Reeno, the cover illustration are by Bill Wray
Bill Wray
William York Wray is an American cartoonist and landscape painter, notable for his Urban Landscape series of paintings, his many pages for Mad and his contributions to The Ren & Stimpy Show...

 (known for his work on the 1990s cult TV cartoon
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...

 The Ren & Stimpy Show).

Newcleus is working on a second collection entitled Returned to Earth, a companion volume to Destination Earth, which will collect all of their electro
Electro (music)
Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 drum machines, Moog keytar synthesizers and funk sampling...

 works onto one disc, restored and remastered from the original tapes. Returned to Earth will also include two new songs.

Although both of Newcleus' albums Jam on Revenge and Space Is the Place have been remastered and reissued on CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

, the song "Where's the Beat" from Jam on Revenge has been deleted from the track listing. These albums were previously available in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 only on vinyl and audio cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...

. However both albums, original track listing and cover art were also available on CD, manufactured and distributed by Bellaphon Germany through Sunnyview Records in 1988.

Albums

  • 1984: Jam on Revenge (Sunnyview Records SUN 4901) - #84 UK
    UK Albums Chart
    The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

  • 1985: Space Is the Place (Sunnyview Records SUN 4903)
  • 1990: Jam on This (Bellaphon Records 260-07-158)
  • 1994: Next Generation (Unidisc Records SPLK-7230)
  • 1997: Jam on This! – The Best of Newcleus (Rhino Entertainment Company R2 72840)
  • 1997: The Next Generation (Home Base, Hot Productions HTCD 66144-2, HTCD 66144-2)
  • 2004: Destination: Earth – The Definitive Newcleus Recordings (Jam On Productions JORCD 011)
  • 2006: Newcleus Classic Double Pack (Deeplay Soultec D-TEC LP 1)

Singles

  • 1983: "Jam-On's Revenge" (May Hew Records M-553)
  • 1984: "Automan" / "Where's the Beat" (Sunnyview Records SUN 420)
  • 1984: "Computer Age (Push the Button)" (Sunnyview Records SUN 416)
  • 1984: "Jam on It" (Sunnyview Records SUN 411) - #56 U.S.
  • 1984: "Two Slices of Jam" (Sunnyview Records SUNYL 103)
  • 1985: "I Wanna Be a B-Boy" (Sunnyview Records SUN 425)
  • 1985: "Let's Jam" (Sunnyview Records SUN 427)
  • 1985: "Space Is the Place" / "Cyborg Dance" (Sunnyview Records SUN 429)
  • 1996: "Jam on Revenge (The Wikki-Wikki Song)" (Powderworks POWT 0321) - #44 UK
    UK Singles Chart
    The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

  • 1986: "Na Na Beat" (Sunnyview Records SUN 436)
  • 1987: "Huxtable House Party" (Super Power Records HSE 1232)
  • 1988: "Mega Mix" (12" mixed) (Bellaphon Records 120.07.271)
  • 1988: "She's Bad" (Super Power Records HAL 1253)
  • 1988: "We're So Hyped!" (Super Power Records HAL 1277)
  • 1990: "50 Ways to Get Funky" / "Jam for the '90's" (May Hew Records 101, 102)
  • 1990: "Jam on This" (Bellaphon 120-07-383)
  • 1992: "Jam on It" / "Ex'tra T's Boogie" (with the Extra T's) (Hot Classics HCL 2229)
  • 1993: "Baby I Love You" (Home Base HB 5073) (as Newcleus and The Next Generation)
  • 1994: "Wikki Wikki" / "Jam on It" / "Jam on This" (Unidisc SP5-1714)
  • 1999: "Jam on Revenge" / "E. T. Boogie" (Regal Recordings REG35)

Remixes


External links

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