Beat Bytes
LABEL: None
SERIES: N/A
GROUPING: N/A
RELEASE YEAR: 1988
CATALOGUE NO: DRP 001
RUNOUT GROOVES: DRP001A-1 MPO (Side A) DRP001B-1 MB-CTS MPO (Side B)
COUNTRY: U.K.
FORMAT: 12" Vinyl
COMMENTS: Released in April 1988 (source: James Hamilton's column in Jocks)
WHAT JAMES HAMILTON HAD TO SAY ABOUT THIS RELEASE:
DROP 'Bite Beats' (DRP 001)
Public Enemy-inspired densely juddering 102 1/6 bpm untidy scratch mix
BELOW IS AN EXTRACT OF AN INTERVIEW WITH D.J. CESARE FROM THE BOOK 'MEGABLAST: THE TOP 100 UK RAP RECORDS 1987-1993' BY MARK MCDONALD (PUBLISHED IN 2024):
In 1987 I made a track called Beat Bytes under an alias, Drop. It was essentially a cut-n-paste scratch mix in the 'Double Dee and Steinski style' made up of tracks from Public Enemy's Yo! Bum Rush The Show LP. I was cavalier with sampling issues but I wanted Chuck D of PE to hear it and give me a shot at remixing one of their songs.
Radio DJ Tim Westwood absolutely rinsed Beat Bytes on his Capital Rap show and it got a good response for a white label with a tiny circulation of 250 copies. Beat Bytes is important because it got me noticed. I recorded it live in a few takes on a reel-to-reel tape, recording the one-bar loops by cutting two copies of the same record back-to-back (block party-style). Then the engineer, Pete Smith (aka PJ Dynamix), would slice and splice the tape in painstaking, time-consuming fashion. I'd add more beats, cuts and scratches and bounce them around to make room for even more. I was trying to replicate PE's multi-layered audio scape.
SIDE A MIX: BEAT BYTES
MIXED BY: D.J. Cesare (as Drop)
LENGTH: 06:03
GENRE: Hip Hop/Go-Go/Funk
TRACKS I CAN IDENTIFY IN THE MIX - I have only listed the ones that have prolonged elements or have a short sample repeated multiple times:
Beat Box Boys - Yum Yum (Eat 'Em Up) (1984); Public Enemy - Public Enemy No. 1 (1987); Public Enemy - Raise The Roof (1987); Trouble Funk - Pump Me Up (1980); Maffia - Hallelujah (1985); Skinny Boys - Rip The Cut (1986); Ice-T - Ya Don't Quit (1986); Public Enemy - Sophisticated Bitch (1987); Big Daddy Kane - Raw (1987); Public Enemy - You're Gonna Get Yours (1987); Public Enemy - Rightstarter (Message To A Black Man) (1987); Trouble Funk - Good To Go (1986); Public Enemy - Rebel Without A Pause (1987); Tone Loc - On Fire (1987); Public Enemy - Terminator X Speaks With His Hands (1987); Trouble Funk - Still Smokin' (Hug A But) (1985); Headhunters - God Make Me Funky (1975); Ultramagnetic M.C.'s - Traveling At The Speed Of Thought (1987); T La Rock & Jazzy Jay - It's Yours (1984)
SIDE B MIX: BEAT BYTES
MIXED BY: D.J. Cesare (as Drop)
LENGTH: 06:08
GENRE: Go-Go/Hip Hop
TRACKS I CAN IDENTIFY IN THE MIX - I have only listed the ones that have prolonged elements or have a short sample repeated multiple times:
Trouble Funk - Pump Me Up (1980); Public Enemy - Public Enemy No. 1 (1987); Public Enemy - Raise The Roof (1987); Public Enemy - Sophisticated Bitch (1987); Public Enemy - You're Gonna Get Yours (1987); Public Enemy - Rightstarter (Message To A Black Man) (1987); Public Enemy - Rebel Without A Pause (1987); Public Enemy - Terminator X Speaks With His Hands (1987)
