CAPTAIN ROCK REVIEW

At last,here is our first review on The Old School Radio Hour and it is the
compilation titled Captain Rock-To The Future Shock,a collection of
singles released by the legendary and sometimes forgotten hip hop
artist,Captain Rock(a.k.a Ronald Greene). He was an artist signed to the
legendary(now defunct)hip hop/electro label,NIA Records(headed by The
Aleem Brothers,who were artists in their own right and scored an electro
hit,"Release Yourself" in 1984) and also housed legendary female
MC,Sparky Dee plus Marley Marl and MC Shan.

During his tenure on the label,he released a number of underground and
international hits like "Cosmic Blast" and the monster jam,"The Return
of Captain Rock" before departing in 1985-86. He received much more
recognition across the Atlantic over in the UK and here in the US in a few
cities like Philadelphia.
Many of his singles have become collector's items(along with others of
the time) and some have become scarce. That's why Tuff City along with
their division,Ol' Skool Flava(which has done a great job in preserving old
school hip hop recordings)released this compilation of Captain Rock's
classic singles.

Now the review! This album is most definitely a great effort due to the
fact that many of his singles have not been reissued on many
compilations as of recent. Tuff City did well with finding the songs and
having them released to a new generation of people who were either too
young or weren't even born when Captain Rock was doing his thing.
Another cool detail on this collection is the inclusion of the now rare
single,"Bongo Beat",a very hard to find single.

Unfortunately,this collection has some flaws.
1. The title is "Rare Hip Hop & Electro:1982-1985" but there is nothing
from 1982 included. Captain Rock's first single from that year
titled,"Cosmic Glide" was unfortunately omitted from this release. Even
though it did not do well when it was first released,it should still be
included. This may be misleading to the most detailed old school fan and
IS considered a let-down so one may feel slightly cheated.

2. The sound quality of most of these recordings are unsatisfactory. Really
unacceptable for an old school hip hop compilation or any release.
Sounds like it was badily duplicated and this does not sound like it came
from the masters(for which I did hear rumors that the masters are lost). A
huge letdown for any music fan. "Bongo Beat" is the exception as it
sounds very clear and clean.

3. As with a singles collection like this,one will expect the original full
length 12" versions,but in this case you won't hear them. All of the
singles are truncated versions(short versions for those who can't under
English). That's another bummer.

The rare photographs are good plus the liner notes,which is taken from an
interview with Captain Rock. No old school hip hop artist compilation is
complete without those.

All in all,this is a satisfactory release and out of the compilations that
Tuff City has packaged together,this is the weakest of them all. Good
effort though.

THE FINAL RATING IS......CHECK IT OUT!!!(only for the rare "Bongo
Beat" single).