''Duck Rock'' is an album released by British

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...

Malcolm McLaren. It was originally issued in 1983 by

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van der ...

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldwid ...

, and Chrysalis Records, and later re-released on CD in 1987. The album mixes up styles from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, including hip hop. The album proved to be highly influential in bringing hip hop to a wider audience in the United Kingdom. Two of the singles from the album, "

Buffalo Gals "Buffalo Gals" is a traditional American song, written and published as "Lubly Fan" in 1844 by the blackface minstrel John Hodges, who performed as "Cool White". The song was widely popular throughout the United States, where minstrels often ...

" and " Double Dutch", became major chart hits on both sides of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. ''Duck Rock'' was dedicated to

Harry McClintock Harry Kirby McClintock (October 8, 1882 – April 24, 1957), also known as "Haywire Mac", was an American railroad man, radio personality, actor, singer, songwriter, and poet, best known for his song "Big Rock Candy Mountain". Life Harry McC ...

, better known as Haywire Mac. The album artwork was designed by

Dondi Donald Joseph White, "DONDI" (April 7, 1961 – October 2, 1998) was an American graffiti artist. Biography Early life Born in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, Dondi was the youngest of five children. He was of African American a ...

White and

Nick Egan Nick Egan (born 4 July 1957 in London, England) is a visual design artist and director of music videos, commercials and film. He graduated from the Watford College of Art and Design with a DGA in 1976. While attending college, he created cover ...

, with the illustration by

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

. Guest musicians featured on this album include

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...

Anne Dudley Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genre ...

J. J. Jeczalik Jonathan Edward Stephen "J. J." Jeczalik () is an English electronic musician/record producer, co-founder of the electronic music group the Art of Noise. He taught Information technology, IT at Oxford High School, Oxford, Oxford High School unt ...

, and

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

. Side recordings that Horn, Dudley and Jeczalik made in between takes of ''Duck Rock'' would eventually become the first album of the

Art of Noise Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and music ...

, ''

Into Battle with the Art of Noise ''Into Battle with the Art of Noise'' is a 1983 EP by the Art of Noise—its first release, and also the first release by ZTT Records. The record represented the first installment in ZTT's Incidental Series (catalogue number ZTIS 100). ''Int ...

''. Clips of the

World's Famous Supreme Team The World's Famous Supreme Team was an American hip hop radio show duo and recording group active from 1979. The original members were Sedivine the Mastermind (Larry Price) and Just Allah the Superstar (Ronald Larkins Jr.). Career The group's ...

radio show appear between songs, which made the album one of the earliest recordings on which members of the Nation of Gods and Earths appear.

Reception

In a contemporary review of the album, ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

''s

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

found that "McLaren knows how to record African music for Western ears, and the ebullient tunes he's collected here more than make up for his annoyance quotient", but also criticised McLaren and Horn for failing to give credit to the South African musicians involved in the recording, such as

Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens (also known as Mahlathini Nezintombi Zomgqashiyo and Mahlathini and the Girls of Mgqashiyo) were a South African ''mbaqanga'' supergroup made up of the three musical acts linked together by talent scout and r ...

. The

mbaqanga Mbaqanga () is a style of South African music with rural Zulu roots that continues to influence musicians worldwide today. The style originated in the early 1960s. History Historically, laws such as the Land Act of 1913 to the Group Areas Ac ...

group the Boyoyo Boys took legal action against McLaren over the similarity of "Double Dutch" with its own hit "Puleng". After a lengthy legal battle in the UK, the matter was settled out of court, with payment made to the South African copyright holders, songwriter Petrus Maneli and publisher

Gallo Music Gallo Record Company is the largest (and oldest independent) record label in South Africa. It is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, and is owned by Arena Holdings. The current Gallo Record Company is a hybrid of two South African record label ...

, but Horn and McLaren retained their songwriting credits. ''Duck Rock'' was ranked at number nine among the "Albums of the Year" for 1983 by ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

''. The album ultimately became a critical favourite, garnering accolades from various other publications in the years following its release. William Ruhlmann of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

retrospectively reviewed it as "an amazingly eclectic collection of world music mixed with urban hip-hop". In 2013, ''NME'' ranked ''Duck Rock'' at number 298 on its list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2018, ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork (also a hay fork) is an agricultural tool with a long handle and two to five tines used to lift and pitch or throw loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. The term is also applied colloquially, but inaccurately, to ...

'' ranked ''Duck Rock'' at number 200 on its list of the 200 best albums of the 1980s. The album also received

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

's Critical Music label.

Track listing

More tracks

#"Buffalo Gals – Special Stereo Scratch Mix" (Horn, Dudley, McLaren) #"Zulus on a Time Bomb" (Horn, McLaren) #"She's Looking Like a Hobo" (Horn, McLaren) #"Double Dutch – New Dance Mix" (Horn, McLaren) #"Roly Poly" (Horn, McLaren) #"D'ya Like Scratchin'? – with the Red River Gals" (Horn, Dudley, McLaren) #"World's Famous – Radio ID" (Horn, Dudley, McLaren) #"Buffalo Gals - Trad. Square" (Horn, McLaren) #"Hobo Scratch" (Horn, McLaren) #"Hobo Scratch (Long Edit.)" (Horn, McLaren) #"D'ya Like Scratchin'? - Special Version" (Horn, Dudley, McLaren)

Personnel

* Malcolm McLaren – figure caller, singer (known as Talcy Malcy) * Sedivine the Mastermind – DJ, rapper (known as Divine) * Just Allah the Superstar – DJ, rapper (known as Justice) *

– producer, beats, mixing - (Art of Noise) *

– arranger, keyboards, string arrangements - (Art of Noise) *

– keyboards *

Gary Langan Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician. Biography His career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons and M ...

– Jew's harp, engineer - (Art of Noise) * J.J. Jeczalik – synthesizer - (Art of Noise) * David Birch – guitar *

Luís Jardim Luís Alberto Figueira Gonçalves Jardim (born 4 July 1950) is a Portuguese percussionist, born in the Madeira Island, best known for his work with producer Trevor Horn. Family Jardim is a cousin of Alberto João Jardim (former president of the ...

– percussion *

— vocals, uncredited * Boyoyo Boys — musicians, uncredited *additional musicians uncredited - bass guitar, backing vocals ;Technical *

– illustration *

Dondi White Donald Joseph White, "DONDI" (April 7, 1961 – October 2, 1998) was an American graffiti artist. Biography Early life Born in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn, Dondi was the youngest of five children. He was of African American an ...

– graffiti *

– cover design * Ron West – created Ghetto Blaster for Album Cover design * Mastered At – The Town House

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

''Duck Rock''
(

Adobe Flash Adobe Flash (formerly Macromedia Flash and FutureSplash) is a multimedia Computing platform, software platform used for production of Flash animation, animations, rich web applications, application software, desktop applications, mobile apps, mo ...

) at

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control 1983 debut albums Malcolm McLaren albums Albums produced by Trevor Horn Hip hop albums by English artists Island Records albums Charisma Records albums