Father of hip-hop to visit the Parr Hall

STORIES about the birth of jazz and the beginning of rock ‘n’ roll are well known – but hip hop has its founding fathers too.
And one pioneering artist is heading to town to tell how he helped change music forever.
Rewind to 1970s Bronx, where electrical engineering student Joseph Saddler stumbled across an idea that would revolutionise the way music was played.
As a lifelong lover of music, Saddler had been experimenting with his father’s vinyl since he was a toddler, but a new idea saw him develop an innovative way of using the turntable that would very quickly outgrow neighbourhood block parties to become a global phenomenon.
Saddler himself – the one and only Grandmaster Flash – will be at the Parr Hall on Thursday July 26 to tell the story.
Flash was the first DJ to physically lay his hands on the vinyl and manipulate it in a backward, forward, or anti-clockwise motion, at a time when most DJs simply handled the record by the edges, put down the tone arm, and let it play.
He invented the Quick Mix Theory, The Clock Theory and scratching, laying the groundwork for everything a DJ can do with a record today, before developing this further to add rap/emcees over his beats, and starting his own group, Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.
Tickets are on sale now at www.pyramidparrhall.com or by calling Box Office on 01925 442345.