Roxanne Rox On
You might have thought that just because we haven’t droned on about Roxanne records for the last 13 months, we’ve run out of them. BOOOOOYAAAAA! We’re not you, rapper.
Yes, we’ve still been digging, if by digging you mean ‘typing into search fields’. There are more over the coming months, but first let’s deal with this important one. After UTFO’s innocently-intended ‘Roxanne, Roxanne’, the initial reply came on radio, where Roxanne Shante delivered what would become known as ‘Roxanne’s Revenge’, a classic on the Pop Art label. Yet some historians have it that this initial diss was recorded under the name of the East 42nd Street Crew, the name reflecting the location of the radio station where Marley and Mr Magic held court. It would later be made more readily available on vinyl courtesy of Pop Art, with some saying there was an initial pressing of just 100 copies. But if that is the first, rarest, pressing, why does this release – on ‘Rap Records’, single-sided, ‘Roxanne’s Revenge’ by the E. 42nd St. Crew – exist. Is this the first? Is it a bootleg? Regardless, it’s one of the most sought-after of all the Roxanne records – by contrast, most of the ‘Roxanne is a man’ type tunes are 10-a-penny. If you can shed any light, let us know. In the meantime, enjoy…
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The E. 42nd St. Crew – Roxanne’s Revenge
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The E. 42nd St. Crew – Roxanne’s Scratch
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3 Responses to "Roxanne Rox On"
great find
I’m sure marley could shine some light on that release, whether it was a bootleg or original. Their the same tracks off the pop art promo so someone could have bootlegged it from that record. What’s the sound quality like compared to the pop art release?
I bet you Roxanne’s Grandparents could shed some light.
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