“Graffiti Rock” started out as a simple idea. I knew hip hop was going to be huge, and I knew it would eventually have a presence on television, and I was going to be the person to make it happen. Hip hop was so new then, and anything seemed possible. Gradually, I made contacts with people, specifically investment bankers, who shared my vision. This was before the Reagan Administration forced Congress to faze out the laws that allowed people to invest in films and tv entertainment, while receiving a hefty tax credit.
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Before I knew it, I had some of the investors in the Boston boy band, “New Edition” investing in my dream to create a hip hop tv series. We got approximately 15 people to invest $10,000 each, then added a bit more, and we had enough to produce the show. My good friend Vince Gallo (also a band mate in my band with Jean Michel Basquiat, Gray, and now, an important writer/director of indie films) to help me with casting the “Graffiti Rock” crowd. Initially, I only wanted real hip hop kids, but the investors forced me to make the audience more inclusive. Apparently, they were concerned about selling a show with an all Black and Puerto Rican “Crowd.” Later on I learned they were right to be concerned.
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“The short-lived program Graffiti Rock premieres [June 29, 1984] on WPIX TV New York. It features performances by popular hip hop groups like Run-D.M.C. and the Treacherous Three.”
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- Vibe Magazine, December, 1995
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I found Brim, the graf artist, and hired him to do the set. I asked Bambaataa about a DJ, and he suggested a kid he knew, Jimmy Jazz... Of course the B-Boy Crew of the first show was my crew, The New York City Breakers! But my intention all along, was to use as many different breaker crews, DJs, Crowd members and celebrity performers as possible, over the course of a season. I’m happy to say, besides Vince Gallo, Debbie Mazar was featured in the dancing crowd. Debbie became an important actor, later playing the coke cutting girlfriend in “Goodfellas”, the wisecracking secretary in “L.A. Law,” and the press agent in HBO’s The Entourage.”
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Though I was the host, I didn’t really want to be, and planned on hiring either Fab Five Freddy, or rising radio DJ, Mr. Magic, to move in as host, and let me move back “behind the scenes.” (Mr. Magic was the first hip hop radio DJ in New York. He had a show on WBLS that was the first station anywhere to play rap music)...
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Anyway, we eventually found a sound stage to shoot the show in, up on Madison Avenue and 106th Street... The director of the show was a tv director who had directed the marriage scene in “King Of Comedy.” I always thought that was pretty cool... The production of the show went off pretty smoothly, except I can remember a SAG union representative, talking The New York City Breakers into demanding more money, or they weren’t going to dance! This rep. walks in off the street, has no idea how I had built the crew, how I had helped promote and built hip hop, and came in and almost derailed Graffiti Rock, in it’s infancy! I was furious!!! The guys in NYCB understood and relented.
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“...the show [“Graffiti Rock”] still delights us with the shock of the new... In this tryout for a series aiming for fall syndication, teens “pop” to top dance hits, showing off their limber gyrations. Host Michael Holman presides over the ersatz dance-hall environment... This mainstreaming process fuels the vitality of both the medium and the raw talent.... Watch those kids on the floor spinning on their heads for the camera: The roots may be uptown, but the spirit has always been Hollywood.”
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- USA Today, 1984
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On the show, I interview “Prince Vince” Gallo, as we introduce Run DMC. It was a seminal moment in hip hop. I think Run DMC’s live performance in Graffiti Rock was their best tv performance ever. It was also great to have hip hop luminaries, like Special K, and Kool Moe Dee, of the Treacherous Three to help me host the show.
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Of course there are many critics who see Graffiti Rock as a bit soft, and a joke. Why? Because I went through the trouble to educate young kids about hip hop culture, so there are a few graphics that spell out the meaning of words, etc., and the show, over all, had a clean cut look and feel. But people who now profit in “the hip hop game” shouldn’t complain. “Graffiti Rock” helped turn an entire generation on to hip hop culture. Also, it’s important to remember that Gansta Rap didn’t exist at that time, so being hard and dangerous wasn’t in vogue yet. Rap, and hip hop was more about having fun...
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So the show airs and actually does much better than people thought! We got great ratings and aired in 88 syndicated markets, nationwide. But when we went to Las Vegas to sell the show at NAPTE (National Association of Producers of Television Entertainment) we hit a wall. First, the station managers (the people responsible for purchasing new shows in their markets) didn’t understand why “Graffiti Rock,” and hip hop was different to what Soul Train was offering. Secondly, certain stations wouldn’t take the chance to buy “Graffiti Rock,” unless other, larger markets did first. Chicago was waiting on L.A. to bite, and L.A. was waiting on New York. But the major New York syndicated stations at the time, were controlled by unsavory characters, and they wanted money under the table to put the show on the air! My main investors refused to deal with these forces (I of course would have done whatever I had to to get it on the air, and am still pissed they didn’t play along!)...
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“Graffiti Rock” is the long lost TV show that only survived one episode on television... this television show is a true piece of Hip Hop history. It features B-Boys and Girls dancin,’ breakin’ and chillin’ while host Michael Holman introduced (now classic) tracks and guests including The New York City breakers, Kool Moe Dee, Special K and ‘80s diva Shannon Green. The highlight of the show is Run DMC’s performance of “Sucker Emcees.” ...Makes a nice addition to a true Hip Hop heads collection...”
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-Insomniac Magazine, 2004
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The investors went to Vegas twice, with no success, and eventually gave up on trying to sell the show. But then after a few years, things changed. More and more hip hop videos got on the air, and though I tried to sell the show on my own, it never had a chance, not with MTV embracing rap, etc.
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So now it’s a historic document, of which I’m proud. Would I have made it harder, edgier, less pop, if I had it to do again? Probably, but wishing won’t make it so... It is what it is.
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What it is!
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If you want your own copy of Graffiti Rock (with added, rare hip hop footage, etc.) check the link to my distributor, Music Video Distributors...
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Enjoy!
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Click Here To Order Graffiti Rock
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