On the Strength

On the Strength
Studio album by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Released	June 1988
Genre	Hip hop
Label	Elektra 60769
Producer	Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five
Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five chronology
The Message (1982) On the Strength (1988) --
Grandmaster Flash chronology
Ba-Dop-Boom-Bang (1987) On the Strength (1988) Salsoul Jam 2000 (1997)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]

On the Strength is the reunion (and second) album by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. Released in 1988, it was the full line-up’s last album together. Although certainly contributing to the album itself, Cowboy (Keith Wiggins), was not present for the album or single photo shoots.^[2][3] According to Flash-

“

We had a place in Lower Manhattan where they had vintage cars, and we were renting this place by the hour, and Cowboy didn't show up. We had to do something, there had to be six people on the cover. At the last minute, we told one of our valets to put this hat on, turn your head, cover your face and pretend to be Cowboy". A few months later, Flash received a phone call. Someone passed him the message that Cowboy was extremely sick. A few days later, on September 8, 1989, Keith "Cowboy" Wiggins died of complications from the AIDS virus. He was only two weeks shy of his 29th birthday. Flash was devastated at the loss of his bandmate and friend. "That was probably the last time we were all together - was at his funeral. That was rough, it was way rough on me, he was my first baby, my first MC. I still miss him today. When Cowboy died, some of my fire just wasn't there any more. Although he wasn't a primary writer in the group, he had the best voice, he had such commanding stage presence. We couldn't even think of replacing him.[4]

”

The album was reissued in the US on CD in 2005 (Collectors' Choice Music, CCM-585-2) but once again (see Ba-Dop-Boom-Bang) omitted the bonus track (*) that was originally included on both the original CD and cassette versions of the album.

Track| listing

1. "Gold" - 4:25
2. "Cold in Effect" - 2:28
3. "Yo Baby" - 4:31
4. "On the Strength" - 4:45
5. "The King" - 3:19
6. "Fly Girl" - 5:13
7. "Magic Carpet Ride" (featuring Steppenwolf) - 4:14
8. "Leave Here" - 3:50
9. "This Is Where You Got It From" - 4:06
10. "The Boy is Dope" - 3:11
11. "Back in the Days of Hip-Hop" - 4:05 (*)

Notes

• "Back in the Days of Hip-Hop" also appeared as the b-side of the UK and US Gold 7-inch single and the Magic Carpet Ride 12" single. ^[5][6][7]

Artist & Repertoire: Raoul Roach

Personnel

• Grandmaster Flash (Joseph Sadler) - turntables, drum programming, Flashformer transform DJ device
• Grandmaster Mele Mel (Melvin Glover) - vocals
• Rahiem (Guy Todd Williams) - vocals
• Scorpio (Eddie Morris) - vocals
• Kid Creole (Nathaniel Glover) - vocals
• Cowboy (Keith Wiggins) - vocals
• Guy Vaughn - keyboards, drum programming, and vocals on The Boy is Dope
• Afrika Bambaataa (Kevin Donovan) - music and drum-sound consultant
• Jesse Daniels - vocals on Fly Girl
• Arthur "Disco B" Hayward - additional scratches and assistant to the Grandmaster
• Ray (Ray Roll) Cortez - vocals on The Boy is Dope

References

1. ^ Allmusic review
2. ^ http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=500017
3. ^ http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=361703
4. ^ http://www.webcitation.org/query?url=http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Study/9077/grandmasterflash.html&date=2009-10-25+10:05:20
5. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Grandmaster-Flash-The-Furious-Five-Gold/release/244394
6. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Grandmaster-Flash-And-The-Furious-Five-Gold/release/1728833
7. ^ http://www.discogs.com/Grandmaster-Flash-The-Furious-Five-Magic-Carpet-Ride/master/51308