In the realm of San Francisco archive finds, MC Hammer photos are not a rarity.
The San Francisco Chronicle has photos of the rapper filming his first video, hanging out with his first thoroughbred horse, on the set with Oprah Winfrey, looking solemn after his career stumbled, and enjoying his commemorative bobblehead at a recent A’s game.
But the Oakland native’s concert photos from Aug. 5, 1990, recently rediscovered in The Chronicle archive afterHammer的新游览公告, are arguably as good as the rest put together. Captured at the KMEL Summer Jam in Mountain View, the images by photographer Tom Levy show a man filled with pure joy, taking a victory lap with local fans after one of the most improbable rises by a local artist in history.
The Chroniclewrote a featureon Hammer (born Stanley K. Burrell), in 1978, when he was a 16-year-old assistant to Oakland A’s owner Charlie Finley. Newspaper reporters dutifully covered Hammer’s earliest successes as a rapper, including his 1988 major label debut “Let’s Get it Started.”
But critics were generally dismissive of both Hammer and hip-hop as an art form. In a freelance piece for the Chronicle, future Los Angeles times food criticJonathan Golddeclared that live rap shows were all but a waste of time.
“Consider the basic nature of live rap; a guy onstage talking over recorded music, as exciting as ‘Sing Along With Mitch,’ ” Gold wrote in a June 19, 1990, Datebook article. “The format allows little room for spontaneity — the rappers considered ‘good live acts’ are those who sound the most like their records.”
The KMEL Summer Jam at Shoreline Amphitheatre was a mammoth concert that included Mariah Carey’s debut as a live performer, an unexpected reunion of New Edition, performances by En Vogue and Tony! Toni! Tone!, and Hammer with his big ambitions closing the show. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. Hammer rolled into town as his record passed 5 million units in sales, on its way to a record 21 straight weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard charts.
员工评论家乔尔·塞尔文（Joel Selvin）当时因说唱狂热而闻名，他宣布哈默（Hammer）长达一个小时的“夏季现场音乐季节无可争议的高点之一”。
塞尔文写道：“当他的30名成员疯狂地奔跑时，他不失望，宁静地漫步在舞台上，穿着彩虹色的飘逸的衣服，旋转的腿闪烁和抽着金属樱桃红色的手臂模糊，”塞尔文写道。“一个脚手架持有九位背景歌手，四名键盘手，两名鼓手，两个DJ和一名贝斯手，而九名舞者则骗了。”
Tom Levy’s artistic black and white photos confirm Selvin’s assertion that the show was something special. (Two of the photos, printed in 1990, have been published before. The rest are new.) At one point Hammer dives into the crowd mid-song and lets himself be carried around, with no one touching what looks like hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of jewelry.
The scene looks like a joyous combination of a rap concert and a Warriors victory parade. For mainstream hip-hop fans waiting for the Bay Area to be recognized on a national level, it probably felt like both.
Hammer returned in 1992, and by this time The Chronicle was shooting in color. But in the photos, at least, the scene seemed less like a church revival and more routine. After early hits including “Pray” and “2 Legit 2 Quit,” Hammer’s career would decline in subsequent years. In 1996, he filed for bankruptcy, and the enormous stage shows became a punch line.
He spent most of the next two-plus decades rebuilding his career, as a reality show star, a minister, an entrepreneur and finally as a touring artist again. Hammer’s House Party tour,announced last week, includes a stop in Saratoga at the Mountain Winery on June 7.
在此之前，我们还有遥远的回忆 - 由编年史档案馆中一些合法的音乐会照片支撑。
请参阅下面的其余照片=>
