As you all know ARC has been inundated with amazing collections lately.  The latest is from the wonderful Sarah Lazin, a leading book agent who established Rolling Stone Press and has remained an ARC pal for more than 30 years.

Every year Sarah outdoes herself with a great donation of the popular culture books she’s worked on, and this year we picked up 612 volumes. Beyond the first edition, leather bound and autographed copy of Michael Lang’s The Road To Woodstock (448 0f 1050, The Easton Press) was a manila file folder.  In it were 58 hip-hop and breakdance press photographs. All of the images are from films released in 1984, Breakin’, Breakdancing and Beat Street. It’s a time capsule of the style – still kinda disco-glam into emerging street.  It also shows the jump-on-the-bandwagon action by the mainstream film industry.  Seems to me they saw the crowd pleasing dance moves as the real stars, and maybe no idea where the musicians would take the sounds in the future.

Sarah sent a follow-up note,  that these photos “…were part of the research folder for, I believe, one of the first books on hip hop, Fresh: Hip Hop Don’t Stop. “[The editor]… asked me to quickly package a book on this new trend called hip hop, to be published before it goes away.”

QD3, producer, documentarian and Quincy Jones’ son, had also been told of the genre’s early demise.  Living in Sweden at the time he hopped a plane and moved to the Bronx to immerse himself in the music.

I’ve spent the morning removing glue and masking tape off many of these, but they’re worth saving.  A bonus for us is the shot of “The Wayne ‘n’ Charlie Crew’ to add to our ventriloquist collection!