Vito & Druzzi (The Rapture) – Influences

Growing up in Washington DC I was incredibly lucky to get to see Fugazi more times than I’ve got fingers and toes. They are definitely still one of the best live bands I’ve seen, if not the best. This show was particularly poignant, passionate and energetic as it was part of a protest against the first US/Iraq war back in 1991.

Back before Youtube I was really into bootleg VHS videos. You could find them at a few local record and video stores. There was also an underground bootleg video trading network. Some of the coolest ones I got were meeting people on tour. I had a few that completely changed things for me musically and this was definitely one of them. They never released a record so this video was how I discovered them. I got a copy in the late 90’s when I lived in San Francisco and have probably watched it over 100 times. Such a great band. Amazing songs, Tomato Du Plenty is one of my favourite front men of all time. – Vito

I think I first found a copy of the “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised” LP in my early teens. I have no idea how I first heard it but I do know it made an indelible impact. More than any track, “Whitey On The Moon” has stuck with me and its message is just as serious and relevant as it was half a century ago. – Druzzi

I found this video working at a sadly defunct record store in NYC called Rocks in Your Head. This is James Brown performing the night after Martin Luther King was assassinated. A really electrical performance. The copy I had wasn’t labeled and didn’t have any of the beginning speeches so I didn’t get the context of the performance until much later. There’s a really good movie that came out in 2008 called The Night James Brown Saved Boston about this show. – Vito

The sound of DC GOGO is mad formative to my sense of rhythm and musical feel. This groove was everywhere in my life in the 80s and 90s. Besides getting to a live show, we heard it on the radio and bought live PA tapes. We beat the rhythm out on the lunch room table, the bus seat and the trashcan while waiting for the bus. Junkyard in particular brings back this feeling for me and this video is just cool, fucked up and amazing. – Druzzi

Chic before Chic: featuring Nile Rodgers, Bernard Edwards, Tony Thompson, one of the all time greatest rhythm sections. They also went on to be fantastic producers. – Vito

I don’t know how I slept on this movie for long. Not only does this film inspire me but it also connects a lot of shit for me. Revolution, feminist theory, activism, dystopias and great music. The song is amazing as well. – Druzzi

I’m a huge Greg Wilson fan. Love so many of his edits. The Teenage Disco DJ 12″ is a record I find myself coming back to again and again. This video pretty much speaks for itself. – Vito

This song never gets old for me. From the first to the last notes of the bass line through layers of sax and harps to the final drone. This is the jam. It was on constant rotation for both Zdar and myself when making the last The Rapture record. Peep the end of Sail Away for some of its cosmic influence. – Druzzi

One of my favorite songs of all time. My stepdad had a pretty amazing record collection and I was lucky enough to discover this song and the record it’s on, Ege Bamyasi, pretty early in my “formative years”. This track also features one of my favourite beats by one of my favourite drummers of all time Jaki Liebezeit. Now that’s a lot of favourites for one song. – Vito

This straight blew my mind when I first saw it on YO MTV Raps or Rap City on BET. I watched those shows religiously, comparing the latest to friends in school the next day. ‘Aint Sayin’ Nothin’ is a seriously slept on Jam. A quiet classic of the Golden Age, and from LA not NYC no less. Everything about this video hyped me; its stylistic concepts, what everyone is wearing, the lyrics, the samples both musically (The JB’s) and visually (The Black Panthers, dancing hippies). Still love this shit! – Druzzi