Music / Duck Rock

All that scratchin' is makin' me itch!

Duck Rock is a 1983 album by Malcolm Mc Laren. It was released in 1983 on Charisma Records in England and Island Records in America.

In 1982, Malcolm McLaren pitched his idea for a musical travelogue to Charisma, who agreed to fund it on condition that a recognised producer was assigned to the project. The result was that McLaren, producer Trevor Horn (then a hot property, coming off the back of big successes with Dollar and ABC) and Horn's engineer Gary Langan embarked on a tour of South Africa and South, Central and North America, recording local musicians and then combining elements in the studio back in London.

Critics weren't quite sure what to make the album: was it a clever cross-cultural mash-up, or just a hoax? (A similar reaction would greet every subsequent McLaren album too.) But while critics argued the toss, the album proved commercially successful, thanks in large part to two popular singles, "Buffalo Gals" and "Double Dutch", and it's since been reappraised as a landmark album noted for its contributions to Hip-Hop and World Music.

Tracklist:

Side One

1. "Obatala" (4:17)
2. "Buffalo Gals" (4:22)
3. "Double Dutch" (5:53)
4. "Merengue" (3:52)
5. "Punk It Up" (4:11)

Side Two

1. "Legba" (4:03)
2. "Jive My Baby" (5:35)
3. "Song for Chango" (2:49)
4. "Soweto" (3:53)
5. "World's Famous" (1:41)
6. "Duck for the Oyster" (2:57)

Tropes associated with Duck Rock:

• Album Intro Track: The album starts off with a gentle instrumental track, "Obatala".
• All There in the Manual: McLaren's sleevenotes help to put the various influences in context.
• B-Side: Several of the B sides from Duck Rock's singles featured The World's Famous Supreme Team and were collected on the standalone EP D'ya Like Scratchin'.
• Fake Radio Show Album: The whole LP is linked with clips from the World's Famous Supreme Team radio show.
• Genre-Busting: A key part of the album, such as combining hip-hop and square dancing ("Buffalo Gals").
• Genre Roulette: Definitely intentional, taking in hip-hip, mbaqanga, merengue, square dancing and more.
• Gratuitous Panning: The "Buffalo Gals" 12" included a "special stereo scratch mix" with the elements separated out onto one channel or the other, to give DJs more options for mixing.
• Sampling: Trevor Horn had recently bought a Fairlight sampler, and it gets plenty of use here.
• Spoken Word: McLaren was many things, but definitely not a singer, so his vocal contributions are all just spoken.
• Word Salad Title: What exactly is Duck Rock supposed to mean, anyway?

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