Blowfly (musician)

Blowfly

On stage, circa 2005.
Background information
Birth name Clarence Reid
Born February 14, 1939
Origin Cochran, Georgia, United States
Genres Comedy, Funk, Soul, rap
Occupation(s) comedian, vocalist, songwriter
Instruments vocals
Labels TK Records, Alternative Tentacles

Clarence Henry Reid (born February 14, 1939,[1] Cochran, Georgia, United States),[2] is an American musician and songwriter, also known by the stage name and alternate persona Blowfly,[3][4][5] often cited as the first Rapper and the first dirty rapper. [6] Reid wrote for many R&B acts in the 1960s and 1970s. As Blowfly, he has recorded numerous albums, mostly of sex-based parodies of other songs, but also including original sexually explicit songs. His stage name originated from his grandmother, who overheard him as a child singing "Do the Twist" as "Suck My Dick", and said "You is nastier than a blowfly."

Biography

Reid wrote and produced for artists including Betty Wright, Sam & Dave, Gwen McCrae, Jimmy "Bo" Horne, Bobby Byrd, and KC & the Sunshine Band. And he recorded many songs of his own in the '60s and '70s including "Nobody But You Babe".

Reid would also write sexually explicit versions of hit songs for fun but only performed them for his friends at parties or in the studio. In 1971 he along with a band of studio musicians recorded a whole album of dirty songs under the name Blowfly. The album, The Weird World of Blowfly, features Reid dressed as a low-rent supervillain on its cover. Reid created this alter ego to protect his career as a songwriter. Reid continued to perform in bizarre costumes as his Blowfly character and continued to record sexually explicit albums throughout the 70s and 80s. The albums were widely popular as "party records".

Many of Blowfly's songs featured rapping and many consider Blowfly to have been the first dirty rapper. The explicit version of his song "Rapp Dirty" (a.k.a. "Blowfly's Rapp [sic]") helped the album Blowfly's Party reach #26 on Billboard magazine's Black Albums chart and #82 on the Billboard Top 200 in 1980.

Blowfly's profane style earned Reid legal trouble. He was sued by songwriter Stanley Adams, who was ASCAP president at the time, for spoofing "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes" as "What a Difference a Lay Makes". Reid's own compositions have been sampled by dozens of hip hop, R&B, and electronic artists (such as Beyonce, Wu Tang Clan, DJ Quik, DMX, Method Man & Redman, Main Source, DJ Shadow, Eazy-E, RJD2, Jurassic 5, Big Daddy Kane, Mary J. Blige, Brand Nubian, and the Avalanches) but Reid has received almost no money from sampling due to signing away most of his royalties.[7]

Reid's daughter is former WNBA player Tracy Reid.

21st century

After 17 years of sporadic touring and occasional re-recording of his classic raps, Blowfly signed with Jello Biafra's independent record label Alternative Tentacles in 2005. Fahrenheit 69, the first album under the new contract, featured appearances from Slug of Atmosphere, King Coleman, Gravy Train, and Afroman. Other tours have included a headlining appearance at the Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans and shows with Rudy Ray Moore (Dolemite), Devin The Dude, DJ Frane, and Blueprint.

Blowfly's Punk Rock Party, a 2006 album release from Alternative Tentacles, features several punk rock classics given the Blowfly treatment—including a rewrite of the Dead Kennedys song "Holiday in Cambodia" recast as "R. Kelly in Cambodia", which features Biafra (the song's composer and original singer) playing a trial judge.

Blowfly completed his first tour of Australia in March 2007, and toured Germany with Die Ärzte in 2008. Blowfly performed at the 2010 Big Day Out music festival, held in Australia and New Zealand.

The documentary film The Weird World of Blowfly, directed by Jonathan Furmanski, premiered at South by Southwest in 2010[3] and received a wider release in September 2011.[8]

Discography

Albums as Clarence Reid

Albums as Blowfly

7" Singles as Clarence Reid

Singles as Blowfly

References

  1. ↑ "Bios". BlowflyFilm.com (official site, documentary The Weird World of Blowfly. 2011. Archived from the original on September 15, 2011.
  2. ↑ Mason, Stewart (1945-02-14). "Blowfly - Music Biography, Credits and Discography". AllMusic. Retrieved 2013-06-19.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The New York Times
  4. ↑ The Los Angeles Times
  5. ↑ Sun Sentinel
  6. ↑ "Old Age Hasn't Slowed Risque Rapper Down". Retrieved 13 October 2014.
  7. ↑ http://www.roanoke.com/arts_and_entertainment/music/cape-and-all-clarence-blowfly-reid-s-the-man/article_199cbbb7-969a-5f52-beee-dab6b9014b1c.htm
  8. ↑ Blowfly’s Party: Cinema Dates Confirmed for ‘Dirty Rapper’ Documentary MusicFilmWeb.com Retrieved 8 August 2011

External links