''Duck Rock'' is an album released by British

impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. H ...

Malcolm McLaren Malcolm Robert Andrew McLaren (22 January 1946 – 8 April 2010) was an English impresario, visual artist, singer, songwriter, musician, clothes designer and boutique owner, notable for combining these activities in an inventive and provo ...

. It was originally issued in 1983 by

Charisma Records Charisma Records (also known as The Famous Charisma Label) was a British record label founded in 1969 by former journalist Tony Stratton-Smith. He had previously acted as manager for rock bands such as The Nice, the Bonzo Dog Band and Van de ...

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...

, and

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright A ...

, and later re-released on CD in 1987. The album mixes up styles from

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

, Central and

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the souther ...

, the Caribbean, and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, including hip hop. The album proved to be highly influential in bringing hip hop to a wider audience in the United Kingdom. Two of the singles from the album, " Buffalo Gals" and " Double Dutch", became major chart hits on both sides of the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. ''Duck Rock'' was dedicated to

Harry McClintock Harry Kirby McClintock (October 8, 1882 – April 24, 1957), also known as "Haywire Mac", was an American railroad man, radio personality, actor, singer, songwriter, and poet, best known for his song " Big Rock Candy Mountain". Life Harry Mc ...

, better known as Haywire Mac. The album artwork was designed by Dondi White and

Nick Egan Nick Egan (born 4 July 1957 in London, England) is a visual design artist and director of music videos, commercials and film. He graduated from the Watford College of Art and Design with a DGA in 1976. While attending college, he created cover ...

, with the illustration by

Keith Haring Keith Allen Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) was an American artist whose pop art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 1980s. His animated imagery has "become a widely recognized visual language". Much of his wor ...

. Guest musicians featured on this album include Trevor Horn,

Anne Dudley Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genr ...

, J. J. Jeczalik, and

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including " She Blinded M ...

. Side recordings that Horn, Dudley and Jeczalik made in between takes of ''Duck Rock'' would eventually become the first album of the

Art of Noise Art of Noise (also The Art of Noise) were an English avant-garde synth-pop group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and mu ...

, '' Into Battle with the Art of Noise''. Clips of the World's Famous Supreme Team radio show appear between songs, which made the album one of the earliest recordings on which members of

the Nation of Gods and Earths The Five-Percent Nation, sometimes referred to as the Nation of Gods and Earths (NGE/NOGE) or the Five Percenters, is a Black nationalist movement influenced by Islam that was founded in 1964 in the Harlem section of the borough of Manhattan, N ...

appear.

Reception

In a contemporary review of the album, ''

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''s

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

found that "McLaren knows how to record African music for Western ears, and the ebullient tunes he's collected here more than make up for his annoyance quotient", but also criticised McLaren and Horn for failing to give credit to the South African musicians involved in the recording, such as Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens. The mbaqanga group the Boyoyo Boys took legal action against McLaren over the similarity of "Double Dutch" with its own hit "Puleng". After a lengthy legal battle in the UK, the matter was settled out of court, with payment made to the South African copyright holders, songwriter Petrus Maneli and publisher Gallo Music, but Horn and McLaren retained their songwriting credits. ''Duck Rock'' was ranked at number nine among the "Albums of the Year" for 1983 by '' NME''. The album ultimately became a critical favourite, garnering accolades from various other publications in the years following its release. William Ruhlmann of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the dat ...

retrospectively reviewed it as "an amazingly eclectic collection of world music mixed with urban hip-hop". In 2013, ''NME'' ranked ''Duck Rock'' at number 298 on its list of the

500 greatest albums of all time * Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time * NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2013 special issue of British magazine '' NME'', available digitally or in newsstands on October 23. The li ...

. In 2018, ''

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'' ranked ''Duck Rock'' at number 200 on its list of the 200 best albums of the 1980s. The album also received

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream ...

's Critical Music label.

Track listing

More tracks

#"Buffalo Gals – Special Stereo Scratch Mix" (Horn, Dudley, McLaren) #"Zulus on a Time Bomb" (Horn, McLaren) #"She's Looking Like a Hobo" (Horn, McLaren) #"Double Dutch – New Dance Mix" (Horn, McLaren) #"Roly Poly" (Horn, McLaren) #"D'ya Like Scratchin'? – with the Red River Gals" (Horn, Dudley, McLaren) #"World's Famous – Radio ID" (Horn, Dudley, McLaren) #"Buffalo Gals - Trad. Square" (Horn, McLaren) #"Hobo Scratch" (Horn, McLaren) #"Hobo Scratch (Long Edit.)" (Horn, McLaren) #"D'ya Like Scratchin'? - Special Version" (Horn, Dudley, McLaren)

Personnel

* Malcolm McLaren – figure caller, singer (known as Talcy Malcy) * Sedivine the Mastermind – DJ, rapper (known as Divine) * Just Allah the Superstar – DJ, rapper (known as Justice) * Trevor Horn – producer, beats, mixing - (Art of Noise) *

– arranger, keyboards, string arrangements - (Art of Noise) *

– keyboards * Gary Langan – Jew's harp, engineer - (Art of Noise) * J.J. Jeczalik – synthesizer - (Art of Noise) * David Birch – guitar * Luís Jardim – percussion * Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens — vocals, uncredited * Boyoyo Boys — musicians, uncredited *additional musicians uncredited - bass guitar, backing vocals ;Technical *

– illustration * Dondi White – graffiti *

– cover design * Ron West – created Ghetto Blaster for Album Cover design * Mastered At – The Town House

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

External links

''Duck Rock''
(

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) at

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(streamed copy where licensed) {{Authority control 1983 debut albums Malcolm McLaren albums Albums produced by Trevor Horn Hip hop albums by English artists Island Records albums Charisma Records albums