Beat Box" is the debut single released by the British group Art of Noise in 1983. The track, one of the world's very first and most influential Hip-Hop hits intended as an instrumental, originally appeared on the 12" EP Into Battle with the Art of Noise, recorded during the same sessions as Malcolm McLaren's debut album Duck Rock, which was also co-produced by Art Of Noise member and ZTT Records founder Trevor Horn.
"Beat Box" is an experimental piece that implements sounds and noises (such as car key ignitions, falling drain water, and calliope music -- most notably on the chorus) to ride the rhythm of the beat. One particular sound effect in the song, which can only be described as an "orchestra hit", featured in the second "verse" of the song was sampled later by Kurtis Blow for his 1984 B-side hit "AJ Scratch", and would also become a common sound effect that would make it to various Hip-Hop songs and movie scores, including the score of the 1992 hit romantic comedy, Boomerang.
As a single, the song reached the lower regions of the UK singles chart, where it peaked at #92. It was more popular with dance music and (particularly) Hip-Hop audiences, and in February 1984 the song reached #1 on the American dance chart, where it remained for two weeks . "Beat Box" was a hit on the Soul Singles chart, where it reached #10
After the original "Beat Box" grew popular, The Art Of Noise decided to expand on the tune by adding on more instruments and sounds, giving the song a completely different outlook and practically drowning out the Hip-Hop element that now only remained in the drum beat itself. Two remix cuts resulted from this session and were initially released on 12" single in 1984 and referred to as "Diversion One" and "Diversion Two", along with the song "Moments in Love".
The song can be heard in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories. It also formed the basis for the theme for the British game show, The Krypton Factor. A sample can be found in the song "Love Is Everywhere" by WestBam (a popular German DJ) & the Love Committee, which was an anthem for the Berlin Love Parade in 2007. Rapper Tech N9ne also samples the song for the single, "Bout Ta' Bubble" from his 2006 album, Everready (The Religion).
The artwork of some editions has "Beat Box" as one word, "Beatbox".
The remix "Beat Box (Diversion Two)" was edited down — about 20 seconds were cut from the middle — to create another hit single, "Close (To the Edit)".
video link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kk1Kvpds15o
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