Grand Wizzard Theodore

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Grand Wizzard Theodore is really called Theodore Livingston and was born in 1963 in the Bronx, in New York. In that borough hip hop arose in the 1970s, at parties where DJs played records for dancers. His older brother Mean Gene was a DJ and taught him from an early age how to work with turntables.

Music and breakthrough

In 1975 Theodore was playing records in his bedroom with the volume turned right up. His mother came in angrily and told him to turn the music down. While she stood in the doorway, he held the record with his hand and unconsciously rubbed it back and forth under the needle. That produced a scratching sound. When his mother had gone, he realised that he liked that sound. He practised with it and played the new technique at a party: scratching was born. He also became known for his needle drop, in which he lowered the needle onto exactly the right spot on a record.

Influence

In the early 1980s he was part of Grandwizard Theodore & the Fantastic Five, who released Can I Get a Soul Clap in 1982. He also appeared in the hip hop film Wild Style (1983) and worked on the soundtrack. Scratching changed the turntable from a playback device into a musical instrument, and became a fixed part of hip hop. His shout Say turn it up from Fantastic Freaks at the Dixie was later sampled by Public Enemy, among others, in Bring the Noise.

Listening

In School of Rock

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