Big Fun in the Big Town
7.8 /10 1 Votes
Genre Music documentary Duration Country The Netherlands | 7.6/10 IMDb Director Bram van Splunteren Creator Marcel Vanthilt Language English | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Release date November 30, 1986 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Big Fun In The Big Town is a Dutch music documentary made by the VPRO in 1986. It was directed by Bram van Splunteren and presented by Belgian TV presenter Marcel Vanthilt. The documentary was shot on location in New York City and consisted of two parts, one about rock singer Iggy Pop and The Stooges, the other about the American Hiphop scene. The latter turned out to have a much bigger impact on the Dutch music scene and enjoys a cult classic status among hiphop fans.
Contents
Recording
The documentary was made in September 1986 in eight days time and filmed in the streets of New York City. Vanthilt and his four Dutch colleagues had hired some body guards for protection from local street gangs. They managed to interview several important pioneers of early Hiphop, including Run-DMC, LL Cool J, Doug E. Fresh, Grandmaster Flash, Roxanne Shante, Biz Markie, MC Shan, Russell Simmons, Mr. Magic, Schoolly D and The Last Poets. Grandmaster Flash showed his talents in scratching and DJing, Doug E. Fresh did beatboxing on a busy street corner in Harlem, New York and LL Cool J still lived with his grandmother at time of recording. The documentary crew literally arrived a turning point for hiphop. Run DMC had just released the single Walk This Way, their duet with the rock band Aerosmith, which would cause mainstream acceptance of the genre by a major white audience. Because of this element Big Fun In The Big Town still provides a unique time capsule.
Impact
Big Fun In The Big Town was broadcast on Sunday night, November 30, 1986 at 20.10 at Nederland 2 and got a lot of praise afterwards. It has been rebroadcast several times and an entire generation of Dutch rappers and hiphop artists have credited this documentary as an important inspiration, including Osdorp Posse, The Opposites, Kraantje Pappie, Gers Pardoel, De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, Brainpower, Def P.,...
Availability
The movie became available on DVD in 2012. USA Today, The New York Times and Rolling Stone praised it in their reviews. The Guardian mentioned it at #10 in their list of the ten best music documentaries of all time.
Soundtrack album
A soundtrack album was also made available in 2012.
Track list
From Discogs.
1. "South Bronx" – Boogie Down Productions (5:10)
2. "9mm Goes Bang" – Boogie Down Productions (4:19)
3. "Cold Getting Dumb" – Just-Ice (4:32)
4. "Latoya" – Just-Ice (4:11)
5. "Breaking Bells" – T La Rock (5:24)
6. "Back To Burn" – T La Rock (3:35)
7. "Jockbox" – Skinny Boys (4:33)
8. "Leave It To The Drums" – Tricky Tee (4:40)
9. "Bassline" – Mantronix (5:27)
10. "Ladies" – Mantronix (6:54)