I've always loved Public Enemy. I'm still infatuated with the first four Public Enemy albums. Those samples, those hardcore drum beats, Chuck D's rhymes... PE remains the greatest hip-hop band of all-time.
"Fight the Power", the last track on their third album, Fear of a Black Planet, recently turned 20. My favourite line in the song is probably the most repeated line after the title phrase.
Elvis was a hero to most
but he never meant shit to me you see
straight up racist that sucker was
simple and plain
mother fuck him and John Wayne
I've got several versions of Public Enemy's "Fight the Power" and most of them have the lyrics I posted above. The album cut, however, has Chuck D repeating "Elvis was a hero to most" three times. That's my favourite version of "Fight the Power" and I get very angry when I hear a version with Chuck saying "Elvis was a hero to most" once.
Back in '91, I rushed to Sam the Record Man at Yonge and Dundas to buy a copy of the Barenaked Ladies' Yellow Tape. Yes kids, the yellow tape was actually a cassette tape drenched in yellow. I actually ended up buying it twice I loved it so much.
The final track on BNL's yellow tape was a fun cover of PE's "Fight the Power". It was only 1:33 long, but it included a great spin on the repeat of "Elvis was a hero to most".
Elvis was a hero to most
Buddy Elvis was a hero to most
Buddy Ebsen was a hero to most
Buddy Rich was a hero to most
Buddy Hackett was a hero to most
Nutty Buddy was a hero to most
If anyone out there has BNL's cover of "Fight the Power", I'd love the MP3. My yellow tapes now live only in the confines of my mind.
