This Is How We Do The Old To The New... Thursdays

Maybe it is all about the heartbeat…

What do you know about music in the late 70s and early 80s? I’m talking about songs at least 8 minutes long, sometimes longer. LOL. I’m talking about flashlights, neon lights, oh flashlights… roll, skate, rock, bounce…. I’m talking about a time when every soul song had a little bit of--dare I say it-- disco in it. I’m talking about the birth of hip-hop and raps over classic break beats like Chic’s “Good Times” and this classic song -- “Heartbeat.”

Now this song brings back memories... Sure, I was only 11 or 12 years old when it came out. But I remember singing along with Taana Gardner, “heartbeat, you make me feel so weak… moving all around with my head to the ground. Everything you said went right straight to my head…” I loved this song so much that I had to include it in my novel Sweet Sensation . It’s the break beat Flex plays the first time Deidre raps for him. “Heartbeat” like “Breaking Bells” and “Big Beat” has become a classic hip-hop break beat. Lots of rappers have sampled it. The Treacherous Three rapped over the instrumental back in 1981 when it came out. But during the golden era of hip hop, De La Soul (featuring Tribe Called Quest the Jungle Brothers and Monie Love) made a song called “Buddy” and flipped the “Heartbeat” into something fresh and new. I love “Buddy.” This song takes me back to my undergraduate days and many a campus party. So, you know I was feeling Musiq Soulchild when he freaked “Heartbeat” in his own version of “Buddy” last year. I have to say, every time I hear “Heartbeat” I like it. It is a classic one hit wonder song that has managed to stick around and be reinvented over and over and over again. You’ve got to love it! Enjoy…

Taana Gardner “Heartbeat”



Treacherous Three “Feel the Heartbeat”



De La Soul “Buddy”



Musiq Soulchild “Buddy”