Man Parrish

Although his output of notable tracks remained limited and his presence faded from view nearly as swiftly as it had surfaced, Manny Parrish stands among the pivotal architects of American electronic dance music. By fusing Giorgio Moroder’s plugged-in disco-funk and Kraftwerk’s man-machine aesthetic with the intensified beats and cut’n’mix techniques of early hip-hop, he helped establish the foundations of electro, hip-hop, freestyle, and techno, along with the numerous offshoots that followed. Consequently, “Hip-Hop Be Bop (Don't Stop)” and “Boogie Down Bronx” became era-defining pieces whose core elements informed artists ranging from Run-D.M.C. and the Beastie Boys to Autechre and Andrea Parker, retaining their status as foundational classics of early hip-hop and electro.

A lifelong New Yorker, Parrish belonged to the circle of glam devotees and outsiders who gathered each night at Studio 54. The moniker Man first surfaced in Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, and his initial performances at Bronx hip-hop venues featured elaborate displays of lights, glitter, and pyrotechnics that blended the Warhol mystique with the energy of the Cold Crush Brothers.

Drawing further from the electronic explorations of Klaus Nomi and Brian Eno as well as Kraftwerk, Parrish and Raúl Rodríguez captured their most recognized material in a compact studio occasionally used by Afrika Bambaataa, whose collaborations with Arthur Baker and John Robie yielded comparable landmarks such as “Wildstyle,” “Looking for the Perfect Beat,” and “Planet Rock.” What set “Hip-Hop Be Bop” apart was its vocal-free arrangement and its unusually broad appeal across the club landscape, from ghetto breakdance halls to uptown spots like Danceteria and the Funhouse. After encountering an unauthorized version of his work spun by a local DJ, Parrish approached the Importe label, a subsidiary of the dance imprint Sugarscoop, and secured his first recording contract. The resulting self-titled LP sold more than two million copies globally. Following a stretch of creative exhaustion, he produced and remixed material for Michael Jackson, Boy George, Gloria Gaynor, and the Hi-NRG act Man 2 Man, and also served as road manager for the Village People. Though his later releases never matched the commercial or artistic intensity of his earlier efforts, Parrish kept recording from his Brooklyn base and regularly performed as a DJ in New York S&M venues. His second album, Dreamtime, was issued by Strictly Rhythm in 1997.