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Man (Parrish) Made Synth Dances

Iman Lababedi, Creem, November 1983

NEW YORK — Hands clap, a dog barks, a tonal drum pattern clicks, a bass drum pattern takes center stage, four notes from a synth repeat themselves, a bass line synth falls underneath, a voice from a vocoder chants "Hey! Ho! Hey! Ho! Yama-ta-mama," a third synth comes upfront, there's a little-needed admonishment to dance, the song's title — 'Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)' — is sang, the dog barks again, and that's it. That's all you're getting from Man Parrish's dance chart hit single. No melody line, no hook, frill-less modern disco. You mean they're going to take us to another planet?

Total word count of piece: 746

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