Time Zone – John Lydon & Afrika Bambaataa 1984
Introduction
In December 1984 the single World Destruction by Time Zone was released. A highly influential 12-inch, which has gone down in history as the very first rapcore release.
Time Zone
In the early 1980s Afrika Bambaataa started a number of projects, in order to diversify his releases. One of those projects was Time Zone. Bambaataa had released the revolutionary Planet Rock under his own name in 1982. The way of working utilized on that song was also applied to the first Time Zone release in 1983, the single Wild Style. In August 1984 Bambaataa and James Brown released the Unity single, followed by work on the next Time Zone single. Producer Bill Laswell and Bambaataa were thinking of bringing in outside help.
Time Zone – John Lydon & Afrika Bambaataa 1984
Enter John Lydon
In the beginning van the 1980s the fear of ‘the bomb’ was a haunting future reality. The “world destruction” wasn’t a conceptual given, but a specter that was confirmed every day. The elections of Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan most certainly did nothing to make people feel safer. Movies like Red Dawn and The Day After were downright frightening.
The lyrics to the new Time Zone song were politically tainted, so who could be invited for vocals/raps? Maybe former Sex Pistols front man Johnny Rotten, at the time better known as John Lydon, PIL front man? Lydon already knew Bambaataa’s work, because he had spent quite some time in New York and had heard early hip-hop and electro, including the music Bambaataa produced. The organic mix of supposedly opposite genres in particular, was something that appealed immensely to Lydon.
I was talking to Bill Laswell saying I need somebody who’s really crazy, man, and he thought of John Lydon. I knew he was perfect because I’d seen this movie that he’d made [Copkiller], I knew about all the Sex Pistols and Public Image stuff, so we got together and we did a smashing crazy version, and a version where he cussed the Queen something terrible, which was never released.
Afrika Bambaataa
We went in, put a drum beat down on the machine and did the whole thing in about four-and-a-half hours. It was very, very quick.
John Lydon
It was done pretty spontaneously, the beat was the Oberheim DMX. The whole style in drum machines went from the 808 to the 909, and all the pop stuff was the LinnDrum, but the more raw hip hop stuff, most of it was the Oberheim DMX. So we went to the studio and Bambaataa had prepared some lyrics. We just made up a piece and then John came in.
Bill Laswell
In October 1984 Lydon reported at the BC Studio in Brooklyn, New York for the recording session of World Destruction. It was a success, all involved were quite pleased with the result and wanted it released as quickly as possible.
Time Zone – World Destruction
World Destruction
On December 1, 1984, the 12-inch World Destruction was released. The exact release date is debated by some, December 31 is also named, but that’s highly improbable, since the oldest, American, review stems from December 25, 1984.
The single wasn’t a hit, but proved very influential. Even though it’s not the first record to mix rock and rap (Run-DMC’s Rock Box was a few months earlier in April 1984), it is the first rap/rock song that brought those worlds physically together, 2 years prior to the Run-DMC/Aerosmith Walk This Way single. The song is regarded as the first ever rapcore, a combination of rap and (post)punk, release.
Subject
The song’s lyrics were inspired by a movie on Nostradamus and his predictions on the inevitable end of the world. That message, intertwined with the current political climate, where the nuclear arms race was still building in intensity, ultimately led to the World Destruction lyrics. Lyrics that were prophetic.
Time Zone – World Destruction – Label side A
Lyrics
Speak about destruction
Speak about destruction
Speak about destructionThis is a world destruction, your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
Countries are fighting with chemical warfare
Not giving a damn about the people who live thereNostradamus predicts the coming of the Antichrist
Hey, look out, the third world nations are on the rise
The Democratic-Communist relationship
Won’t stand in the way of the Islamic force
The CIA is looking for other tactics
The KGB is smarter than you think
Brainwash mentalities to control the system
Using TV and movies, religions of courseYes, the world is headed for destruction
Is it a nuclear war?
What are you asking for?This is a world destruction
Your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
The rich get richer
The poor are getting poorer
Fascist, chauvinistic government foolsPeople, Muslims, Christians, and Hindus
Are in a time zone just searching for the truth
Who are you to think you’re a superior race?
Facing forth your everlasting doomWe are Time Zone
We’ve come to drop a bomb on you
World destruction, kaboom, kaboom, kaboom!I’m going out of my mind – that makes two of us
This is the world destruction, your life ain’t nothing
The human race is becoming a disgrace
Nationalities are fighting with each other
Why is this? Because the system tells youPutting people in racist categories
Knowledge isn’t what it used to be
Military tactics to control a nation
Who wants to be a president or a king? (Me!)
Mother Nature is gonna work against you
Nothing in your power that you can do
Yes, the world is headed for destruction
You and I know it, the Bible tells you
If we don’t start to look for a better life
The world will be destroyed in a time zone!In a time zone
In a time zone
In a time zoneSpeak about destruction
© Time Zone 1984
Time Zone – World Destruction – Video stills
Video
The video, which was shown on (television)shows starting in 1985, opened with images of Ronald Reagan quoting Biblical references to Armageddon, ending it with the ignorant remark: “Now with regard to having to say whether we would try to survive in the event of a nuclear war, of course we would.” The clip that follows shows images of war, destruction and Bambaataa and Lydon reciting their lyrics.
A confrontational video, that makes me wonder how it was broadcast in the first place. I truly ask myself if that kind of video, containing those explicit violent images, could still be shown today on prime-time television.
Review
At the time I bought the 12-inch, as it married two genres I was heavily interested/invested in, hip-hop and (post)punk, and on top of that it was a political record. This was the “motherlode”. The song was heavy, featuring great guitars, pounding drums and lyrics that actually portrayed something real. Both Bambaataa and Lydon spit out their words and express their rage and frustration. The energy and enthusiasm is clearly audible.
Highly recommended!
Time Zone – World Destruction – Back cover
Songs
Written by Afrika Bambaataa and Bill Laswell.
- World Destruction (5:30)
- World Destruction (6:20)
The single contained 3:50 and 3:45 versions of the song.
Musicians
- Afrika Bambaataa – vocals/rap
- John Lydon – vocals/rap
- Bernie Worrell – synthesizer
- Nicky Skopelitis – guitar
- Bill Laswell – bass, beats (drumcomputer)
- Aiyb Dieng – percussion
The Sopranos – For All Debts Public And Private (s4e1) – Opening scene
After World Destruction
After the World Destruction single Bambaataa put Time Zone on hold. The project did produce a few more singles and ultimately led to two albums: Thy Will B Funk (1992) and Warlocks And Witches, Computer Chips, Microchips And You (1996). The Time Zone project was stopped after that. Until 2005, when Bambaataa released the album Everyday People: The Breakbeat Party Album using the moniker Time Zone.
World Destruction brought Bill Laswell and John Lydon together. They got along great, leading to them working together on the next PIL album Album.
Over the years World Destruction has been re-released many times over, also in different remixed formats. From time to time, it’s featured in television shows, with The Sopranos being the eye-catcher. In the first episode of season 4, the song is used in the opening scene and again during the end credits.
In closing
What’s your take on the Time Zone single? Let me know!
Video/Spotify
This story contains an accompanying video. Click on the following link to see it: Video: Time Zone introduces rapcore, the story of World Destruction. The A Pop Life playlist on Spotify has been updated as well.
