rock steady crew

The Rock Steady Crew was established in 1977 by Bronx b-boys Jimmy D and Jojo. When they started this crew in the streets of the Bronx, they had no idea that someday it would take them all around the world. Only the best b-boys were down with Rock Steady. They had rivals in all five boroughs of New York and for every rival there were ten kids who wanted to be down with them. However, getting into the original crew was not easy. To get into Rock Steady you had to battle one of the other b-boys in the crew. It was a competition few people won.

布朗克斯的b-boy們Jimmy D和Jojo於1977年成立了rock steady團體。當他們在紐約市布朗克斯的街頭用rock steady的名號跳舞時，他們並不知道有一天rock steady將會傳遍世界。只有最出色的b-boy才能加入rock steady。在紐約市所有的五個區，都有為了能加入rock steady而競爭的比賽，每一次競賽會有10名參賽者。但是，要想加入最初的rock steady並不容易，除非當你擊敗了一名rock steady的成員。這是一個只有少數人獲勝的競爭。

n 1979 when the b-boying hype was beginning to die down, Jimmy D put Crazy Legs and Lenny Len down with Rock Steady just in time to add new life to the art form and take it to the next level. This was at a time when Crazy Legs moved to Manhattan. Going back to the Bronx every weekend became too difficult for Crazy Legs pockets. He then started to explore the Hip Hop scene in Manhattan more often. This meant losing touch with other members of Rock Steady. Crazy Legs would spend most of his time developing his craft in tenement building hallways and battling b-boys that he would come across and eventually hanging out with the ones that he felt had an original style

1979年，當b-boy的浪潮開始衰弱時，Jimmy D邀請Crazy Legs和Lenny Len加入Rock Steady，他們的加入為B-boy增添了新的活力，並將其帶入了一個新的階段。後來，Crazy legs搬到了曼哈頓居住。每個周末回到布朗克斯與Rock Steady的成員們相聚對於並不富裕的他來說並非易事。所以，更多的時候他玩起了hip hop。這意味著crazy legs與其他成員逐漸失去了聯繫。在crazy legs的大部分時間裡，他只做三件事情，一，在住所的走廊上練習技巧；二，和他偶遇的B-boy比賽；三，和他認為具有rock steady原始精神的b-boy切磋。

Wanting to start a crew of his own he went back to the Bronx to look for Jimmy D and the rest of the crew to get permission to start a chapter of his own. He was not able to find them. Not knowing what to do, he sought the advice of his cousin Lenny Len. Lenny Len suggested that he join Rockwell Association (another well known crew from the Bronx). Rockwell Association was the crew that had turned Crazy Legs down as a member before he got in to Rock Steady Crew. This time Crazy Legs had a lot more to offer. They immediately put him in Rockwell Association and gave him a chapter in Manhattan. It was bitter sweet for him. He felt that Rock Steady Crew was the better of the two and wanted to use the Rock Steady Crew name. In the early part of 1981 Crazy Legs had come across Jimmy D and told him about what he was doing in Manhattan. Jimmy D was impressed with the amount of members that Legs had in Rockwell Association. Crazy Legs asked Jimmy D if he can start a chapter and Jimmy D gave him permission. Crazy Legs immediately changed the name of the crew to Rock Steady Crew. Although none of the members that got into Rock Steady Crew by battling, they had already gained the respect of Crazy Legs. Crazy Legs and the new recruits from Manhattan eventually became the motivating forces behind b-boying gaining back its popularity in the streets of New York City. crazy legs

準備在曼哈頓成立一個rock steady的分會。他回到了布朗克斯去尋找Jimmy D和rock steady的其餘成員想要獲得他們的許可。可是他無法聯繫到他原來的夥伴們。當他無計可施之時，他向他的表哥Lenny Len求助。Lenny Len建議他去加入Rockwell協會(布朗克斯另一個著名的b-boy 團體).在Crazy Legs加入Rock steady之前，他曾參加過Rockwell協會。Rockwell很快接收了他，並且授權他去曼哈頓成立一個分會。這讓他悲喜交集。在他心目中rock steady還是最棒的，他想要分會的名稱還是用rock steady。1981年初，crazy legs偶遇到Jimmy D，並且告訴了Jimmy D他分會的事情。Jimmy D對於legs分會中有這麼多成員感到吃驚。crazy legs趁機提到了他想將這個分會改為rock steady的，Jimmy D授權他這麼做。隨後，crazy legs立即將分會的名稱改為rock steady。雖然現在進入rock steady不再需要經過比賽來決定，但Rock steady每一個加入的成員仍然是十分出色的選手。crazy legs和他的新夥伴們成為紐約市街頭b-boy們重新流行的新動力。

The turning point for Rock Steady was in 1981 when people began to take notice of all the noise Crazy Legs, Frosty Freeze, Take One, Little Crazy Legs and Ken Swift were making in Manhattan. In August of 1981, photographer/sculptor Henry Chalfant offered them the chance to perform at the Lincoln Center Outdoors Program. This performance, which was also a battle with rival b-boys from The Dynamic Rockers, was crucial not only because it was covered by local television stations, The New York Times, The Village Voice, The Daily News, and National Geographic, it would later gain them worldwide exposure. Jimmy D took notice of the buzz that Crazy Legs had started in Manhattan and made him President of the entire Rock Steady Crew. Crazy Legs in turn made Frosty Freeze and Ken Swift Co-Vice Presidents.

rock steady的重大的轉機出現在1981年，當人們開始關注Crazy Legs和他的夥伴們Frosty Freeze, Take One, Little Crazy Legs and Ken Swift。1981年8月，攝影家Henry Chalfant給了他們一個機會，他們將在林肯中心進行表演。這次表演，或者說是一場和來自The Dynamic Rockers的b-boy們的比賽，是至關重要的。因為這場演出被當地電視台，紐約時報，鄉村聲音，日報和國家地理等多家媒體報道，為rock steady 贏得了世界性的聲譽

In the winter of 1982 the Rock Steady Crew was invited to perform at the original Ritz nightclub. The list of performers that night included the Punk Rock group BOW WOW WOW, Afrika Bambaataa and the Jazzy 5. Since Afrika Bambaataa was known by many as the "Godfather of Hip-Hop", the Rock Steady Crew was honored to be on the same bill. After their performance, Crazy Legs and Frosty Freeze asked Afrika Bambaataa if they could be down with the Zulu Kings, the most highly respected of all b-boy crews. Afrika Bambaataa allowed them as well as the entire Rock Steady Crew to become members of the Zulu Kings, knowing that they would also become an integral part of the Zulu Nation. Soon after that performance the Rock Steady Crew took the downtown club scene by storm. They became caught up in a culture clash of Rastafarians, Punk Rockers and Hip-Hop heads.

1982年冬天，rock steady被邀請在著名的里茲大飯店夜總會進行表演。與他們同台演出的還包括朋克搖滾樂隊BOW WOW WOW，非洲Bambaataa和爵士5。非洲Bambaataa被尊稱為“教父的hip-hop”，rock steady也享有同樣的盛名。在演出結束之後，Crazy Legs和Frosty Freeze邀請非洲bambaataa加入Zulu Kings,一個在b-boy界最受矚目的一個組織。非洲Bambaataa表示，只要rock steady全體加入Zulu kings,他就加入，因為那樣可以使他們成為一個整體。在那晚的表演之後，rock steady捲起了一陣風暴。他們終於和Rastafarians, Punk Rockers and Hip-Hop並駕齊驅。

As the word spread, Rock Steady expanded into a huge family consisting of women, children, roller skaters, artists and DJ's. The Crew's popularity grew bigger than the city of New York and Kool Lady Blue started managing the group. She booked them on the Roxy Tour, sponsored by Europe One Radio. The Roxy Tour took the Rock Steady Crew, Afrika Bambaataa, Fab Five Freddie, The McDonald Double Dutch Girls, DJ's and graffiti artists straight from the "concrete jungle" to London and Paris. It was the first Hip-Hop tour of it's kind and it opened the door for many more to follow. The Crew also appeared on the Jerry Lewis Telethon two years in a row. In November 1983, they were asked by the Queen of England to perform at the Royal Variety Performance in aid of the Artist's Benevolent Fund. During these spectacular performances Charisma Records approached the Rock Steady Crew with a record deal. The record "Hey You, The Rock Steady Crew" was in the top ten charts in Great Britain and sold over a million copies. The Crew, however, saw very little of the proceeds. Due to their lack of knowledge of the music industry at such a young age, the company took advantage of the Crew and would not allow them any creative input toward their own project.

Rock steady逐漸變成了一個龐大的組織，其中包括婦女，兒童，冰上舞者，藝術家和DJ們。這個團體的人數甚至超過了紐約市的人口總數，Kool Lady Blue開始管理這個團體。她組織大規模巡迴演出，演出的發起是由歐洲的一家電台。這次巡演使rock steady，非洲bambaataa,fab five freddie,The McDonald Double Dutch Girls，DJ's 和graffiti aritsts從"混凝土叢林"來到倫敦，巴黎。這是第一次hip-hop音樂獲得巨大成功的巡演。1983年11月，他們受到英國女皇的邀請，為藝術家慈善基金進行表演。charisma唱片公司為他們精彩的演出灌制了磁帶。專輯“hey you, the rock steady crew”在不列顛銷量很好，賣出了約1000，000盤。但rock steady對專輯熱賣所贏得的收益看得很淡。由於當時唱片工業還處於很不成熟的時期，公司從rock steady收取了很高的利潤，卻並不對他們再多投資

When Charisma Records went out of business and was sold to Virgin Records, the group was put on hold indefinitely. During this time, the crew's management told them not to dance in clubs. They tried to convince them that it was in their best interest not to dance they way they love to. Just for fun. Suddenly the Crew was on the outside looking in. By this time they had lost much of their fame and notoriety. They found themselves at a dead end with no plans for the future. Regardless, the Crew never split up, but they took some time to regroup and they went their separate ways. Some members took an optimistic attitude and went back to school or pursued other interests. Others did not fare so well. However, the Crew kept looking forward and took their anger and disappointment and made something positive

最終charisma唱片公司破產，被Virgin唱片公司收購，大家對前景很不樂觀。在此期間，rock steady的管理層決定讓他們不再在俱樂部中演出。這段時間他們的事業走入低谷。他們覺得自己對於未來沒有計劃。然而，rock steady永遠不會分裂。他們只是需要時間去重組。一些具有積極態度的成員重新回到學校，並且嘗試著說服一些投資者。總之，rock steady還是繼續向前走著，儘管帶著一些憤怒和失望，但還是做出了一些積極東西

In 1991 Mr. Wiggles approached Crazy Legs about an idea he and Fable (Magnificent Force) had for a Hip-Hop musical. Crazy Legs (with the help of Mr. Wiggles) then needed to persuade Ken Swift to start dancing again in order to have Ken involved as well. The musical was called "So, What Happens Now?". Rock Steady member Buck 4 (R.I.P) provided the perfect scenario to base the musical on. He said, "You don't know what it feels like to go fill out a job application ...where it says, 'what do you do?' what do I write? I spin on my head?" "So, What Happens Now?" was the critics choice in the New York Times and received rave reviews in The Village Voice, The Daily News and El Diario. In 1992, they received a standing ovation lead by Gregory Hines at the Kennedy Center Honors where President George Bush, Gregory Peck and the Nicholas Brothers were all in attendance

1991年，Wiggles先生告訴crazy legs他和Fable(magnificent force)想要做一個hip-hop音樂劇的想法。Crazy legs又說服Ken Swift重新出山。這個音樂劇的名字是"so, what happens now". rock steady的成員 Buck 4(R.I.P)為這個音樂劇設計了一個相當完美的情節。他說,"你不知道去填一份工作申請表是什麼感覺。。。當被問到‘你現在做什麼’我該填什麼？搖頭？"。“So,現在發生了什麼？”再紐約時報，鄉村聲音，日報和El Diario上引起強烈的反響。1992年，他們再肯尼迪中心受到Gregory Hines的嘉獎，當時總統喬治·布希，喬治·派克，尼古拉斯兄弟均出席了嘉獎儀式。

A Rock Steady Crew Anniversary is held annually to symbolize the preservation of the history and evolution of Hip-Hop Culture. This monumental community event brings out DJ's, b-boys/b-girls, graffiti artists, emcees and thousands of other positive Hip-Hop heads from all around the globe. It also honors members of Rock Steady Crew and members of the Hip-Hop community that have passed away. Since their beginning the Rock Steady Crew has come full circle. Crazy Legs is still president of the crew with Fabel being vice-president. They have added new faces like Teknyc, Venom, Servin' Ervin, Denote, Heps Fury, Fever One, Jeromeskee, Floor Rock as well as members in Japan, United Kingdom and Italy. The difference this time is that they have total control over their company and their destiny. "This time we have control over what's going on", says Crazy Legs. "We are running it with no one to answer to and that makes everything we do more satisfying". With the Rock Steady Crew's 29th anniversary on the horizon, they have plenty more goals in sight. The Rock Steady Crew has bounced back and performs throughout the world. They remain very active in the community and are involved in several different outreach programs as well as holding food drives and donating time and money to non-profit organizations. They hope to set up a Rock Steady foundation for children. This program will provide dance classes and other activities that will help to influence the youth to stay on the right path throughout life. It will also involve maintaining and preserving Hip-Hop culture

每年都會舉行的Rock Steady周年儀式成為了Hip-Hop的歷史和演進的標誌。這個團體將DJ,b-boy/b-girl,graffiti藝術家等這些概念帶到了世界各個角落。Crazy Legs仍是這個團體的主席，Fabel擔任副主席。他們又吸收了一些來自日本，不列顛，義大利等一些新人如，Teknyc, Venom, Servin' Ervin, Denote, Heps Fury, Fever One, Jeromeskee, Floor Rock。現在他們可以完全控制他們的公司和他們自己的命運。“現在我們的地盤我做主！”Crazy Legs說道。當rock steady的第29個生日來臨之際，他們還有許多目標即將實現。他們希望能夠為了兒童們建立一個rock steady基金。這個項目將會為兒童提供一些舞蹈課和其他活動，用來幫助年輕人能夠正確的選擇他們的人生方向。這一切都將保持和延續hip-hop文化。