This is in no way THE STORY of the U.K. scene, just one of my many stories of my experience since 1983. A story from my hip hop life….by TTT..RSC.. I remember when in the mid/late 1980s (87-88-89) in the U.K. when breakin/b.boyin started to DIE and go out of style for 99% of those who were the first generation of Breakers/B.boys/B.girls, i know because i was there, i seen it with my own eyes… By 1987/8 almost every Breaker had quit…they had either become M.C.s looking for that £$£$£$, writers, D.J.s or ravers…and some switched to New Jack Swing…. dancing for many of the music celebritys of the time, i watched many of the b.boys who i idolised switch over to NJS while we (me and my crew AWAYZ ROCIN TUF) continue to break/b.boy, we kept the faith in b.boyin straight through these dark days…through the 80s on into the 90s, one other crew i now know who were very active and ultimatly INFLUENTIAL throughout the world of b.boyin to this very day…they are THE LEGENDARY SECOND 2 NONE…. The only other active and still practicing the lost art of breaking in those times to my knowledge and who i personally witnessed in action, were the TWINS and other members of THE BELFAST CITY BREAKERS, i know those who represented the first generation of Breaking in the U.K. still loved it down deep inside, and some individuals dotted around the country still could and would throw down from time to time, but i am talking about actually practicing and training day to day like we did when we first started in the early 1980s…only the three crews i have mentioned were still living it, and believing in it…regardless of its dying nature, AWAYZ ROCIN TUF, SECOND 2 NONE, BELFAST CITY BREAKERS these are THE 3 SURVIVORS of the first generation of breaking/b.boyin in the U.K…..and if you was there and are truthful, you will respect that and acknowledge it, anything else you hear is false information , and those telling you that are faking the funk….and perpetrating a fraud…. The U.K. legends of the Breaking scene from the 1980s are… Sidewalk, Zulu Rockers, London All Starz, Street Machine, Rock City Crew, Broken Glass, The B.Boys, Smack19….other crews who were there and important in there own citys and inspired beyond were…Supreme Team (Manchester), Live 2 Break (London), Glasgow City Breakers (Glasgow, Scotland), Belfast City Breakers (Belfast, Ireland), Eastwood Rockers (Liverpool), Crash Crew (The Wirral), Second 2 None (Bournmouth), Awayz Rocin Tuf, (Runcorn, Cheshire), Fresh Force (Manchester), Green Green (Manchester), Look Twice, Poppers (London?), INFLUENTIAL INDIVIDUALS Danny Francis-Popper (London), Dave The Wave-Popper (Liverpool), Danny Fly-B.boy (Liverpool), Goldie-B.boy-Writer member of B.Boys, Wolverhampton, and TATSCRU NYCity, Danny Price - B.boy, Manchester, Dolby D - B.boy, London. This is only my story and my experience from my travels and what i witnessed from 1983 to the mid to late 1980s, there was many more crews and individuals around the country in every city and every town…and i dont mean to leave anybody out from this story, anybody with any intel about there own city or town and experience from those days please feel free to add your own stories… One final historical person i have left untill last is probably the single most famous and influential, inspirational and mysterious individual b.boy of all time in the UK b.boy culture history…and he goes by the name of EVO… Steven B.boy EVO Evans was born in the city of Manchester, he started breakin in the early years of the 1980s, at a very young age he created a name for himself as the LILTWISTER, and was snapped up by the most famous crew at the time STREET MACHINE, his reputation lived beyond the dance floor and spread like wild fire, when i first heard the stories in 1986 he had already disappeared from the scene, but his stories vibrated like a shock wave…they stayed with me right up until the day i received a letter through the post, it was early 1992, we AWAYZ ROCIN TUF featured in the HIP HOP Connection magazine in the U.K. and EVO had seen the article and it sparked a desire inside of him, he wrote to us and wanted to learn more about the scene and what we was doing…he just finished his letter with his real name Steven Evans, can you imagine our faces…we was like wow could this be him, could it be…the ONE…could it really be EVO?, we called the number on the letter, and he answered the phone…we was like little kids, and i remember being so excited and nervous at the same time..i was scared to ask him the question…but i had to…are you EVO from STREET MACHINE?…he replyed YES….and we just freaked out…we arranged to hook up and he came to our practice session, we had been breaking since 1983 none stop, it was now 1992, 9 years back then was a life time, i remember being proud and special when i had been doing hip hop for 2 or 3 years…so 9 was amazing. EVO turned up…he was this little man, but like a kid, he practiced with us that day for the first time since 1985/6 and he had us in awe from the start…he could do stuf we only dreamed about…near the end of the session he disappeared to the toilet, he was gone for a long time so we went to investigate, we found him being sick..he had pushed himself so hard that day…he made himself sick…we went back to my place and showed him some videos we had from different sources we had around the world, the B.BOY ALLSTARZ from Australia were a great source of information and they had sent us many videos from around the world…it was also through the B.BOY ALLSTARZ we first learnt about SECOND 2 NONE, youv got to remember this is way before the internet, we had to go to the source or write to each other back then… After the video session we made future arrangements to hook up with EVO again and the the rest is history as they say…. On my travels around the world even before i met EVO i used to spread the word about his amazing skills, about his ONE HANDED WRIST HALOS and his BABY WINDMILLS…after meeting with him and training, his reputation grew and grew…i have footage of him from those early years, yet to be seen…i have him doing air tracks before we even knew they existed…you only had to give him an idea and he would have it in a matter of minutes..back spin to 90, 90 to halos, ufo to 90…it seemed so simple to him. Throughout the 1990s he would come and go, sometimes we wouldnt see him for a year or so, then he would be back…this was to be the pattern of his time b.boyin, untill he finnally lost that edge and fire for the culture…he has returned from time to time and i still stay in touch, and he still talks about possibly making a come back..so only time will tell..but one thing i do know is….his reputation will always be bigger than life itself….somethings are better staying that way…he will always be a super star in my heart b.boy EVO..the man, the son, the brother, the father…Steven Evans…Peace Love and Respect… Final note… For the record, in my personal opinion the most influential and important link in the world wide history of b.boyin, who along with some other legendary crews around the world, saved the dance from its untimely demise by just loving and doing it because its just what they did, without any preconceived notion of the amazing action they was doing, they saved and inspired the b.boy culture to rise up and become what we see today…and they are Second 2 None. Tuf Tim Twist..Rock Steady Crew.. Awayz Rocin Tuf.
Posted on: Fri, 11 Jul 2014 15:29:08 +0000
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