Sound-System (album)

For other albums with similar titles, see Sound System (album), Soundsystem (311 album), and Sound System: The Final Releases.

1984 studio album by Herbie Hancock

Sound-System

Studio album by

Herbie Hancock

Released| August 20, 1984
Recorded| October–December 1983
Studio| Evergreen Studios (New York City, NY);
Studio Media (Evanston, IL);
El Dorado Studios and Garage Sale Recording (Los Angeles, CA)
Genre| Electro-funk
Length| 33:42
Label| Columbia
Producer| Bill Laswell/Material
Herbie Hancock
Herbie Hancock chronology
| Future Shock
(1983)  | Sound-System
(1984)  | Village Life
(1985)

|
|

Sound-System is the thirtieth album by jazz pianist Herbie Hancock and the second of three albums co-produced by Bill Laswell with the ‘Rockit’ Band. Guest artists include saxophonist Wayne Shorter, guitarist Henry Kaiser, kora player/percussionist Foday Musa Suso and drummer Anton Fier.

## Background

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The second of the three Rockit band albums, Sound-System was another smash for Herbie Hancock. Winning his second Grammy award for Best R&B Performance (his second-straight award), this album tried to capture the success of the previous Future Shock, with some more twists and turns.

"Junku" for instance, featured Foday Musa Suso and also was written for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. It served as the "Field" theme. It also was used during Hancock's appearance on the long-running NBC Saturday Night Live.

"Sound System" sounded like "Junku" in many ways, while "Karabali" features Wayne Shorter on soprano saxophone and evokes Hancock's African themed Mwandishi band from the early 1970s.

## Reception

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Professional ratingsReview scores

Source| Rating
All About Jazz| Favorable[5]
AllMusic| [1]
Robert Christgau| A−[2]
Tom Hull| B[4]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings| [7]
The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide| [3]
The Washington Post| Favorable[6]

Robert Christgau commented "Future Shock was a pretty good album despite its dink quotient; this is a better album despite its schlock quotient. Where's-the-melody is beside the point, because even when they're just hooks the melodies seem a little obvious, without the physical or intellectual bite of the rhythm tracks (nowhere mightier than on the amazing "Metal Beat," recommended to those who think Trevor Horn is into something heavy). And me, I doubt Herbie should be playing more "jazz"—several of the false moments here are provided by Saint Wayne Shorter himself. The African exotica of Foday Musa Suso and Aiyb Dieng, on the other hand, sounds right at home. As does the South Bronx exotica of D.St."[2] Richard S. Ginell of AllMusic noted "In the grand tradition of sequels, Sound-System picks up from where Future Shock left off – if anything, even louder and more bleakly industrial than before... Hancock's electric music still retained its adventurous edge.[1]

## Track listing

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1. "Hardrock" (Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Derek Showard) – 6:08
2. "Metal Beat" (Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell) – 4:53
3. "Karabali" (Herbie Hancock, Daniel Poncé) – 5:17
4. "Junku" (Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Foday Musa Suso, Aiyb Dieng) – 5:30
5. "People are Changing" (Timmy Thomas) – 6:03
6. "Sound System" (Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell, Foday Musa Suso) – 5:51

Bonus track from CD reissue

1.   2. "Metal Beat (Extended Version)" (Herbie Hancock, Bill Laswell) – 6:44

## Personnel

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### Musicians

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* Herbie Hancock – Yamaha DX7 (1, 2, 4, 5, 6), Fairlight CMI (1–4, 6), Rhodes Chroma (1, 4), E-mu 4060 digital keyboard (1), Apple IIe computer (1), acoustic piano (3, 4, 5), Memorymoog (4), clavinet (6)
* Will Alexander – Fairlight CMI programming (1, 2, 3, 6)
* Rob Stevens – synthesizers (1, 4), programming (4)
* D.S.T. – turntables (1, 2, 6), sound effects (1, 2, 6)
* Henry Kaiser – guitar (1, 2)
* Nicky Skopelitis – guitar (1, 6)
* Bill Laswell – electric bass (1, 4, 6), Oberheim DMX (1, 2, 4, 6), tapes (1, 4), shortwave electronics (2)
* Anton Fier – Simmons drums (1, 2, 6), percussion (1, 2, 6), cymbals (2), Synare (6), timpani (6)
* Daniel Poncé – assorted percussion (1, 3)
* Aïyb Dieng – assorted percussion (2, 4, 5, 6), Roland TR-808 (5)
* Foday Musa Suso – assorted percussion (2, 6), dusunguni (2, 4), balafon (2), kora (4, 6), kalimba (4), guitar (6)
* Hamid Drake – cymbals (3)
* Wayne Shorter – lyricon (2), soprano saxophone (3)
* Bernard Fowler – voice (2), vocals (3, 5), vocal arrangements (3, 5)
* Toshinori Kondo – speaking voice (2), trumpet (6)

### Production

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* Herbie Hancock – producer
* Bill Laswell – producer
* Material – producers
* Tony Meilandt – associate producer
* Rob Stevens – engineer, recording
* Lawrence A. Duhart – engineer
* Billy Youdelman – engineer
* Carolyn Collins – assistant engineer
* Sam Fishkin – assistant engineer
* Haun Rowe – assistant engineer
* Lothar Segeler – assistant engineer
* Dave Jerden – mixing
* Howie Weinberg – mastering
* David Em – cover image artwork
* Norman Seeff – photography

Studios

* Recorded at Evergreen Studios (New York City, NY); Studio Media (Evanston, IL); El Dorado Studios and Garage Sale Recording (Los Angeles, CA).
* Mixed at El Dorado Studios (Los Angeles, CA).
* Mastered at Masterdisk (New York City, NY).

## References

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1. ^ a b Ginell, Richard S. (2011). "Sound-System – Herbie Hancock | AllMusic". allmusic.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
2. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (2011). "Robert Christgau: CG: Herbie Hancock". robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
3. ^ Swenson, J., ed. (1985). The Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide. USA: Random House/Rolling Stone. p. 94. ISBN 0-394-72643-X.
4. ^ "Tom Hull: Grade List: Herbie Hancock". Tom Hull. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
5. ^ Adler, David (October 1, 2000). "Herbie Hancock: Future Shock, Sound System, Perfect Machine". allaboutjazz.com. All About Jazz.
6. ^ Considine, J.D. (August 26, 1984). "Herbie Hancock: Funk In the Abstract". Washington Post.
7. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 645\. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.

## External links

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* Sound-System at Discogs

* v
* t
* e

Herbie Hancock

Discography (As a sideman or guest artist)

Studio albums|

* Takin' Off
* My Point of View
* Inventions & Dimensions
* Empyrean Isles
* Maiden Voyage
* Speak Like a Child
* The Prisoner
* Fat Albert Rotunda
* Mwandishi
* Crossings
* Sextant
* Head Hunters
* Dedication
* Thrust
* Man-Child
* Secrets
* Third Plane
* Herbie Hancock Trio
* Sunlight
* Directstep
* The Piano
* Feets, Don't Fail Me Now
* Monster
* Mr. Hands
* Magic Windows
* Herbie Hancock Trio
* Lite Me Up
* Quartet
* Future Shock
* Sound-System
* Village Life
* Perfect Machine
* A Tribute to Miles
* Dis Is da Drum
* The New Standard
* 1+1
* Gershwin's World
* Future 2 Future
* Possibilities
* River: The Joni Letters
* The Imagine Project

Live albums|

* Hear, O Israel - A Prayer Ceremony in Jazz
* Flood
* V.S.O.P.
* The Quintet (V.S.O.P.)
* Tempest in the Colosseum (V.S.O.P.)
* An Evening with Herbie Hancock & Chick Corea: In Concert
* CoreaHancock
* V.S.O.P. Live Under the Sky (V.S.O.P.)
* Jazz Africa
* Directions in Music: Live at Massey Hall
* Live: Detroit/Chicago

with Bob Brookmeyer|

* Bob Brookmeyer and Friends

with Donald Byrd
and Pepper Adams|

* Out of This World (Pepper Adams Donald Byrd Quintet)
* Chant
* Royal Flush
* Free Form
* A New Perspective

with Miles Davis|

* Seven Steps to Heaven
* My Funny Valentine
* Four & More
* E.S.P.
* Miles Smiles
* Sorcerer
* Nefertiti
* Miles in the Sky
* Water Babies
* Filles de Kilimanjaro
* In a Silent Way
* Jack Johnson
* On the Corner
* Big Fun
* Get Up with It

with Jack DeJohnette
and Pat Metheny|

* Parallel Realities

with Joe Farrell|

* Moon Germs
* Penny Arcade
* Upon This Rock
* Night Dancing

with Freddie Hubbard|

* Hub-Tones
* Straight Life
* Red Clay

with Joe Zawinul|

Zawinul

Compilations|

* Treasure Chest (Herbie Hancock album)
* The Best of Herbie Hancock
* Then and Now: The Definitive Herbie Hancock
* The Essential Herbie Hancock

Compositions|

* "Watermelon Man"
* "Cantaloupe Island"
* "Maiden Voyage"
* "Chameleon"
* "Rockit"

Soundtracks|

* Blow-Up
* Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert
* The Spook Who Sat by the Door
* Death Wish
* A Soldier's Story
* Round Midnight
* Action Jackson

* v
* t
* e

Material

* Bill Laswell

* Michael Beinhorn
* Fred Maher
* Cliff Cultreri
* Kramer
* Don Davis
* Bill Bacon

Contributors|

| Vocal|

* Nona Hendryx
* Bernard Fowler
* Whitney Houston
* B.J. Nelson
* William S. Burroughs (spoken)
* Shabba Ranks
* Lori Carson
* Alicia "Blue" Smith

|

Rap|

* Rammellzee
* Jungle Brothers (Afrika Baby Bam and Mike Gee)
* Jalaluddin Mansur Nuriddin
* Kool Keith
* Flavor Flav
* Killah Priest

Guitar|

* Robert Quine
* Ronny Drayton
* Sonny Sharrock
* Fred Frith
* Nile Rodgers
* Nicky Skopelitis
* Gary Shider
* Michael Hampton

Bass|

* Robbie Shakespeare
* Bootsy Collins
* Jonas Hellborg

Keyboard|

* Raymond Jones
* Jeff Bova
* Bernie Worrell
* Herbie Hancock

Drums|

* Charles K. Noyes
* J.T. Lewis
* Yogi Horton
* Tony Thompson
* Sly Dunbar
* Ginger Baker

Percussion|

* Nicky Marrero
* Daniel Ponce
* Aïyb Dieng
* Foday Musa Suso

Saxophone|

* Byard Lancaster
* Henry Threadgill
* Oliver Lake
* Archie Shepp
* Wayne Shorter
* Horny Horns (Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Pee Wee Ellis)

Brass|

* Olu Dara (cornet)
* George E. Lewis (trombone)

String|

* Billy Bang (violin)
* Simon Shaheen (violin)
* L. Shankar (violin)
* Karl Berger (string arrangement)

Studio albums|

* Temporary Music
* Memory Serves
* One Down
* Seven Souls
* The Third Power
* Hallucination Engine
* Intonarumori

Live albums|

* Live from Soundscape
* Live in Japan

EPs|

* Temporary Music 1
* Temporary Music 2
* American Songs

Singles|

* "Bustin' Out"

Collaborations|

| Ginger Baker|

* Horses & Trees

|

Herbie Hancock|

* Future Shock
* "Rockit"
* Sound-System
* Perfect Machine

Mick Jagger|

* She's the Boss
* "Just Another Night"
* "Lucky in Love"

Public Image Ltd.|

* Album
* "Rise"

Sly and Robbie|

* Language Barrier
* Rhythm Killers
* "Boops (Here to Go)"

Related|

* Discography
* Massacre
* Deadline
* Curlew
* The Golden Palominos
* Last Exit
* Praxis

Authority control databases |

* MusicBrainz release group

|

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