Our good friend the Black Stamp has blessed us with another tape from his mysterious shed of analog treats. This time it's a 60 minute tape with 2 excerpts from a late 1998 episode of Spiderman's Monday Beatdown radio show which was on 89.7FM KFJC. For us heads in the Bay, the Monday Beatdown started your week off on right foot and I was a loyal listener. Spiderman aka Ken Hamilton's knowledge of music was deep and far beyond the typical college radio hip hop DJ of the time. Just check out this playlist that has Albert Ayler going into Boogiemonsters and Mystik Journeymen followed by Crass. Robert Goulet? It was Ken who first turned me onto the madness of Christian Marclay. Ken also worked at Cue's and other local record spots further casting out his net for the dopest cuts. Ken was killed in a car accident in 2000 and the airwaves have never been the same since.
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16 comments:
The Army of Pharaohs cut on here is ill to def!!
Ken's show was dope to listen to; he always dropped hella knowledge and then apologized for talking so much and not playing enough music. The biggest Third Sight and Tony Da Skitzo fan I ever knew and hardcore supporter of college/community radio in general (Ken was a huge fan of a lot of the shows on his radio station, which is rare). He turned me on to Da Skitzo and Masters of the Universe ,not to mention the mastery of Anal Cunt and introduced me to Jihad from Third Sight, and always supported Sacred Hoop in a major way too. Tony slept on Ken's couch (kind of the west coast underground's ODB, gotta rip some of that some time for yall) more than once and came up and performed at Ken's fabled Hip Hop On the Hill show (where I first met Bulletproof Scratch Hamsters and Eddie K. and Z-Man, I remember us all bumping a promo of Dr. Octagon I had come up on and being amazed). Sole Sides Crew, Third Sight, and 99th Demention and Eclipse 427 performed that day as well as a handful of other backpacker-esque acts from the day I think that was in like 1995-6 or some shit, gotta dig up the dat recording from the board from that day. We all performed in a junior college lecture room and hella high school kids were there. Things were hectic for Ken that day (something like 15 some cutty ass rap groups got down, with all the numerous line-up changes, show-up-lates, technical difficulties, stage hogging, and equipment sharing and cross mojo-ing chaos that goes along with underground greatness). He pulled it off, but vowed never to promote another show, but who needs to when the one you do promote is so fuckin' legendary. This has inspired me to get on a hunt for that that dat and finally give Hip Hop on the Hill its just due. It was the impetus for a lot of raw shit to come for sure. Thanks Ken, you did it right homey, this pints on me. Here's to keepin' your name in the street!
I was searching around for some info on Ken on the web when I was writing this up and was shocked to find next to nothing. A few mentions of his name is people's myspace blogs and a few old KFJC playlists (along with the tribute I posted). Pretty sad there's not much documentation of his life and radio show. Hopefully we'll uncover some more Monday Beatdown shows, but if anyone has any, please post or hit us up so we can rip em.
First time I met Ken was when he was working at Cue's. I had brought in a package of Spazz records for Frank and when Frank threw on "La Revancha" the dude at the counter (Ken) looked up and said, "Damn this sounds like some Spazz or Agents of Satan shit!" We started talking about local hardcopre bands, but when I found out he was the Spiderman I became the fanboy. I had pretty much been scheduling my Monday routine around his show for years.
Yo... Whats on that record in the pic? I remember coppin it and thinking it was not fresh at all and slid it to my homie Rob when he started tryin to make beats.. Is there a fly break I missed?..hope not What up you deans .. good post
gPek
Yo... Whats on that record in the pic? I remember coppin it and thinking it was not fresh at all and slid it to my homie Rob when he started tryin to make beats.. Is there a fly break I missed?..hope not What up you deans .. good post
gPek
I think people bug on that record because Dennis Coffey produced it. I copped it years ago to, didn't dig it and got rid of it. Now it seems like a $10 record around here.
thanks for writing this. ken's absence is still felt at kfjc. i never listened to hip hop before the monday beatdown. he really changed the way i look at music. there was nothing like getting into an intense discussion with ken over pizza and beers...you never knew where it would lead.
back then we weren't doing mp3 archives so it'll be hard to find old shows unless someone recorded them. his family had a bunch of old tapes but i don't know whatever became of them.
i've got stuff from a couple of the tribute shows we did somewhere. i can upload them if anyone's interested.
Would love to check out some of those tribute shows. If anyone has cassettes of old shows, I am down to rip them! Get at me.
Very dope blog. Thanks for this.
Hello, I'm Ken's sister and I would love to talk to you about a couple things but I can't find your email on here (sorry if I missed it) how do I write to you?
Thank you for remembering Ken. I was so touched to read your words, and the comments, and this is a show I didn't have... you made my night. I'll check back.
AGH
Hi AGH -
Thank you for the kind words. You can reach me at eonsrock_AT_hotmail.com.
- EonsOne
Currently, for about the last 3 years I've been doing a Hip-Hop show at Stanford University's radio station, but my tenure on the leftside of the dial actually began about 12 years ago at KFJC 89.7fm - that's how I met Ken. I was actually fortunate enough to have Spiderman as my mentor for on-air DJ training. I can't remember the official number of training weeks that were required (I think it was 8 weeks) because I was regularly in attendance at "The Monday Beatdown" for like 2 years. The firsthand experience (including but not limited to the technical, stylistic & creative elements and some "Spidey Sense") that Spiderman passed down to me became the foundation for my radio blueprint - which I still follow for every show. Aside from putting together a M.F. cool show each week, Ken was a M.F. cool guy too. Recently, I found the long lost shoebox that contained some of my training archives from "The Monday Beatdown" (coincedently, I found them this past September which was the same time R.O.B.M.E. put up this original post - big up "Spidey Sense"). I played the tape with my first on-air appearence which had Ken fumbling over words every so often throughout the show. I didn't realize it then, but listening to it now he was obviously trying to make me feel more comfortable and take the pressure off a little. That might not seem like that big of a deal, but I was nervous as sh!t. Ken would also regularly take a day off from his show which created the oppourtunity for me to fill-in and do a radio show. That might not seem like that big a deal either, but I was at KFJC for 2 years before I got my own show. When he became Music Director for KFJC, Ken put me on as Assistant Music Director and from what I've heard he even pushed for me to get a show at station management meetings. If that ain't a M.F. cool guy I don't know what is. Back in '97, all I wanted to do was a Hip-Hop show and Ken helped make it a reality. For that I am forever grateful, so if you ever tune in to my show and you hear Cattle Decapitation in a set between Def Jeff and Grand Invincible - you'll know why. Even though there are less results than there should be about Ken and his legacy when you do an internet search, his memory is alive. At Streetlight Records in Campbell, where Ken was the Hip-Hop buyer, there is still a wall memorial, and like Diane said his absence is still felt at KFJC. You can even find some record reviews he did at KZSU (back in the day he was going to do a team show with Sum of the Wax On Show). He signed the reviews as Peter Parker. Much respect to Eons, Smooth Triumph, The Black Stamp & Galt MacDermot for keeping Ken's memory in the present. Like Smooth Triumph said, "Here's to keeping your name in the street", Ken.
PROPS!! Good looking out on this post folks! This was an absolute night to remember good old Ken. Let's not forget Spiderman was the first to also play San Jose Veterans Davedub and Persevere (Subcontents), and The Bedouin. He also feat: me in the mix live on the air and a (40oz by request)where no one else would dare or give a chance. Ken's radio personality was rare, raw, obscure and eclectic in many ways. West Coast underground for life! We miss you Ken.
Thanks for all the dope comments! Would love to post more Monday Beatdown shows if anyone wants to pass them our way!
KEN was my ngga man. Shared his last shot with Persevere the night he died at the Agenda. A true comrade. Paid tribute on my c.d 94-97. Dave Dub and Tapemastah Steph (EIM) A memorable date. Me (Dave) Zest the Smoker and Tape kickin that ol sheeeit. 100 Hamilton!!! King of them south brutasl bay collegiate airwaves. YEAH!!!
I can't say much more than has been said already, but I'll add my props to list for sparking some bittersweet memories. Ken was more passionate about music than anyone I know, and was addicted to vinyl to the point that he might have needed an intervention. His show at KFJC was one of the easiest places to be comfortable, and one of the best ways to be "in" hip-hop. When you were there, you just felt it. He always put us up on the good music, and the great times...
Jihad and Insomniac freestyles = good times...
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