Their first U.S. single and release was “DJ Interview,” appeared on World to World, which later got them a recording contract with Profile Records in 1987. The first Profile release was “It Takes Two”. It used a vocal sample from the James Brown and Lyn Collins 1972 song “Think (About It).” The track first became a regional hit and then slowly climbed the Hot 100, eventually peaking at #36 and picking up a platinum single certification. The song also peaked at #3 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In 1988 female rapper Icey J released her “It Takes Two” parody called “It Takes a Real Man.” Whereas Rob Base rapped that he did not “smoke Buddha” and that he could not “stand cess” (drug slang for marijuana), Icey J responded with “You don’t smoke Buddha/well that’s okay/But if you can’t stand sex/You must be gay, hey.” It did not enjoy the commercial success of the object of its scorn. An album, also called It Takes Two, was quickly put together and it produced a significant follow-up hit, “Joy and Pain,” which sampled a song of the same name by Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. It also hit the Top 10 on the dance chart and climbed to #58 on the Hot 100. However, vicious rumors started to circulate that Rob Base had legal problems for using samples from Maze’s Frankie Beverly for the hit “Joy and Pain”. Moreover Rob began to have some personal problems at the same time. He responded in 1989 with The Incredible Base. “Get On the Dance Floor,” a track released to clubs in between the two singles, hit #1 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart in 1989. One additional song hit the dance chart in late 1989: “Turn It Out (Go Base),” credited only to Rob Base. By the end of 1989 Rob Base went on his own; DJ E-Z Rock was nowhere on the scene because of his personal issues. |
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