Man Parrish is a 1982 studio album by Man Parrish. It was released on the label Importe/12, a subsidiary of popular dance imprint label Sugarscoop. The album originally began development from various electronic experiments Man Parrish experimented with making soundscape electronic records which led to him making connections in his home of New York to record music for a pornographic film. The music in the film was later bootlegged and played in clubs leading him to connect with a studio who wanted him to record an album. Man Parrish was about 22 years old when he made the deal with the label that gave him very little money how much it sold. The record went on to sell about 2 million copies worldwide.
Background and production
Background
Man Parrish grew up in Brooklyn New York where he developed his musical foundation listening to funk music. At the same time, he was going to high school for the performing arts which would lead him to listening to opera one night and the next listening to groups like Kool & the Gang. Man Parris became interested in electronic music through groups like Tonto's Expanding Head Band and experimental artists like Karlheinz Stockhausen. Man Parris then went to a Radio Shack and purchased a synthesizer kit and began recording music to tape recorders making soundscape types of recordings.
At the age of 14, he left home and began spending time at New York's underground scene at clubs like Mudd Club and meeting people like Klaus Nomi. On meeting Nomi, Man Parrish would buy more synthesizers leading to people to visit Man Parrish's home to do demos.
Production
A friend of Man Parrish's, Joe Gage had connections with someone developing a porn film and needed music for it. This led to Man Parrish recording two tracks for the film including a title track for the film ("Heatstroke"). Man Parrish would later discover about six months later that "Heatstroke" has been playing in underground clubs in New York.
After finding a club that was performing his song, he approached the DJ who made connections with him to get to a record label in New York who were looking for Man Parrish.
On meeting with the record label, Man Parrish was asked to show what other music he had in which he played "Man Made", "Hip Hop Be Bop (Don't Stop)" and a few other tracks that would appear on the album. Man Parrish was 22 years old when he signed on to for the album, and later admitted that he "didn't know what [he] was doing."
Release
Man Parrish was released in 1982 on the Importe label, a subsidiary of popular dance imprint Sugarscoop. In the United States, the album charted on Top Black Albums peaking at number 43 on April 2, 1983.
The first single released from the album was "Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)," which Parrish said faced a racial backlash from the African-American hip hop community: "I was making the music that they played, and then they found out I was white and gay they pulled it. It didn't hurt sales but it was shocking." The album went on to sell over two million copies worldwide.
Man Parrish explained that his music was later sold by his label to Unidisc in Canada for $1,000 where Man Parrish's signature was forged on a piece of paper. Parrish recalls that he often sees compilation on CDs and records with his music on it such as the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and the film Shaun of the Dead.