Rock Master Scott And The Dynamic Three – Request Line / The Roof Is On Fire

Request Line came out in 1984 and resembles a simple melody from a Jeannie Reynolds track called "The Fruit Song" from her 1976 album not as a sample but merely a simular sounding melody. Grand Master Flash used to cut up The Fruit Song back in the day and he speeded it up just like "Rocket in the Pocket". This makes me wonder if The Dynamic Three used to rap over The Fruit Song's (Intro Break) and the melody became the inspiration for Request Line instead of the Break.......Are we on Air.

These historical break dance classics "The Roof Is On Fire" by Rock Master Scott And The Dynamic Three influenced many artists of the later generations. The version of "The Roof Is On Fire" on this release started with the well known speech "B-Girls! B-boys! Superstar DJs! Here we go!" sampled many years later, most precisely in 1999, by The Chemical Brothers in their massive hit ”Hey Boy Hey Girl” (some specialists claim about the existance of a vintage pressing with a pictured sleeve cover of the original with the written vocals 'B-Girls! B-Boys!(...) on it).
Made with an amazing drum sequence, "The Roof Is On Fire" was part of the Break Dance culture (even if "Request Line" was the one largely played on the mid eighties). The other vocals - "The Roof! The Roof! The Roof is on fire!" - at the end of the track inspired Westbam’s homonym hit “The Roof Is On Fire” of 1990, released by Low Spirit.

Request Line got much airplay in NYC late in 1984 when it was released. The dub has the "Are We On The Air?" sample which was most notably used by the Audio Two on "Many Styles". The track "The Roof Is On Fire" got no airplay because of the explicit lyrics, but the track was hot, so Reality released the track on its own single a few months later in 1985, without the explicit lyrics. -Review by MentallyMad