Man Parrish

Man Parrish, cloaked wizard of the synthesizer, made the artificial appear irresistibly funky. The Best of Man Parrish: Heatstroke includes 14 of his best productions, from the seminal electro classics "Hip Hop Be Bop (Don't Stop)" (a John Robie co-production) and "Boogie Down Bronx" (a feature for JVC Force) to his more exploratory dance collages like "Six Simple Synthesizers" and "Techno Trax." Similar to avant turntablist Christian Marclay, Parrish was a figure with more relevance to the disco avant-garde than the hip-hop scene -- certainly his collaborators Klaus Nomi and Bowie acolyte Cherry Vanilla wouldn't have shown up on Sugar Hill. Parrish's experimental nature makes for a rocky ride through a "hits" compilation, which takes in mainstream dance ("Heatstroke"), ruddy vocoder electro ("Man Made"), and the type of robot pop that would've made even cut-up popsters Perrey-Kingsley cringe. Still, barring the random old-school/electro compilation that includes a Man Parrish cut, this is the only place to hear what made him stand out. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide