Time Zone was a electro band headed by Afrika Bambaataa

Afrika Bambaataa

Afrika Bambaataa is an American DJ from the South Bronx, New York who was instrumental in the early development of hip hop throughout the 1980s. Afrika Bambaataa is one of the three originators of break-beat deejaying, and is respectfully known as the "Grandfather" and the Amen Ra of Universal...

. Bambaataa worked with different musicians for each Time Zone project.

History

The first Time Zone single

Single (music)

In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

 was the 1983 electro

Electro (music)

Electro is a genre of electronic dance music directly influenced by the use of TR-808 drum machines, Moog keytar synthesizers and funk sampling...

 song "The Wildstyle" which featured music from a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 project called Wunderwerke. Bambaataa was introduced to their music by Rusty Egan

Rusty Egan

Rusty Egan was the drummer for the British new wave band, The Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol, Glen Matlock, bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; with Steve New guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals; and fronted by Midge Ure guitarist, lead...

 of Visage

Visage

Visage are a British New Wave rock band. Formed in 1978, the band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their 1980 hit "Fade to Grey".-New Wave years :...

. The song became popular among breakdancers at the time.

In 1984, Time Zone released their most well-known single, "World Destruction". A collaboration between Bambaataa, ex-Sex Pistol

Sex Pistols

The Sex Pistols were an English punk rock band that formed in London in 1975. They were responsible for initiating the punk movement in the United Kingdom and inspiring many later punk and alternative rock musicians...

/Public Image Ltd.

Public Image Ltd.

Public Image Ltd are an English post-punk band formed by vocalist John Lydon , guitarist Keith Levene and bassist Jah Wobble, with frequent subsequent personnel changes. Lydon is the sole constant member of the band....

 leader John Lydon

John Lydon

John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...

, and producer/bassist

Bassist

A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...

 Bill Laswell

Bill Laswell

Bill Laswell is an American bassist, producer and record label owner....

. Although this single did predate Run-DMC and Aerosmith

Aerosmith

Aerosmith is an American rock band, sometimes referred to as "The Bad Boys from Boston" and "America's Greatest Rock and Roll Band". Their style, which is rooted in blues-based hard rock, has come to also incorporate elements of pop, heavy metal, and rhythm and blues, and has inspired many...

's "Walk This Way

Walk This Way

"Walk This Way" is a song by American hard rock group Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the 1975 album Toys in the Attic. It peaked at Number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1977, part of a string of successful hit...

", it is sometimes incorrectly referred to as the first rap-rock record. This is not true as Run-DMC had incorporated hard rock guitar into songs, most notably "Rock Box

Rock Box

"Rock Box" is a 1984 hit single by Run-D.M.C.. It is the third single from their self-titled debut album, originally released through Profile Records, Inc. The heavy rock guitar riff and solos are original compositions performed by Eddie Martinez, also seen playing the electric guitar in the music...

", long before. The "World Destruction" single was arranged by Laswell after Lydon and Bambaataa had acknowledged respect for each others work:

Afrika Bambaataa: "I was talking to Bill Laswell saying I need somebody who's really crazy, man, and he thought of John Lydon. I knew he was perfect because I'd seen this movie that he'd made (Copkiller

Copkiller

Copkiller is a 1983 thriller film directed by Roberto Faenza, starring Harvey Keitel and John Lydon. It was adapted from Hugh Fleetwood's novel The Order of Death....

), I knew about all the Sex Pistols and Public Image stuff, so we got together and we did a smashing crazy version, and a version where he cussed the Queen

Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom

Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...

 something terrible, which was never released."

John Lydon: "We went in, put a drum beat down on the machine and did the whole thing in about four-and-a-half hours. It was very, very quick."

Bernie Worrell

Bernie Worrell

George Bernard "Bernie" Worrell, Jr. is an American keyboardist and composer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, inducted in 1997 with fifteen other members of Parliament-Funkadelic...

, Nicky Skopelitis

Nicky Skopelitis

Nicky Skopelitis is an American guitarist and composer from Greek heritage. He is best known as a guitarist, but also performs on banjo, oud, lute, keyboards and other instruments....

, and Aïyb Dieng

Aïyb Dieng

Aïyb Dieng is a Senegalese drummer and percussionist specializing in hand drums. He has recorded one solo album , and has worked with a wide range of musicians but is perhaps best known for his long-term association with prolific bassist/producer Bill Laswell.-Biography:He was born and raised in...

 also played on the single, which was released by Celluloid Records

Celluloid Records

Celluloid Records, a French/American record label, founded by Jean Georgakarakos operated from 1976 to 1989 in New York, and produced a series of eclectic and ground-breaking releases, particularly in the early to late 1980s, largely under the auspices of de facto in-house producer Bill...

 on December 1, 1984. The track peaked at #44 in the UK Singles Chart

UK Singles Chart

The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 in February 1985. All three musicians would later play on PiL

PIL

PIL may refer to:* Private International Law* Carlos Miguel Jiménez Airport , in Pilar, Paraguay* Port Isabel-Cameron County Airport , in Port Isabel, Texas...

's Album. Laswell also played bass and produced that album.

Although the song was critically acclaimed, Bambaataa put the Time Zone project on hold while he worked on other projects. In 1992, Bambaataa revived the project with the single "Zulu War Chant". Time Zone released a handful of singles in the early-1990s which were compiled in the 1992 album Thy Will B Funk. In 1995, the band released another album titled Warlocks and Witches, Computer Chips, Microchips and You. The album featured contributions from George Clinton

George Clinton (funk musician)

George Clinton is an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, and music producer and the principal architect of P-Funk. He was the mastermind of the bands Parliament and Funkadelic during the 1970s and early 1980s, and launched a solo career in 1981. He has been cited as one of the foremost...

 and his P-Funk

P-Funk

P-Funk is a shorthand term for the repertoire and performers associated with George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic collective and the distinctive style of funk music they performed...

 Horns. But neither album sold well, and Bambaataa retired Time Zone.

"World Destruction" was also featured in the first episode of the fourth season of The Sopranos

The Sopranos

The Sopranos is an American television drama series created by David Chase that revolves around the New Jersey-based Italian-American mobster Tony Soprano and the difficulties he faces as he tries to balance the often conflicting requirements of his home life and the criminal organization he heads...

, "For All Debts Public and Private". The song played at the beginning of the episode as Tony gets his newspaper and again during the closing credits.

In 2005, Bambaataa again revived the Time Zone moniker for an album of breakbeat

Breakbeat

In 1992, a new style called "jungalistic hardcore" emerged, and for many ravers it was too funky to dance to. Josh Lawford of Ravescene prophesied that the breakbeat was "the death-knell of rave" because the ever changing drumbeat patterns of breakbeat music didn't allow for the same zoned out,...

s titled Everyday People: The Breakbeat Party Album.

Singles

• 1983 "The Wild Style"
• 1984 "World Destruction" with John Lydon
  John Lydon
  John Joseph Lydon , also known by the former stage name Johnny Rotten, is a singer-songwriter and television presenter, best known as the lead singer of punk rock band the Sex Pistols from 1975 until 1978, and again for various revivals during the 1990s and 2000s...
  
  
• 1987 "Shake Frappe"
• 1992 "Zulu War Chant" / "Time To Get Open"
• 1992 "The 40 OZ Crew" / "Very Special"
• 1993 "What's The Name of This Nation? Zulu! "/ "Hold On I'm Comin'" / "Ghost"
• 1995 "Throw Ya Funky Hands Up" / "Down With The Nation"
• 1996 "Funky Beeper" / "Godfather"
• 2005 "Push" / "Shake Ya Bodys"

Album

1. "The Wild Style"
2. "World Destruction" (with John Lydon)
3. "Shake Frappe"
4. "Zulu War Chant"
5. "Time To Get Open"
6. "The 40 Oz Crew"
7. "Very Special"
8. "What's The Name of This Nation? Zulu!
9. "Hold On I'm Coming
10. "Ghost"
11. "Throw Ya Funky Hands Up"
12. "Down With The Nation"
13. "Funky Beeper"
14. "Godfather"
15. "Push"
16. "Shake Ya Bodys"