Flier for “The Amphitheatre Jam!!!” designed by Fab 5 Freddy: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A flier for the “The Amphitheatre Jam!!!” designed by Fab 5 Freddy. The flier is in landscape orientation and printed on white paper with reproduced, handwritten black text, hand drawn black graphics, and a large black-and-white photograph. The top left quadrant of the flier features a large, cropped photograph of the East River Park Amphitheater. The amphitheater is dilapidated and covered in illegible graffiti. Rays have been drawn over the roof of the bandshell. The event title, [THE AMPHitHEATRE JAM!!!], is printed inside a small box in the top right corner. Below, and to the right of the photograph, are the directions: [AT THE EAST RIVER 4 Blks SoutH / of Houston St on THE LOWER / EAST SIDE]. Printed inside a set of large braces are the event date and time, [SAT. OCT 10, 1981 / 4-10 pm.], and the admission fee, [ALL[underlined four times] FLY GUYS & GIRLS FREE.]. The performing acts are printed below: [GRAND MASTER[SIC] FLASH[UNDERLINED] AND THE FURIOUS·5 / GRAND WIZARD THEODORE[UNDERLINED] AND THE FANTASTIC·5, TONY TONE CHARLIE CHASE[UNDERLINED] AND THE COLD CRUSH·4 / LIL RODNEY·C AND KK·ROCKWELL AS DOUBLE TROUBLE / COOL D.J. A.J. AND CHIEF ROCKER BUSY BEE STARSKY / P.S. (BE THERE OR BE SQUARE!)]. The text is oriented in a rectangular block with cloud shaped flourishes at each of the corners. The information is emphasized with seven, hand drawn, five-pointed stars. The back of the flier has no text or inscriptions.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: October 10, 1981
• Designed by: Fab 5 Freddy, American, born 1959
• Printed by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Grandmaster Flash, American, born 1958
• Subject of: Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five, American, 1978 - 1988
• Subject of: Grand Wizzard Theodore, American, born 1963
• Subject of: Fantastic Five, American, 1979 - 1994
• Subject of: Angelo T. King, American, born 1959
• Subject of: DJ Charlie Chase, American, born 1959
• Type: fliers (printed matter)
• Medium: ink on paper (fiber product)
• Dimensions: H x W: 8 7/16 × 10 7/8 in. (21.4 × 27.7 cm)
• Place used: Lower East Side, New York City, New York, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Design
• Topic: DJs (Musicians)
• Topic: Graphic design
• Topic: Hip-hop (Music)
• Topic: Nightlife
• Topic: Rappers (Musicians)
• Topic: Urban life
• Object number: 2020.38.1.21
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: Public domain Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.