Public Enemy’s Back Pages

WITH INDIEDOM firmly in the grip of the inane and the insipid, the doleful delinquents of 1986 were in dire and desperate need of a new kind of cacophonous kick. Punk had long since metamorphosed from passion to platitude and Chris De Burgh's 'Lady In Red' precisely defined the tragic blandness of Thatcherite pop. Consequently, when Run DMC hooked up with Aerosmith to record 'Walk This Way', whole armies of disillusioned rock kids were instantaneously seduced by the limitless possibilities afforded by rap.