West Street Mob

West Street Mob

West Street Mob is a New York hip-hop and electro group active from 1981 to 1984. It forms part of the Sugarhill Records roster and includes Joey Robinson, Jr., the son of label owners Joe and Sylvia Robinson, among its members.

Career and recordings

The group forms in New York in the late 1970s and is associated with the early hip-hop and dance scenes. Its best-known release is Break Dancin' - Electric Boogie, a 1983 electro track that reworks the Incredible Bongo Band’s version of the Shadows’ “Apache”. That break already has a strong reputation among scratch-mix DJs in hip-hop circles, which helps explain its local popularity.

West Street Mob also records two singles that reach the Billboard Top 100: “Let’s Dance (Make Your Body Move)” and “Sing A Simple Song”.