UTFO

All Music Guide:

U.T.F.O. was a Brooklyn, NY-based rap group, comprised of the Kangol Kid, Doctor Ice, the Educated Rapper, and Mix Master Ice. The quartet first met as dancers for Whodini, before forming U.T.F.O. (which stood for "Untouchable Force Organization") in 1983. Early on, the group referred to themselves as "the Village People of Rap," due to the fact that each member possessed a specific image (Doctor Ice was the "Hip-Hop Physician," Educated Rapper was a college student who wore a suit and tie, Mix Master Ice assumed the persona of a ninja since he would "cut things up" on the turntables, and Kangol Kid got his name due to his affinity for always wearing Kangol-brand hats). Signing to the Select label in 1984, U.T.F.O. scored a massive hit single right of the bat with "Roxanne, Roxanne," which struck such a chord with the burgeoning rap scene that it spawned countless "response" songs by other artists, including "Roxanne's Revenge," "The Real Roxanne," "Roxanne You're Through," "Roxanne's Mother," "Roxanne's Brother," "Roxanne's Doctor," and perhaps strangest of all, "Roxanne's a Man" (in addition, several female rappers adopted the "Roxanne" name themselves, including Roxanne Shanté and The Real Roxanne).

1985 saw U.T.F.O. issue a self-titled full-length debut, which included their own "Roxanne, Roxanne" follow-up, "Calling Her a Crab (Roxanne Part 2)," which failed to match its predecessor's success; as the group toured alongside such fellow influential rap acts as Run-D.M.C., Kurtis Blow, the Fat Boys, and Newcleus, on a 30-city venue tour called the New York City Fresh Fest. For U.T.F.O.'s sophomore effort, 1986's Skeezer Pleezer, the Educated Rapper took a brief leave of absence, before returning for Lethal a year later; an album that was criticized by the group's original following due to its stylistic shift to more racy material (although the anti-drug title track featured a musical contribution from heavy metallists Anthrax, which predated Anthrax's more renowned collaboration with Public Enemy by several years). But after two more releases, 1989's Doin' It! and 1990's Bag It & Bone It, U.T.F.O. decided to call it a day. In the wake of their split, Doctor Ice issued several solo releases (including such titles as Mic Stalker and Rely on Self); while a 20-track hits collection surfaced in 1996, The Best of U.T.F.O., and a two-for-one CD release of Skeezer Pleezer/Lethal was issued in 2000.

Wikipedia:

UTFO (which stands for ouchable orce rganization) is an old school hip-hop group, popular in the 1980s, that was mentored by the contemporary R&B group Full Force. The group consists of the Kangol Kid (Shiller Shaun Fequiere), the Educated Rapper (Jeffrey Campbell) (also known as EMD), Doctor Ice (Fred Reeves), and Mix Master Ice (Maurice Bailey). The group's best-known single is "Roxanne, Roxanne," a widely-acclaimed and hip-hop classic, which created a sensation on the hip-hop scene soon after it was released and inspired numerous answer records, most notably by Marley Marl's protégée Roxanne Shanté. "Roxanne, Roxanne" was originally the B-side of the lesser-known single "Hangin' Out." Because of personal issues, the Educated Rapper was absent for its second effort, Skeezer Pleezer (1986), which produced one notable track with the song "Split Personality." In 2008, “Roxanne, Roxanne” was ranked number 84 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.

History

Kangol Kid and Doctor Ice met as dancers for Whodini (Ice is Jalil's younger brother) prior to the formation of UTFO in 1983 in Brooklyn, New York. In 1984, the group signed with Fred Munao's Select Records, and, in the same year, it released its hit single "Roxanne Roxanne." The group's debut album was produced by R&B group Full Force. According to VH1, the group is still active today.

Break dancing

The members of UTFO were the first break dancers to appear on The Phil Donahue Show.