Jimmy Spicer and “Beat the Clock”

Produced by Rick Rubin, Jimmy Spicer’s “This is It/Beat the Clock” was the third of the three singles made by the rapper in association with Russell Simmons. The first was “The Bubble Bunch,” co-produced in 1982 by Russell and Larry Smith (in advance of their work with Run-DMC, which would commence the next year). This record was later sampled by Busta Rhymes on “Do the Bus a Bus” in 1998 and heard on the soundtrack to “Dude, Where’s My Car” in 2000. It was followed in 1983 by “Dollar Bill,” another Simmons/Smith co-production, which was remade a couple of years later in fine dancehall style by Jamaica's Reverend Bad Dude, then again in 1997 by Coolio, and yet again in 1998 by Everlast (and Sadat X) on Whitey Ford Sings the Blues. The track was also sampled for Snoop Dogg’s “Eyez Closed” in 2004.

Russell’s interest in the Brooklyn-born Mr. Spicer was inspired by the rapper’s debut, "The Adventures of Super Rhyme" in 1980. The record was notable for its great length—at 15:30 it was longer than the Sugar Hill Gang's "Rapper's Delight"—and for Spicer's ability to spin an extended tale (years before rappers like Slick Rick and Too Short explored the art). "Super Rhyme" led Jimmy to a management deal with Russell.

DJ 006 was recorded in March of ’85, although the date appended to the Rush Productions’s bio about Jimmy (reproduced above) indicates that it wasn’t released until September. “This Is It” didn’t make much of a splash at the time, but it was later sampled by NWA, The D.O.C., and Stetsasonic, among others. In 2008 the original recording was reissued in England on the Def Jam Classics label.

Jimmy’s publicity photo was shot by Chase Roe. Here is a print of the chosen shot, along with a contact sheet from Chase’s session with Jimmy. The image scissored out of the contact sheet is undoubtedly the one that became the publicity shot. A note on the back of the contact sheet records that the session was conducted on July 23, 1985.

In the summer of 2010 Jimmy directed a video of himself performing a new song entitled "$ Can’t Buy U Luv.” showing that the author of “Dollar Bill” still had his mind on his money and his money on his mind.

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