Fat Boys

An era-defining mid-'80s hip-hop group, the Fat Boys have been consigned somewhat to history's crumb bin as corny comedy rappers. This assessment is deserved, at least based on their highest-profile moments: 1987's Three Stooges-style hospital high jinks movie Disorderlies, and the cheesy hits "Wipeout," a 1987 team-up with the Beach Boys (sadly without a fat Brian Wilson), and "The Twist (Yo' Twist)," a 1988 pairing with the appropriately rotund Chubby Checker. But there are nuggets of greatness studding the Fat Boys' recording career -- their first two albums are hard-hitting humorous classics, expertly produced by the great Kurtis Blow -- and they set the proverbial buffet table for Biz Markie and Heavy D and the Boyz' subsequent hip-hop feasts. Brooklyn buddies Damon "Prince Markie Dee" Morales, Damon "Kool Rock-Ski" Wimbley, and Darren "the Human Beat Box" Robinson (a.k.a. Buffy, a.k.a. the Ox That Rocks) won a Radio City Music Hall talent show in 1983 and promptly changed their name to the Fat Boys. Wearing matching satin jackets, Kazal glasses with sequin frames, and brightly colored T-shirts sporting iron-on letters spelling FAT BOYS, the group had an approachable, lovable look. Their self-titled debut featured rugged vocals and spare, slamming beats that put them in a league with Run-D.M.C., with Robinson's instantly recognizable hyperventilating beat-box style driving "Human Beat Box." Sophomore album The Fat Boys Are Back ("and you know they can never be wack!") was even better. On the title track, Prince Markie Dee set things off: "I'm starving, I'm in the mood/plain and simple I need food/eat some beans and pretty soon/everybody in the place will leave the room!" "Don't Be Stupid" warned of the dangers of vices such as gambling, and "Hard Core Reggae" married an irie bass line with shout-outs to fat reggae stars such as Jacob Miller. They would go on to have the aforementioned Top 40 hits, only to splinter in the early '90s when Prince Markie Dee went solo. Sadly, the Human Beat Box died in December 1995 of a heart attack. (PETER RELIC)

From 2004's The New Rolling Stone Album Guide