As a young prodigy on the turntable, in the likes of Mozart to the piano, Grand Wizzard Theodore invented 2 of the most dominant DJ techniques in history…The Needle Drop & The Scratch.

Other DJ’s would use their head set to find the funky break beat on the vinyl and than cut over from one record to another.  This would take time.   Theodore was such a master of the grooves in the vinyl with incredible timing and sight that he would literally drop the needle flawlessly by hand on the break beat while the album was still spinning. 

In 1975, while still known as little Teddy, he created The Scratch at only13 years old.    After school, while in his room, Theodore was practicing on the tables when his mom’s came home.  The music was so loud that when she yelled to turn it down he could not hear her.  He was immersed in the beat of the song Bongo Rock.   She came storming into his room yelling to turn that music down.  This time he heard her but he did not want to lose the beat.  So while mom’s kept screaming he coolly slid the record back & forth to keep the beat.  In his ear phones he heard the first sounds of scratching.  Although raw, he immediately new he had something.

He spent hours, days & weeks perfecting The Scratch in his room.  When he was finally ready to unveil this technique he did so at a Bronx house party in 1975.  He blew peoples minds when they first heard The Scratch.  He literally made the turn table an instrument unique to hip hop.

Theodore was so incredible on the tables that he became forever known as Grand Wizzard Theodore.

Respect Where It All Began