Malcom McLaren’s ability to be in the right place at the right time never deserted him. Having fanned punk’s whirlwind with Sex Pistols and celebrated cassette culture with Bow Wow Wow, his mission to tap into world music energy on his first solo LP hit a critical swerve within days of his entourage (producer Trevor Horn, engineer Gary Langan) starting their global trek in New York. While McLaren was already well aware of hip-hop – startled by spotting Afrika Bambaataa in a pink Sex Pistols T-shirt – when he saw a group of Bronx kids rapping, graffing, breaking and scratching in a Manhattan club he knew it had taken a new turn. He didn’t miss a beat. He co-opted some of its players (significantly DJ duo the World’s Famous Supreme Team) into the early sessions for Duck Rock. It spawned both the first British hip-hop single ‘Buffalo Gals’ and top three skipping anthem A-side ‘Double Dutch’ (whose resemblance to Boyoyo Boys’ 1975 single ‘Puleng’ would go legal). This 12-inch only flip was the bomb though – a virtual Art Of Noise/Bronx collision, its electro bass and busy scratch bricolage offset by Anne Dudley’s opulent piano tinkles. Its time capsule video even added Rock Steady Crew, Keith Haring and graffiti artist DONDI to the mix. This B-side later led-off 1984’s remix mini-LP of the same title, a party-hearty celebration of scratch-mix culture that wafted McLaren into the US charts.