DJ E-Z Rock Dead at 46

Even though the song was released in 1988, there wasn't a club - dance, rock, otherwise - that this song wasn't played at least once a night throughout the 1990s. "It Takes Two" by Rob Base and DJ E-Z Rock was the song. Love it or hate it, its insane popularity cannot be denied.

Hip hop pioneer DJ E-Z Rock, born Rodney 'Skip' Bryce, teamed with lifelong Harlem friend Rob Base to create the song, died yesterday from undisclosed circumstances at the age of 46. The album It Takes Two went platinum and yielded two other hits besides the title track. The song changed the world of sampling and itself was sampled by dozens of other artists.

Lost Hits of the New Wave #30

Donnie Iris may be a name solidly from the past, but it's one that is back in the news recently.

Dominic Ierace, better known by his stage name of Donnie Iris climbed to fame as a member of The Jaggerz and the writer of "The Rapper." That was in 1970.

Later he floated into Wild Cherry, that 1970s band known for playing that funky music, white boy.

After that he became a solo act, sometimes backed up by The Cruisers and produced vintage FM classics in the early 1980s like "Ah! Leah!" and "Love Is Like a Rock."





As the decade continued, Iris continued to try to compete with low charting singles like "Tough World," "The High and the Mighty," and "Do You Compute?" He even released a pseudo-rock Christmas album called Ah! Leluiah! but he would never again see the success he had with the rock new wave crossover hit "Love Is Like a Rock." Now, he is suing Sony for royalties owed when "The Rapper" was sampled by The Game for their 2008 song, "Letter to the King." Iris still tours the Pittsburgh and Ohio region with The Cruisers.