N.W.A, Bowie to be preserved by US Library of Congress

WASHINGTON: Gangsta rappers N.W. A’s seminal debut, David Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” album and the signature song from “The Wizard of Oz” will be preserved for posterity by the US Library of Congress. The world’s largest library selected another 25 titles Wednesday for its National Recording Registry, which preserves original copies of works found to have historical importance. Among the recordings was “Straight Outta Compton,” the 1988 first album by California rappers N.W. A who set off a nationwide storm with their protest song “Fuck tha Police.” The Library of Congress in a statement said the album “signaled not only a seismic shift in rap from East Coast to West Coast sensibilities, but also a startling socio-political shot across the bow of the culture.”

Also entering the registry were two recordings of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” which in 1919 was declared the “Black National Anthem.”

The registry picked the 1939 single “Over the Rainbow” from “The Wizard of Oz,” one of the most celebrated songs in cinema. In the song, Judy Garland, playing the girl Dorothy in drab, Dust Bowl- swept Kansas, wishes for happier times – and soon is transported in a dream sequence to Oz, a land whose magic is symbolised by the black- and-white film’s switch to Technicolor.

The Library of Congress simultaneously selected the 1975 cast album of “The Wiz,” a retelling of “The Wizard of Oz” which was one of the first African American- oriented productions on Broadway. — AFP