This week on Teenage Kicks, we're looking at an album that just turned 35 this week: King of Rock, by Run DMC. It was their second album (and the first hip-hop album host Jim McGuinn ever bought), but a record that turned up the riffs and made it possible to bridge what was then a huge gap between rock and rap. Hard to believe, but King of Rock was also the first hip-hop album released on CD, and it included a nod to rap's Jamaican roots with a guest vocal from dancehall artist Yellowman.

The other thing that we forget was that it was kind of outrageous for a hip-hop act to even call an album King of Rock, although in some ways that audacity led to the breakthrough collaboration that happened on their next album when Run DMC teamed up with Aerosmith to "Walk this Way." But this week, we look back on an '80s classic, King of Rock by Run DMC.

Segments

Playlist, hour 1

Playlist, hour 2