Baker began in music as a club DJ in Boston, Massachussets laying
down R&B and soul for the clubgoers. He moved into production for
Emergency records shortly thereafter.
Baker's early origins lie in hip hop. Together with Shep Pettibone he was behind Afrika Bambaata & The Jazzy Five's groundbreaking 'Jazzy Sensation' release, which was actually a remake of Gwen McCrae's 'Funky Sensation', a Kenton Nix production. Afterwards, he would partner Bambaata in the devastating 'Planet Rock' release, before starting Streetwise records.
Urban spaceman Afrika Bambaataa and producer Arthur Baker, plus musician John Robie, were the trio behind a musical revolution called "Planet Rock", Bambaataa's 1982 single with Soul Sonic Force. Following the impact of "Planet Rock", UK groups made Electro-boogie pilgrimages to Baker's studio in Manhattan: Freeze's "IOU" rocketed jazz funk into the infosphere but more significantly, New Order's "Blue Monday" launched indie dancing and sold massively on 12". Also breaking and robot dancing, the acrobatic and simulated machine dances that drew many adolescents into the alien zone of black science fiction. Bleep music was one consequence of this. Hardly adequate to describe and encompass the protozoic chaos of New York Nu Groove, Detroit Techno, Chicago House, [...]. Next came techno. -- David Toop for Wire magazine