Ed Fletcher

"Colonel" Ed Fletcher (December 31, 1872 – October 15, 1955) was a real estate developer and U.S. Republican and Democratic politician from San Diego, California.

Fletcher was born 1872 in Littleton, Massachusetts, son of Charles Kimball Fletcher. His family moved to Worcester and Boston, where he attended school.

In 1888 Fletcher came to San Diego, where he sold produce. He was a born salesman and soon had his own business with a partner. In 1901, he entered the real estate business as a land agent, and started a partnership in 1908 with William Gross. That partnership developed Grossmont, Mt. Helix, and Del Mar. Fletcher donated land on Mt. Helix where Easter Sunrise services are held.

In 1907, Fletcher was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the California National Guard, which earned him the title "Colonel", which stuck for the remainder of his life.

Fletcher became interested in road building and saw to it many road projects were completed. With Fred Jackson, Fletcher raised civic interest to building a road to Imperial Valley, thence a plank road across the desert to Yuma, Arizona. Fletcher was later active in having state and U.S. highways built to San Diego.

Fletcher

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Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five

Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five was an influential American hip hop group formed in the South Bronx of New York City in 1979. Composed of one DJ (Grandmaster Flash) and five rappers (Melle Mel, The Kidd Creole, Keith Cowboy, Mr. Ness/Scorpio, and Rahiem), the group's use of turntablism, break-beat deejaying, choreographed stage routines and lyricism was a significant force in the early development of hip-hop music.

The group rose to fame in the early 1980s with their first successful funk single "Freedom" and later on with their magnum opus "The Message", which is often cited as among the most influential hip hop songs. However, in 1983, relations between Grandmaster Flash, Rahiem and The Kidd Creole became strained with SugarHill records, and half the group left to record on Elektra Records. A reunion was organized in 1987, and it released a new album. Afterward, the sextet disbanded permanently.

The group was active for five years and released two studio albums. In 2007, it became the first hip hop group ever to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

Grandmaster Flash

Joseph Saddler (born January 1, 1958), better known as Grandmaster Flash, is an American hip hop recording artist and DJ. He is considered to be one of the pioneers of hip-hop DJing, cutting, and mixing. Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007, becoming the first hip hop act to be so honored.

Early life

Joseph Saddler's family migrated to the United States from Barbados, in the Caribbean, and he grew up in The Bronx, New York. He attended Samuel Gompers High School, a public vocational school, where he learned how to repair electronic equipment. Saddler's parents played an important role in his interest in music. His parents came from Barbados and his father was a big fan of Caribbean and black American records. As a child, Saddler was fascinated by his father's record collection. In an interview, he reflected: "My father was a very heavy record collector. He still thinks that he has the stronger collection. I used to open his closets and just watch all the records he had. I used to get into trouble for touching his records, but I'd go right back and bother them." Saddler's early interest in DJing came from this fascination with his father's record collection as well as his mother's desire for him to educate himself in electronics. After high school, he became involved in the earliest New York DJ scene, attending parties set up by early luminaries.