Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Oh-Oh, we got the Hammer!


BROOKS, Calif. – Tracy, California native Stanley Kirk Burrell – better known by his stage name MC Hammer – is perhaps the most recognizable hip hop and rap artist of the 1980s. A multi-platinum selling MC and dancer, he is also well-known for his dramatic rise and fall from fame and fortune and his trademark Hammer Pants, both of which he has been more than willing to parody in television ads for companies such as Pepsi, KFC, Taco Bell, Lays, Nationwide Insurance, and most famously in this year’s hilarious super bowl ad with Ed McMahon for cash4gold.com.

Born in Oakland, the longtime Northern California native once served as a batboy for the Oakland A’s, where then A’s player Reggie Jackson claimed to have given him his famous moniker because he says Burrell looked like another baseball legend, “Hammerin’ Hank” Aaron. Although Hammer was beloved by the franchise, serving as a batboy from 1972-1980, a career in baseball never happened for him as he had hoped. That would work out for the best, as his music career began to blossom on his own Oaktown Records label after he was discharged from the Navy, prompting him to add the MC to his name, which originally stood for “Master of Ceremonies.”

What followed was a rise to stardom on the back of anthematic hits like “Let’s Get it Started,” “Pump it Up,” Turn this Mutha Out,” “Here Comes the Hammer,” “2 Legit 2 Quit,” and his most notable smash “U Can’t Touch This,” which reached #8 on the U.S. charts. In all, Hammer turned out 11 albums in the 80s, 90s, and continuing through 2006 when his last album, “Look, Look, Look” was released.

He’s also remembered for showcasing his dancing prowess (which has been often imitated over the years) in a number of hit videos, became a preacher in the late 1990s, works as co-founder of a dance website, and has appeared on television and in film, including a stint on the first season of reality favorite “The Surreal Life.”

Continuing to tour with his stable of well-known hits, MC Hammer brings his exciting and nostalgic show to Cache Creek Casino Resort’s Club 88 on Saturday, May 2 at 8 p.m. Tickets are available for $75, $59, and $49 through Tickets.com on the web: www.Tickets.com, by phone: (800) 225-2277 or at: www.CacheCreek.com and Cache Creek Casino Resort guest services.

Press contact: Cean Burgeson, Communications Manager: (530) 796-5333; cburgeson@cachecreek.com

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