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Artists - Reggae

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I had my first day of prac teaching today. Well kind of. It was my first day of being called Mr Smyth at a school. I won’t actually be able to teach a class for a few weeks, but I am exhausted from today’s experience anyway. The point is, I am doing something different with today’s blog. I say different, but I have done it a few times. Youtube video is below.

The band is The Slackers with a song called Have the Time. They are a great traditional ska and reggae band from New York. I’ve loved them for some years now though haven’t really listened to them lately so I thought I would throw in a video of theirs. If you are in the USA or Europe you would have seen this band more than likely, but here in Australia one must make use of records. I’ve thrown The Slackers into DJ sets without clearing the floor of traditionalist Nazis, which suggests they must be good. Authentic, but offering something of their own as well.

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The Dualers – Melting Pot

July 28th 2006 07:58

Just come across these guys and their story fascinates me. They have a great heritage with their father running a sound system in London in the 1960s. Their mother and father would be playing ska and soul so it isn’t surprising that Tyber and Si, the two brothers who make up the Dualers, would go on to play this music.

I say play this music, but they aren’t merely playing it as part of a band in pubs and as part of festivals, having a record company looking after records and all that. They have very much paved their own way. They started their performance busking and continue to do so. They have a huge database of fans they get in touch with through whatever means to let them know they are busking. They flog their record while doing this and have sold 35 000 copies of their first two releases just on the street!

In 2004 their song Kiss on the Lips reached number 21 on the UK charts without any radio attention, but just through word of mouth!

Their new album is called Melting Pot and is being received pretty positively. The internet is probably helping them get their music to a wider audience, but there must be something inherently London about the band to have so much success without wider exposure. Just to clarify, the Dualers do pub gigs and festivals and have other bands members to fill out their sound in addition to their busking.

Hear them at: http://www.thedualers.com
Add them to your friends list on My Space: http://www.myspace.com/thedualers

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Gaz Mayall

July 25th 2006 12:12

So if you keep your ear to the ground, Gaz Mayall would be familiar to you. If you are selective with that ear though, you may not know the significance of the name. He is one of the key figures in the UK ska, reggae and blues scene. Son of the great British bluesman Jon Mayall, he took on this love for music but forged his own path, helped by the British love for Jamaican music.

In 1980, he began a club called Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues on a Thursday night in Soho, that still runs today! It has had only one venue changes and is London’s longest running weekly club night. The names that have graced the tiny club are as famous as those he grew up in the presence of. Beatles members are from his childhood but the likes of Rico Rodriguez and The Pogues amongst many others are part of the club’s history.

Gaz Mayall would be busy enough organizing that, but he has also spent years DJing, fronting his own band the Trojans, who play a celtic brand of ska and he more recently has put his name to two Trojan Records releases. The first one is Gaz Mayall presents Top Ska! and is a fantastic selection of tracks, many rare, from his own collection. The second and more recent album, Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues Club Classics is a broader ranging album with songs from many genres, popular at his club over the years. Two top CDs.

Gaz’s Rockin’ Blues is held every Thursday at St Moritz on the famous Wardour St, London.

Gaz’s Website: http://www.gazrockin.com

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Richie Spice

July 14th 2006 06:13

Yesterday I mentioned Richie Spice, due to play Jamaica’s Sunsplash in August. I referred to him as an emerging artist, which to me is true I suppose, but he has been around a while now. He was born in 1971 meaning he definitely moved on to long trousers and his bio supports it. It was six years ago that his debut record was released.

Richie Spice is part of a rich musical family. All three of his brothers are reggae performers including Spanner Banner, Snatcher Dogg and the most well known, Pliers of Chaka Demus and Pliers fame. He is well and truly forging his own position in the industry though, evidenced by his inclusion in Sunsplash.

While many artists mix chatting and singing within songs Richie Spice makes a conscience decision to keep the two separate. He sings some wonderful reggae songs on occasions while in others he takes a more dominant position showing his talent as a DJ and his versatility as an artist. This sort of approach has the ability to win over those with a specific taste. I know some won’t appreciate the Deejaying side of things, so look out for his singing.

He has released two albums. The first was Universal in 2000 which includes the now popular hit Earth A Red Run and the most recent album was from 2004 titled Spice in Your Life on Fifth element records.

You can download songs on the Fifth Element Records site http://www.fifthelementrecords.com/music.htm or check out the Richie Spice Myspace

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Bad Manners

July 6th 2006 12:39

Bad Manners are undeniably one of the most unique bands to fit into the ska and reggae genre. Buster Bloodvessel, the frequently fat frontman with the huge tongue has won over the most sceptical of listeners with his antics. Bad Manners first found fame during the 2-tone era, but like Madness they pursued a different direction, not signing to 2-tone Records at all (where Madness had one release). They did gig often with the other 2-tone bands though and in combination with these other bands, the ska revival was full steam ahead in the UK.

Bad Manners didn’t die with the ska revival though. They were and are a skinhead favourite and continued to gig and release records. The backing band changed, but as long as Buster was up there doing his thing, the Bad Manners train kept on going. As years went on Buster became fatter and fatter. There were occasions when doctors told him he would have to thin down (fatty) or face a premature death. Buster also had controls of the famous Bluebeat label for a time.
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The Signals - reggae ska mp3s

June 28th 2006 09:05

Okay this blog is a bit of a plug, but since I openly admit I can be quite a vain person, I am going to run with it.

The Signals are a band I am in. We formed at the beginning of 2004 and since then have seen numerous lineup changes, including at least four people up front on lead vocals. Despite quite a successful early stint with Jo on vocals, we've struggled to get a constant lineup for more than a single show - until now. With new members Adam and Tom, we are back in the swing of things.
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Madness and 2-tone ska

June 21st 2006 10:48

Still to this day I find Australians are fairly ignorant when it comes to reggae and ska – even the 2-tone period which saw some prominence in Australia doesn’t mean anything to many. Fair enough really. This however is contrasted with the English people I come across, even those who never got heavily into ska and reggae. They are very aware of 2-tone and many will tell you their experiences of seeing 2-tone bands. This just shows how big ska in the late 1970s and eary 80s was in the UK – that random English can recount stories connected to 2-tone. On top of the heap and perhaps the band that came through without the controversies and infighting of other bands was Madness.

Madness were also the most successful. They chose not to stay on the record label, that doubled as the name given to the period, 2-tone records. I would suggest this was significant as it allowed the band to move on as ska sort of lost the attention of the general public. I wonder whether young ska kids of the time felt Madness were selling out as they went in a pop direction, but today there are many fans today with fond memories of Madness as an entire package and not just a three year period of ska hits. Of course their sound was always quintessentially Madness and perhaps this is the key, that there was enough of the old sound to keep people sticking with them.
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Rude Reggae - Dr Kitch Lyrics

June 19th 2006 13:49

Judge Dread - Not your typical looking reggae star

Rude reggae is something I love. There is something intellectually impressive about using sexual overtones in your songs, but what is even more impressive is that artists in more conservative times could get away with overtly rude songs claiming a rather straight forward intention to the song. Max Romeo was a classic example with Wet Dream and Prince Buster’s roadie Alex Hughes made himself a household name doing rude reggae under the moniker of Judge Dread.

Neither was the first to use rude reggae lyrics however. A favourite song of mine is Dr. Kitch by Lord Kitchener, a great calypso song. Judge Dread actually later covered it – as did Dr. Ring Ding more recently and I think you may see it pop up in the Signals set list very soon. Check out the lyrics below. Click here for a sample of the Judge Dread version (which is nowhere near as good as the original).
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Jewish Reggae with Matisyahu

June 15th 2006 09:07

I’m not sure I should mention Regecide here, the Sydney ska and reggae (or at least they once were) band who we took as our own Jewish connection to the (chosen) genre. Why not I suppose, although they don’t really play reggae anymore, they did point me towards this artist Matisyahu.

Matisyahu is apparently a superstar within the Jewish community. His “uncanny, electrifying fusion of orthodox Judaism and classic reggae” (http://www.matismusic.com) is aimed at a huge market worldwide and the USA where he resides considering the number of Jews.
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Damian Marley - Welcome to Jamrock

June 14th 2006 12:16

You would expect there to be a certain pressure being the son of the most respected name in reggae, Bob Marley. The advantages of sharing the great man’s name however would also be immense and I would think the positives would outweigh the negatives, opening doors many reggae artists don’t even get to stand in front of.

Despite being born into a rich reggae family, there was no mimicking of Muscial Youth’s popularity through the appeal of adolescent reggae for Damian Marley. 1996 was the year for his first release – Mr Marley. Though by no means old, his music has come from a thoughtful reflective process. It wasn’t until 2001 that he released on a major label – rather fittingly Motown, a label as famous for some of its talent as the Marley name itself. This album on Motown, Halfway Tree won the Reggae Grammy in 2001, which is some feat.
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Mikey Dread - at the Controls

June 8th 2006 12:00

I bought someone’s record collection recently and in contained a couple of Mikey Dread recordings. I wouldn’t normally listen to this type of reggae – deep roots with use of MCing and lots of innovation in the effects. I am however starting to open my mind to it. For me it is perfect Sunday afternoon music. Kick back with, as Mikey puts it, Dread at the controls. Relaxing to such a hypnotic sound as dread produces is not difficult to do.

Dread has a rich history and he doesn’t mind telling you. He believes in his own hype, one might say, but he probably can get away with it – he has really pushed Jamaican music and forged some very strong relationships. He has been broadcasting on Jamaican and UK radio for 30 years now and gained prominence through his work on radio and his collaborations with UK punk band the Clash. The Clash were very well known for their reggae influenced sound and Mikey Dread was in there helping them develop it. He worked on both Black Market Clash and Sandinista and it was this work that set him up to be a voice pushing reggae music around the world.
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Sean Paul - Trinity

June 5th 2006 11:05

So Sean Paul has a newish album out (Trinity) and is due to have a new album out in late 2006. What does a purist with a love of early reggae think of this? Many have expected me to dismiss dancehall as a bastardisation of reggae, but this has never been the case. I like dancehall. Does this mean I like Sean Paul? – Not necessarily. I like his attitude, mainly because he is respectful of his roots. In his interviews he commonly refers to reggae and one-drop which are obviously an important part of his music. I like some of his songs, particularly those raw songs where it is just him strutting hist stuff. What I don’t like are these dabbles in duets – doing songs with Beyonce and Rhianna, particularly when he says “I’m a dancehall artist all the way”.

Of course Sean Paul wasn’t the first to head in this direction. Jamaica is close to the USA and reggae is the roots of hip-hop, so this entry into the USA market by dancehall artists is common. Beenie Man, Buju Banton and Yellowman have all had a go which is fine – props to Jamaican artists for receiving some of the success and money they deserve. I just wish that USA labels didn’t get their hands on them, obviously pushing their ideas. These guys are cutting tracks back in Jamaica that are popular worldwide, there just isn’t a need to stuff with that. Leave it raw and make your money by harnessing this rawness.
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Acoustic Reggae

June 2nd 2006 08:09

A Sweet Serenade

There seems to be a bit of a trend in reggae circles at the moment to try your hand at it acoustically/using raw basics. If I hadn’t heard some of the latest efforts of acoustic reggae, I think I’d be a little sceptical. I have though and I must say I love it. Chris Murray has to be given some credit for getting this raw style of Jamaican music really going. His popularity led to him forming a regularly gigging band called The Chis Murray Combo, which keeps the raw feel, but suits bigger gigs. He also inspired others to get in on the action.

The best thing about this acoustic/raw trend is a lot of the songs are just put on the web as mp3s. Many of the artists are in other bands as well so they put out these songs because they can. Good for free music.
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Alton Ellis

June 1st 2006 08:16

Alton Ellis is definitely in my top five when it comes to Jamaican artists. Rocksteady really is my main tickle and with his dominance in this genre, it isn’t surprising I like his music so much.

Ellis was born in 1944 and like many reggae artists grew up in Trenchtown, Kingston. He attended Kingston Senior School with the likes of Slim Smith and Jimmy Riley and began his recording career with Coxsone Dodd doing a duet with Eddie Perkins titled “Muriel”. (sources vary – some say it was in 1959 while others in 61). When ska came along, he’d moved into Duke Reid’s stable and in 1965 recorded the very popular song Dance Crasher. It was with vocal group The Flames, made up of Winston Jarrett and Eggar Gordon. Rocksteady was upon them by 1966 and it really suited the laidback style of Alton Ellis’ voice. He and The Flames recorded one of the most well known rocksteady songs, Girl I’ve Got A Date in 1966 and it led to much success. Ellis would go on to record a sting of songs with Duke Reid at Treasure Isle and back at Coxsone including Cry Tough, Rock Steady, Can I Change My Mind and I’m Just a Guy and Ain’t That Loving You. His peak period also included a tour to England with the Soul Vendors. He also went in a more conscience direction which resulted in songs such as Back to Africa and Lord Deliver Us for Lloyd Daley and Keith Hudson.
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