Certainly eccentric, possibly mad (even his record company bio acknowledges it!), Lee “Scratch” Perry is reggae’s most influential producer, with a career that spans the entire history of the music. He started at Coxsone Dodd’s Studio One label, first as a talent scout, then as producer. Moving on to other labels, he recorded hit after…
Paris-born keyboardist Badarou is a veteran of Sly and Robbie’s Compass Point All-Stars band, an auxiliary member of Britain’s Level 42 and has played behind such luminaries as Grace Jones, Black Uhuru and M (on “Pop Muzik”). His soundtrack work includes Kiss of the Spider Woman and Countryman. Following a single (“Chief Inspector,” a hard…
London toaster Smiley Culture (David Emmanuel) was a fresh, smart comic who scored a British hit with “Police Officer,” poking fun at the local constabulary. (In the song, Smiley gets off easy when he’s recognized, but he allows that not all black Britons would be so lucky. Tragically, while awaiting trial for conspiracy to supply…
Albino reggae toaster Yellowman (Winston Foster) parlayed his unusual looks and talent into overnight success. His music is versatile and engagingly comic in a dancehall style. Like his counterparts in American rap, he’s often swaggering, boasting about his toasting and his luck with the ladies. Because his strut is goodnatured and backed up by fierce…
Aswad is one of Britain’s best and most popular reggae bands. The trio’s work is characterized by consistently excellent musicianship (Aswad’s adjunct horn section is superlative) and a sound that is modern yet authentic. (Although it’s become less so as the group has become increasingly oriented to the pop mainstream.) Their easygoing groove may resemble…
Though Tapper (Tappa) Zukie isn’t active as a performer in the reggae mainstream, his toasting, which combines staunchly Rasta lyrics and heavy roots accompaniment, has always enjoyed an audience. His rock notoriety was boosted in the late ’70s via an association with the Patti Smith Group; Man Ah Warrior was reissued by Lenny Kaye on…
As a dub poet, Mutabaruka (born in Jamaica as Allan Hope) inevitably inspires comparisons to Linton Kwesi Johnson, but where LKJ’s poems are often ironic and his delivery knife sharp, Mutabaruka’s work is more direct, thick with dread. Unlike Dennis Bovell’s gorgeous formal arrangements on Johnson’s LPs, Mutabaruka is more spontaneous. His poems dictate the…
In the mid-’70s, this young British sextet from Birmingham — inspired into existence by Bob Marley’s Catch a Fire — found an affinity with the righteous rebellion of white new wavers and built its early reputation largely by touring punk venues (as documented on live anthology records from Manchester’s Electric Circus and London’s Hope and…
A true reggae original, dubmaster Augustus Pablo is as closely identified with his instrument — the melodica — as most jazz musicians are with theirs. Horace Swaby was a Kingston pianist when he borrowed a melodica; the simple instrument’s unusual sound caught the ears of local record producers, who hired him to give their dub…
Partly because Rastafarianism is intrinsically patriarchal, the number of important women reggae performers can still be counted in single digits. Singing behind Bob Marley, the I-Threes (Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley and Judy Mowatt) were, for a long time, the only visible female presence in roots music. While they’ve all enjoyed successful solo careers, Mowatt has…
Formed in Jamaica in 1976 and comprised of Joseph Hill, Kenneth Dayes and Albert Walker, Culture is one of reggae’s greatest roots harmony trios. Lead singer Hill invokes the passion of a Burning Spear, while the others are reminiscent of the earthen and soulful rootical wails of the Itals. Despite a string of fine albums,…
Just as dub reggae anticipated funk and rock remixes, toasters — chanting reggae DJs — prefigured rap. U-Roy (Ewart Beckford) was one of Jamaica’s first DJs to graduate from sound systems to chart success in the late ’60s. (Indeed, for several weeks early in 1970, he had three records — “Wear You to the Ball,”…
The cornerstone of contemporary roots, the nonpareil rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare has probably played on more reggae records than anyone else. Musical partners for many years beginning in various Jamaican studio bands, the pair founded Taxi — a production company and label that worked with many top Jamaican vocalists, including Gregory…
Although Ziggy (David) Marley will never replace his late father as the international icon of reggae music, the resemblance in their voices and the junior Marley’s firm dedication to his heritage make it easy to hear more than a talented young man finding his way as a pop warrior in the conscious world. The instant…
One of the biggest reggae stars to emerge in the ’80s, Eek-a-Mouse (born in Kingston as Ripton Joseph Hylton) has no trouble maintaining a high profile. Not only is he six-foot-six, his distinctive voice is hard to miss: he sings with a nasal twang (like a higher-pitched version of Michael Rose), but punctuates his vocals…
Jamaican disc jockey Michael Campbell changed his name, moved to England and made it as a recording artist. Dread at the Controls (the name of his radio show and, later, record label) is a modest debut, but World War III is an out-and-out sonic adventure. Mixed up (and down) by Scientist, the LP features Dread’s…
Since the death of Bob Marley, numerous Third World performers have been proposed to succeed him as the world’s leading reggae exponent. Ziggy Marley is one obvious choice; Alpha Blondy (born Kone Seydou) is another, more unusual, candidate. For starters, Blondy is from the Ivory Coast; he performs reggae in French, English, Hebrew, Arabic and…
Poet and social critic (as the name Poet and the Roots suggests) Linton Kwesi Johnson — born in Jamaica, raised in London — helped bridge the gap between reggae and punk, infusing the music with powerful political content and an urge for freedom rooted in his experience as a black man living in Brixton. Dread…
The leading second generation reggae vocal group, the potent and influential Black Uhuru was formed in Jamaica in 1974 by Derrick “Duckie” Simpson; after a couple of false starts, he enlisted Michael Rose, whose quivery voice makes him sound like a Rasta cantor, and recorded Love Crisis — competent but hardly distinctive (although the best…
His front teeth inlaid with red, green and gold gems, Big Youth (Manley Buchanan) is probably the best-known and most popular of all reggae DJs, with a career that’s been going strong since the early ’70s. He began toasting in the early ’70s, after working as a cab driver and a mechanic. His success was…
