Jamaican Recordings

Noel Hawks & Jah Floyd -

The Birth Of Ska

Rock Steady To Rockers

The Upsetter To The Computer

One of the most comprehensive sets of books ever published on Jamaican music

The Birth Of Ska - From Mento To Studio One - Noel Hawk & Jah Floyd -

Jamaican Recordings 2021

For some, the history of reggae music is very straightforward. Coxsone/Studio One invented it, Along with the Wailers. And then Lee Perry took over the scene and started working with The Wailers. And when the Wailers left Lee Perry, the Wailers took it to an international audience via Island Records.

It’s all neat and tidy - but the world is not like that, and neither is reggae music. Noel Hawks And Jah Floyd’s Book on the early origins of music shows just how complex the history of reggae music is. Even in the fifties, it was more like a 1000-piece puzzle rather than a 100-piece puzzle.At this point in time, no man had played a one drop on the drum, or come up with a good bassline on the bass Or a shuffle on the keyboard, All that was to come.

The Fifties for the most part in Jamaica was all about Mento. You had Stanley Motta, Federal with Ken Khouri, Randy’s with Ivan Chin. And Downbeat with Dada Tuari.

Each and everyone of these people is introduced and their role explained in the music Is explained in the book. Some more than others, but that is to be expected, Research Is not easy in reggae music, and the further back you go, the harder it gets.

When the ‘Shuffle’ came in, in the late fifties, new producers came along, It was Coxsone, Prince Buster, Duke Reid. Only Federal was there from the first wave. They had built A studio. And it was being used by Coxsone, Duke Reid and Prince Buster. But only Coxsone is included in this book. Information on Duke Reid and Prince Buster comes in Vol 2. Some may find this odd, but when it comes to how best to explain the history of reggae music, you find that you have to make these kinds of decisions all the time.

As already stated - reggae does not lend itself to easy research. That 1000 piece puzzle Is sometimes added too - without any kind of sense. Sound Systems and Radio Stations were a major part of the runnings back then. They are also explained in the book. Each probably need a book devoted to them, but this book

Isn’t about trying to put together a total history of that era.

What about the musicians, yes lots of names are mentioned. But you are not going to find that much info on Alerth Bedasse. Singer and Musician. And neither should you expect to. I think Colby Graham interviewed the man for his DVD series. But this would be the exception not the rule.

This book is about firing the imagination, providing lots of information and even more clues As to what was going back on in Jamaica back then. This is a fantastic book, and one that both the authors should be proud of. And of course this is only book one, as always in reggae music, things always get better!!!

Rock Steady to Rockers - From Treasure Isle to Channel One - Noel Hawks & Jah Floyd - Jamaican Recordings

Part two of this musical-literary excursion covers Duke Reid/Treasure Isle, Dynamics, Randy’s, Harry J, Joe Gibbs, King Tubby and Channel One. Each and every one of these studios/record labels released an incredible amount of music from the late sixties - and in the case of Harry J well in to The late eighties.

Duke Reid’s studio was much loved by musicians and artists for it’s clean sound. All the greats recorded there Alton Ellis, John Holt, The Paragons, Phyllis Dillon, U Roy and Dennis Alcapone.

Like Coxsone, the studio never had a pop chart hit in the late sixties/early Seventies. Duke Reid came close. Probably closer than Coxsone. Once reggae artists started to go into the pop charts in the UK, it raised the expectation of the reggae business in Jamaica.

These expectations were met by the next wave of producers, in particular, Harry J and Joe Gibbs. Who both stormed into the pop charts . Harry J with Bob & Marcia ‘Young Gifted And Black’ And Joe Gibbs with Nicky Thomas ‘Love Of The Common People’

All of this is explained in the respective chapters of the book. Which also adds insights into that era. Trying to make sense of a very complicated and exciting era of reggae music. Then we have Dynamics, the success they should have had, in the early seventies With people like Hopeton Lewis, The Maytals, and Eric Donaldson finally came to

them with Barry Biggs but this was 1976. When ‘Work All Day’ and ‘Sideshow’ hit the pop charts.

A little before that Randy’s finally made it into the pop charts with Carl Malcolm. He had three massive reggae hits. ‘Wire Waist’, ‘No Jestering’ and ‘Fattie Bum Bum’

The latter was picked up for UK release - and went into the pop charts in fine style.

Channel One, should have had chart success with the Mighty Diamonds, Leroy Smart, and Dillinger - but it never happened. They were the most popular studio in The seventies. Recording hundreds of big reggae hits.

Tubby well, that man was a genius. A real genius. He changed the whole concept of what music could be. And that has impacted on the whole of the music world not just reggae music. Trying to make sense of reggae music during this time is not easy, so much was happening And it was happening all at the same time. And this book makes no claim to be a history of reggae music. What it does successfully connects a lot of dots - so that you can see the big picture. No mention is made of UK reggae. So you won’t find anything about Greyhound, Winston Groovy or Dandy Livingstone. Or the emergence of the UK labels like Third World, Ethnic Fight, DIP, Jama, but that is not the book’s intention. That history needs another book in itself, and hopefully one day it might come from these two great writers.

The Upsetter to the Computer - From Black Ark to Firehouse - Noel Hawks & Jah Floyd - Jamaican Recordings.

The final book in this journey through Jamaican music - would be a challenge for anyone to write. The seventies and eighties brought incredible technological change.

It started with the Teac 4 track tape recorder. Anyone interested in recording - knew that you needed 4 tracks. Which you could record on altogether or separately. Drums, Bass, Guitar And Keyboard.

What happened next was that the guitar and keyboard were mixed down to one track Leaving one track free for vocals. Or horns/melodica etc.

The first person to embrace the idea of such a studio it seems now was Lindon Pottinger - Husband of course to Mrs. Sonia Pottinger. That was back in the sixties. And was more like building a real studio in your home.

Maniacal laughter can now be heard. “That is what I did. I am the Demon from space - Who as no race, with a smile on my face.” Yes of course it’s Lee Perry. Who built a home Studio bit by bit it seems after shopping in Tottenham Court Road in London, a well-known place for buying such things. Perry called it a Black Ark for Black Art - and duly blessed it in his own fashion.

Other traditional studios, like Aquarius, appeared, but in truth, nothing really major happened again until The arrival of King Tubby and King Jammy in 1984, Some ten years after Perry opened the Black Ark.

A lot of reggae fans hated the digital sound, but a lot of them also hated rock steady, even more, hated reggae. And so on. Others could not resist tunes like ‘Tempo’ from Anthony Red Rose which was produced by King Tubby and came before ‘Sleng Teng’ by Wayne Smith which was produced by King Jammy. And was a mega tune, but never went into the pop charts.

Not that, that mattered to reggae people, within months, there were over 300 cuts of ‘Sleng Teng’ available. Jammy and Tubby battled it out for the next couple of years - releasing hundred of digital tunes. Now called ‘Ragga’. With hundreds of artists.

The book ends at this point, but of course, reggae music didn’t stop. You cannot write a history about a living music. It is up to the reader to then follow up and find out what happened next. And what happened next, well in the eighties…

Other producers like Youth Promotion and even Harry J tried to get a piece of the digital action with little success. And then along came Gussie Clarke - The Usurper!! He had set up Music Works - a small digital studio, by all accounts - and around 1987 took over the scene with his clean glossy digital sound.

Eventually, digital reggae went into the pop charts with Audrey Hall’s ‘One Dance’ tune - produced by Donovan Germain. Who by then had also built his own studio - Penthouse.

Ray Hurford - Jan 2023