Reggae And The Media

Reggae And The Media

When you come across something that you like reggae. it's only natural to want to find more about it. By about 1970 - two years after I bought my first reggae record - I really wanted to find out more about reggae music.

At the time there was at least four weekly music papers in the UK, Melody Maker, NME, Sounds, and the Record Mirror. 

Despite reggae going into the national charts on a regular basis during that time, very little was written about the music. And when they did write about it, it was usually always very negative. Usually making reference to it being 'Skinhead' music 

One exception was an excellent article written by Richard Williams in The Melody Maker - it was called something like 'Black Gold' and published in 1972. Richard picked up on well what was happening in Jamaica. With write up's on Harry J, Herman Chin Loy, The Wailers - plus a good few more. 

Around 1973 I started to notice ads on Trojan Reggae Charts which were free in the record shops for something called The Trojan Records Appreciation Society - it looked intetesting - and you got a free pen! Somewhere along the way - it changed to the Reggae Appreciation Society - and it was being run by Eric Denham.  

Every month - he he would review singles and albums released in the UK. It was the first time - I was reading about reggae music from someone who truly loved it.

In one of the 'RAS' newsletters - Eric mentioned a reggae column in a magazine called

Blues And Soul. Not a magazine that was easy to find in East London, so it was placed on order. 

The reggae column was written by Chris Lane. And Chris would not only do reviews of singles and albums - he would provide small articles of current reggae artists and producers.

Slowly reggae music started to make a lot more sense. It became clear that a lot of these artists had long histories going back to the early sixties and beyond. 

What was also very clear - was that reggae was not just standing still - it was evolving - I knew about Deejays like U Roy, Dennis Alcapone, Big Youth, I Roy, but there was more a lot more - who were making truly great music.

You also had this thing called 'Dub' - once again I knew about something called 'Version' - rhythm tracks which featured the fragments of the singers vocals cutting in and out of the tune.

'Dub' seemed to be something more than that. Something a lot more wilder!!!

Another event happened around this time 'Pressure Drop' the world's first reggae fanzine produced by Nick Kimberly and Penny Reel. Featuring articles from Penny Reel, Steve Barrow, Tony Rounce, plus many more.

A lot happened regarding 'Reggae In Print' during the next two years. First IPC launched 'Black Music' which featured the great writings of Carl Gayle, then came Black Echoes a weekly paper - which featured Penny Reel - as Station Underground News, who had previously written about reggae music for the International Times.

The Melody Maker quickly brought in Chris Lane - to boost up its reggae coverage - Chris did a great job, but after a few weeks the half page went down to something like a quarter page. 

Around the same time Sounds started to write about reggae music. The background to all of this was the sudden interest again of Island Records - who after the success of Bob Marley in 1973 tried to do it again, only on the cheap with a whole heap of artists. Including - The Maytals, The Heptones, Joe Higgs and of course Lee Perry.

Meanwhile Virgin Records linked up with Johnny Clarke, The Mighty Diamonds and U Roy, and the Gladiators. 

By this time both Trojan and Pama Records the two most foremost labels - were out of the picture - but were replaced by a whole set of independent labels, Third World, Ethnic Fight. DIP, Jama, K&B, Fay Music,Klik to name just a few.

For reggae fans it was good to see two major labels promoting reggae in the way that rock and pop music was promoted. But the lifeblood of the music was these small labels. Who were releasing singles and albums every week.

No major label ever released a King Tubby album, or an album by Augustus Pablo, come to that that they never released albums by singers like Delroy Wilson, or Alton Ellis.

By the time we got to 1976, the background changed again. 'Punk' was coming up - and a new myth fantasy was created - punk and reggae was united. This created another new interest in reggae - which Virgin really pushed hard when it started up its new label Front Line.

Meanwhile the reggae independents had more or less turned inwards - and all that could be found on them were badly produced 'Lovers Rock' tunes. The artists in Jamaica tried to adapt - singers like Ruddy Thomas fitted in very well with this new style.

It was into this environment that Greensleeves Records emerged - first with the  magnificent debut album from Dr.Alimantado - and then with releases from a number of UK bands who were also becoming popular then - Reggae Regular, Captial Letters, who were building on the success of bands like Aswad, Matumbi and Steel Pulse all of whom had been signed by major labels. 

The early seventies had started with a lot of hostility towards reggae - but it truly looked like things were changing by the end of the decade. Looks can be very deceiving!

It was another new company Burning Sounds who first spotted the trend. They like the Greensleeves were involved in releasing music from Jamaica, but also from the UK - roots and lovers.

In fact there UK roster was perhaps the best of them all including artists like Junior English (Lovers) and Pablo Gad (Roots). They then started to release albums from new producers one of them was Henry 'Junjo' Lawes.

It was 1979, and Barrington Levy's 'Shine Eye Gal' set was something, it featured a new band. The Roots Radics. 

They had been name checked by John Williams in Black Echoes - who had spoken to Errol 'Flabba' Holt - about the new band. The line up then was still in flux, Errol 'Fish' Clarke was still the drummer..And so was Sowell Radics on lead guitar. It wasn't long before Style Scott came in on drums, and Dwight Pinkney came in on lead guitar.

On rhythm guitar was Binghi Bunny. And on keyboards was Wycliffe 'Steelie' Johnson.

Roots Radics

This was fresh sound, slower than the 'Rockers' beat - but with a lot more power.. The fans loved it - and it wasn't long before this new sound had a new name 'The Dance Hall Style'.

Barrington had become a star overnight - and Greensleeves moved in quickly and gave 'Junjo' a deal on Barrington's next album. Junjo liked every other producer in Jamaica had more than one album to sell.

And it wasn't long before Greensleeves had a whole roster of Junjo produced acts. Rod Taylor, Linval Thompson, and a certain deejay called Yellowman.

More than anyone else Yellowman quickly because the focus for a lot of media attention. Being an albino was one thing - but he had a liking for 'Slackness' that appalled the media here and in the US.

Bob Marley had been seen by so many as the man who made reggae respectable - made it worth listening too. He didn't get where he was by singing about sex....

Well Yellowman wasn't a singer, he was a deejay in the tradition of U.Roy, Dennis Alcapone, I.Roy, Big Youth and so many more. And he liked to chat the 'Sweetness' as he called it. And knowing Yellowman, he would be the first to introduce a line or two from some of Bob Marley's songs "Bend down low, let me show what I know." Perhaps they thought Bob was talking about the 'Limbo' dance. Another product from Jamaica - from a different time! 

Those with no liking for reggae music, went on the attack again. And it got worse...

When Bob Marley died in 1981, the attacks on 'Dancehall' intensified. As far as the media was concerned the 'Death' of Bob Marley was the 'Death' of reggae music. It was a music that had nothing to offer.

Even three great albums from Bunny Wailers - recorded with the Roots Radics - 'Tribute' 'Sings The Wailers' and 'Rock And Groove' could not change there minds. Bunny could see what was happening - and those albums were a magnificent effort to make them see things in a different way.

A lot of these people never liked 'Reggae' in the first place, Marley to them was acceptable.  By liking him, they had no reason to like anyone else. Bob Marley was the best of the best. 

Slowly the major labels did decide that there was more to reggae than Bob Marley. Island signed Black Uhuru - but Virgin dropped the Front Line label in its entirety. 

Charisma came in - and signed Prince Far I and Gregory Isaacs. And it wasn't long before Gregory was on Island. 

Dennis Brown who had been signed to A&M from 1979 was also finally given some promotion by the label.

Both Dennis and Gregory had dominated the reggae charts from the mid-seventies. Both artists also had a string of great albums to there names.

And yet as far as the music papers were concerned they might not as well exit. Only when they were on major labels did they show any interest. And even then it was marginal. Usually 'One Off' reggae specials, that would appear once a year usually in the summer.

Very little had changed from the early seventies to the early eighties. Reggae music continued to go in and out of the pop charts. Artists like Sugar Minott and Freddie McGregor both had pop chart hits, even Errol Dunkley - Gregory Isaacs old sparring partner crashed into the charts with his version of 'OK Fred'.

Yet it all so clear that reggae music was still regarded a joke by those in the print media in the UK. Of course it was no better in the U.S. If you wanted to read about reggae music - you had to look around. 'The Beat' in the US was a good place, and so was 'Echoes' in the UK.  But the distribution of these publications was very limited. 'Black Music' the UK monthly disappeared around this time.

A tremendous amount of progress had been made around the mid-seventies - regarding 'Reggae In Print' what was lacking was the immediacy given to other music's. Only 'Culture' in the late seventies got that. And they fully deserved it.. Yet they remain the exception to the rule.  

When it comes to Reggae on the Radio it couldn't be much worse. The only place you could find reggae on the radio in the late sixties early seventies was Radio Luxemburg. The reception was very poor - but when you did hear a reggae tune - usually something on Trojan or Island it was well worth it. 

Radio Luxemburg was AM, but around this time you started hearing about FM. Buying an HiFi system for the home was all the rage then. The Radiogram which had been the main way to listen to the Radio and your records was on the way out. 

However most people were now listening to radio on small portable 'Radios' which were mainly AM - but now they were making them with the FM reception. Around the same time the BBC were launching a load of local stations which were only available on FM. One of them was Radio London, and it had a reggae show!!

Steve Barnard's 'Reggae Time' on a Sunday around mid-day was a revelation. Here for the first was all the latest releases. The UK releases. That was important, because of a lot of the big sellers were imports or pre's from Jamaica. Those tunes were not played. But the tunes that were - more than made up for it. 

Many people including myself started to record the shows, the cassette recorder had also just come on to the market - although the tapes were still expensive. Most people just had a few tapes that they would re-cycle - which would give you the chance to listen at least a couple of times to the show - and then pick out the tunes you liked to buy on your next visit to your local record shop.

So far so good. Then Steve, started to have reggae artists on his show. From memory I can recall great interviews with Alton Ellis, Bob Marley, Lee Perry, Geoffrey Chung, and perhaps the two most remarkable interviews one with Bunny Lee with Bunny complaing  that John Holt was refusing to talk to him, while bigging up Johnny Clarke who he said would be reggae's next superstar. It was typical Bunny Lee - the show man in fine style.

Even more enjoyable if that is the right word. Was when Steve had the late great Leonard 'Santic' Chin on his show. Leonard had just released his magnificent 'Harder Shade Of Black' album and claiming it was a new sound 'Rockers'. Steve, was having none of it. After playing a few tracks from the album, Steve wanted to know the difference between those tunes which he liked, and this tune he was playing from another artist/producer. 

Steve Barnard

Santic tried hard to explain the subtle differences in drumming - which had Tin Legs playing his drum on metal style all over it. It was a style that was great - but it was not the 'Rockers' style - that belonged to Channel One and Sly Dunbar and that was still a year or so away. Although it must be noted that the 'Rockers' label belonged to Augustus Pablo who featured on the 'Harder Shade Of Black'. Pablo's 'Rockers' style would become of the great rivals to the Channel One/Sly Dunbar rockers style which dominated reggae music for at least the next five years. Radio London then dropped 'Reggae Time' with Steve Barnard. It was replaced by a Carribean Music show. The reggae content went down down dramatically. Eventually a reggae show was brought back with two presenters - on alternative weeks - Tony Williams and David Rodigan.

The vibes were not as good - but things were changing - the first local commercial stations were appearing. And Capital Radio really took things up a step when they launched a three hour reggae radio show. From 9pm to 12 on a Saturday, it was called TV on Reggae. And it featured Tommy Vance, who brought in Raymondo and Cliff St Lewis to add variety to the show. It was a clever format.

And it got even better when they brought in guests. One of the most memorable shows was Lloydie Coxsone from Coxsone Sound System. One Saturday evening evening he played real 'Specials' featuring a wide variety of artists including the Wailers. This was the first time most people had ever heard the concept of the 'Special' which is essentially an exclusive recording belonging to a particular sound.

Over the years that concept as changed and is now little more than a artist bigging up the sound in an intro.

It was all too good to last, and Capital dropped its reggae show. Eventually though they brought it back, this time it was fronted by David Rodigan. It wasn't the 3 hour show that made TV on Reggae so popular. Never the less David Rodigan did a good job - mixing in new releases with interviews. Notable guests included I Roy, Alton Ellis and Prince Buster.

Another development was the arrival of the pirate stations. In the sixties they tended to be off shore stations working from ships in the North Sea. Radio Caroline becoming the most famous.

When it came to Reggae, it was a much more local thing, DBC - Dread Broadcasting Company - made a tremendous impact in West London - featuring DJ Lepki and Ranking Miss P. Many others followed all over London and the major cities. The problem's was that the signal was always hard to get outside of a small area, and that the Home Office was always trying to close them down!

Others followed - Freddy Big Foot was another very popular Pirate Radio Show on Station FM. And he often featured guests on one show reggae writer  Penny Reel came on and talked about reggae - these sort of shows brought reggae music back into the community where they came from.

The real problem remains nationwide coverage - The BBC still controls that. Hopefully soon it will be possible to listen to internet radio station - connected by broadband - that will mean you could listen without no fuss or special knowledge to a radio station in Jamaica playing reggae music 24/7. It's taken a long time - but when it happens - all the great music that as been so successfully hidden - will be there for all to hear.

When it comes to TV - in 1973 The Old Gray Whistle Test took itself to the Edinburgh Festival to film Dennis Alcapone - on his first visit to the UK along with The Pioneers and Nicky Thomas. All compared by Judge Dread. It was a truly great show. With Dennis in magnificent form - backed by the Cimarons. With Dennis working all his big hits - it showed that a DJ could work with band as well. Although I still think a DJ works better with a sound system! Nicky Thomas one of reggae's finest voices. He sadly didn't do his 'B B C' tune which came out on Trojan in 1971. Yet the tunes he did which I think included 'Rainy Night In Georgia' were all done with great power and grace. The Pioneers were going through a pop/soul phase at the time - and there part of the show reflected that.

Jimmy Cliff's role in the 'The Harder They Come' film, plus the 'Unlimited' album released on EMI in 1974. That album should have been the real soundtrack to 'The Harder They Come' but his problems with Island Records made sure it wasn't. Still Jimmy had become a superstar. And the BBC responded to this with a one hour special on BBC2.

Jimmy was on tour in the UK at the time, and he had all the All Star band with him which essentially was the Beverley's Allstars. It was great to see and hear all these people in action on TV. As far as I know it's never been shown by the BBC since. Which is a shame. Because the man puts on a great show - and the band were in great form.

A few years later it was the BBC again who provided us with reggae's first 5 star documentary. Roots Rock Reggae - 1977 - produced by Jeremy Marre. This one had everything Lee Perry in the Studio, Joe Higgs, Burning Spear, Jacob Miller with the Inner Circle band. The Abyssinians singing in a very small Coptic Church. It caught the spirit of that time so well. Reggae was making a huge impact internationally - and this documentary took it up a step. While you was watching it, you kept thinking about the people not it - and just how strong the music was then. It's very possible that this strength worried a lot of people in the wider music industry. It was something that they didn't understand - or liked that much if at all.

Finally with the arrival of Channel 4 TV Channel which had a remit to provide alternatives to the so called 'Pop' culture.  Deep Roots Music was made and shown in 1982. With Mikey Dread doing the commentary - this series six one hour shows - really took the trouble to get into what the music was about. Howard Johnson the producer managed to hit all the right buttons. Bunny Lee, Tommy McCook, Nyahbinghi, Channel One. And so much more. Perhaps the only thing that let it down was the Lee Perry show. 

Lee - had lost it by then. Right up until 1979 he had been a force in reggae music - after that it was difficult to explain what he represented in the music. He was certainly no longer a producer - but as an artist - something was missing. 

Channel Four also produced a book to go with the series which was a nice touch. Reggae books during the seventies and eighties were few and far between. 

Reggae A People's Music by Rolston Kallyndyr and Henderson Dalrymple published by Carib Arawak Publications - 1973.

Was to my knowledge the very first book published on reggae music. And that alone deserves respect. The hostile climate that had been created by the media - always meant that anything that tried to be positive about the music was going to run into an hard time. Yes it does only run to 38 pages. Yet within those 38 pages it covers a lot of ground. Strangely enough it starts off - on the very theme of this book - by quoting some of the anti-reggae comments that were around then. Little as changed. Including the problems of distribution, which made finding this book at the time almost impossible. 

Reggae Bloodlines - Stephen Davis and Peter Simon - Da Capo Press - 1977

At over 200 pages this for some is what a reggae books should look like. And unlike 'Reggae A People's Music' it had access to the major distribution channels both here and in the US. It also meant that it was for most people the first book they would find in there Library! And so that for those things alone it deserves respect. By then a certain amount of reggae artists were getting promotion, Bob Marley of course, Toots & The Maytals, Burning Spear, Jimmy Cliff and Peter Tosh. All are included in the book Thankfully people like Augustus Pablo, Max Romeo and Ras Michael are also present. Which for me is important. The variety in reggae music is its strength. It might seem overwhelming to some - but for real lovers of the music - it is a never ending source of enjoyment!

Record Selector's - Roger Dalke - 1978

The vast amount of records released in the UK from the early sixties on a wide variety of label from basically four companies Melodisc, Island/Trojan, Pama, Bamboo/Banana. Is essentially the history of reggae music. These companies had all the big hits and all the major artists. The catalogue all of this was going to take a lot of hard work and investigative skills. In 1978, Roger Dalke launched his series of Reggae Label Discographies. All of them are packed with info - and contain rare label photos as well as photos of artists. Some dismiss these kind of books for just collectors. Yet for those interested in the history of artists - they are truly essential! You can only ask a question about record - if you know it exists! Even if you have never heard it!!!

Jah Music - Seb Clarke - Heinneman - 1983

Is perhaps the most academic book out of the first books to be published on the music. And yet is still a very enjoyable read, simply because Seb knows that to use the 'academic' style in reggae - is not what reggae music is all about. More often than not 'Academics' have often been opposed to popular culture - simply because the object of study is 'Alive' - something that is 'Dead' is much more easier to control. Using ten words to describe something - that could be described in one - is more to do with showing off than making something that is enjoyable to read. Seb - starts his book with the history of slavery and the impact on the Caribbean and the Southern States of America - and slowly works his way up to the very origins of reggae music - and then on and up to the early eighties.  

The Internet

By the mid nineties something called the 'Internet' was being mentioned more and more often - set up for Scientists using US military Satellites in the eighties, it's potential was enormous - not only could read documents, you could listen to music and watch video. And in order to do so you need a pretty good computer.

King Tubby , was one reggae name first mentioned in connection with the internet. He apparently rigged up a small web cam in the studio - in the eighties and with it you could watch Scientist working on the board. He could be a myth, but this was told to me in the mid-eighties before the internet even had a name.

For most people the beginnings of reggae on the internet was in the mid-nineties. First there were email groups - you joined up logged in - for some people it was a lot of fun for others - it was chance to cause chaos! 

Then the first websites appeared - Carter Van Pelt in the US  http://incolor.inetnebr.com/cvanpelt/

And in Holland  - Jo Moenen and Theo Triepiels's  www.reggae-vibes.com. Carter was more interested in interviews leaving news and reviews - to yet another site www.niceup.com..

It was truly amazing to see the amount of info all these quickly built up. Out of the three - www.reggae-vibes.com and www.niceup.com are still at it. With the Reggae-Vibes having a huge selection of interviews, album reviews, charts  and all kinds of info, plus audio and video files. You could spend weeks on the this site - and still not be able to take it all in. The site is updated twice a week and takes an interest in all kinds of reggae music from the days of ska - to the current sounds.

Carter's site is now archived - his interviews are a must read for anyone interested in the roots of the music.

While on www.reggae-vibes.com you will quickly come across the remarkable works of Peter I. Based in Sweden - Peter as conducted some of the most extensive interviews with reggae artists ever. His Carl Gayle interviews clocks in at a remarkable 60 pages of text alone.

And yet these massive interviews would be nothing without all the hard work of Theo and Jo - who's website creation skills are second to none. Never mind the time consuming

task of finding photos and labels and album sleeves for the many interviews that Peter I as done which currently stands at nearly 70.

Of course there are other great sites - but my intention here is to show where the foundation is. The origins of each media, be it Magazines, Radio, TV, Books and the Internet. 

As broadband becomes cheaper and more powerful - and more widespread - the potential for the internet will grow. I've already mentioned broadband radio, these sets are very still very expensive but they will become cheaper.

Also of interest are the smart phones and smart TV's. It can't be long before you are able to go onto a site and watch an artist free or for a small charge. The best experience for this must be the smart TV.

With screen sizes now over 40 inches at a very good price - and with all the connections available to provide a truly HiFi sound - it can't be long before you will able to watch your favourite reggae artists direct from Jamaica.

Until very recently - these are things that most people could only dream about. Some of this technology is not new, but the price of it, or to access it - was far beyond the reach of most people. 

What needs to be sorted out now is are the royalties. Youtube/Google seem to have this under control. A popular video can generate a lot of money for the people who uploaded it. It is very important that artists gain from this directly. If some company uploads a rare video of an artist - and the artist gets nothing - because he never uploaded it. All this does as far as reggae music is concerned is perpetuate the many wrongs of the past.

And it's this financial aspect of the digital revolution that is indirectly connected to media revolution. Many people have tried to make documentaries concerning reggae music - but have quickly found that the rights usually reside with some massive broadcasting company who want incredible sums of money for even a small clip of a TV show.

And yet 'Public Domain' rules means that a lot of rare films and TV shows can released without any problem. These rules are complex - but the end result is people who love and enjoy these films are able to watch them again.

This should also apply to documentaries and TV made by people like the BBC. It is said that at the time of Jamaican Independence in the early sixties - the BBC could be found filming everything, including of course the new music of Jamaica - Ska!!!

Some of this footage as been seen in the studios of the BBC, probably by people who don't care about reggae music and it's history at all. It should be made available for all to see. 

Yet it must be understood - a lot of this is like a major crime scene. Making a lot of this material available will show the BBC and other broadcasters up for what they are. So the evidence needs to be suppressed. And even destroyed. 

Reggae music as survived despite these people, not because of them. The struggle continues.

Carter Van Pelt