Tony Rebel

Tony Rebel – Rebel With A Cause – Penthouse – 1992

Discovering that Tony Rebel, who was a friend and a long time associate of Garnett Silk, started out as a singer is incredible. When you know that Garnett Silk started out as a DJ, then turned to singing. You can certainly hear it in Tony’s style, that he’s part of the deejaying tradition that starts with Dennis Alcapone and currently finds its expression in the works of Daddy Rings, Sizzla and of course Tony Rebel. Which in itself is interesting because his style of deejaying is without doubt rooted in the seventies. Although you have some great tunes here like ‘War And Crime’ and ‘Cross Over The Bridge’ sometimes the production from Donovan Germain comes across a bit lightweight, Rebel is a DJ who needs heavy rhythms.

Tony Rebel – Rebellious – RAS – 1992

Sky High’s Clive Kennedy should have been able to supply Rebel with all the heavy rhythms the man could ever need, yet for some reason he also seems to think that Rebel needs lighter rhythms. Given lighter rhythms Rebel tends to come up with softer lyrics, which is what undermines this set. Bringing in someone like Half Pint for the excellent ‘Rainbow People’ works very well. Ken Bob is another fine singer, but neither himself or Rebel do themselves any credit on ‘Working Man’. ‘God Is Abraham’ and ‘My Woman’ are a lot better, but are not enough to lift the set on their own. You can hear what Clive Kennedy, is trying to do, it’s just not working.