Rockers, Lovers, DJ's and Dubs

Rip It Up, Issue 98, 1 September 1985, Page 10

Rockers, Lovers, DJ's and Dubs

Duncan Campbell

Also included in the Island -eripc a re four compilations of iZtsZsTc £*&*•*»* spectrum of reggae styles.

The Strictly For Rockers set features singles released on Island between 1975 and 1984. And a splendid little collection it is, too. The term ‘Rockers’ can apply to anyone who follows reggae. The expression was used as the title of a hugely entertaining movie starring ace drummer Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace, and which, had a brief session in Auckland last year. The soundtrack album is available here.

Strictly For Rockers contains 12 tracks, including The Wailing Souls’ ‘Bredda Gravilicious', Bunny Wailer’s 'Battering Down Sentence’, Freddie McGregor’s ‘Joggin”, Judy Mowatt’s 'Black Woman' and Sugar Minott’s ‘Rub-A-Dub Sound,’ a Taxi recording from last year. The curiousity is Augustus Pablo’s ‘King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown,' a totally different track from the title number on the LP of the same name. Pablo’s penchant for remixing and renaming his

recordings may have caused confusion. Be that as it may, nobody should be without this one! The same applies to DJ’s, containing tracks from 1972 to 1984. The album charts the evolution of the DJ style, from the strident primitiveness of U-Roy, widely regarded as the 'Father' of DF toasting, to the rapid-fire Mike Chanter (or M.C.) style of Papa Levi’s ‘Mi God Mi King'. The M.C. fashion is setting the pace for toasting, and it’s the British performers who have excelled at it in the past year. Other featured artists include Yellowman, Michigan and Smiley, Eeek A Mouse, Dillinger and rising teenage star Billy Boyo. This one will mash it up!

Lovers Rock is extremely popular with New Zealand listeners, who enjoy the sweet singing of the likes of Winston Reedy, Ruddy Thomas and Susan Cadogan. Others find it a little saccharine. The LP has yet to arrive here, so judgement must be reserved.

Ditto the Dub LP, A Dub Experience, consisting of remixes of various Sly and Robbie riddims. If it matches their collaboration with Prince Jammy dubbing Black Uhuru, it should be just fine. Also still unsighted is a Burning Spear collection. However, a scan through the three island LP's released by the original trio and Winston Rodney solo shows a wealth of moving devotional music which remains peerless. So there you have it: a veritable feast of Jah Music, with something to accommodate all tastes. Jamacia, despite its small size, poverty and civil unrest, continues to pour out a staggering amount of music. Artists like Sugar Minott and Dennis Brown tend to have at least two current LP’s charting, usually on different labels.

The quality, however, remains uniformly high. Open your ears, and your heart and mind will follow. Play I some music. Dis ya reggae music...