[InspiredFunk]

Am hoping to go spend some time with a couple of the UK Scene big players from the late 70's in the next few weeks, so am starting some research for the next part of this article ... will just a be a few months in the making as I have a minor altercation coming up with a surgeons blade...

Peace!

[el bib]

yes these reggae history lessons usually just skim the surface of the reggae scene.its like a jamaican promoter ,well hes half jamaican,he general levys manager,he likes my dub,but reckons hes heard it all before and is allways coming up with these stupid ideas of taking old tunes,as he has legal access to the whole trojan back catalogue,and re doing them with hip hop beats and some dj guy shouting pon top,usually sounds shit.give him a straight roots classic and hell reject it as un marketable.its like people rave about damien marleys album,i like jamrock but the rest of it is full of hackneyed r and b,hip hop beats to try and appeal to the non reggae ,mtv crowd.that to me is one of the problems with modern jamaican music,everybody wants to be big in america.the seventies roots tunes seem to have more feeling and impact for me as the singers sound as if their coming from the heart and not just doing what some marketing guy,usually non musicians,has told them to sing.jamaica had something unique with the dub,roots scene but they gave it away.hardly any dub made in jamaica these days.the uk ,european scene took up the gauntlet,and thats where the heart of the dub scene is now.most of the established uk/dub producers are probably about early to mid forties like me and were influenced by linton kwesi johnson,early ub40,dennis bovell, early aswad ,steel pulse,bob marley etc.then started listening to the jamaican underground stuff.not dancehall.more roots.i had the good fortune to work with max romeo a few years back and he told me that he is grateful that their is still a healthy interest in roots reggae as in jamaica he cant get big gigs as the dancehall thing is predominant.yet he can go to places in eastern europe and sell out 3000 seater venues.i talked to a american friend that reckons its all just reggae,but in the uk the crowd that attends the big dub/roots events is a totally different crowd than the blingy ,coke and champagne crowd that go to dancehall nights.totally different camps in attitude and lifestyle.so big up to jah shaka,aba shanti,entebbe,rdk,mannasseh,concious sounds and all the other sounds who kept the roots and dub alive.in fact ,i would say the uk scene is just as important as the jamaican scene in the devolment of modern reggae.

[Lion of the Tribe]

Have to disagree with you about the Damien Marley album John.

For lovers of Dancehall, his works are pretty fresh and easily rise above many of the other new artists out there today.

[el bib]

dont get me wrong,damien marley is a talented dude,but id be interested to know how much input and say he has as to what goes on the record,writing etc.seems a bit clinical ,throw in a bit of this and a bit of that to make the record appeal to a mass market,outside of reggae.as with my mate dave,general levys manager,he seems to have something against making a pure straight roots reggae record.why.because they dont know how to market and sell it in todays music market.its almost as if hes saying ,people dont want to hear a dude singing about human rights,politriks or things.people want vaccous music that doesnt make them have to think.what they would call shrewd marketing,i would call it clinical,boring and devoid of soul.

[ali]

Originally Posted by el bib

yes these reggae history lessons usually just skim the surface of the reggae scene.its like a jamaican promoter ,well hes half jamaican,he general levys manager,he likes my dub,but reckons hes heard it all before and is allways coming up with these stupid ideas of taking old tunes,as he has legal access to the whole trojan back catalogue,and re doing them with hip hop beats and some dj guy shouting pon top,usually sounds shit.give him a straight roots classic and hell reject it as un marketable.its like people rave about damien marleys album,i like jamrock but the rest of it is full of hackneyed r and b,hip hop beats to try and appeal to the non reggae ,mtv crowd.that to me is one of the problems with modern jamaican music,everybody wants to be big in america.the seventies roots tunes seem to have more feeling and impact for me as the singers sound as if their coming from the heart and not just doing what some marketing guy,usually non musicians,has told them to sing.jamaica had something unique with the dub,roots scene but they gave it away.hardly any dub made in jamaica these days.the uk ,european scene took up the gauntlet,and thats where the heart of the dub scene is now.most of the established uk/dub producers are probably about early to mid forties like me and were influenced by linton kwesi johnson,early ub40,dennis bovell, early aswad ,steel pulse,bob marley etc.then started listening to the jamaican underground stuff.not dancehall.more roots.i had the good fortune to work with max romeo a few years back and he told me that he is grateful that their is still a healthy interest in roots reggae as in jamaica he cant get big gigs as the dancehall thing is predominant.yet he can go to places in eastern europe and sell out 3000 seater venues.i talked to a american friend that reckons its all just reggae,but in the uk the crowd that attends the big dub/roots events is a totally different crowd than the blingy ,coke and champagne crowd that go to dancehall nights.totally different camps in attitude and lifestyle.so big up to jah shaka,aba shanti,entebbe,rdk,mannasseh,concious sounds and all the other sounds who kept the roots and dub alive.in fact ,i would say the uk scene is just as important as the jamaican scene in the devolment of modern reggae.

congrats on this post John - as good a summation of the situation as I have seen. That MTV bling scene will fade eventually but the roots/dubheads will still be producing the goods.

[el bib]

its funny,me and my mate geebus,who works on some of the el bib stuff,were talking about dave the promoter,marketing man and agreed that he doesnt really see music as art,more like selling a brand,like a candy bar etc.you know hes a decent and interesting guy to talk to ,but hes been responsible for putting out and promoting some horrendous,godawful,shite music in the past.ho.ho.general levy aside.its like he looks at whats popular in the charts at any time,gets a top producer in and tells him we want it to sound a bit like this a bit like that.oh yeah,whats wyclef john doing right now,well get him to do a duet,fuck lets get beyonce while were at it.basically,tells the producer what to do.as i said,a very clinical,calculated way of making music.right,im of to finish my ricky martin collaboration.ho.ho.

[Debstar]

LOL
Ricky Martin!!
Blech...

[RATIONAL MOVEMENT]

yea, interestiung stuff mate !!!

[Don P]

if bands like Wailers and Israel Vibration can't sell 10,000 copies of an album, how can anyone else expect to make a living from producing roots? It's OK if you're doing it for a hobby, but when you want to make a living you gotto produce something that people will buy - and the youth prefer hiphop and "rnb" to roots.

But I think there is nothing wrong with that. Reggae has always borrowed from other forms of music and vice versa, so why expect it to remain frozen in time. Some of the steppa style stuff is too heavily techno influenced (not swinging enough) for my liking - while most of the dancehall I hear is more interesting than the hiphop or rnb. In fact i'd say that dancehall is more innovative than any style out there - anything goes along as you get a good crowd response - and this innovation crosses over into the dominant popular market - pushing hiphop & rnb to different directions.

I'll bet you any of us here would jump at the chance to remix Ricky Martin or Beyonce, like I'm sure that Mad Professor doesn't regret the royalties he made of the Massive Attack remixes - probably the most solid income he ever made. Can you deny him that?

[Meef Chaloin]

Originally Posted by el bib

as with my mate dave,general levys manager,he seems to have something against making a pure straight roots reggae record.why.because they dont know how to market and sell it in todays music market.its almost as if hes saying ,people dont want to hear a dude singing about human rights,politriks or things.people want vaccous music that doesnt make them have to think.what they would call shrewd marketing,i would call it clinical,boring and devoid of soul.

i think that's always been the case, at least in the last 50-60 years anyway. goes for every style of music that's not 'commercial' pop. but then id rather good music was underground rather than being sung by idoits