Punk And Reggae
Essentially a London thang, punk and reggae were thrown together by being mutual outcasts, two fingers against authority and a sense of an established order breaking down. Both were rebel music. In the DJ booth at the Roxy Club, Don Letts played reggae and dub platters before punk records were available. John Peel on mainstream Radio 1 was as likely to follow records by The Cortinas and Clash with records by Misty In Roots and Augustus Pablo. The NME and Sounds had their own reggae pages.
1977 (When the two sevens clash – Babylon i.e. England was to disintegrate) was to be an apocalyptic year in reggae terms…and so it was in music fashion and society generally as white and black street culture found itself with the same aspirations for possibly the first and last time. All against a backdrop of unrest as the National Front was on the rise and the Notting Hill carnival was a scene again of heavy handed police, versus disaffected black youth and culture.
Summing it all up though was the distinctly infectious tunes of the suprise Number One single at the end of 1977, Althea & Donna’s Uptown Ranking, which financed Lightning records punk excursions but that’s another story.
Punk and Reggae poles apart one would think. Heavy slow bass driven toons versus tinny white boy thrash. Quasi mystical ganja based black man beat versus white swastika toting amphetamine driven nihilism. Punk and reggae became further intertwined because of two of punks most influential figures, Mr Rotten and the boys in the Clash. Reggae was very much a part of their musical scene and growing up and each vied to say they loved it more than the other as an influence.
Don Letts: Don Letts wasn’t the bringer of Reggae. Paul (Simenon) was into reggae, Joe (Strummer) was into reggae and John (Rotten) was into Reggae. They were turning me onto tunes. It wasn’t always the other way around. It was one of the reasons we got on. Don’t forget that early skinheads were into reggae, Trojan and ska. Black music was and will always be rebel music. The stones were into Bo Diddly and Howling Wolf. While the UK had reggae the US were getting into and being influenced by hip hop. Both reggae and punk was rebel music.” Don Letts Interview Punk77 Oct 2005
For The Clash they covered Junior Murvin’s Police & Thieves and Armigideon Times, wanted a Notting Hill riot of their own, had Lee Perry produce one of their finest singles Complete Control and worked alongside Mikey Dread on their sprawling Sandinista album while wearing initially clothes with Prince Farianisms like’ Heavy Manners’ sprayed on them. And let’s not forget the epic White Man In Hammersmith Palais.
Jah Wobble in PIL would utilise the pounding reggae bass on many a toon and as Haile Unlikely Vs the Steel Leg with Keith Levene and Don Letts recorded his own groovy 12″.
Contrasting this is the two very different experiences of the boys visiting Jamaica. For the Clash it was a heavy trip resulting in the song ‘Safe European Home’. Rotten and Letts spliffed it out to sound systems and generally had a good time at Virgin’s expense as can be seen below.
The relationship of punk and reggae was further cemented as bands like Misty in Roots and The Cimarons shared stages at Rock Against Racism gigs with bands like Sham 69 and Generation X . Indeed The Ruts first single was released on Misty’s ‘People United’ record label and Steel Pulse toured with The Stranglers.
The crossover of punk and reggae was mixed. The Slits as they developed, incorporated reggae’s sense of space and simplicity into their ‘Cut’ album and a thundering cover version of Heard It Though The Grapevine.
Nice & Sleazy by The Stranglers and the incendiary cover of Marley’s Johnny Was by SLF were suitably punked up. But there were some stinkers too. The Members Offshore Banking Business, some half arsed Patti Smith sub reggae (though heart in the right place), The Unwanted’s hammy ‘Secret Police’ and ATV’s cringe inducing Love Lies Limp (sorry Mark!). The irony was the much maligned The Police were actually very good at reggae.
Coming at it the other way, no real surprise that no reggae bands did a punk song though Bob Marley recorded Punky Reggae Party name-checking various bands of the time (though allegedly missing out The Slits when he found out they were women) and Bad Brains were a US hardcore black punk band who incorporated reggae into their songs.
It’s a punky reggae party
And it’s tonight
It’s a punky reggae party
And it’s alright
What did you say?
Rejected by society
Treated with impunity
Protected by my dignity
I search for reality
New wave, new craze (Punky punky punk)
New wave, new wave, new phrase (Punky punky punk)
I’m saying
The Wailers will be there
The Damned, The Jam, The Clash
Maytals will be there
Dr. Feelgood too
Yes it’s a remix but the footage is fantastic with Marley and producer Lee Scratch Perry!
Prizes for serious white boy reggae prior to the Two Tone revival must go to The Ruts who really did capture the space and power of reggae and weld it to a punk anger (whatever that means).
So for your delectation here’s a brief guide to reggae and some of its essential sounds courtesy of my old pal Peter Redmond (where the hell are you – get in touch!). If you’re looking for more I would suggest two books to further your knowledge as it’s a wide and deep subject- A Rough Guide To Reggae – Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton and Bass Culture, When Reggae Was King – Lloyd Bradley
There’s also a gazillion videos on YouTube and music over Spotify or whatever is your preferred platform – you have no excuse!
Roots Rock Reggae – Inside the Jamaican Music Scene (1977)
JUNIOR MURVIN – POLICE AND THIEVES
A song that has the power to make grown men cry, but perhaps the most accessible because of its connections. Features in the film ‘Rockers’ and covered by The Clash. Junior started out doing Curtis Mayfield covers under the name of Junior Soul, before trying his own songs in collaboration with a certain Mr. Lee Perry at his legendary Black Ark studio (later burned down by Perry in a fit of weed-induced pique) who also produced…..
THE CONGOS – THE HEART OF THE CONGOS
Cedric Myton and Roy ‘Ashanti’ Johnston boarded the Black Ark in 1976 to record one of the most potent collections of Rastafari mysticism ever to be committed to vinyl. Check out Row Fisherman, Row if you don’t believe me. Perry’s wayward genius elevated this set from the spiritual to the transcendental, but, like most JA producers, he had his fingers in many patties……
LEE PERRY IN HIS OWN RIGHT
Perry has made thousands of recordings, both under his own name and, like many reggae artistes, a variety of aliases. However, his solo output needs treating with caution. Reggae is a notoriously documentation-free environment, with such arcane notions as copyright barely getting a look-in.
The usual trick is to credit a covered song as ‘adapted’ to avoid paying copyright fees, and conflicting accounts of who recorded what, where, with and for whom. Therefore the market is flooded with dubious quality recordings claiming to be by Perry, while his real connection is that he walked past the studio; once.
For the uninitiated, the best way to approach Lee Perry/Scratch/The Upsetter is to check out Super Ape, a set from 1976, or track down a copy of Arkology, a box-set from 3 years back which, while exhaustive, contains my own Perry fave Words, by Perry and Anthony ‘Sangie’ Davis. Until you know you like the taste, best to avoid his late 80’s/90’s work, from what I call his ‘Permanent Red-Eye’ period. However, 2019’s Heavy Rain is a must!
As a producer, his mark is everywhere from The Clash (Complete Control) to Junior Murvin to Max Romeo and The Congos and beyond.
COUNT OSSIE
If your tastes draw you more towards the millennial and militant world of Rastafari then Count Ossie is a must-have. Although people will argue, he was the first to introduce the techniques of Rasta drumming, based on African patterns, to reggae, with his work on the Folkes Brothers tune Oh Carolina in the early 60s.
He later formed a band in his own right – The Mystical Revelation Of Rastafari, and held regular sessions – ‘Grounations’ – in the hills. By far the hardest set released was the triple-LP Grounation, but perhaps a better introduction is his 1975 set Tales Of Mozambique.
STEEL PULSE
“A blast from the past, Handsworth Revolution resurrects the spirit of the time; Rock Against Racism marches, Anti Nazi League protests all rounded up with a party of punks, dreads and like minded people in unison! Enough nostalgia, Steel Pulse’s Handsworth Revolution has stood the test of time; smooth vocals over original dub bass representing the struggle of that era all contribute to an album which should be hailed as a reggae classic.”
Birmingham’s Steel Pulse provided us with the only truly great British reggae album of the last 30 years in 1978’s Handsworth Revolution. Seven great reggae musicians from all over north Birmingham, ie, Lozells, Handsworth and Handsworth Wood, got together to create an unforgettable sound that is true to the roots of Jamaican reggae. Amazon reviews Minister of Dub & Crishyams
PRINCE FAR-I – THE VOICE OF THUNDER
No overview of reggae, however brief, would be complete without a mention of Prince Far-I. Another ghetto youth from Spanishtown, he, like everyone else, served a long musical apprenticeship under the name King Cry Cry, and chatting on the El Toro sound-system before forming his own Cry Tuff label in 1979.
Blessed with a voice like God clearing his throat, the Prince laid down the law on such gems as ‘Under Heavy Manners’, ‘Shuffle And Deal’, ‘Battle of Armagideon’ and the Biblically themed LP ‘Psalms Far-I’. Sadly the Prince fell victim to the political violence that was rife in Jamaica in the late 70s and early 80s, being shot dead in 1983.
AUGUSTUS PABLO
Now for two reggae masters with slightly unorthodox approaches. The late Augustus Pablo (born Horace Swaby) was a master of the melodica, which he played with haunting beauty on countless tracks. Like many others, his recorded legacy is a hit and miss affair, records issued with his name on often having little or no connection with the man. The best set to find is ‘East of The River Nile’.
Yabby U (Vivian Jackson)
On the other hand, while on first impressions a Rasta singer, Yabby billed himself as the ‘Jesus Dread’, blending apocalyptic imagery and roots stylings on such tracks as Deliver Me From My Enemies, Conquering Lion, and Run, Come Rally.
IF DEEJAY WAS YOUR TRADE’ – FUN TIME
The mainstay of Jamaican music was, and is, the sound-system, a mobile collection of speakers, hangers-on and red-stripe. Systems would include a ‘selecter’, who chose the tunes to play, an engineer, to fiddle around with the sound while playing, and an MC, or deejay, who would add live vocals. Systems generally thrived on the cut-throat business of dub-plates, acetates of a spanking new rhythm, and the deejay would freestyle over the top. Systems would meet in Soundclashes to establish a pecking-order, and these would often degenerate into bloody mayhem and it was the deejay’s task to judge the mood of the crowd and chat accordingly. Most deejays went on to cut many, many records, some to operate their own studios and have their own labels. Here, as ever, we confront the problem of who, what and where.
DJs often named themselves after characters from popular Hollywood films, usually gangster pics or westerns. Thus we have; Clint Eastwood, Lee Van Clef, Dillinger, Dennis Alcapone and Little Caesar. There are far too many good DJs to check, but here’s a few whose recordings I’d recommend; I-Roy/U-Roy/Jah Stitch/Jah Woosh/Prince Jazzbo/Big Joe/King Stitt and Tapper Zukie. Anyway……
BIG YOUTH
Born Manley Augustus Buchanan in 1949, he got his nick-name while working as a mechanic, before joining up with the Lord Tippertone Hi-Fi sound system in 1971. Throughout the 1970’s, on a string of labels (including his own Negus Nagast label), he released a steady stream of free-association genius. Tracks would switch from scathing social comment to nursery-rhyme parodies, seeming gibberish to hymns to His Imperial Majesty, all in the space of 2 ½ minutes. Among his best tracks are ‘Natty Universal Dread’, ‘Hot Cross Bun’, and ‘Every Nigger Is A Star’.
My personal favourite is Lightning Flash (Weak Heart Drop) which was one of the names that The Clash were almost going to be called – The Weak HeartDrops
MIKEY DREAD
Best known for his work with the Clash, Michael Campbell, the ‘Dread At The Controls’ was a well-known Kingston face with his own radio show. Again, he recorded so much, under so many different names that it’s hard to keep track of his output. The set to check is ‘African Anthem’ a mind-boggling collection of chants, sound-effects and radio jingles (one of which was sampled by the Orb)
DOCTOR ALIMANTADO
Another ludicrously prolific artiste, the good doctor was, and is, a master of the absurd. Track down ‘Best Dressed Chicken In Town’ and you’ll see what I mean. It includes the lunatic saga ‘I Killed The Barber’, concerning a fictional war between barbers and dreadlocks (these kind of singles would start off a whole slew of ‘answer’ singles on the same subject, records often degenerating into slanging matches between rival systems and DJs) and his boxing anthem, ‘I Am The Greatest Says Muhammad Ali.’
His song ‘Born For A Purpose’ was Johnny Rotten’s goto song post being beaten up in 1977 to help salve his wounds. Doctor A now resides in The Gambia, reissues his own material, and is a thoroughly nice man.
TAPPER ZUKIE
Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye were big fans and invited him as support their UK tour in the late seventies. Sent from Jamaica by his parents to avoid him being involved with gangs singing as his route out. Picks Man Ah Warrior, MPLA and the 1978 Jamaican chart smash Oh Lord/First Street rock.
How about this fantastic remix of Man A Warrior to finish with!
In Jamaican music, the producer was king. Names such as Joe Gibbs, Duke Reid, Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd and King Tubby ruled the roost, controlling every aspect of production, and always surrounded by a mob of ghetto youths hungry for the big time. Their engineers too were all-powerful, stamping their individual sounds firmly on the public’s consciousness. From the beginning the business flourished on dubplates – vocal-free acetates of rhythms, and tunes were often released with a ‘version’, a stripped-down mix of the rhythm track.
It wasn’t long before the studios saw a lucrative marketplace for whole LPs of such rhythms, played by session bands such as the Roots Radics and Revolutionaries, and augmented by the engineer’s studio wizardry. It’s a debate as to who first released a complete dub set, the two main contenders being the Skin, Flesh and Bones in Dub LP, and Aquarius Dub, produced by Herman Chin-Loy.
Beware though, dub, like so much reggae is a minefield, and it’s often not much that separates an inspired set from some pedestrian plodding. Until you know the genre, it’s safest and wisest to stick with a few names; King Tubby/Scientist/Prince Jammy/Peter Chemist and most material by either the Roots Radics or Revolutionaries.
Luckily with Spotify you can explore and enjoy to your hearts content!
TalkPunk
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