“Sweet Sensation”
by The Melodians
The “King” Kong Collection (1969)
MP3 no longer available for download
5.4 MB download; 3:36 running time
“Chant a Psalm”
by Steel Pulse
from True Democracy (1982)
MP3 no longer available for download
6.5 MB download; 4:22 running time
“Eye Market”
by Black Uhuru
from Chill Out (1982)
MP3 no longer available for download
7.2 MB download; 4:46 running time
It’s Memorial Day weekend, and that means summer is starting. Which means it’s time to break out the reggae music.
I don’t claim to know much about reggae, though as a drummer it has always fascinated me. Reggae drummers frequently use the kick drum like I would use the snare, build to a climax where I would want to cap it off with a big crash on “1” and then don’t play anything at all on that beat—lots of things that tend to turn my head inside out, and I like that a lot.
So, anyway, I don’t have a lot to say about these songs except that I love listening to them, especially in hot weather. I won’t post lyrics since I’d probably get them wrong. I don’t know much about the groups. Just listen if you want; and if you hate reggae (like Scotch, it’s an acquired taste), then give this one a miss and come back next time. Once again, these songs originally came from LP to cassette back in the mid-’80s. I digitized them in Pro Tools and used iTunes to encode the MP3s.
“Sweet Sensation” was a big hit for The Melodians in 1969, and years later UB40 covered the song in their Labour of Love album (an excellent CD, btw). I came by the song from an LP called The “King” Kong Collection, a rare find snagged back when I worked in a used record store. The album contains 16 primordial reggae numbers from 1968–70 by artists like Desmond Dekker, The Maytals, and the Pioneers, recorded under the direction of the legendary Leslie “King” Kong.
Steel Pulse is probably my favorite reggae band, and one of the best bands I’ve ever seen live. Although I am poles apart politically and religiously from singer/writer David Hinds, I can’t help but love the way he makes his point in music. “Chant a Psalm a Day” is from the True Democracy album, which came out in 1982. Great vocal interplay in this song, very African-sounding.
Finally, I just had to include a tune by Black Uhuru, a more adventurous and experimental reggae band. This album, like most of the stuff I have by them, was recorded at Compass Point, Nassau, and produced by the one of the best rhythm sections in any kind of music, Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare on bass. “Eye Market” is from their 1982 album Chill Out. Which I must say is excellent advice. Till next time….
In 1978 some buds and I got tickets to an unscheduled concert by the Rolling Stones (granted, not my favorite period for them). Mick was in town, hot on the trail of Jerry Hall who was visiting her parents. The whole thing happened over the period of less than a week from announcement to performance- I still have the tickets that name the headliner as 'The London Greenshoed Cowboys'. It was a shitty performance by Mick and the boys, but nonetheless had Nicky Hopkins on keyboards, and for an opening act- Peter Tosh. I'd never heard reggae before that, and his set was such a great experience for the whole crowd (3,000 fans at best) that Mick's half-assed showing was booed loudly by the crowd at large. Come to think of it, I remember Charlie Watts just started doing his signature 4-4 trancebeat without stopping until the end. The message wasn't lost on Mick, though, as Peter Tosh came back out for a couple of rousing encores and saved the day.
Oh man, Peter Tosh is great. Er, well, he was.... I've got several songs from him on the same compilation tape as this stuff came from.
What the hell happened to the size of the Comments window? (Sigh) another thing to fix. Tomorrow.
Oh yeah- I forget to ask what you think about Peter Murphy Deep? Deep Ocean Vast Sea is one of my favorites- although I shudder to think what the lyrics mean...
I like the Peter Murphy album a lot, though it's very much a 1989 album if that makes any sense.
As far as "Deep Ocean, Vast Sea" goes, as near as I can tell it seems to be about getting past the superficialities and having a real relationship with another person, and how difficult that is. It's a theme throughout the album, which makes sense given the title is Deep. I like that song a lot, though what made me buy the album was an MP3 of "Cuts You Up" that I ran into via the '80s music section of about.com.
The Patti Smith box set is great, btw, and the Continental Drifters are very cool as well.
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