France: the 5th nation of Reggae?

[vlad]

Did you know? The Fffffrench love reggae, and since decades. Be it the Jah Live or Celluloid label in the 80's, or Makasound last decade, or onlyroots now, they are probably the 5th nation that digs the music the most. I also noticed that they used to adore The Gladiators, and recall Back to Roots was produced by a Ffffrenchie. Also, the late & great Sir Jah Gainsbourg recorded these great tunes with Sly & Robbie in Kingston back then (good stuff, recommended)

Nr 1 must be Jamaica (ok, not certain anymore)
Nr 2 - or is it Nr 1 - must be England
Nr 3 - no doubt - is USA (from Florida to NYC, and some on the West Coast)
Nr 4 must be Japan, although perhaps France can holds that position

My criteria is based on traveling and/or living and/or working in all these places, visiting record stores, going to concerts etc., ie "experiencing" the music scene, so its not a scientific approach, but a gut feel.

A funny thing, is the Frrrrench found a way to have 2 websites dedicated to Reggae that have almost same content and same web address: reggae.fr and reggaefrance.com, and that their president is called...Hollande...

Sure, ital vital mixed with cheese and red wine is a stretch concept, but no more than sushi and dreadlocks. Rasta international.

[gbougard]

There is indeed a vibrant Reggae and Dancehall scene here. Sales are waaaaaay down, though. I used to be able to live off my TABOU1 label in the early 2000's. Not any more. But, hey, now that I have a non-music job, I can spend all that money producing Bitty McLean, Horace Andy, Gregory, Sly & Robbie records and not worry too much how I'm going to pay my bills.

[Congo Bunny]

Wouldn't Candna rank above USA as country that loves reggae?

[vlad]

Congo B

Yes, lets unite USA and Canada for spot Nr. 3, and call it North America

[vlad]

gboubard

Was wondering today why vinyl made any sense at all in 21st century. Am re-organizing my thousands of vinyl, mostly Jah music, and was thinking "what a mess". Also, spinning these records, putting them on and off the turntable - a Thorens 124, which I'm sure one day will cause issues, requiring fixing etc etc - back in their sleeves, in their place, is no longer that much fun now that years left decrease, and I want/need to focus on my children.

Modern music and reggae salvation today is not selling vinyl or CD, or even MP3 downloads - although thinking Gangnam style must have had a few million legal downloads - its in making HITS that turn people to see artists live, and click on YouTube etc etc

Reggae must and can come back with MONSTER hits delivered with surreal vibes and belief, like Bob Marley did. No one has cracked it yet, no one even near.

[pupafred]

hi mister bougard
thanks for your dynamite series...

[Siegi]

My analytics on YT with reggaesongs, list these countries as top viewers last year.

1. Brasil
2. UK
3. US
4. France
5. Spain

But these are nominal figures. If you would go for percentage of inhabitants Canada and Holland also would make a change.
But in Brasil reggae is big right now.

[Siegi]

dynamite series...was Aad van der Hoek aka Dr Buster or am I mistaken?

[diddleybop]

for vlad.
From what i have read recently Vinyl records make a lot of sense. The digital nature of storing music whether home burnt cd's or bought cd's is unclear. The life expectancy of digital media is unclear due to latency issues with the media, the fact that devices to play the format are changing constantly and the "cloud". I have a lot of vinyl that I cherish , Cd's and cassettes. the deterioration is starting to show on the cassettes.
On the plus side for vinyl is records are back in favor in ALL independent record stores.
also turntables will always be around.
Last but least....ah the needle drop..

[Survival]

On my website, analytics show the visitors coming from:

1. United States
2. United Kingdom
3. France
4. Brasil
5. Italy