Coxsone Dodd - Was he good or bad for reggae music?

[Guest]

Coxsone was the best ting happen to reggae.

[Ites]

valid question, leggo. i think he's both, good and bad. he provided an outlet for a lot of people who, possibly, wouldn't have been recording stars if it wasn't for him, but businesswise he was a disgrace. a vampire, and really taking advantage of poor people and sucking them dry of material

[leggo rocker]

Thanks Ites for bringing some sensible input to this discussion.

[Rootsman]

From reading many books and artist interviews it appears to me that Mr Coxsone Dodd was very good a bringing youths into the Studio and recording them and getting them started in the music business.

However, he then proceeded to rip them off left, right and centre and they all invariably left his studio to record elsewhere for oher producers for better pay.

I think he was just a exploitative busines man who had a reasonable ear for the good music. Or should I say the finished product, as I also read that oit was the likes og Leroy Sibbles and Jackie Mittoo that ran much of the recording sessions as Coxsone Dodd was often missing from the studio.

But then was he really any worse than many of the other producers.

Dave

[Roddy]

I Personally think he was a blessing for reggae music, if it were not for his studio not alot of artist would have their music out early in the beginning. They could have gone to Duke Reids Place and record but security was not a factor there. An Artist like Sugar Minott who said he did love everything about Studio one with the Exception of getting paid, however should all the artist, producers and bands who revised his riddims in the 80's till now need to pay his family for all their hits they used???

I believe he stopped producing much when the Studio got big. I personally he was a blessing to this music than a rip-off producer eg JUNJO (don't get me started with him)

[daCENSOREDone]

businesswise he was a disgrace. a vampire, and really taking advantage of poor people and sucking them dry of material

could you please give some examples? or sources?
I'm very curious

[Jackie P]

, but businesswise he was a disgrace.

Disgrace?

Businesswise he was a total success.

**No one** I know ever gave a second thought about how Mr Dodd treated or mistreated anyone connected to his organization when buying music that was on his labels.

Coxsone's sub standard pressings made no difference to the attitude of these buyers either towards Mr. Dodd.

[leggo rocker]

...told you it would be a contentious thread...

[Rootsman]

Leggo,

You are now a moderator and as such I thought you were supposed to tell people off for posting "Contentious" threads, not posting them yourself

But it is a good thread that gets you thinking.

One question that does come to mind is that he was definately a wise business man who knew how to generate and make money. He had a Studio which was at the cutting edge in Jamaica at that time and releasing music that is still recycled today. Without Studio One would we have had a Channel One ?

But the truth is Coxsone Dodd was the money man and not the artistic force behind Studio One. Leroy Sibbles, Jackie Mittoo and the numerous other musicians who played the rhyhtms were Studio One. It was these guys who set up the equipment and strategically positioned the microphones in such away to generate the Studio One Sound.

Coxsone Dodd had a good ear for the finished product, he had the knack and ability to know what would and would not be a hit. He had the final say in what music got released.

of course, he could mix a bit and he was more involved studio wise on the Dub Specialist Dub albums. But then it is the quality of the rhythms that carry these and not his mixing ability.

Their is also this undisputable well documented fact that he did exploit his artists and rip them of financially. Infact in many cases the artist never got paid at all and was told in no uncertain terms where to go when they asked for their dues.

The worst aspect of this was that the people he was exploiting were the youths who were trying to sing their way out of the ghetto and make a life for themselves. All he managed to do was to put these kids back to where they were trying to escape whilst lining his own pockets.

Jamaica was (and still is) a third world county in terms of poverty, financial hardship and the general suffering this brought, surely people like Coxsone Dodd had a responsibility to put back into the community some of the rewards he was reaping.

But fact is, as Michael Prophet sang "The rich dont care for the poor no more" guess this was as true then as it is today.

dave

[James]

Been a long time since I last saw the movie, but in The Harder They Come, Ivan gets paid a flat $20 (JA) for what becomes a hit tune. Now I'm wondering who the producer in the movie was supposed to represent, or was the point to show something that all the producers were doing?

Hadn't thought of THTC in a long time, until I came across this thread. Always thought Ivan got shafted over that one. Never doubted that sort of thing was common practice.

From my own experiences in the music biz, it continues to be...