ranking dread

[chemmy]

just wanted to start a thread of appreciation for, in my opinion, the greatest reggae dj there has been. listen to the lp 'lots of loving' and you'll see. 'my mammy' has to be one of the sweetest, most touching songs ever recorded... though it is kind of creepy when you know his backstory... how could someone that violent record such a nice song? anyway, give it up for ranking dread!

[kalcidis]

Yes, Ranking Dread is in my opinion truly one the best deejays. Very high quality output. I love his melodic style (highly influenced by Ranking Trevor I'd say) with great lyrics delivered with his on point phrasing.

Lots of Loving is in my opinion the best deejay album ever released. It is a very complete album ranking from rub-a-dub to lovers to hard cultural steppers.

Check the discography I've done here;
http://www.reggaepedia.net/iamthegorgon ... kingdread/

[mr mountain]

very nice discography.
Ranking Dread, wicked!!!

[robe619]

Categorizing him as "the best DJ" is hard to justify IMO. There are greater DJs who have been greater influences (Alcapone, Ranger, Yellowman, Brigadier). He recorded some good tracks. But to be a truly great DJ, his (or her) live soundsystem output must also be considered.

[I-Defenda]

Greetings one and all,

Ranking Dread is surely one of my favourite dj/vocalists ... a very talented brother, who did great works.

I don't know anything about his background, or about Ranking Dread being a violent man. Can you share some more info about Ranking Dread his life and career, Chemmy?


One Love and Respect

[hot milk]

agreed, RD could tear up a track, and did so for a number of producers over the course of a 3-4 year period. but yes, he was a renown gangster that was not to be trifled with. his legacy of drug dealing/trafficking, and gun violence, in the UK is legendary.

[kalcidis]

robe619; From what I've understood Ranking Dread was a fantastic sound system deejay (I've only heard two different tapes and he was great on them).

With best I mean as the one I enjoy the most ... not the most influential or important deejay.

[chemmy]

here's a link to a report from the house of commons about a one mr. ranking dread:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/p ... ens-4.html

its about a third of the way down, column 181 under the title mr. errol codling.



and this is taken from a post in another forum about ranking dread, taken from a book called gangland britain:


With Seaga’s long run ended, the JLP gunmen found themselves not only targeted by death squads but also painfully short of funding. Dozens left the island and, once safely abroad, saw the burgeoning cannabis trade a way of financing their battles and putting the JLP back on top.

One of the first to make the break, and the virtual pioneer of Jamaican organized crime in Britain, was Robert Blackwood, also known as Bowyark and Rankin Dread he had been a notorious enforcer and the right-hand man of Claude Massop, a Don who ran the JLP ‘garrison’ in the Rema district until he was killed by the police in mysterious circumstances.
Bowyark’s name had been linked to the murder of at least 29 PNP and drug dealing rivals and a further 4 policemen, but bringing him to justice proved problematic. By the time one of the cop killings came to trial, three of the witnesses had been murdered and a fourth had ‘lost his memory’. The charges were dropped.
After massop’s death, bowyark assumed control of rema but, after being involved in a shootout with 2 police officers, decided to jump bail and ‘go foreign’, obtaining a false passport and fleeing to London under the name of errol codling in 1978.
An attempt to extradite him from Britain in 1979 failed and he settled into his new life. His 6 fake passports recorded a host of travels – Miami, new york, Bristol, Sheffield, Birmingham and Dublin – cities where he would set up drug dealsand distribution networks, staffing his outfit with trusted friends from back home.
In London, Bowyark based himself at darneth road in Stamford hill, though he also had addresses in Brixton and Stoke Newington. Describing himself as a musician/record producer, he set about making his name, first legitimately, cutting a record, ‘hey fatty boom boom’, which reached the top ten in 1980.
‘I was famous. I had the Mercedes. I had flashy jewellery and clothes. I had it all. And there were always girls. Sometimes I had a different girl every night,’ he said later
but bowyark’s heart wasn’t in the musicbusiness. From a base in hackney, north London, he slowly started to build a new criminal empire. He opened a drinking club, ran a string of prostitutes, dabbled in counterfeit currency, and funded a series of cannabis shipments to both Britain and America through a number of armed robberies.
Along the way he also picked up two rape charges – later dropped when the victims refused to testify – and ten children from eight different women. But he never lost sight of his main goal – financing the JLP’s struggle – and did so in single minded fashion.
Considering that there were only around 20 men like bowyark in the country, their activities had an astounding impact on the british drug scene. Between 1974 an 1978, the amount of herbal cannabis seized in the countryaveraged around 2500 kg each year. In 1979, the amount more than doubled to 6445. in 1980 it increased threefold to 18419.
Custom officials agree that most, if ot all of this growth can be attributed to Jamaican trafficking operations in london and Birmingham.



saying all of that i still have the opinion that he is the greatest deejay. his soundsystem work was supposedly legendary and his records are second to none. 'kunte kinte roots' and 'girls fiesta' really deserve a reissue.

[digitalJ]

And his "Jah Walk Through Galilee" off the Art and Craft EP is a killa

Chemmy , you know that "my mammy' is also on a 12?

[ital kemar]

@kalcidis.
thanks for discography. i have the stand firm version of lots of loving. just a plain sleeve. was there a proper sleeve with this release? or is it the one to the left of the label on the discog page??? thanks.

ital kemar