who knows this band once based in bristol uk

[Brendan]

Hi Pete - this sure is a small world...
I will review the track listing for the cd and pass it on. I'm sure I put it on the original, but James probably lost it.

[fadel diagne]

hi to all of you guys mostly brendan whitmore and bwoyrough.how the world is small.i am presently sitting here in senegal west africa with friends of mine who made me discover 17 years ago talisman through probably the album which i didn't know was called"takin the strain".i have been asking my paris-based friends about this group which name didn't seem to ring a bell in anybody;until i asked roger steffens of the beat(my good friend) about this band.then he sent me a copy of your single DOLE AGE/FREE SPEECH.but i still kept on searching and asking my friends about it until somebody gave me the cassette of"taking the strain"still untitled with no info in support.there is approximately nothing i know about theis band except what i learned about the internet.
brendan,let me tell truly and earnestly,the short -lived talisman is really one of the unsung heroes of the british reggar scene and i call the blessing of god upon the spirit and the memory of people like john peel,who did their utmost through relentless efforts and visionnary approach in trying to scout and promote talents when most of the great majors or mainstream record companies where looking down on their nose to reggae music.your band has been alongside the once santa-cruz based and short-lived"rastafarians" with their seminal"orthodox" produced in 1981,one of the reggae bands which struck me the most.
how have you been doing?is the band still in activity.how many lps(if any after the takin this strain lp)have you released.is there any footage or visual document after one of your live performances.i need to more about talisman which lyrics like"takin the strain"and "calamity"i think really thought-provoking.
i will straight away check this site and would like to settle a regular correspondence woth you.
thank you to you brendan and bwoyrough,mainly.you made my day this morning
p.s:i need to know the lyrics for the"takinthe strain"lp.and have a cd of it if possible
jah bless
fadel

[fadel diagne]

thank you very much brendan for writing in this forum eand enlighten us abou your former group's activities.
please free to write to me at:silverlining72@hotmail.com
fadel

[fadel diagne]

hi brendan
do you still have WICKED DEM/RUN COME GIRL single
what should i do to have all these recordings you mentioned;it would be a blessing for me for iam also guesting and having as a group of friends reggae programs hosts who are from a much younger generation than me and who don't know much about reggae's evolution unless they deal with the likes of sizzla bushmen,luciano and gentleman who are absolutely nothing compared to the vintage artists
kindest regards
fadel

[Brendan]

Hi Fadel,
Thanks for the messages. I will try and answer some of your questions. Talisman are no longer in existence. I left in 1982, and I think they continued for about 2 years after. I put the cd together as a present for the Bassman for his birthday a few years back, and have been asked for a few copies since. I will send you one shortly. I have recently been talking to some of the ex members about putting together a site to remember Talisman, because I'm surprised that almost 25 years on, people are still talking about us. I have some extracts from TV shows which I am planning to transfer to DVD. One show I don't have a copy of - you will have to ask Roger for this - is a programme we recorded for BBC2 called Something Else - which featured Talisman and The Beat. If you have been to my site you will see that I have been seduced by African music, so one day I hope to visit Africa. I will contact you directly to get an address for the CD.
Regards
Brendan
In case you miss the sax, that was me playing Harmonica on Run Come Girl

[bwoyrough]

Hi Fadel/Brendan, nice to see that this website gets to you in Africa Fadel, and also nice to see u still loving Talismans music, every now and then every year i see a post on the band come up on various reggae forums, and see someone asking about them, thats how i got to hear of them, and amazingly found out by brother worked with Brendan! Small world, True. by the way Brendan i just spoke to my brother and he has given me the track listing to the cds, he forgot to give it me when he did the cd for me, so i'm ok for the tracks, thanks. It's nice to see u are still in a band playing sax, my brother was just telling me how good your band baraka is, be nice to see u live sometime, let me know if u ever get up North Wales area, the jazz and roots club, Shrewsbury(AKA The Buttermarket) are always a good place to play. You mentioned that u have some video footage of your band, i'd be extremely interested to get hold of a copy of any old footage u have. I'm a huge collector of Jamaican/Reggae/Rasta related films/footage etc. and i'm always looking to add to my collection, i've not heard about that BBC2 program u where on, but i do remeber hearing about a program that they did with the beat, so probably same show. I'm in the process of making a database of all reggae/JA/Rasta related tv shows+documentaries ever made so is always nice to hear about new shows. If u manage to compile that dvd please let me know, have plenty to trade!
So can you give us a discography of all talismans releases? or is that gonna be difficult? i don't know much about your band or how long u where going for etc. I managed to pick up a few bits on vinyl last year, had a few scratches on one side tho. Would be interested in getting any other releases. So is "The one That Got Away" an official album or is this your own compilation?
Also can u tell us anything about what the other band members are doing now? Did u have any links to the band called Prewax?

Thanks,

Pete

[fadel diagne]

hi brendan and pete bwoyrough
always nice to hear about you guys.iam all the more excited that it's a former band member and a fan like me who are sharing these conversations.
iam very eager to receive these cds and info about talisman;hum hearing a concert by talisman already drives me crazy.iam sure that roger steffens doesn't have it,otherwise he would have already given it to me.iam sure he had a hard time trying to find out this single DOLE AGE/FREE SPEECH in his archives.the only documentary i have from tthe bbc is the one on four episods narrated by mikey dread which tells about the story of jamaica,rasta and reggae since slavery up to 1982.the name is "deep roots"other than that the only stuff i have is aswad/chalice/steel pulse at the rock palast between 1979 and 1984.i would be very glad brendan to have either a dvd or vhs of these footage.yes i agree that awebsite or an occasional reunion and tour of the band would also be a great idea the more so as the rvival of vintage reggae is at the order of the day today.i have never so far listen to the other single BUN DEM/RUN COME GIRL.is "takin the strain the only lp to date.so pete what other dvd have you got on vintage reggae.i also have the dennis brown live at montreux 1979 and black uhuru at the rock palast in october of 1981.
so brendan you are a fan of african music as iam from south african(hugh masekela,myriam makeba,lady smith black manbazo)nigerian(fele,king ebenezer obey,king sunny ade)to senegalese baobab,xalam who recorde a very good album in 1982 at the ridge farm studios in london called"goree"named after the important slave transit center and the super eagles of banjul the gambia.
your group's name "baraka" is not that much of a well known name here and i would be very glad to discover them.where are you both writing from?the usa
thank you for your thoughfulness and your willingness to answer to me.long live music lovers
fadel

[mikeydread1]

So I get the feeling I made a good pickup by spending 40 dollars for Takin The Strain on LP. Can anyone confirm this? Is this album good? Thanks

[fadel diagne]

hi mickeydread
how are you?indeed i have come exposed to the music of talisman by listening to this lp that i did not know much about.i would be very glad to have info as to the label which produced it.it's a hell of a good lp with terrible snare drum rolls and soul stirring horn section arrangement mainly on the title track,"crime of passion""majestic stride"or something of the kind.i think there are about 7 tracks(anyway)that is what i listened to on the lp.but a truly great lp but don't have any detail about it.the song"calamity"is driving me crazy but i have it on a poor quality tape
fadel

[MIKEYDREAD619]

i'm good fadel, and u? I believe the label that produced this album is called EMBRYO. I am excited about receiving this album now! thanks guys