How did you first get into reggae music?

[bertsm]

For me , dub played a big role in my eventual acceptance of reggae.
Negrea Love Dub together with Scientist In The Kingdom Of Dub ,LKJ In Dub(vol1) and Dangerous Dub ,fall into a set I call "The Genesis" .Those were the first dub lps I was introduced to by one Martin Mureyani a young working man from my neighbourhood.Growing up in Zimbabwe after the 1980 independence , reggae had made its mark and one would hear it all over the place.I would like to think the performance of Bob Marley at my home country's independence celebrations at Rufaro Stadium had a hand in it.By the way , Rufaro is a Shona word meaning "happiness" or "joy" .
My mom didn't know I was spending time at Martin place...assuming I was playing with other young boys from the neighbourhood. I remember just getting so fascinated and amused by this music that seemed so different from anything I had heard before.I was 12/13 that time.This was around 1986/1987.It got to a point where I just could not wait for the weekend to come so I could hang out at Martin's place to hear more dub.From Saturday mornings till Sunday evenings , those 4 pieces of acetate would make countless appearances on Martin's turntable and I was there the whole time.I remember him showing me the government health warning on the back of the Dangerous Dub sleeve and me being young and unassuming,I I really believed what it said.I still do.Look at me , I'm testimony to the truth in that warning!
Just looking at the sleeve designs of the four lps was an exceedingly pleasurable experience and to this day sleeve design is something I appreciate very much on any vinyl I get my hands on.I mean what could come close to that simple and yet dense picture on the front sleeve of Scientist In The Kingdom of Dub lp? Or the heavy and very meaningful red text floating in black background on the Dangerous dub lp (the one on the Copasetic label)?
I was so happy that, finally ,some people out there in JA had had the sense to make music that I so fabulously loved.I even used to worry about what "the word would become" when those special musicians gave up the ghost. I guess my fear was the death of reggae.That fear has lived with me ever since then.
I had heard some reggae before and in fact had the Rock'n'Groove 7 inch that I used to spin on our home turntable whenever mom gave me the go ahead .The first time Martin lent me his Dangerous Dub lp, I remember the trip from his house to ours was the longest I had walked!The thought of seeing this amazing piece of work spinning on our home turntable and the music truly coming out of our home hifi...my my my, I just couldn't wait.
When I eventually got to playing it , one of my aunts who used to live with us made a funny comment about how the music sound like it was "stuck like the record was scratched" .I couldn't understand how "she didn't get it" .I guess it was the thumping of those repetitive bass-lines...with Flabba Holt doing his thing.

In a nutshell thats how I came to be introduced to dub and thus reggae.
The only sad thing in all this is that the man who introduced me to this beautiful music, Martin, lost his mind and became mentally ill.I've never been able to solve the mystery of whether it was due to him locking himself in his house , smoking some herb and then listening to those dubs at full volume or perhaps Dangerous Dub was indeed dangerous in its hay days!You be the judges...

Hi, I think I was also introduced to Dub by this guy. I'm also from Zim, can we link up?

[aztecryan]

dennis brown do you know what it means to have a revolution and what it takes to make a solution.

[Herm-one]

Back when I was around 14-15 my friends would hang out smoke some herbs and chill. One day a friend started playing some barrington and eek a mouse mix tape. Wow I was very suprized ( there's more than bob marley ) the next day I went to a reggae record shop and I purchase a local dj's mix tape of some early dancehall, I've been hooked ever since.

[dan i]

It is all down to my dad. He had always bought records and went to gigs. During the 70s he started getting into this thing called reggae. He brought home The Harder They Come, Rockers and several Bob Marley LPs after seeing Bob at the Rainbow in London.

So after listening to these sounds since i was about 8 or so, when I went to my first Notting Hill Carnival in 1983, it all kind of made sense. What's more, my love of this music has never diminished.

[NINEMILES]

I First heard Reggae and Ska as a teenager, and a skinhead, about 1973 and that planted the seed. Years later in 1982 i moved to Gibraltar with my wife and family and each week listened to Rodigans Rockers on the BFBS FORCES radio and at the same time met a guy called George who was heavily into Reggae. Very quickly my yearning for Reggae came back with Dennis Brown , Black Uhuru, John Holt, the sadly missed Gregory Isaacs and it goes without saying our brother Robert Nesta Marley. I could go on and name hundreds more Alton Ellis, Horace Andy, Jcob Miller......blah blah blah(see I just cant stop !)
Check out Alton Ellis's "This love on top" on You Tube it just blows you way.
Love and Peace

[Mystikal Gong]

It was about '80/'81 when my eldest brother decided that he's no longer going to play reggae and gave me his tapes of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Toots, Culture, Misty In Roots & many more. It wasn't difficult to adapt as i have been listening to it while he was playing it.
My peers thought I was crazy as it was hell to play reggae music in the volitile political situation we were living in at that moment and my parents were very much concerned about the message as they thought it would corrupt me and lead me into politics. But now i sit down and look at the past (bravely) and feel very much wise as i am now the one teaching my peers & the youth about the message i gained from playing and listening to dis music.

JAH GUIDE.

[NINEMILES]

Now THAT is track !! If Dennis Emmanual Brown doesnt do it for you then you never gonna like Reggae

[RootsRockReggae]

I got in to reggae quite young, but it didn't become my favourite and most prominent genre until the last few years.

My dad used to play Reggae every night (or very often) when I was young, so since I was born I was hearing the beats of Reggae. I used to sit downstairs and listen to it with him, I have always played it, just because I grew up with it and because of that I have been favorably disposed to Reggae music. (I can't remember exactly what he used to play, I can remember the Black Uhuru - Liberation box set being played a lot along with Big Youth and Bob Marley but my memory isn't great.)

But only in the last few years did I become such an avid fan of it, I went through a few years of other genres but now Reggae is the only genre for me, I play it everyday.

[babaluma1]

I bought a bass guitar to be in a band. I found most rock bass lines rather boring so looking to learn new stuff I started listening to funk. Gradually my interest in bass driven music led to dub as I liked that the bass was so prominent in the mix and easy to learn from. I had a few cheapo King Tubby cds but really a casual interest in the music. When I moved to university I shared a student flat with a skin head who had a massive reggae collection. He played it all the time and at first I didn't like it much but then gradually got into certain albums. When I left college and moved to London I started buying some vinyl and remembered some of the albums I liked that were played in the flat so got them from Honest Jon's in Portobello Road. Even so I was led in other musical directions for a few years playing in rock bands before suddenly waking up to dub again. I think learning a bit about the production technique behind dub mixes let me understand fully what it was all about and then I was hooked.