Roots Archives Forum

I think we have to be very careful 'Blaming' Sly for anything. Wether you like post Revolutionaries material or not he and Robbie remain true legends of of Roots, Reggae whatever. To hear people say thank god the Roots Radics turned up, i fully understand. It should be remembered though, you simply would not have had the Radics' sound without the foundations laid by Sly And Robbie. It's fact and happens in every genre.

Respect to Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare

I don't blame Sly for using what was new technology at the time. Experimentation has always been a part of Jamaican music..what if producers and dubmasters didn't try out new technology in the 70s (8, 16, 24 track recorders)?..besides he's done far more excellent work than mediocre.

I believe that Style Scott perfected the art of reggae drumming, but it couldn't have been done without Sly's influence and prior work with the Aggrovators/Revolutionaries.

King G and Papa Ahmz have made valid points.

Sly WAS the sound reggae drumming in the 70s for me, and probably most readers here.

And some tracks were actually enhanced by synth drums, Black Uhuru stuff is a case in point, it's a great sound.

Style Scott simplified reggae drumming a lot again. Luckily he had Scientist to make the drums interesting.

One song that is ruined for me by the syndrums is the Wailing SOuls 'Lawless Society" on that Pressure Sounds Well Charge comp. A better version of the song can be found on the album 'Wailing Souls at Channel One".

Scientist did indeed make drum sound interesting.

ie: Side 2 Track 2, on Space Invaders! Gwaaaan!

yeah that's a great dub of Sammy Dread's "Follow Fashion"

I think synth drums when used sparingly can work. Look at some of the uses Sly showcased on those early 80s Black Uhuru productions. Not to mention Taxi releases such as Ini Kamoze. But by far its King Jammy who is mainly responsible for the Digital era. I may be a little biased since this was my first exposure to Reggae/Dub/Dancehall in the late 80s, but I LIKE the synth! just as much as I like my analog roots.

Hi darewon

I think you may have hit the nail on the head there as I started listening to reggae in the early to mid-70s.

Too bad you guys do not appreciate the experimental approach of Sly Dunbar. That's the fun of jamaican music, it never stands still. I love the syndrums of eg Half Pints "Greetings". There are enough great tracks made by Taxigang after 1980 (e.g Ini Kamoze's Debut, Black Uhuru's Showcase album, etc...). Of course it goes the wrong way many times (e.g. overdub on twinkle brothers album Countrymen). However without experimenting new studio technologies we would not have had King Tubby's versions, disco mixes, Sleng Teng,... or Sizzla's Black Mother and Child album (contains some wicked sly dunbar rhytms as well...).