Roots Archives Forum

Following on from Leggo`s "Coxsone" thread, whether he was good or bad for reggae and whether reggae would be where its is without Studio One.

I was thinking would Ska have developed in the 60`s without the influence on rhythm and Blues of the 50`s and early 60`s. Would we have had Rocksteady and its abundance of fantastic riddims without Ska, would we have had Studio One without Rocksteady. Early Reggay without Studio One and so on.

However, would we have had any of these musical styles if it were not for the Jamaican people themselves. Jamaican people demanded and expected something new from their music, something that was stictly Jamaican and that the Jamaican people could relate too and call their own.

Right from the early sound sytems of Tom the Great Sebastian through to the present day it was the sound systems that could satisfy the demands of the average Jamaican ghetto dweller by playing the newest, heaviest, rarest and most obscure music that carried the swing on the lawns and got the following of the crowds.

Without the Jamaican people constant expectations to hear something new I am not sure the music would have developed in such a unique and satisfying way It was the people and not any one Studio, producer, artist or label that did more for the development of Jamaican music through the years.

Of course it needed the music makers to satisfy this thirst and I think they all did a pretty good job of achieving this goal and putting Jamaica and Reggae music on the worlds musical map.

Dave

Wow Dave i man agree with you.
And the music is still going strong.
It's the sound of young Jamaica.(60/70 and tomorrow)



THE MUSIC NEVER GROW OLD

Lion

Big up Jamaica and give thanks for what they have given us.

whats even more interesting is how the music and the message
remain fresh and up to date to this day. sometimes it almost seems as though it was made for the masses of today, almost like they planned it that way

I agree Greg.

The message of peace, love and unity is a timeless one.

In fact, the more time marches on, the more relevant the reggae message seems to get.

"Throw away your gun and let us deal with fun"

very true rootsman

i also like to think of the link of dub and techno and the link of early dj chatters to hip hop.The amount of urban music Jamaica is directly linked to is amazing.

True dat. I call it timeless music. Reggae has a universal message which is relevant through the decades.
Many tunes sound fresh as recorded yesterday although they are 30 years old. What is the secret behind this music?
When I listen to the song "Washing I dread By The River" it seems like a time machine brings me back to when I was 15. Same with Exodus album.

I am always banging on to the youths about this. ABout how reggae founded most of the music they listen to, or at least the 'underground' music.

'Dance' Music, or house, garage etc. It all comes direct from reggae. The style, the versions, the constructions, the dominance of the bass beat - all its roots are in reggae.

Then rap and Hip Hop. It's a bastardization of DJ toasting. Just a very poor second class copy in my opinion.

Sadly, too few modern musical styles take enough influence from reggae's message of peace, love and unity. Instead it gets deep into today's 'I want' groove.

"When will people want to give, rather than just to take?"

I wouldn't say that all electronic music comes from reggae - there's also the influence of 80s experimental electronica, new-order-style synthpop and punk-funk evolving into acid house and early dance music - though you might argue that those styles would never have emerged without dub, digital sounds etc, and certainly there was a lot of cross-pollination in the 80s between reggae and postpunk - but more, I'd think, on the non-electronic side of things.

Also, I'm not too sure whether we can generalise about 'reggae' having a message of peace, love and unity - a lot of it does, but Rasta can also be a very exclusive and prejudiced mentality, and while I certainly enjoy the concept of Babylon burning - one of the things I like about roots reggae is the way it mixes a peaceful vibe with a real oppositional militancy - I wouldn't think of it as an attitude of peace and love either.

The reggae connection to rap and hip hop (as well as dancehall) is interesting culturally (particularly in terms of co-opting the original message - but this is the nature of capitalism), but I share your frustration with not having much time for those genres which emerged from roots and are now intertwined with it culturally...

I think the militant stance fits in well with the message of peace and love. Because this militancy isn't about going to war to gain power, wealth, land or colonies. It's about going to war to stop oppression and to free the people from the despots. I personally see nothing wrong with fighting for your rights - even literally.

It's a popular misconception that Buddhists and Hindus won't fight back due to the non-violent and anti-killing stance of their faiths. Tell that to ancient Indian Kings like The Pandavas from the Mahabharata who were very willing to go to war and die in order to fight injustice in 3000BC. or to Porus who fought with Alexander the (so called) Great to keep India free from the first colonial Europeans. Or, for Buddhists, a Shaolin priest!

The idea is not to cause war or violence but to be perfectly ready and able to react to violence against yourself or the weak and to fight injustice and oppression with direct action.

I feel this applies to Rasta also. Rasta isn't about war but it IS about not sitting around and letting Babylon oppress I without taking action. Maybe that's why they killed Peter Tosh, because of his direct action style of militancy.

Big Up the Rebel Rockers!