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 +:"Wake the town and tell the people, 'bout this musical disc coming your way!"
 +
'''Reggae''' is a [[music genre]] developed in [[Jamaica]] in the late [[1960s]]. '''Reggae''' is a [[music genre]] developed in [[Jamaica]] in the late [[1960s]].
The term ''reggae'' is sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of [[Music of Jamaica|Jamaican music]], although the word specifically indicates a particular music style that originated after the development of [[ska]] and [[rocksteady]]. Reggae is based on a [[rhythm style]] characterized by regular chops on the [[Off-beat (music)|off-beat]], known as the ''skank''. The tempo is generally slower than that found in ska and rocksteady. Reggae is often associated with the [[Rastafari movement]], which influenced many prominent reggae musicians in the [[1970s]] and [[1980s]]. Reggae song lyrics deal with many subjects, including faith, love, relationships, [[poverty]], injustice and other broad social issues. The term ''reggae'' is sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of [[Music of Jamaica|Jamaican music]], although the word specifically indicates a particular music style that originated after the development of [[ska]] and [[rocksteady]]. Reggae is based on a [[rhythm style]] characterized by regular chops on the [[Off-beat (music)|off-beat]], known as the ''skank''. The tempo is generally slower than that found in ska and rocksteady. Reggae is often associated with the [[Rastafari movement]], which influenced many prominent reggae musicians in the [[1970s]] and [[1980s]]. Reggae song lyrics deal with many subjects, including faith, love, relationships, [[poverty]], injustice and other broad social issues.
 +
 +
 +== The canon ==
 +: King Tubby - Bob Marley - Lee Perry - Studio One
 +
 +
 +Related: black music - Channel One - dancehall - djs - dub - homophobia in reggae - Island records - Jamaica - lovers rock - marijuana - punk - rasta - r&b - remix - riddim - rocksteady - roots reggae - ska - sound system - Studio One - Trojan - version - Wackies -
 +
 +List of artists: Theo Beckford - Dennis Bovell - Sir Coxsone Dodd - The Clash - King Tubby - Bob Marley - Jackie Mittoo - Don Letts - Lee Perry - Roots Radics - Duke Reid - Sly & Robbie - Adrian Sherwood - Ernest Ranglin - Linval Thompson - Scientist
 +
 +Connoisseurs: David Katz - Steve Barrow - Colin Larkin
 +
 +
 +
 +== Sound ==
 +
 +Reggae is the only music that can successfully test any audio equipment -- Scientist
 +
 +== Etymology ==
 +
 +As far as Jamaican record-buyers are concerned, the word reggae was coined on a 1968 Pyramid dance single, "Do the Reggay (sic)," by Toots and the Maytals.
 +
 +== The American Influence ==
 +
 +There is an inescapable link between Jamaican reggae and US soul. Since the late 1950s, which saw ska born out of American R&B, the Jamaican reggae fraternity has always had a strong affiliation towards US soul, and later on, funk. --Chris King, amazon.co.uk
 +
 +== The European Influence ==
 +
 +
 +Reggae is a product of the union of West African rythms and European melody and harmony.
 +
 +== Dub ==
 +
 +In 1971 the first real dub recordings began to appear, with The Hippy Boys' "Voo Doo" - the version to Little Roy's "Hard Fighter", which was mixed by Lynford Anderson a.k.a. Andy Capp - now widely acknowledged to be the first recording in the genre. -- Teacher & Mr. T.
 +
 +== Riddims ==
 +
 +A rhythm, riddim in reggae vocabulary, is a rhythm pattern. It's basically a bassline and usually a special drumpattern is used with the bassline. Sometimes a short melody is associated with the riddim, but the main ingredient is the bassline. In other musical contexts it would be called a groove, and that pretty well sums up what it is about. Most riddims have originated from a hit tune, and usually the riddim has been given the name of that tune.
 +
 +== Ganja, marihuana ==
 +Herbal cannabis had always played a part in the medicinal and mystical rituals of ancient Africa and was probably well known to the slaves who worked the West Indian sugar plantations, but anthropologists contend that the herb didn't arrive in Jamaica until after slavery was abolished there in 1838, when it was brought by contract workers from the Indian sub-continent who were drafted in to fill the subsequent labour shortage. Certainly, the Jamaican term for herbal cannabis, 'ganja', is a Hindi word meaning 'sweet smelling', but also 'noisy'. Which is not a bad description of roots reggae.
 +
 +== Lee Perry ==
 +
 +The amount of work that Scratch has been involved with over a 35 year career is nothing short of staggering. Scratch's story is more or less the story of Jamaican music.
 +
 +== King Tubby ==
 +
 +
 +Today the remix and dub version are commonplace in popular music; less widely appreciated is the fact that these techniques were pioneered in a tiny studio a Kingston, Jamaica district called Waterhouse. That pioneer of dub was an electronics engineer and sound system operator named Osbourne Ruddock, but to the crowds who flocked to his dances, and the countless singers and record producers who utilised his skills, he was known as King Tubby. [...]
 +
 +
 +== DJs ==
 +
 +It is generally forgotten that the very first DJs were Jamaicans operating the mobile sound systems during the fifties and sixties. At that time, the DJ was the person talking live over the records, the 'selector' spinned a selection of American black dance music from the South and East of the United States. It was only when American radio started broadcasting rock 'n roll - a genre the Jamaicans liked less - that the Jamaicans started to produce their own music, ska in the early sixties, then rocksteady and by the end of the decade, reggae. DJ Kool Herc is credited with bringing this to the United States, when he left for New York in 1967, creating rap music in the process.
 +
 +== Reggae and disco ==
 +
 +
 +Play Getting Hot There is a link between reggae and disco that may not be that obvious, but which started when Kool Herc moved from Jamaica to New York and started to spin funk records in stead of his Jamaican hits. Later still, Larry Levan played an eclectic mix (including reggae) at the Paradise Garage. There is however, one decisive studio-moment where reggae and disco meet: The Padlock EP on Garage records, mixed by Larry Levan from original Island material by Sly and Robbie. "Seventh Heaven", "Peanut Butter", "Getting Hot", "Hop Scotch" are hybrid disco-reggae tracks played by Jamaican musicians, recorded at the Compass Point Studio with late Gwen Guthrie on vocals.
 +
 +== Reggae and postmodern practice==
 +There is no truth, there are only versions
 +
 +== Studio One ==
 +Studio One was one of the leading labels in Jamaican music industry. Its owner and founder Clement Seymour Dodd started producing music in late 1950s. Their tiny studio was located in 13 Brentford Road in Kingston. Many of Jamaica's leading artists have been part of Coxsone's musical family in some stage of their career, for example Bob Marley & The Wailers, Horace Andy, Bob Andy, Dennis Brown, Freddie McGregor, Lee Perry etc.
 +== Disco mixes ==
 +During the [late] seventies in Jamaica the 12" mix of popular songs came into fashion. As a result of the popularity of these 12" singles Coxsone Dodd compiled and released some "Showcase" albums.
 +
 +Always a hit factory, [Studio One] came close to completely dominating the Jamaican dance floor with the emergence of the long-playing 12-inch “discomix” in the [late] 1970s. Studio One capitalized on the extended discomix format, successfully recycling some of its best material from the 1960s. Older hits were updated simply by mixing in lengthy instrumental endings. The popularity of the discomix allowed the label to prolong its reign, even after its most creative period had passed. Because a discomix filled up an entire side of a [12"] record, a hit song had the power to keep competing records off the DJs turntable for a good long time.
 +
 +[Studio One produced about 50 12" mixes, Wackies about 50 too.]
 +
 +== Punk ==
 +:"Here comes Johnny Reggae... Punk and Reggae poles apart one would think. Heavy slow bass driven toons versus tinny white boy thrash. Quasi mystical ganga based black man beat versus white swastika toting amphetamine driven nihilsm.. Punk and reggae became intertwined beecause to two of punks influential stars, Mr Rotten and the boys in the Clash, reggae was very much a part of their musical scene and growing up and each vied to say they loved it more than the other as an influence." -- [[Paul Marko]]
 +== Dancehall ==
 +
 +Somewhere late in 1979 the Roots Radics laid down the riddims for Barrington Levy's first tunes for producer Junjo Lawes, credited at the time as the Channel One Stars. No one could envisage the importance of these sessions, but with hindsight we can point back to them as the inception of Jamaican dancehall music.
 +
 +
 +== Adrian Sherwood ==
 +
 +
 +When British producer Adrian Sherwood started his On-U-Sound label in 1980 as an outlet for scruffy punks and righteous rastas infatuated with reggae and its experimental spectrum of dub, he just wanted to make good records. In the process, he influenced a legion of producers, decimated the boundaries of funk, noise, and reggae, and as a member of Tackhead, made the position of the live mixing engineer a viable band member in terms of creative input. [...]
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"Wake the town and tell the people, 'bout this musical disc coming your way!"

Reggae is a music genre developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s.

The term reggae is sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, although the word specifically indicates a particular music style that originated after the development of ska and rocksteady. Reggae is based on a rhythm style characterized by regular chops on the off-beat, known as the skank. The tempo is generally slower than that found in ska and rocksteady. Reggae is often associated with the Rastafari movement, which influenced many prominent reggae musicians in the 1970s and 1980s. Reggae song lyrics deal with many subjects, including faith, love, relationships, poverty, injustice and other broad social issues.


Contents

The canon

King Tubby - Bob Marley - Lee Perry - Studio One


Related: black music - Channel One - dancehall - djs - dub - homophobia in reggae - Island records - Jamaica - lovers rock - marijuana - punk - rasta - r&b - remix - riddim - rocksteady - roots reggae - ska - sound system - Studio One - Trojan - version - Wackies -

List of artists: Theo Beckford - Dennis Bovell - Sir Coxsone Dodd - The Clash - King Tubby - Bob Marley - Jackie Mittoo - Don Letts - Lee Perry - Roots Radics - Duke Reid - Sly & Robbie - Adrian Sherwood - Ernest Ranglin - Linval Thompson - Scientist

Connoisseurs: David Katz - Steve Barrow - Colin Larkin


Sound

Reggae is the only music that can successfully test any audio equipment -- Scientist

Etymology

As far as Jamaican record-buyers are concerned, the word reggae was coined on a 1968 Pyramid dance single, "Do the Reggay (sic)," by Toots and the Maytals.

The American Influence

There is an inescapable link between Jamaican reggae and US soul. Since the late 1950s, which saw ska born out of American R&B, the Jamaican reggae fraternity has always had a strong affiliation towards US soul, and later on, funk. --Chris King, amazon.co.uk

The European Influence

Reggae is a product of the union of West African rythms and European melody and harmony.

Dub

In 1971 the first real dub recordings began to appear, with The Hippy Boys' "Voo Doo" - the version to Little Roy's "Hard Fighter", which was mixed by Lynford Anderson a.k.a. Andy Capp - now widely acknowledged to be the first recording in the genre. -- Teacher & Mr. T.

Riddims

A rhythm, riddim in reggae vocabulary, is a rhythm pattern. It's basically a bassline and usually a special drumpattern is used with the bassline. Sometimes a short melody is associated with the riddim, but the main ingredient is the bassline. In other musical contexts it would be called a groove, and that pretty well sums up what it is about. Most riddims have originated from a hit tune, and usually the riddim has been given the name of that tune.

Ganja, marihuana

Herbal cannabis had always played a part in the medicinal and mystical rituals of ancient Africa and was probably well known to the slaves who worked the West Indian sugar plantations, but anthropologists contend that the herb didn't arrive in Jamaica until after slavery was abolished there in 1838, when it was brought by contract workers from the Indian sub-continent who were drafted in to fill the subsequent labour shortage. Certainly, the Jamaican term for herbal cannabis, 'ganja', is a Hindi word meaning 'sweet smelling', but also 'noisy'. Which is not a bad description of roots reggae.

Lee Perry

The amount of work that Scratch has been involved with over a 35 year career is nothing short of staggering. Scratch's story is more or less the story of Jamaican music.

King Tubby

Today the remix and dub version are commonplace in popular music; less widely appreciated is the fact that these techniques were pioneered in a tiny studio a Kingston, Jamaica district called Waterhouse. That pioneer of dub was an electronics engineer and sound system operator named Osbourne Ruddock, but to the crowds who flocked to his dances, and the countless singers and record producers who utilised his skills, he was known as King Tubby. [...]


DJs

It is generally forgotten that the very first DJs were Jamaicans operating the mobile sound systems during the fifties and sixties. At that time, the DJ was the person talking live over the records, the 'selector' spinned a selection of American black dance music from the South and East of the United States. It was only when American radio started broadcasting rock 'n roll - a genre the Jamaicans liked less - that the Jamaicans started to produce their own music, ska in the early sixties, then rocksteady and by the end of the decade, reggae. DJ Kool Herc is credited with bringing this to the United States, when he left for New York in 1967, creating rap music in the process.

Reggae and disco

Play Getting Hot There is a link between reggae and disco that may not be that obvious, but which started when Kool Herc moved from Jamaica to New York and started to spin funk records in stead of his Jamaican hits. Later still, Larry Levan played an eclectic mix (including reggae) at the Paradise Garage. There is however, one decisive studio-moment where reggae and disco meet: The Padlock EP on Garage records, mixed by Larry Levan from original Island material by Sly and Robbie. "Seventh Heaven", "Peanut Butter", "Getting Hot", "Hop Scotch" are hybrid disco-reggae tracks played by Jamaican musicians, recorded at the Compass Point Studio with late Gwen Guthrie on vocals.

Reggae and postmodern practice

There is no truth, there are only versions

Studio One

Studio One was one of the leading labels in Jamaican music industry. Its owner and founder Clement Seymour Dodd started producing music in late 1950s. Their tiny studio was located in 13 Brentford Road in Kingston. Many of Jamaica's leading artists have been part of Coxsone's musical family in some stage of their career, for example Bob Marley & The Wailers, Horace Andy, Bob Andy, Dennis Brown, Freddie McGregor, Lee Perry etc.

Disco mixes

During the [late] seventies in Jamaica the 12" mix of popular songs came into fashion. As a result of the popularity of these 12" singles Coxsone Dodd compiled and released some "Showcase" albums.

Always a hit factory, [Studio One] came close to completely dominating the Jamaican dance floor with the emergence of the long-playing 12-inch “discomix” in the [late] 1970s. Studio One capitalized on the extended discomix format, successfully recycling some of its best material from the 1960s. Older hits were updated simply by mixing in lengthy instrumental endings. The popularity of the discomix allowed the label to prolong its reign, even after its most creative period had passed. Because a discomix filled up an entire side of a [12"] record, a hit song had the power to keep competing records off the DJs turntable for a good long time.

[Studio One produced about 50 12" mixes, Wackies about 50 too.]

Punk

"Here comes Johnny Reggae... Punk and Reggae poles apart one would think. Heavy slow bass driven toons versus tinny white boy thrash. Quasi mystical ganga based black man beat versus white swastika toting amphetamine driven nihilsm.. Punk and reggae became intertwined beecause to two of punks influential stars, Mr Rotten and the boys in the Clash, reggae was very much a part of their musical scene and growing up and each vied to say they loved it more than the other as an influence." -- Paul Marko

Dancehall

Somewhere late in 1979 the Roots Radics laid down the riddims for Barrington Levy's first tunes for producer Junjo Lawes, credited at the time as the Channel One Stars. No one could envisage the importance of these sessions, but with hindsight we can point back to them as the inception of Jamaican dancehall music.


Adrian Sherwood

When British producer Adrian Sherwood started his On-U-Sound label in 1980 as an outlet for scruffy punks and righteous rastas infatuated with reggae and its experimental spectrum of dub, he just wanted to make good records. In the process, he influenced a legion of producers, decimated the boundaries of funk, noise, and reggae, and as a member of Tackhead, made the position of the live mixing engineer a viable band member in terms of creative input. [...]



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