Contents - Beth Lesser

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have sound keep playing these things, and follow those idiots, reggae gwan stop right there.” * But reggae didn’t stop. It continued along, using the same rhythm tracks as bases for almost all the new productions coming out in the ‘80s and beyond. * Interview with Dave Kingston on CKLN Reggae Showcase, 1986 256 | RUB A DUB STYLE – The Roots of Modern Dancehall
Metromedia Sound with Peter Metro “Metromedia a gwan rule, you know. We rule yard right now as the smallest upfront sound. We no stop shock out. Ca’ you find the most girls follow our sound still and anywhere the girls deh de, the man must ha’ fe deh de. So we have the vibes. We have the kick for ’86.” –PETER METRO IN 1986 In 1971, Lou Godden, had taken over the sound system owned previously by Tom the Great Sebastian following Tom’s suicide. After renaming the set Metromedia, Lou began playing at a club called Baby Grand in the Cross Roads area where his good friend Jimmy Haldaine used to come regularly and listen to the music. But, in 1974 Lou migrated to the United States, closing down the club that Mr. Haldaine used to frequent. Mr. Haldaine, then working at Dynamic Sounds, continued to go to sessions but began to think about opening his own sound. So, he began picking up pieces of equipment until, in 1976, he opened his own Metromedia Sound, borrowing the name from Lou Godden’s old set. “I started out with an amplifier, two Goodman speakers and a long time Gerard turntable,” Mr. Haldane recalled. “We used to play at little parties, at bars, every Friday night at Bonaire Lane for a man called Johnny, and get 75 cents a night. We had a good following and, considering that I was working for Dynamic Sounds, I got the new records pretty fast, so I always got requests from the patrons”. * Metromedia started out as a “party sound”. It had one selector, Snack Jack, but no deejays - until Jimmy ‘Metro’ Haldaine was introduced to Peter Ranking, who had just returned from abroad. “Coming back from Cuba,” Peter recalls, “a friend of mine who worked with Stax [Disco], take me to Metromedia. It was down Orange Street at a place named the Spanish Jar Club. I started to deejay on Metromedia for the first night. Jimmy Metro, which is the boss, heard me and gave me his number and say I must come and see him. I never go back and until around, maybe three months. When I go and see him, he don’t remember who I was. So I said, ‘Do you remember me, Peter * From official biography of Metromedia, courtesy of Lou Godden | 257
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Rub a Dub Style The Roots of Modern
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Rub a Dub Style The Roots of Modern
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Thanks to all those who took the ti
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The Dancehall Explosion 136 Junjo L
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earlier days, before radio and pers
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Sound SySTemS rule From that day on
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on and off the truck and the driver
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about three months after U Roy. The
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‘60s, U Roy wasn’t thinking of
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take the sound to the dance, string
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the current motorcycle craze. A yea
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(1976 Channel One), for example, he
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serious time, a time of struggle. P
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porated Rasta symbols, ideas and mu
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heavy manners”. “In ’75, ’7
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Concrete Jungle Rock * . But the gu
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up this morning and you wonder who
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Tosh, Big Youth, Dennis Brown, Ras
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Sounds of the late ‘70s “Empero
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away from U Roy. King Tubby’s sou
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swer Mi Question’. But the songs
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was trying to sell it for him. I re
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people mind you working on. And if
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The Studio One Revival During the
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ight now’.” * Freddy was a lot
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Ragamuffin heard them deejaying in
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playing the ‘Midnight Attraction
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tion over and the verdict in, the s
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ment - nothing mattered. Channel On
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and the dance. “People like Solji
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Solidarity presented The Big Showdo
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Jah Life Comes to Jamaica I n 1979,
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Bounty Hunter, Shine Eye Gal and En
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Barrington Levy & Jah Thomas “I t
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jah ThomaS When Jah Life and Junjo
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his biggest hit was with a singer,
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Anderson or Ansell Collins on keybo
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group founded by Maurice “Blacka
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1970, was a very experimental jazz-
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Scientist & the Greensleeves Dub Al
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‘Heavyweight Champion’. Now Jun
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Slackness T he media, along with th
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gestive lyrics were nothing new in
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General Echo & Stereophonic A fter
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Chat one!’ The first slackness me
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down uumumma’…..” * All this
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SlaCkneSS on reCord Nancy never rel
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until slackness found its second ch
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utes of soul, disco and funky in be
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about his music. In the beginning,
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team, the main attraction of the so
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Squiddley The story of slackness wo
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Lone Ranger & the Eastern Kingston
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In the late ‘70s and early ‘80s
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school. They went to Beverly’s Re
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other side - and the deejays would
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set going. Traveling frequently gav
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Dready, Studio One owner Coxsone Do
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One Studio and wait on [Jojo’s] c
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I dreamed last night I was in the W
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artists from the past like The Silv
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and he began to operate the new gro
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there so we just hang on.” The
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drink their coffee and eat then fis
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Bredren’ and ‘Dance in Montreal
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Yellowman E very successful deejay
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woodwork.” In the ‘70s, it was
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George Phang recalled that Yellowma
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General Brain, Echo Minott, Rappa R
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SkaTeland When not playing the regu
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Junjo Lawes & Volcano While the gre
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him want it. Cause, you know, Junjo
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lect them himself from the distribu
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know, and I tell him, ‘Listen Toy
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1985, a newly Jheri Curled * Junjo
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would stop a few doors down at JC K
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and search you. So, you rather send
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studio], it just came to me.” Two
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“and he wrote a song for me, ‘A
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“At that time they call them [12
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Frankie Paul A deep, commanding voi
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troduced Frankie Paul. “Frankie J
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on the radio, for example, he spoke
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them man. Them have the real thing
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Cassettes gave everyone a chance.
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The Sing-jay Style TalenT ShowS In
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after Echo had deejayed and come in
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There is a posse in the corner, all
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Love’ contains lyrics from ‘Lov
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the dancehall. Even singers like Su
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U Roy’s King Stur-Gav Sound with
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certain large amount of crowd. Ther
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would know my voice, my tempo, and
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He saw himself as a Wild West drift
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ing from. So, it make no sense you
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inSpeCTor willie “Selecting a sou
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Avenue. So, all the singers would p
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tal balance between professionalism
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push me a lot”, George recalls. S
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were struggling to make ends meet.
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comes out and the moon goes in…
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to clash two or three times for the
Page 205 and 206: everybody.” * Channel One studio
Page 207 and 208: deejay SpeCialS In the very beginni
Page 209 and 210: Whereas during the ‘70s, specials
Page 211 and 212: Network, or RJR. In 1951, the redif
Page 213 and 214: changed the energy.” Barry G was
Page 215 and 216: like what you hear in the dancehall
Page 217 and 218: Without sound owner Clifton Henry c
Page 219 and 220: Building up material for the local
Page 221 and 222: to day runnings. Not just anyone, b
Page 223 and 224: income. “I started to deejay on a
Page 225 and 226: and he knew that to survive, you ha
Page 227 and 228: 1. King Kong - Don’t Touch My Boo
Page 229 and 230: falsetto but with much more lung po
Page 231 and 232: Patcheye, from Studio Mix, after de
Page 233 and 234: guys them refused.” In the end, i
Page 235 and 236: Sugar Minott’s Youth Promotion So
Page 237 and 238: However, when problems arose in the
Page 239 and 240: he wasn’t recording heavily, at l
Page 241 and 242: Saw’s first big hit was ‘Pumpki
Page 243 and 244: The Business Side of Dancehall “F
Page 245 and 246: had all but maintained them for tho
Page 247 and 248: tribute creatively to each new rhyt
Page 249 and 250: and know what is what. Then you sin
Page 251 and 252: Lick-over Rhythms Already an establ
Page 253 and 254: We used to mix the rhythm first wit
Page 255: The first rhythm Channel One select
Page 259 and 260: from having more mouths than they c
Page 261 and 262: Soca. Heat in de Place featured Arr
Page 263 and 264: 1. For example, his instructional r
Page 265 and 266: Arrows the Ambassador In 1985, when
Page 267 and 268: Leroy Heptone had done - enough peo
Page 269 and 270: Hall. They used to keep big dance a
Page 271 and 272: The Ladies “People no like women
Page 273 and 274: do everything to comfort him. That
Page 275 and 276: couldn’t go back in the dancehall
Page 277 and 278: The center was only a couple of blo
Page 279 and 280: Through you no get me, you wan’ l
Page 281 and 282: as Ce’Cile, Macka Diamond, Lady S
Page 283 and 284: sound was a small sound but everyth
Page 285 and 286: was on top of the world. As reporte
Page 287 and 288: King Jammy & Sleng Teng “Once Sle
Page 289 and 290: sound for stage shows. Eventually,
Page 291 and 292: ket his productions so he wasn’t
Page 293 and 294: Drum Machines & Preprogrammed Instr
Page 295 and 296: ca weren’t ready for the sound he
Page 297 and 298: was a different era,” Jazzbo expl
Page 299 and 300: maybe make that be the sound of the
Page 301 and 302: The Digital Dynamic Duo - Steely an
Page 303 and 304: system and their father had built a
Page 305 and 306: The music was really grooving.” A
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The Local Style T hroughout the ‘
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‘Jamaica Way’ (Skengdon), while
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Fancy track suit and fancy track sh
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Black Scorpio Sound with General Tr
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the most crowds. Sassa figured that
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ing Jamaican’s in their day to da
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Raggamuffin Year During the second
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dia loved him. ‘Wear Your Size’
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had left school and was a full adul
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This was after having made his name
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Chaka Demus on ‘One Scotch, One B
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song about talking to women on the
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een known worldwide.” Yet, despit
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Promotion dance, and laid to rest a
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All over the island, a Don (Chorus)
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But, for the foundation generation
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about “police in helicopter searc
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club and a guy ask you what you dri
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the LP, Ghetto Red Hot, became a cr
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in the later ‘80s, Stone Love beg
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played * . This modification forced
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tions in St. Catherines and Clarend
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musics played in Jamaica,” Franki
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All the nostalgia for the ‘good o
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think to hurt a deejay or a singer.
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Contents - Beth Lesser

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