Contents - Beth Lesser

This was after having made his name covering Michael Jackson hits. It was as
if reggae artists had stopped trying to cross over to the world outside Jamaica,
and decided to create a copy of that world inside Jamaica. It was like the early
days of Ska and Rock Steady when a large number of locally produced songs
were imitation U.S. R&B tunes. But, it was a also sign that Jamaican music
had temporarily lost its way and was feeling around in the dark for a new
direction.
whaT one danCe Can do
Into the general musical confusion walked popular soul man Beres Hammond.
Beres had never been considered a dancehall artist, at least until 1985
when he had a massive hit that brought lovers rock and dancehall into a successful
interface. ‘What One Dance Can Do’ gave Beres some much needed
street cred, and defined a new style that would seek to balance the softer and
harder sides of digital reggae. Beres Hammond had been recording for years,
gaining a respectable but middle class audience. But his records were rarely
played in the hard core sessions. He was considered an uptown singer. The
song that changed all that was ‘What One Dance Can Do’ (Germain 1985),
coming just at the inauguration of the ‘computer’ era. Germain put Beres
over a tight, digital version of the classic Studio One rhythm, ‘Pressure and
Slide’, aka ‘Mr. DC’ * , and let Willie Lindo do the arranging. The result was
something similar to the later Gussie productions, the merging of a dancehall
rhythm with a polished vocalist to create a hybrid sound that appealed across
the board. Dancehall fans liked the up-tempo rhythm – ‘Mr. DC’ had always
been a favorite. And the soul crowd responded to Beres’ refined vocals.
“Before that, Beres Hammond did work for Joe Gibbs – [the album] One
Step Ahead – it’s like soul versions,” U Brown comments. “But the track that
really opened the eyes to Beres Hammond in the real roots dancehall was
that song.” The popularity of ‘What One Dance Can Do’ was taken as an
open invitation for all middle of the road vocalists to have a crack at dancehall.
‘What One Dance Can Do’ was the story of romantic triangle – some
electricity passing between the singer and an unknown female on the dance
floor accompanied by her boyfriend. The singer wants to approach, but the
stubborn partner is “standing in my way”. Audrey Hall (Pam Hall’s sister) was
the first to record an answer, ‘One Dance Won’t Do’, which followed the same
plot line, but this time from the perspective of the woman: “You think one
dance will do and I’ll go home with you - you’re crazy!” That was followed by
‘Standing in His Way’, from the old time balladeer, Owen Gray. Gray took
the side of the woman’s date who was watching the flirtation from their table.
The rhythm was dancehall worthy, so next the deejays took up the narrative
and created their own humorous versions – Brigadier Jerry with ‘One
Dance Story’ (Super Supreme) and Charlie Chaplin with ‘Come Out Of the
* Pressure and Slide by the Tenors, Mr. DC by Sugar Minott, both over the same Studio One rhythm
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