i feel so overwhelmed by
reggae. spending half my days with rastas from the islands and their middle class north american acolytes, the sounds of reggae, dub and ska have invaded my brain like it did the air of london neighbourhoods in the 60s and 70s. no wonder the clash and the whole damn punk movement were into it. it allowed them to enjoy music that was thoroughly unaggressive yet equally as poweful socially as punk was with all of its anger and outsider mentality. sometimes punks need to chill, so thanks to groups like the clash and the specials for turning kids onto reggae and all that goes along with it.
god love jamaicans and islanders for their contributions to music despite their often times extereme poverty amidst political instability and daily violence on the street. all the while, under duress, they've been able to remain calm and give us music which never strays form the heartbeat and continually chants down babylon. sure, it may sound cheesy nowadays with all its synthetic production and mindless garbage offshoots and bastard children like dancehall, but to many, it's one of the last bastions of music that embraces the human race with warmth and compassion and ultimate salvation.
the music matured from its early sound system origins (prince buster - al capone) and its soon thereafter instrumental stage (the upsetters - return of the django) to a socially relevant and mature artform and way of life that is simultaneously expressively political (steel pulse - babylon makes the rules), inherently populist (junior murvin - police and thieves), tragic-comic (desmond dekker - israelites), outrageously fun (toots & the maytals - funky kingston), racially contentious (steel pulse - babylon makes the rules), hearteningly spiritual (rastaman chant - bob marley) and globally aware (bob marley - war). but most of all, the people love it like they love freedom and sex and sunshine and family. i wish we had the same passion for music here in north america that they have in jamaica and the whole carribbean for that matter. we're nowhere near that level of respect for our music. we shit all over our music all the time, and what for?
