REGGAE NEWS - DECEMBER 2008

VP records have gone deep into their vaults again and come up with two brilliant releases for this year's Christmas season.

First there will be the mighty Wailing Souls' 'Wailing' album. This has always been a classic from the early 1980s dancehall era with some of the most militant mixes by Scientist.

Second there is Johnny Osbourne's 'Nightfall' which became a much soughtafter item during the last years as it is slightly different to his 'Innah Disco Style' release which featured some of the same tracks.

Both albums were produced by Linval Thompson and feature the great Roots Radics as backing musicians.

Legendary business mogul and one of the most successful independent entrepreneurs in pop music history, Chris Blackwell, says the golden age of Jamaican music, has passed.

Blackwell's assessment was in response to questions after sharing his experiences as a stalwart record producer and investor on the Mayberry Monthly Forum on Investment at the Knutsford Court Hotel on Wednesday.

The last of such fora for the year, the format took the form of relaxed living-room conversation on the podium with veteran broadcaster Fae Ellington. But in respect to his reflection on Jamaican music, a causal-looking Blackwell, sporting a beach shirt and a pair of jeans, made his most profound statement during the question-and-answer segment. When asked for his perspective on today's music by a member of the audience at the well attended event, the shy, soft-spoken guru of the local music industry declared, "I believe that the golden age of Jamaican music is definitely behind us, I really do believe that."

"Because," he continued, "there was such a wealth of incredible music that came out of Jamaica during the '60s right through to the '80s, in the '60s and '70s particularly. Just incredible music, an unbelievable amount of music."

Speaking as someone with the most intimate knowledge of contemporary Jamaican music, Chris Blackwell added. "I just want to stop for one second to point out, y'know, only England and America have produced so consistently hit music for such a long period of time. No other country has done it. Brazil had some great music for two, three, four years and then disappeared. Jamaica, not only has it had incredible music, it also invented so much.... I just want to point this out to make people realise what is what."

The founder for Island Records didn't stop there, but went on to provide example of the knowledge base from which he made his assertion. "Jamaica is where the whole use of electronics....when I said the use of electronics, people used to use it very gently, Jamaicans just lapped it up," he said to great amusement.

In his reference to electronic music, Blackwell explained that he was really talking about the sound effects of dub music. "All this kind of sound which was completely unheard of, it never happened anywhere else. It started here, and now you are hearing it all over the world. Now it is generally known as dub music. Every country in the world is doing dub music now. The best dub music now is coming out of India, incredible dub music."

He also reminded his audience, mainly comprising financiers, that everybody is now trying to emulate what was done in Jamaica, started off by such pioneers as U Roy and others, and how this trend led to the creation of what is today known as rap music.

Having said all of the above, Blackwell in a more pointed response to the question concluded: "So now back to your question, what do I think of dancehall. I like some of it. And then I don't like some of it. I love music. I love the musicianship. But also in popular music is attitude.... I think dancehall, the attitude is overriding the music. But some of the records. I love it when they have some kind of musical rift or some element to it...."

Next year will make 50 years since the 71-year-old London born Blackwell has been involved in reggae music. With an initial investment of £1,000, he formed a record company in 1959, which has been instrumental in the development of many the giants in the music from home and aboard. The man with a golden eye for talent has over the years done successful projects with the likes of Laurel Airtken, Millie Small (whom he said celebrated her 61st birthday on October 6), Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, Third World, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, Sly and Robbie, Grace Jones, The Spencer Davis Group, Salif Keita, Baaba Maal, Angelique Kidjo, and the list continues.

He was also involved with few flicks like Dr No, The Harder They Come and Third World Cop.

Basil Walters

source : jamaicaobserver.com