Another Star Trail Production and modern classic is the debut from Anthony B Real Revolutionary which caused quite a stir when it came out. Particularly the track Fire Pon Rome, a fiercely militant polemic and repatriation anthem burning Fyah on the Pope, Politicians, Greedy Jamaican business figures including Sandals resorts and Butch Stewart CEO of Air Jamaica and countless other agents of Babylon.
Anthony B reportedly had to go into hiding up in the Jamaican hills when Fire Pon Rome came out in JA such was it’s impact.
I remember maxi do a live perfomance on the tube ch 4 i think in the 80’s. Something my dreams are without you. I had a vhs recording of it at the time and my friend borrowed the tape recording. I went to get it back and it was rubbed or deleted. Boy was i pissed; there was some amazing reggae on it but my favourite track was the live Maxi Priest one. I still remember it to this day sometimes and wish i could get a live copy of that recording. He got real big in the 80’s and i bought one of his albums but can’t remember which one.
Yeah Henryski, The Tube back in the day featured a lot of great Reggae, off the top of my head I can remember Maxi Priest as you say, Freddie McGregor, Sly and Robbie & The Taxi Gang, Half Pint, Yellowman, Dennis Brown and loads more. Jools Holland made a great mini documentary for The Tube Jools In Jamaica where he soaked up the vibes and a quite surreal encounter with Lee Scratch Perry, Jools eying a toaster fixed to the fence of Scratch’s studio enquired why it was there, “..coz I’m not a boaster but a positive toaster” Scratch asserted.
I too still have VHS tapes including the complete Jools In Jamaica feature. I have lots of other stuff too which I’ve occasionally wondered about uploading to Youtube but not sure how to convert the tapes and what I would need.
Also sharing it’s 40th Anniversary is the Rock Against Racism movement.
Whilst many people cite Handsworth Revolution, I’ve always much preferred the second album Tribute To The Martyrs which includes this Rock Against Racism anthem..
There was also a bbc night of reggae about 10 years ago with loads of different reggae styles, some of it was live although i don’t know where the studio was. The top act was a tall rasta shouting murder! Kill me today, can’t kill me tommorrow! singing about the murderers lack of conscience etc. Forget when exactly it was but i recorded it on dvd so maybe in the noughties sometime. Man those days were rememberable, unlike now this reggae culture doesn’t exist anymore anywhere on tv. It’s the same for the pop culture in the UK too. Where is it? It’s all internet related and not on national tv, sad really - we won’t get them days back.
Yes Henryski, your talking about Buju Banton and the song Murderer from the Classic Til Shiloh album written in response to the senseless killings of fellow artists Panhead, Dirtsman and Garnet Silk
Although dogged by controversy- particularly surrounding the notorious and misguided Boom Bye Bye tune and his recent spell in the US federal prison system on somewhat contrived and spurious gun and cocaine charges - Buju Banton has matured from a bragadacio Dancehall youth into one of the best contemporary roots and culture artists and both the Til Shiloh and Inna Heights are essential modern classics.
This takes me back, actually watching it live on a large widescreen tv really brings out the atmoshere and enegy of his performance. And with all these senseless killings i’d think twice about becoming a socio-political singer/performer nowadays. Thanks Dreadatthecontrols.
