The Dubroom

The Dubroom is a community-based website featuring news, articles, MP3s, and reviews of everything related to dub and dancehall. They feature an extensive review section, where you can search through (alphabetically) and rate hundreds of different artists. They also provide a spotlight feature on recent artists, as well as news and album review.

The Dubroom also features their own Dubroom Studio net label, with plenty of free music for listening and downloading. Also, look for their book reviews, as well as their video section.

The Gladiators

The original Gladiators vocal group was composed of neighborhood friends Albert Griffiths, David Webber, and Errol Grandison. They began playing together in 1966, and soon topped the Jamaican charts with "Hello Carol" in late 1968. Unfortunately, not long thereafter David Webber started showing signs of mental illness. The decline in Webber's health eventually lead to him being replaced by Clinton Fearon. By this point Fearon had played as a studio musician with many successful bands at Studio One. Fearon had also played sessions at Lee "Scratch" Perry's Black Ark studio:

"We played an album for Yabby You - the same session “Jah Vengeance” were done on. Scratch heard us then and liked the sound and have us did some songs for him. Soon after that I got hired by Scratch to be a Black Ark studio bass player. It was during that time that “Roast Fish and Cornbread” and several other Black Ark riddims were done with me playing bass, of course. I can honestly say that I learned quite a bit from Scratch - the disciplines of playing percussions. He was very dedicated to his own sound - we spent a lot of time together in the studio and I learned how important it is for musicians to play together, bouncing off of the same pulse. He also taught me it was alright to be crazy!!!" - Clinton Fearon



In 1973 Errol Grandison left the group, later being replaced by Gallimore Sutherland. This newly formed trio would go on to have a successful career all the way through the early 1990s.

Gladiators discography

* Studio One Presenting (1969-1976)
* At Studio 1 (Bongo Red) (1967-1976)
* Trenchtown Mix (1976)
* Provierbial Reggae (1978)
* Naturality (1979)
* Sweet So Till (1979)
* Gladiators (1980)
* Vital Selection (1981)
* Gladiators By Bus (1982)
* Babylon Street (1982)
* Symbol Of Reality (1982)
* Reggae To Bone (1982)
* Live At Reggae Sunplash (1982)
* 83 US Tour EP (1983)
* Dreadlocks, The Time is Now (1983)
* Serious Thing (1984)
* Show-Down Vol.3, w/ Don Carlos (1984)
* Country Living (1985)
* Dread Prophesy (1986)

Flickr Photo Tagged with "Reggae"

Here is a link to a slide show of photos at Flickr tagged with reggae. There is a link at the top for viewing the images as a gallery, as well.

Some of these photos are stunning, such as this beautiful Rastafari Sunrise.

Make Your Own Dub

There is a fun little "dub selector" over at Infinite Wheel. You start by selecting a shape (heart, star, wheel, etc.), which then loads up a screen with several continuously looping riddims. You then run you mouse over the various other shapes moving around to add sounds and effects to the dub.

The different shapes that you initially select correspond to a different set of backing riddims and breaks. Go give it a try!

"Stir It Up" Live in Studio

Here's a very nice clip of Bob Marley doing his thing. It is not clear what year this was filmed, but the song "Stir It Up" first appeared on Catch A Fire (1973). From the looks of Bob Marley's hair, this must have been filmed around the same time the album photo for Catch A Fire was taken.

Scratch Photo Gallery

There is a very cool photo gallery over at Scratch. Many vintage photos of famous (or soon-to-be famous) artists, including a very young Bob Marley (left):



Check it out, then give the Scratch streaming radio a listen!

Streaming Reggae Guide

There is fairly comprehensive list of streaming reggae and dub over at theStreamGuide. There are many links for dub and dancehall radios, such as BigUpRadio and Bigvibez.

Check out Scratch and Rastamusic for a wide variety of roots and modern Reggae, as well as rootsrockreggae for older reggae, ska, and even Jamaican oldies from the 60's.

Pandora Podcast: A Brief History of Reggae

In Episode 8 of the Pandora Podcast, the Soul Captives take us on a little trip through the history of early ska, reggae, rocksteady, and dub. Not only can the podcast be either downloaded or streamed, there are also various clips available from the different periods of Jamaican music. From the web page:

In episode eight, the Soul Captives show host Kevin Seal how to bubble and skank. They lay out the differences between bluebeat, ska, rocksteady, early reggae, roots reggae, and dub, while providing historical context. Guitarist and Pandora engineer Vic Wong mixes a live dub session for us, after he and organist (and pianist and Pandora music analyst) Ray Jacildo, drummer Jayme Arredondo, and bassist Mark Allen-Piccolo (pictured) perform in a variety of Jamaican rhythmic feels.

A Glimpse Into the Black Ark

Junior Murvin filling a pipe with ganja, the Heptones practicing a harmony, and Lee "Scratch" Perry clapping along behind the mixing board... it's all in this fantastic video clip from the film "Roots Rock Reggae - Inside the Jamaican Music Scene" (1977). According to this blog, this is an unreleased dub song that was recorded on the spot for the camera and video crews, whilst other sources claim that this performance was the reaction to hearing the news of an assassination attempt on Bob Marley's life.

A key highlight is about halfway through the clip... happy with the recording of the riddim track, Scratch flashes the Heptones a smile and proclaims "that's rasta!"

Reggae Lunch

The Reggae Lunch is a blog run by Edwin W. Lawrence (a.k.a. Doctor Tuna), Professor of Forensics at UVM. Although his radio show dates back to the early 80's, he has been uploading MP3 recordings of his show on a regular basis.

Also included is a brief artist list, as well as other reggae information, links, videos, and MP3s. Check it out!

Two Sevens Clash

First, a little historical background: Jamaica attained its independence from England in 1962. By the end of the decade -- along with the traditional agricultural and distribution sectors -- Jamaica had well established mining, tourism, manufacturing, and construction sectors. However, Jamaica's economy and infrastructure slowly crumbled during its second decade of independence.

Between 1972 and 1980, major shifts in economic policies were initiated, including many social reforms intended both to protect the weakest sections of the population and to promote the welfare of the poor through subsidized food, housing, education, health, and other important social services. By 1976, Jamaica had descended into a paroxysm of rioting, violence, and wholesale burning of ghetto areas.

It is no surprise that many believed the apocalypse would arrive by 1977. It was during this time that singer Joseph Hill had a "prophecy" of 1977 as the year of judgement. That year the band Culture released their debut single "Two Sevens Clash". The prophecies noted by the lyrics so profoundly captured the imagination of the people that on July 7th -- 7/7/77 -- businesses closed, citizens huddled in their homes for safety, and barely a soul was found outside of the home. The entire country held its breath, waiting for the apocalypse to arrive.

Alas, it took a few years for Joseph Hill to admit the truth -- that his apocalyptic "Two Sevens Clash" was not based on actual Rastafarian prophesy, as the song suggested. Instead, the liner notes claim that "one day Joseph Hill had a vision, while riding a bus, of 1977 as a year of judgement -- when two sevens clash -- when past injustices would be avenged".

Perhaps Joseph Hill's lyrics were more telling than people thought:

"I take a ride sometimes,
On Penn Overland and Bronx,
And sometimes I ride on bus X-82... say what!"

- Culture, Two Sevens Clash (1977)

Watch Culture perform the infamous song...

Brief History of Ska

Ska music evolved as a combination of Caribbean calypso music heavily influenced with American jazz, rhythm, and blues. The new sound was characterized by walking bass lines, jazzy horn riffs, and a distinctly syncopated guitar and/or piano, where the guitar typically accented the upbeat, or backbeat. This style of syncopation is credited to Prince Buster, who once told guitarist Jah Jerry during a recording session to "change gears".

The birth of ska music coincided with Jamaica's independence from the UK in 1962, an event commemorated by ska songs such as Derrick Morgan's "Forward March", and The Skatalites' "Freedom Sound". Other famous ska artists include Desmond Dekker, The Heptones, Duke Reid, Toots and the Maytals, The Wailers, Derrick Morgan, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, Prince Buster, and Laurel Aitken.



As more and more Jamaicans turned to a life of crime and violence, the "rude boys" culture was born. The rude boy culture originated in the ghettos of Kingston, coinciding with the popular rise of ska music, dancehall celebrations, and sound system dances. Rude boys sometimes found temporary employment from sound system operators in the form of disrupting competitors' dances -- leading to the term dancehall crasher. Many of these rudies started wearing sharp suits, thin ties, and pork-pie or Trilby hats, inspired by United States gangster movies and soul music groups. Ska bands often played to the rude boy culture, which was reflected in songs by the likes of the Soul Brothers ("Lawless Street"), and the Heptones ("Gunmen Coming to Town"). Desmond Dekker's "007 Shanty Town" release was the most definitive of the rude boy documentary titles, reaching No. 14 in the UK charts. The rude boy culture continued throughout the mid 60's, until the the ska beat was eventually slowed down and Rocksteady was born.

Dreadlocks

Although not universal to Rastas, dreadlocks are closely associated to the religious followers of the Rastafari movement. Followers often quote two separate verses from the Old Testament,

All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in the which he separateth himself unto the Lord, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow. - Numbers 6:5,

and

They shall not make baldness upon their head, neither shall they shave off the corner of their beard, nor make any cuttings in the flesh. - Leviticus 21:5.



One of the titles associated with Emperor Haile Selassie I is Conquering Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Dreadlocks have thus come to symbolize the mane of a lion, in particular the Lion of Judah. For the Rastas the razor, scissors, and the comb are the three Babylonian (or Roman) inventions, thus the dreadlocks symbolize the rebellion against Babylon. Although not all persons with dreadlocks are necessarily Rastifarian, in reggae music a follower of Rastafari may be referred to simply as a Dreadlock or Natty (natural) Dread. Non-believers who cut their hair are often referred to as baldheads.

BigUpRadio

The website BigUpRadio provides two free radio streams, one dedicated to roots reggae, and the other to dance hall. The stations play 24 hours, with no advertisements. The music will queue up and stream in Winamp, so you can listen to reggae all day long, even with your browser closed. If you hear something special, just check the Winamp playlist to see the artist and song title.

There are many other resources at the website, including reviews, events, culture, and news. They also link to other streaming reggae stations... keep an eye out for interviews featuring world-famous reggae artists!

The Wailers

The Wailers are most commonly known for being Bob Marley's backing band. Formed in 1963 as a ska/rocksteady group from Kingston, they originally consisted of Bob Marley, Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, Bunny Livingston (aka Bunny Wailer), Peter McIntosh (aka Peter Tosh), and Cherry Smith. After undergoing several name changes, including The Teenagers, The Wailing Rudeboys, and The Wailing Wailers, the band finally settled on The Wailers. In 1966 several members left the group, leaving the trio of Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, and Peter Tosh. They would release two albums -- Catch A Fire (1972) and Burnin' (1973) -- before breaking up in 1974.



Marley continued recording as "Bob Marley and The Wailers". His new backing band included the brothers Carlton and Aston Barrett, Junior Marvin, Al Anderson, Tyrone Downie, Earl Lindo, and Alvin Patterson. Female backing vocals were provided by the "I Threes", consisting of Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths, and Marley's wife, Rita. Bob Marely and The Wailers released 8 more albums (one posthumously) before Marley's death in 1981.