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Gavin B. · 08-02-2009, 11:16 AM

Thee Songs Ina A-1 Style

The songs below are songs I've come across over the years that I thought typified the what Reggae's golden age was all about. Each song is carefully crafted, perfectly executed a contains one or two melodic hooks that put the listener under the spell of the song upon the first hearing.

The truly amazing part is that none of these three great songs were any more or less exceptional than thousands of 7' and 12" being sold in record stores across Jamaica in the late Seventies and early Eighties. There was such a glut of killer singles released on any given Tuesday in JA, and lot of the best singles got lost in the shuffle. Gregory Isaacs once told me that in the early Eighties he was releasing 3-5 new singles a week on his African Museum label and he estimates that from 1975 until 1985 he released 400 albums (including compilations).

My point is that as much as 50% of the musical treasures from the golden era has yet to be heard outside of Jamaica. The challenge is to find a map that leads to the lost treasures so they can be unearthed.

Gregory Isaacs is a man that lives very much in the moment and I doubt he doesn't remember what happened to the master tapes of all the recordings he made at African Museum. At least he told me he didn't know where the master tapes were. I asked him once about it and Gregory hesitated and touched his hand to his brow as if trying to recall somthing really important and then said, "Is a good question, mon, me nuh no."

I'm betting that those and many other lost masters are around in somebody's basement, some warehouse storage space or in a private or public music archive somewhere on the island. Until Gregory's memory is refreshed, there plenty of fatastic music that was released in the USA and still has gone unheard.

Tune In- Gregory Isaacs

I Nuh Everything- the Gladiators

Roll Jordan River- The Itals

08-02-2009, 11:16 AM	#55 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	Thee Songs Ina A-1 Style The songs below are songs I've come across over the years that I thought typified the what Reggae's golden age was all about. Each song is carefully crafted, perfectly executed a contains one or two melodic hooks that put the listener under the spell of the song upon the first hearing. The truly amazing part is that none of these three great songs were any more or less exceptional than thousands of 7' and 12" being sold in record stores across Jamaica in the late Seventies and early Eighties. There was such a glut of killer singles released on any given Tuesday in JA, and lot of the best singles got lost in the shuffle. Gregory Isaacs once told me that in the early Eighties he was releasing 3-5 new singles a week on his African Museum label and he estimates that from 1975 until 1985 he released 400 albums (including compilations). My point is that as much as 50% of the musical treasures from the golden era has yet to be heard outside of Jamaica. The challenge is to find a map that leads to the lost treasures so they can be unearthed. Gregory Isaacs is a man that lives very much in the moment and I doubt he doesn't remember what happened to the master tapes of all the recordings he made at African Museum. At least he told me he didn't know where the master tapes were. I asked him once about it and Gregory hesitated and touched his hand to his brow as if trying to recall somthing really important and then said, "Is a good question, mon, me nuh no." I'm betting that those and many other lost masters are around in somebody's basement, some warehouse storage space or in a private or public music archive somewhere on the island. Until Gregory's memory is refreshed, there plenty of fatastic music that was released in the USA and still has gone unheard. Tune In- Gregory Isaacs I Nuh Everything- the Gladiators Roll Jordan River- The Itals Last edited by Gavin B.; 03-16-2010 at 05:18 PM.