Buried Treasure From My Distant Past
I came across this ancient I-Tones video on YouTube, The video was made 1985 and brings back a lot of great memories for me.
At the time this video was made, I was living in Cambridge Massachusetts and did quite a few dancehall deejay gigs at the Western Front, a local reggae club. The I-Tones were pretty much the house band at the Front and I frequently spun music at their gigs I became friends with Ram, Chris and Jah Shirt. The I-Tones formed around 1980 I were one of the first American reggae bands and got a few recording contract offers but they wanted to do things their own way and formed I-Tones Records to release their music on.
I met a few reggae stars like Albert Griffiths and Joseph Hill as a deejay at the Front and of any club I've ever played or gone to, the Western Front had the best vibes. They even had their own ital chef, Phillip who cooked up meat pies, curried goat and rice and peas in a small dining area downstairs. The music was upstairs. The Western Front is alive, well and still in buisness when most of the 80s era clubs in Boston are long gone. It will always be a special place for me.
The marquee and entry to the Western Front in Cambridge
The music video below is for their 12" single which was filmed in Paris but only the singer and bass player, Ram travelled to Paris for the film shoot there. The video of the full band was shot on the tiny ground level performing stage upstairs at the Western Front.
The video and single of
Walk On By got a lot of attention and airplay in Europe but didn't do much business in the USA. The I-Tones finally called it quits in 1990 much to the dismay of loyal fans that followed the I-Tones for nearly a decade. The band played a big role in my own musical education and I'm glad this lost video of the band was finally unearthed by an old I-Tones fan.