The Songs
3 American Hit Songs from From the Early Eighties
Nancy Reagan - Blue Riddim Band The most unlikely success in the history of the Reggae Sunsplash was the appearance of the Blue Riddim Band 5:45 in the morning on August 8 1982. It was unlikely because Blue Riddim Band was an all-white band from Kansas singing a song about
Nancy Reagan.
The Blue Riddim Band
I was operating a video camera that was doing the pan shots of the crowd for a Sunsplash documentary and I was stunned at the enthusiastic reaction of the mostly all black Jamaican crowd. Even the mighty reggae singer Burning Spear (Winston Rodney) was skanking and clapping his hands to Blue Riddim's dubwise version of
Nancy Reagan.
I have the rare 7" original single and dub version of the song which really smokes. I'm happy to say that
Nancy Reagan is now available on iTunes as a digital download after 32 years of being out of issue.
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No Vacancy - Sugar Minott Sugar Minott's populist cry for jobs in Jamaica was a monster hit in the island in 1982.
No Vacancy refers to no job vacancies and it's a suffer's tale about humiliating state of poverty that exists on the island.
The lyrics are in the militant style and Sugar lays down the line with these lyrics:
Quote:
I man try and me nah try
But I just can't get reply
Applying to the factory
I-man's clothes are so shabby
Dem a people just a watch me
Everywhere you go it's no vacancy
They must fe waan me commit robbery
Everywhere you go it's no vacancy
Tell me how you gwan benefit me
No vacancy especially if you are natty
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Slave Market - Gregory Isaacs Soon Forward is a crucial album in the history of reggae music. It's 1979 and reggae was standing at the crossroads of roots conscious, dub and dancehall styles and this album pulled it all together into a collection of songs that stand up to the test of time.
Slave Market is a sufferer's tale from that album and Gregory sings it with a winsome but fiery vocal. Sly and Robbie do drum and bass with most of the Roots Radics on other instruments. The Roots Radics were far and away the best studio musicians of golden age of reggae and Isaacs was using the Radics as his live backing band during this era.
Soon Forward was one of the earliest albums recorded at Sly & Robbie brand new Taxi studio and released the Virgin owned Frontline label in the UK and the USA.
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