MUSIC THEORY

I may have exercised my right to artistic license with that last post.  But remember the "THE MAN" went looking for BUJU too set him up in an undercover sting. Ever ask yourself why him? What is it about BUJU that made himself their target and not...say the MARLEY BROTHERS. When I think of a huge thorn stuck in BABYLON'S side, I think of this man; SIZZLA KALONJI. 

Oh by the way, the dictionary definition of GELDING is...castrated animal, esp. a male horse. 

The door to Jamaica's top political office reads Prime Minister GOLDING. The coincidence in similarities is purely accidental.

The grand entrance to this collection of hard and heavy vibes comes from the mind and record label of GARGAMEL. It is a hummable little ditty called COWBOYS. Perhaps you've heard of it? It always amazes me how only down in Jamaica can the studio wizards turn an insipid nursery rhyme like THREE BLIND MICE into a subversive weapon....or at least a smash hit. 

The rest of the disc...

1.) COWBOY by BUJU BANTON. Only down in Jamaica can they take an insipid little ditty like “Three Blind Mice” and ruff it up into something serious. This tuff tune is no children’s nursery rhyme. It is however one of BUJU’S strongest singles in a long time. Well maybe not that long but at least since DRIVER A broke. Remember TOO BAD from way back in 2007?

2.) “POLICE AND THEIVES” by GEORGE NOOKS reaches deep into LUCIANO’S take on this classic from the soundtrack. Usually GEORGE reaches deep into the verses of the bible for lyrical inspiration. I'm gonna bore ya with some history. First off, this tune had mass appeal with those individuals on the wrong side of the law. Alright a few genuine outlaws and mostly hipsters posing as dangerous types. Everybody from spiky punker thugs to the down to earth Ganja farmers. Junior Murvin cut the original tune with a falsetto high enough to bounce off the stratosphere. If you think there is something unnerving and subtly disturbing about the mix that's because the production was the result of LEE PERRY'S mind disintegrating into illness. Those noisy four chord wonders, the CLASH unleashed their own hit version, something like a week after JUNIOR’S bust out on London's pirate radio. Worlds collide! So this classic tune carries massive influence in two separate genres. GEORGE NOOK’S huge tone completely reinvents this tune but is never far from the original design. JUNIOR’S falsetto was only a few decibels lower than the frequency that only dogs can hear.

3.) PINCHERS-When the musical fashion shifted to all that bad man gun bussin’ talk, PINCHER'S faded. PINCHER’S liked to woo the girls in the audience but not like those velvety Vegas lounge crooners. Girls couldn’t get enough of his sly smile while he ached heartbreakers like the massive tune AGONY. PINCHER'S would never reach those heights again that he had with KING JAMMY’S productions. PINCHERS never completely pulled a disappearing act though. He’s been putting out good stuff all along. PINCHER’S never clicked with the younger fans on an international level. Shame, hopefully his tune here, “PUNK ME OUT”, corrects that mistake. He works his smooth stuff over the STALAG RIDDIM. 

4.) MICHAEL ROSE, no I mean JUNIOR REID. Wait that ain’t right, I mean YAMI BOLO. Hey he ain’t 12 years old anymore! YAMI summed it up as being a Waterhouse thing. JUNIOR REID summed it up as the youthful YAMI copying every move he, (JUNIOR), made behind the mic. Hey if ya gonna steal a style, pick the best. Some of JUNIOR’S hits were being spun in the chic discothèques of the rich and famous. Funny thing is I remember every body saying the same thing about JUNIOR stealing MICHAEL ROSE’S tongue tricky “Arabic” vocal technique. Actually the more mature YAMI has found a delicate balance between his own voice and the Waterhouse sound with his rootsy tune, “END OF THE DAY.”

5.) GHOST appears with “LONELY NIGHT.”– He is not really an apparition because he shows up to haunt many a REGGAE compilation. Hey does GHOST have his very own CD released? The Ghost has one of those smooth and sweetly fey voices. My wife thought he was a girl. I know better. Depending on the tune, I either love ‘em or hate ‘em. Here on JAMROCK CLASSICS I find no ill will against the singer.

6.) JAH CURE- Now JAH CURE knows a thing or two about being a criminal statistic. Whether or not he was truly guilty, only him and the girl would know, and of course JAH. Plus getting caught with a handgun didn’t help his defense. Now that Mr. Cure has diligently paid his debt to society, he is back on the path fate had chosen for him. That path is performing passionate roots. 

7.) TONY CURTIS belts out “GOODBYE TO LOVE.” I really don’t know much about him other than he has been around for a few decades. Some fans might call this a throw away tune but it’s a notch above being mere filler. I guess you could accuse the GHOST track of the same offense, but “LONEL NIGHT” is definitely the stronger of the two.

8.) LUTAN FYAH drops “MEANS TO SURVIVE.” I have said before that LUTAN reminds me every ROOTS CHANTER that I love but at the same time he is nothing like any of them. Somehow I’m comfortably familiar with his work even if I’m a stranger to the tune.  Spinning a new CD of LUTAN’S work is like listening to an old favorite. I put him in the same category as NATURAL BLACK. Both constantly surpass high standards but for some reason they slip unnoticed by the casual REGGAE public. Thankfully there are enough diehard ears listning.

9.) BUJU BANTON featuring THE NEW KIDZ causes trouble all over again with “CURFEW.”  Another act of defiance cut on the THREE BLIND MICE. I'm not sure what they be call the riddim. Probably my favorite tune from this disc. It is one of those tunes that could make you either fall deep into thought or make ya wanna dance.

10.)  TERROR FABULOUS steps outta the time machine and delivers “READY ROCK.” A rowdy old school workout over the STALAG RIDDIM. This tune brings back memories of fades and parachute pants! It is a cool way to wrap up a good mix of new and old. BUJU as the star power producer and aspiring record mogul.

Basic packaging, but that's okay, because all the time and money went into the tunes. The full title is BUJU BANTON presents JAMROCK CLASSICS vol.1
I hope we don't haffi wait the length of a maximum sentence for vol. 2