Posted on 06/18/2015 4:15:31 PM PDT by nickcarraway
IN 1964, at the height of the ska craze, Edward Seaga, Jamaica's minister of social welfare and economic development, invited Byron Lee and the Dragonaires (BL&D) to his West Kingston constituency to revel in a sound that was rocking Kingston's clubs.
"Byron, myself and Ken Lazarus went down there and he (Seaga) said 'listen to this'. We heard these guys making amazing music," recalled BL&D lead singer Keith Lyn.
That "amazing music" was ska. The West Kingston trip inspired Lazarus and Lyn to write Jamaican Ska, which remains one of the band's biggest hits.
It is one of 20 songs on Uptown Top Ranking, an album to be released June 9 by VP Records. The set revisits some of BL&D's ska, rocksteady and reggae recordings.
Because of its longstanding ties to Carnival in the Eastern Caribbean, the band is usually associated with calypso and soca, sounds synonymous with that region.
But on Uptown Top Ranking, Lee and the Dragonaires show their versatility with Dumplings (their first hit song), Jamaican Ska, Soul Ska, Rocksteady, Hot Reggay and Don't Call me Nigger, Whitey.
As the album's title suggests, BL&D were an uptown band whose audience was distinctly middle-class. Because of that tag, Lyn believes they never got their due from the masses, especially as a ska act.
"Jamaican Ska was the first original ska hit, but we were never popular with the downtown crowd as they called them, so we never really got that respect," he said.
To help promote the ska beat and dance, Seaga took BL&D and a teenaged Jimmy Cliff to the World's Fair in New York City in 1964.
Critics argued that The Skatalites, ska's greatest exponents, should have made the trip.
Lee formed the Dragonaires at St George's College in the early 1950s. They made their name as a show band before hitting with the
Seaga-produced Dumplings in 1959.
The band enjoyed a chart revival during the 1980s when Lee launched the successful Jamaica Carnival. Songs like Tiney Winey and Dancehall Soca helped introduce BL&D to a new generation.
Lee died in November 2008 at age 73.
Great music, the English call it Two-Tone because the bands there usually wore a lot of black and white.
One of my favorites along with The Selecter and Madness earlier on.
I loved SKA in college; The Specials, English Beat, Madness (pre-OurHouse days).
To me it represents a popular compromise between the ‘Western’ and the post-colonial that could have actually worked; but, alas, racial politics must intrude, post 60’s. So ultimately SKA failed.
They called it, we’re living in real Gangster times. Obama and the liberals uses the law to commit crimes every day.
Never got into Ska. My favorite Jamaican album is “The Harder They Come.” Wonderfully crude recordings full of soul. “Walkin’ down the road, with a ratchet in your waist, Johnny you’re too bad!” When they started to get into studios in Florida, and heavy production, they made music that sucked! Couldn’t stand the later Marley stuff, although his early music, recorded in garage studios was fun!
When I first heard this, I thought it was Fats Domino singing. Al T. Joe was also known as Jamaica Fats.
Must have missed that.
But I did propose that Giuliani make this one his campaign song:
The Third Wave!
Thanks, guys, for bringing back some musical fun tonight!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRm7j2UL3YY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rb13ksYO0s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otbtDNT6FA8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Znh0OM9jiA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18EAqHx2lMk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzGV9Bl6CGg
Beats the poop outa white ska! All from the same movie!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2XiYUYcpsT4
English Beat were the best
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