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The Bob Marley History ~ Reggae At The BBC

Reggae Rings Out At The BBC In Honour of Jamaica’s 60^th Independence Anniversary

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The BBC Did Itself Proud On Saturday Night August 14 2022 With A Reggae Music Extravaganza Lastin’ Over Three Hours From 9.00 pm ~ 12.30 am

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Bob Marley Re-Imagined With The Chineke! Orchestra

(Available on BBC Iplayer & BBC Sounds)

Firstly 9.00 pm – 10.00 pm (Saturday August 13 2022) ~ Recorded Live At Birmingham Town Hall On Tuesday July 26 Was A Special Broadcast On Saturday Night Called Bob Marley Re-imagined With The Chineke! Orchestra. It Was Presented By The Musical Livin’ Legend That Is Super Smooth, Stylish And Encloypedic DJ Mr Trevor Nelson @trevornelson.

It Looked Great In Terms of The Orchestral Settin’, The Buildin’ And Audience Joy. Especially After The Lockdown’s Halt On Creativity And Live Music Durin’ The Pandemic. Both Makin’ It And Enjoyin’ It. This Musical Feast Fused A Grand Orchestra With A Special Selection of Marley’s Hits From His Album Legend (Released In 1984 Three Years After His Untimely Death Aged Just 36).

A Similar Orchestral Collaboration Was Exquisitely Presented Years Ago With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra And Reggae King John Holt. What Took This Classical & Reggae Music Collaboration To Another Level of Joy, Progress & Excellence Was Seein’ The Chineke! Orchestra Be Central To Proceedings. Established In 2015 By Chi Chi Nwango, It Is An Inclusive Orchestra And Designed To Give Black Classical Musicians & Their Allies & Supporters Opportunities They Would Not Otherwise Have.

Robert’s Grandson Skip Performed On Stage Lookin’, Soundin, And Even Movin’ Everybit Like His Grandfather @skipmarley. Ruby Turner Was In The House Too @rubyturner, As Was JP Cooper@jpcooper.

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The Chineke Orchestra!

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The Bob Marley Story

(Available on BBC Iplayer )

10.00 – 11.00 pm The Broadcast Celebration Continued The Evenin’ With An Insightful Documentary Lookin’ At The Story of Bob Marley And Rise To Prominence & Stardom In The UK.

The Look At How His Career Grew Over Here, Included His Comin To The Attention of Rock Guitarist Eric Clapton, Playin’ In A Little Pub In Southampton And Then After That At The Lyceum In Theatreland, Leavin’ London Because of The Snow And Returnin’ Soon Afterwards Because of A Politically Motivated Assasination Attempt On His Life Home In Jamaica.

It Includes Contributions From Music Man & Model Don Letts, Photographer Dennis Morris And Also Three Men Who Are Still Thrilled About Him Visitin’ Their School Back In The Day. And The Poignant Impact Within The Black Community That Colourism Plays. And How Bob Marley Helped Create A More A More Integrated Society Such As We Have Today. Although of Course, It Remains Imperfect.

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Reggae At The BBC

(Available on BBC Iplayer & BBC Sounds)

11.00 pm – 12.30 am As The Grand Finale The Station Broadcast A Reggae Revival Night With A Retropsective Look At Previous Reggae Performances From Various Reggae Artists On Different BBC Platforms (Admittedly Predominately Top of The Pops).

In Addition To The Music What Made This Particuarly Enjoyable Was The Little Snippets of Info. So Much So We’ve Picked Up On Some of Them, Added To Them And Done A Little Further Research.

Most Notable Is Confirmation of What We Already Knew, But Is Not Addressed Enough, Which Is How Much The White Music Scene Borrows or Simply Takes From The Black Music Scene (Often With Very Little Official Recognition). How Multi-Talented Many Reggae Music Artists Are And Why The Black Community Needs To Control It’s Own Narrative In Order To Keep Breakin’ Down Certain Destructive Stereotypes. And Sadly How Many Reggae Artists Seem To Pass Prematurely From Illness (Includin’ Marley Himself Which Is Addressed In The Aforementioned Documentary).

There Were Over Twenty Performers And Here’s Our Take On A Interestin’ Fact or Two On Each of Them In No Particular Order. Use The Links At The Top of The Article To See Who You Like And Take A Bite From Our Generous Specially Orchestrated Menu.

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Nicky Thomas

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One: Nicky Thomas ~ Love of The Common People, 1970. He Gives A Very Unique Physical Performance In His Rendition of The Song At The BBC In 1970. The Song About The Common Man Livin’ In Poverty, Has A Long History Though.

Interestingly, He Got To No.9 In The UK Charts In 1970. And Paul Young, The White 80s Pop Singer Who’s Style Is Largely Covers of Black Soul Music Tracks, Got To No.2 With It In 1983. Initially Young Released His Cover Version In 1982 And It Failed To Even Chart. However After His Cover Version of Marvin Gay’s 1962 Track ‘Wherever I Lay My Hat’ Got To The No.1 In 1983, He Released It And It Got To No.2 Spot In The Same Year. Young Also Got It To No.1 In Ireland, Italy And Holland. Young’s Version Included A Trombone Solo By Cuba-Born Jamaican Reggae & SKA Str Rico Rodrigues.

The Everly Brothers Released It In 1967 And Their Version Also Got To No.1, In Canada, But Not The UK. Elsewhere Their Version Bombed, As Did The Original Version Also Written & Released In 1967 By Folk Singers The Four Preps And Wayne Newman (AKA Midnight Idol And Mr Entertainment).

Nicky Thomas Also Worked With Bunny Livingston In The UK At Trojan Records, He Also Had A Number of Jamaican Hits, And He Also Undertook A Number of Music Tours. However Despite His Stunnin’ Performance on The BBC In 1970, He Was Later Said To Be Unimpressed With What He Perceived As Their Underplayin’ of Reggae Music. Thomas Was Only 41 When He Reportedly Died of Suicide.

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The Wailers ~ Bob Marley & The Wailers ~ Desmond Dekker

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Two: Bob Marley & The Wailers ~ Stir It Up, 1973. Marley’s Version, Produced By Chris Blackwell of Island Records Was Featured On The Wailers UK Debut Album Catch A Fire The Same Year (April 1973). Marley Had Written The Song In 1967 And Allowed His American Reggae Musician And Producer Friend Johnny Nash To Record It Two Years Earlier (In 1971). The Album Burnin’ By The Wailers (Originally Bunnie Wailer, Bob Marley And Peter Tosh All From Jamaica) Was Also Released In The Same Year In (October 1973).

Whilst Stir It Up In The UK Was Their Debut UK Album, It Was Their 5th Group Album And Burnin’ Was Their 6th Group Album (As They Had Been Recordin’ Together In Jamaica Before Comin’ To The UK). As Well As The UK, It Was Also A Hit In The USA. So Much So, That In 2007 The US Library of Congress Deemed It Asthetically, Historically, And Culturally Significant Enough To Be Added To The US National Recording Registry. Ironically, After The Success of This Track And It’s Album Namesake, The Trio Decided To Pursue Solo Careers. Seein’ His Mass Appeal Island Records Became More Influential Over Bob’s Development As An Artist, And Tosh And Livingston Stayed More Aligned To Their Musical Perspective of Jamaican Roots Reggae.

After This Instead of Bein’ Known As The Wailers, Bob Marley Became Bob Marley And The Wailers, Whereby He Was Freed To Select A Series of Backin’ Singers To Support His New Style of Singin’. Bunny Wailer Had Generously (or Unwittingly) Allowed Him To Keep The Wailer Name.

Guitar Legend Eric Clapton Recorded I Shot The Sheriff From The Burnin’ Album In 1974 Givin’ It A More Rock Guitar Emphasis. His Rock Reggae Version Reached No.1 On The US Billboards Chart. His Only Hit To Do So. ‘Tears In Heaven’ The Deeply Movin’, Heartbreakin’, Tragic Yet Ultimately Beautiful Song About The Loss of His Baby Boy (After He Fell Out of A Window) Reached No.2. In 1992.

Three: Bob Marley & The Wailers ~ Exodus, 1977. An Album of The Same Name Was Released In The Same Year By Island Records. Marley Suffered A Political Assination Attempt In Jamaica The Year Before And So Escaped To London, Where He Wrote It Whilst Recouperatin’ In London’s Notting Hill. This Brings To Mind The Insanity of Richard Curtis Makin’ A Film Called Notting (The Home of The Carnival As Well As Bob Marley) Not Featurin’ Any Black People At All! Wrong Is Not Even A Big Enough Word. And Yet This Is The Same Guy Behind Comic Relief Charity That Works With Sir Lenny Henry. Go Figure!

Four : Desmond Dekker & The Aces ~ The Isrealites, 1978. This Upbeat Reggae Tune Is About The Twelve Tribes of Isreal Central To The Rastafarian Interpretation of The Bible. In 1968 It Was The First Reggae Song To Reach The UK No.1 And The American Top 10 (In At No.9). He Had Various Other Hits Includin’ “007 (Shanty Town)” In 1968 And The Harder They Come (Written By Jimmy Cliff) In 1970. The Latter Went To No.2 (A Film of The Same Name Starrin’ Jimmy Cliff Was Released The Same Year). Born In Kingston Jamaica In 1941 Dekker Died of A Heart Attack, In 2006, In Thornton Heath, Croydon).

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Susan Cadogan ~ Althea & Donna ~ Janet Kay

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Five: Susan Cadogan ~ Hurts So Good, 1975. Written By The Wonderfully Raucous, Outrageous And Revolutionary Songstress Millie Jackson In 1973, Cadogan’s Version Reached No.4 In 1975. She Worked With Reggae Music Legend Lee ‘Scrath’ Perry. She Also Worked Intermittently As A Librarain At The University of The West Indies For Thirty Years. This Detail Helps Breakdown The Stereotype That Members of The Black Community Are Not Interested In Books And Learnin’, And Only Love Music. It Is Important To Have Greater Promotion of This Side of The Story.

Six: Althea & Donna, Uptown Top Ranking, 1978. A One Hit Wonder, Which Is Now A Classic. The BBC Reports That This Record Was Championed By The Late Legendary, Likeable, And Edgy Alternative Radio One DJ John Peel, Who Was Always Scoutin’ New Interestin’ Music Talent Back In The Day.

Seven: Janet Kay ~ Silly Games, 1979. Janet Entered The Guiness Book of Records As The First Black British Female Reggae Artist To Have A UK Reggae Hit. As A Talented Lace Maker She Is Featured In A Number of Fabric Craft Books. She Is Also An Actress And Has Appeared In A Number of Black Drama And Comedy Productions, Includin’ The Comedy No Problem And More Recently Steve McQueen’s Small Axe Series. As Sited In Everal McKenzie’s Excellent Book ‘Jamaica Proverbs & Culture Explained’ ~ “Small Axe Can Chop Down Big Tree”. The Famous Top Note In Ms Kay’s Silly Games Is A Thing of Natural Beauty & Wonderment. On The (Slow) Dancefloor Many Always Try But Few Ever Achieve It.

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Dennis Brown ~ Sugar Minnot ~ Gregory Issacs

Eight: Dennis Brown ~ Money In My Pocket (But I Just Can’t Get No Love). Bob Marley Called Dennis Brown “The Crown Prince of Reggae” And Declared Him One of His Favourite Reggae Artists. Dennis Started Out Singin’ Aged Just 9 Years Old. He Sadly Died of A Collapsed Lung Aged Just 42.

Nine: Sugar Minnot ~ Good Thing Goin’, 1981. This Is Another Reggae Classic Which Fills The Dancefloor. The BBC Credited Sugar Minnot As Havin’ A Gift For Re-writtin’ Pop Songs To A Reggae Beat And Startin’ That Very Well Known Tradition of Makin’ Reggae Versions of Pop Songs. This Song Was Originally Written For Michael Jackson.

Ten: Gregory Issacs ~ Night Nurse. This Is A Slow Dance, Reggae Classic, Floor-Filler. Issacs Loved His Style & Fashion, Often In A Suit, Shoes And A Fedora Hat. They Called Him The Ruler. Alas He Died From Lung Cancer Aged Just 59.

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Madness ~ The Specials ~ UB40 ~ Aswad ~ Musical Youth

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Eleven: Madness ~ The Prince, 1979. The Nutty Boy Band of Brothers From Camden, North London, Were Inspired By The Jamaican SKA & Reggae Legend Buster Prince. It Was This Debut Performance On The BBC Which Bought Them To National Attention In The Lates 70s. They Toured With The Specials And The Selector Before Releasin’ Their First Album One Step Beyond. The Band Took Their Name From The Song “Madness” On Buster Prince’s Fabulous Greatest Hits Album And Also Covered The Track “Madness”. As Well As Namin’ Their First Album After Another of The Songs On The Greatest Hits Called “One Step Beyond”, Which They Also Covered That Track Too.

The Band Are Still Goin’ And Famously Performed Their Son “Our House” On The Roof of Buckingham Palace In 2012 For The Queen’s Jubilee. Charismatic Lead Singer Suggs Was Recently Positively Profiled In A Feature Length Documentary About His Life-Story With The Band And With His Mrs On Sky Arts (Catch-Up Channel On Now TV).

Although They Were Influenced By Black Music (As So Many White Artists And Bands Were And Still Are), Because of Their Skinhead Image They Were Often Confused As Bein’ A Racist Band And Attracted Alot of Racist Followers. Yet On The Other Hand They Were Also Considered A Mod Band Too. Mixed Messaging Much? Their Track “Embarrassment” Musically Documents The Real Dangers & Consequences of Such Mixed Messagin’.

Twelve: The Specials ~ Rudie, 1979 (On The Old Grey Whistle Test). They Were A SKA Band. The Band’s Lead Singer Jerry Darmmer Formed His Own Record Label Which Signed Up The Selector, The Beat And Madness.

Thirteen: UB40 ~ Ivory Madonna, UB40 Hail From Birmingham And Are One of The World’s Most Successful, Famous, And Long Lastin’ Reggae Bands. (Named After The “Dole” Form Which Gave Unemployment Benefit To The Unemployed At A Time When Unemployment Was At One of The Highest Rates Its Ever Been In The UK) They Consciously Sing About Social Issues, Social Situations And At Special National Occassions. They Are Still Goin’ Strong And Still Tourin’ And Earlier This Month Performed At The Commonwealth Games Held In Birmingham.

Fourteen: Aswad ~ African Children, 1981. Performed On The Old Grey Whistle Test.

Fiveteen: Musical Youth ~ Pass The Dutchie, 1982. The Birmingham Band Formed At School And Part of Their Appeal Was The Young Age of The Leader Singer/Guitarist And The Pianist. They Were Small In Stature But Big On Charisma And Talent Which Made Them Adorably Cute. With Their Three Other Taller School Mates, They Managed To Win Themselves A Grammy Nomination For Their Version of The Song. It Had Been Adapted From Its Original Title Pass The Koutchie On The Left Hand Side, Given Their Delicate Age (And Frankly Somewhat Delicate Mass Audience). The Former Was A Classic Jamaican Cookin’ Pot (Regularly Full With Tasty Caribbean Food). The Latter Was Part of Smokin’ Parphenalia Regularly Filled With Something Else And Shared Amongst Those Who Enjoyed What We Might Politely Call A Puff.

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Burning Spear ~ Junior Murvin ~ Black State ~ Steel Pulse

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Sixteen: Burning Spear ~ Slavery Days, 1996. Burnin’ Spear (AKA Winston Rodney) Was Backed By A Huge Ensemble of Black And White Musicians For Performance. His Stage Name Is Honour of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s First Head of State And A Former African Freedom Fighter ~ Who Was Known As Burnin’ Spear. Kenya Gained Independence From Colonial Britain And The Queen In 1963 (Who Nonetheless Remained Head of State). By 1964 It Became A Presidential Republic, With Jomo As Head of State, In His New Role As President.

[Alas The Uprisin’, Chaos, And Disorder Followin’ The Election of Micheal Ruto As The New President of Kenya On Monday Augutst 15 2022, Amid Claims of Election Impropriety, Proves Politics Does Not Necessarily Always Work Out Well Even When As African-Caribbeans We Rule Ourselves. But Nonetheless It Remains Our Overridin’ Right To Do So. Britain Seems To Have Gone To The Dogs Right Now In Any Event, With Corruption, Sleaze And Misdeeds All Around.]

The Fact That Bob Marley Encouraged Burnin’ Spear To Start His Career At Studio One, Jamaica, Is Just One of A Number of Touchin’ Stories of Robert Nestar Marley Encouragin’ Fellow Creatives To Explore Their Creative Capabilities. This Also Included The Aforementioned Musician Dennis Brown And Dennis Murray The Photographer. Rodney Was Born In St Annes The Same As Marcus Garvey And Indeed Marley. He Wrote A Number of Acclaimed Albums Dedicated To Garvey, Havin’ Indeed Worked With Studio One, Considered By Some To Be The Motown of Reggae.

Seventeen: Junior Murvin ~ Police And Thieves, 1980. The Clash Did A Version In 1977 Which He Was Not Over The Moon About Sayin’ “They Destroyed Jah Work.”

His Performance On Top of The Pops Reclaimed That Work.

(Jah Is The Rastafarian Term Used To Reference God. Babylon Is The Rastafarian Name Used To Reference The Unholy, The Harmful, The Devil, And The Wicked And Bad. And In Particular The Police. They Were Terrorisin’ Black People At The Time. And Continue To Terrorise Black People Today. Arugably Today They Are Not Gettin’ Away With It So Easily As Then. However It Remains The Fact That They Are Perceived To Have Done Little To Effectively Improve The Situation And Any Improvements Have Only Followed Community Action After Community Sufferin’ And Exposure of Poor Police Behaviour).

Again The Sex Pistols, The Police, The Clash, And The Jam Were Part of The Late 1970s Musical Revolution Seekin’ A New Style of Music, Just As The UK Reggae Scene Was Really Gainin’ Momentum. And In That Sense Their Was A Loose Kind of Affinity.

As Musician, Cultural Commenatator & Model Don Letts Says, They Were Part of The Punk Movement Which Whilst “Not Physically Similar To Reggae Were Spiritually Similar” In As Much As They Were Part of A 1970s & 1980s Musical Revolution (That They Were Pushin’ Themselves). The Sex Pistols Irreverant Punk Track ‘God Save The Queen’ Was An Example of That.

Eigtheen: Black State ~ Amigo, 1980. This Song Is A Dedication To Jah

Nineteen: Steel Pulse ~ Ku Klux Klan, (Members Dressed In Klan Robes). They Are An Example of How Reggae Groups And Some Punk Groups Collaborated Together With A Sense of Revolution. As Don Letts Says “If Not Physically, Then Spiritually”. Now Based In Washington, They Previously Appeared On The Same Bill AsThe Police And The Stranglers . Their Music Addressed Racism & Babylon Head On. In The Same Vein That Sees Many Not Persuaded By Some Musicians Controversially Usin’ The N-Word In Their Lyrics, Claimin’ They Are “Reclaimin” The Word, Steel Pulse Wearin’ KKK Hoods As Part of Their Performance, Was, To Use Modern Parlance, “Not A Good Look.”

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Shabba Ranks ~ Buju Banton ~ Beenie Man ~ Sean Paul

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Twenty: Shabba Ranks ~ Twice My Age, 1993. Ranks Ranks High As A Dancehall King!

Twenty One: Buju Banton ~ Murderer, 1995. The Song Was Written After His Friend Was Murdered Whislt He Was Away On Tour In Japan (of All Places). Apparently Buju Means Chubby And Banton Means Respected Storyteller. Although His Lyrics Are Often Considered Controversial He Too Is Undeniably A Dancehall King.

Twenty Two: Beenie Man, Who Am I? 2002. He Is Another Dancehall Legend And In This Performance Delivers A Mash Up of Hits To The Vibe of Who Am I? Winnin A Jamaican Teeny Talent Contest Aged Just Eight, By 10 He Released His First Album, The Invincible Beenie Man: The 1o Year Old DJ Wonder. The BBC Reports That Beenie’s Uncle Was A Percussionist For Reggae Star Jimmy Cliff (Who Was To Close With BBC Reggae Extravaganza On Saturday Night). The Jamaican Music Scene Is Very Often A Family Business.

“Zim Zimmer Who’s Got The Keys To My Zimmer?” Was Reportedly Written Literally After He Lost His Car Keys. His First UK Hit In 1998, It Reached No. 10 In The Top Ten of The Top 40 Music Charts. This Is A Reggae Example of Endorsin’ The Musical Approach That Writin’ About One’s Life Experiences Is Often The Best Way To Go!

Twenty Three: Sean Paul ~ We Will Be Burnin’, 2005 (Top of The Pops). Reachin No.2. The Song Is His Most Successful UK Hit. He Is Another Dancehall King Credited For Helpin’ To Bring Jamaican Dancehall Ragga Music To The Masses.

Splendidly The BBC Reports That He Was A Jamaica Water Polo Player From Aged 13-21, Followin’ In The Footsteps of His Grandfather Who Played Waterpolo Player For Jamaica’s National Waterpolo Team. And His Parents Were Also Champion Swimmers. This Was The Most Amazin’ Story of The Night And Highlights How Important It Is To Breakdown Stereotypes: In This Case, The Notion That Black People Cannot Swim Well, Are Only Good At Certain Sports And Have No Place In High Society Events.

Sean Paul’s Classic Tune Also Featured In The BBC’s Strictly Come Dancin’ Last Year Where Comedian Judi Love Famously Danced To His Track Whilst Performin’ The First Ever Genuine Twerk On The Glamourous Dance Talent Show (And Possibly The First Ever On UK TV, By A UK TV Personality, As Previously There Have Been Some Seriously Sorry Interloper Examples). Both Sean Paul And Judi Recently Appeared On Mo Gilligan’s Lateish Show On Channel Four Together.

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Maxi Priest ~ Shaggy ~ Chaka Demus & Pliers ~Jimmy Cliff

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Twenty Four: Maxi Priest ~ Wild World, 1988. Cat Stevens Wrote It. Jimmy Cliff Sang It. Maxi Got To No.1 In The US Billboard Charts (One of Only Two Reggae Songs To Reach That Position).

Twenty Five: Shaggy ~ Oh Carolina, The BBC Reports That He Takes His Name Form The Scooby-Doo Character. Like Shabba Ranks He Is Also A Dancehall King. Now Most Famous For His Extra-Curricula Relationship Activites Song “It Wasn’t Me.” As Testimony To The Previously Mentioned Reggae And Punk Revolutionary Relationship Shaggy Recently Made An Album With Sting (Former Lead Singer of The Police).

Twenty Six: Chaka Demus & Pliers ~ Twist And shout, 1993. On Jools Holland Hootenanny. (Featurin’ Sly & Robbie In The Rhythm Section…And JACK RADICS). Independant Artists In Their Own Right, The Decided To Form A Duo In 1991. They Were The First Jamaican Collabortion To Achieve 3 Consecutive Top 5 Hits In The UK.

She Don’t Let Nobody (But Me) ~ 1993, Reached No.3 (From Their Album Tease Me)

Tease Me ~ July 1993, Reached No.3 (From Their Album of The Same Name ~ Tease Me).

Twist & Shout ~ New Years’s Eve, 1993. Reached No.1 January 1994. The Duo Made Their First Ever UK Appearance On Jools Holland’s First Ever New Year’s Eve Show Hootenanny. Written By Phil Medley & Bert Russell In 1961 It Has Been Covered By Many Artists Includin’ Chaka Damus & Pliers, The Isley Brothers ~ And ~ The Beatles. (Also From Their Album Tease Me)

[Murder She Wrote ~ 1992 (US) 1993 (International); Reached No. 27 Early 1994 (And Is Inspired By The TV Detective Show Featurin’ A Senior Glamourous Author Who Does A Bit of Sluething. And By A Faux Claim of Pregnancy ~ Where After 6~9~10 Months There Was No Baby) (From Their Album Murder She Wrote)]

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Twenty Seven: Jimmy Cliff ~ Many Rivers To Cross, 2008. Performin’ With The BBC’s Legendary Music Show Host Jools Holland On The Piano. With Paul Weller of The Jam (And Virtually The Whole Studio of Musicians Admiringly Lookin On). The Depth of Soul, Quality And Emotion In This Performance Could Move A Person To Tears. In 1972 Cliff Famously Starred In The Film The Harder They Come About The Life of A Jamaican Musician. In 2003 (Some Thirty One Years Later) He Was Awarded The Order of Merit By The Jamaican Government In Recognition & In Honour of His Contribution To The Arts & Jamaican Culture.

Bob Marley Was Also Blessed With The Honour In 1981 (And Marley’s Exodus Album of 1977 Was Named The Best Album of The Century By Time Magazine In 1999, As The World Faced The Turn of The Century).

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