Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Dennis Bovell, Daytoner, JonnyGo Figure, Prince Fatty and Earl 16

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

Even though I saw "Babylon" weeks ago at its ridiculously long-delayed US premiere at BAM (the film was originally released in the UK in 1980, but not shown in America, presumably because its black protagonists sometimes respond to racial oppression/abuse from white people/institutions with violence), images and scenes from the movie continue to haunt me. While its plot is fairly straightforward ("Babylon" follows a group of working class black friends/musicians who run a sound system and are subjected to racist abuse from just about everyone--bosses, neighbors, and the police), it has a stark realism to it--between being shot on location in run-down Brixton (often in difficult-to-film low-lighting conditions, but somehow always maintaining visual crispness and its warm and vivid color tones); the depiction of the ubiquitous societal/institutional racism freely expressed toward black Britons circa '79/'80; great, funny dialogue (with lots of Jamaican slang--which was subtitled); and the spot-on, relaxed performances by all involved, it could almost be a documentary. And, of course, the film's hard-to-find soundtrack is outstanding (with Yabby U, I-Roy, Cassandra, Aswad, Vin Gordon, Michael Rose, Dennis Bovell, and more; also, the film's protagonist Blue is played by Aswad's Brinsley Forde and a rival sound system DJ is Jah Shaka). Before I caught the film, I tracked down a German copy of Babylon in decent shape that wasn't too costly. Side two, in particular is stellar and happens to contain the two Aswad and three Dennis Bovell cuts. But the official Babylon OST (vinyl LP, Chrysalis Records, 1980) doesn't contain all of Bovell's music for the film. So, in conjunction with the US premiere/release of the movie, Dennis Bovell issued the nine-track digital album Babylon: The Original Score (Old School, 2019) containing the entire score he wrote and recorded for this soundtrack (including six songs that did not appear on the 1980 Chrysalis LP). It goes without saying that all of these tracks are excellent and heard in snippets in the film (Bovell is a master of catchy melody and mixes/shifts between musical genres with ease), but I'm particularly grateful to have the ska cut "Runnin' Away" (featured during the dance scene at Lovers' engagement party in the church hall and sounding like one of the '50s rock/rhythm and blues-influenced tracks Laurel Aitken would have released in the early '60s); the funky, strutting "School Skanking" (check out that harmonica!); and the righteous roots reggae of "Living in Babylon" (a clear-eyed recounting of the brutal challenges of being black and poor in racist Ingland). Needless to say, this album is essential and absolutely deserving of being issued on vinyl someday (please!).

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Daytoner's terrific versions of Marcia Griffiths' "Feel Like Jumping" and Phyllis Dillon's "Perfidia," which they've retitled "Perfidious" (7" vinyl single, Friday's Funky 45/Cabin Pressure, 2019); I found a copy at Rock and Soul in Manhattan) inject just the right amount of early '90s hip hop/De La Soul-like beats and samples so as to give these ska and rocksteady classics new life. And they're sure to draw new fans to the dance floor without alienating the ska faithful.

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Brooklyn-based reggae singer/DJ JonnyGo Figure (who's also a member of Megative and has collaborated with The Frightnrs and Full Watts Band) has released an excellent EP of early '80s sounding roots reggae and dancehall (that one could imagine being issued on Greensleeves, circa 1982) called Crucial Showcase (12" vinyl/digital, Bent Backs Records, 2019). On the Yellowman-ish "Vinyl Lover," JonnyGo Figure speaks to his real-life obsession with records and how that came to be ("Mi love vinyl and mi play it fe fun/Mi love vinyl and I never have a gun"). The rootsy "Natty Take Over" is about discovering and embracing Rastafarianism ("Mr. Babylon to move over/This a Natty Dreadlocks take over/When I was a boy they used to say I'd amount to nothing/But now I'm a man they're starting to see that I am something/Look out, look out, Natty taking over..."). He's ready to join with his peers to fighting for a more equal and just society in "Revolutionary Youth": "I tell ya, stand up! Stand up!/Strap up on de Armagideon boot/The time now, we have to recruit/Come on, we chant it, chant it/Come on and let we seek de truth/If you ready, let me see you salute/I'm a revolutionist...Time to start a revolution, boy/'Cause that's the only solution, boy." And knowledge of one's own mortality looms large in "Jam It Up"--there's an expiration date on all of us, so it's best to live a righteous life full of joy in His music: "One day I'll die, no matter what me say/You know, say papa Jah, he the only way I say, so/Come on let me play a Jah Jah music/Let me jam it up..." There's much to ponder while grooving to JonnyGo Figure's seriously good music.

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Released for Record Store Day 2019, Prince Fatty and Earl 16's "Be Thankful for What You've Got" b/w "Be Thankful Dub" (7" vinyl single, Evergreen Records, 2019) is a cover of William DeVaughn's 1974 smash soul hit, which was also covered by Bunny Clarke in 1974, Winston Curtis in 1984, Massive Attack in 1993, as well as sampled by numerous hip hop artists. The song's brilliant lyrics have been perennially popular for their depiction of aspirational cool in the face of deprivation (and, no doubt, for evoking a particular era--I remember seeing this exact model of Cadillac in the Bronx in the '70s):

Just be thankful for what you've got
You may not have a great big Cadillac
Diamond in the back, sunroof top
Diggin' the scene
With a gangsta lean
Gangsta whitewalls
TV antennas in the back

You may not have a car at all
But remember brothers and sisters
You can still stand tall
Just be thankful for what you've got

This spectacular version features a bright and brisk reggae beat (plus a few laser effects) that contrasts wonderfully with Earl 16's beautiful but bittersweet vocals about proudly hanging tough in tough times. The harmonizing on the chorus is incredible, lightly conveying the sadness/loss in all that could have been if things only worked out another way. Apparently, the reason Prince Fatty and Earl 16 decided to record it was because they discovered it was a favorite of both of theirs--and it shows in this gorgeously constructed track and its fantastic companion dub.

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Trojan Records in MOJO!

Apologies for no new posts over the past two weeks--I was on holiday with the family. On our last day in Dublin, I picked up a copy of the September 2018 issue of MOJO at Tower Records (!) for the airplane ride back to the USA. In it is a great feature on the rise and fall and rebirth of Trojan Records (in recognition of their 50th anniversary) by reggae journalist Dave Katz that provides more info on co-owner Lee Gopthal than I've previously encountered. Plus, the giveaway CD Reggae Nuggets sports both classic and lesser-known Trojan tracks by Alton Ellis, The Heptones, Prince Far I, Ricky and Bunny, Dennis Brown, Phyllis Dillon, Johnny Osbourne, The Ethiopians, The Inspirations, The Beltones, Val Bennett, Ken Boothe, Lee Perry, The Crystalites, and Lester Sterling and The Skatalites (MOJO also has a list of what they consider to be the 50 greatest reggae albums up on their website--discuss amongst yourselves). Also on my reading list for the journey home was Margo Jefferson's fascinating cultural history of Michael Jackson, On Michael Jackson--check out the Guardian's interview with her; and Mark Andersen and Ralph Heibutzki's incredible We Are The Clash, the now-definitive history of the post-Mick Jones/Topper Headon Clash (Joe Strummer, Paul Simonon, Nick Sheppard, Vince White, and Pete Howard), which managed to achieve some legitimate triumphs--many blisteringly good live shows, like their 12/6/84 benefit show for striking union coal miners at the Brixton Academy (with a number a great new tracks in the set like "Are You Ready for War?," "Three Card Trick," "North and South," "Dirty Punk," "Jericho," and "This Is England") and their daft-but-brilliant, have-guitar-will-travel busking tour of the north of England--despite Strummer's struggle with depression/self-medication and Bernard Rhodes' absolutely ham-fisted hijacking of what could have been a pretty great album of new songs: Out of Control.

On our travels around Ireland, I managed to miss the chance to see Madness perform twice. They played Galway a day before we arrived and were in Dublin while we were in Galway! (I did catch a BT advert that uses their cover of "It Must Be Love" on TV a few times, but it's not the same.) And Jerry Dammers did a DJ set in Dublin while we were on a brief detour to the (brutally hot) continent. So it goes...

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Duff Guide to Ska Interview with Mike Drance of The Bluebeats

Since the mid-80s, Mike Drance has been a vital force on the New York City and Long Island ska scenes as a former singer, songwriter ("Rudy's Back," "Paul Getty," "Ali-Ska-Ba," "Goin' Back to Kingston"), and baritone saxophonist for The Scofflaws and founding member, singer, and songwriter for his current rocksteady band, The Bluebeats.

After catching up at a recent Bluebeats show, Mike was kind enough to agree to consent to an interview with The Duff Guide to Ska via e-mail...

The Duff Guide to Ska: When/how were you introduced to ska music--and what was the first ska (or rocksteady) album/single that you picked up?

Mike Drance: In 1980, when The Specials' and The Selecter's first records came out, I used to frequent a local record store in Huntington Village. At the time, I was into punk and new wave music and I remember seeing the lifesize cut out of the rude boy from the Selecter album cover in the store and thinking to myself, that is so fuckin' cool! I hadn't even heard the record yet. Soon thereafter, one of the guys at the bar/restaurant/disco I worked at at the time was playing The Specials' first record while we were setting up for the dinner crowd and I thought to myself, this is so fuckin' cool! Then I spoke to the DJ about the record and he showed me the cover and the connection was made. I was changed for life. I went out and bought The Specials and Selecter records almost simultaneously, then Madness followed, Bad Manners, etc. I cut my hair and was a Rudeboy from then on. A couple years after that, I was turned onto the original ska from the 60s by my friend Mike from The Nihilistics, a local hardcore band. We used to go to some of the local new wave clubs and go to shows together and he turned me onto the Intensified compilation and again I was hooked.

DGTS: When you were thinking about forming The Bluebeats back in the mid-90s, what attracted you to the rocksteady genre (as opposed to continuing with a vintage ska sound)?

MD: Well, as you know, I was in the New Bohemians in the early 80s, which was a garage/soul/funk/junk band at the time and when I joined, I began introducing more and more of the 60s ska stuff into the band's repertoire. We eventually became a full-fledged ska band and became The Scofflaws. I was with them for almost 10 years, so I had my fill of the vintage ska sound and was ready to do something different. At first I didn't find the rock steady as exciting as the ska, but the more I listened, the more I began to appreciate the wonderful melodies, vocals and pure soul of the music. To me, nothing is more soulful than rock steady and the early reggae tunes.

DGTS: What do The Bluebeats have on deck for the next year or so--any new recordings, big gigs, etc. (plug away!)?

MD: At this time, it's really hard for us to get together on a regular basis, with members starting families and all, so working on new material is hard to do. I've got quite a few tunes ready to go and a bunch more that need some work with the band, but it looks like it's gonna be a while before we get another record out.

DGTS: Are any of the members of the band full-time musicians, or is everyone balancing family/work along with The Bluebeats?

MD: No full timers.

DGTS: As with many bands, The Bluebeats have gone through some personnel changes over the years--is being its musical director one of your roles (i.e.: is there a lot of collaboration with the other members of the band with writing new material and the choice of covers--or do you make all of these decisions)?

MD: It's more of a collaboration at this point. We share ideas and material and work on arrangements together.

DGTS: What have been your best and worst experiences performing in The Bluebeats?

MD: Best...The Brooklyn Rock Steady Festival back in 1995, I think? Steeplechase Park at Coney Island. That was a dream come true. Playing with the likes of Ken Boothe, Phyllis Dillon, Hopeton Lewis, Big Youth, John Holt, and others I can't remember. It was amazing! We blew a lot of minds that day. Being the only white group on the bill and pretty much the only white folk at the festival, people were looking at us setting up on stage and you can imagine what they might have been thinking. But from the first chord on, we immediately won them over, big time! It was great. Also the European tour with Laurel Aitken and Dave Barker was awesome. Europeans totally understood what we were about and I was very touched by their appreciation of our music.

Worst...Hmmm Nothing terrible. Everyone has bad gigs from time to time, but nothing that I can think of that I would say was really that bad.

DGTS: What are your thoughts about music file sharing? Have you found a lot of The Bluebeats' recordings available on-line for free downloading?

MD: I love the idea of file sharing. Honestly, I haven't looked to see what is available from The Bluebeats music for free. I don't care if it's all available. I want people to share music with each other and I hope people are sharing our music with each other.

DGTS: Which up-and-coming bands on the current ska scene should we keep an eye/ear out for?

MD: Our friend John Pinto had a band Cold Spot 8 that played the last NYC Knitting Factory gig that blew me away. Unfortunately, they are not a regular performing band. I've heard some tunes from a new incarnation called The Equilibirans that sound pretty hot, so I'm keeping an eye/ear out for them.

DGTS: What are your top five Desert Island ska/reggae albums or singles?

MD: Do you mean Treasure Island? Anyhow, I don't catalog records by label so I couldn't tell you and I hate faves lists anyway.

DGTS: Do you ever forsee the possiblity of a debut album-era Scofflaws reunion (it was a smokin' line-up you all had back then!)?

MD: It's been talked about from time to time. I don't see it happening anytime soon, but I'd be willing to have a go at it. I'd have to pick up the horn again and get my chops back anyhow.

DGTS: Thanks for doing this, Mike!

MD: Thank you, brother! Hope to see you at another show soon. Peace.