The Jamaican singer Wayne Smith took reggae into the digital era with "Under Mi Sleng Teng'', a groundbreaking track that introduced a new, infectious, irresistible "riddim" and pioneered a style of recording built around electronic keyboards. Co-produced by Prince Jammy and first issued on his Jammy's label in 1985, "Sleng Teng'' became the foundation for the dancehall genre and has been covered, or "versioned", as the Jamaicans would say, close to 400 times, by performers such as Sugar Minott, Johnny Osbourne and Tappa Zukie, and seeped into the rock, rap and pop repertoire of acts like the Prodigy, 50 Cent, Robyn and MIA. Born in 1965 in Waterhouse, a tough area of Kingston, Smith possessed a distinctive, high tenor voice that brought him to the attention of the dub producer King Tubby and his protégé Jammy in the late 1970s. The teenage Smith trained as an electrical engineer and gained experience on the sound system circuit, singing over dub plates. He began recording with Jammy in the early '80s, though it took him over a dozen singles before he achieved his breakthrough and created his signature tune. In 1984, Smith and Noel Davey, a local youth who had procured a Casiotone MT-40 keyboard, pushed the "rock'n'roll" preset button on the basic instrument – a rhythm not dissimilar to Eddie Cochran's "Somethin' Else". Smith then started riffing on "Under Mi Sensi", a current hit by Barrington Levy; he warned against the danger of taking cocaine and made the obligatory reference to the more natural herbal "smoke". When Smith took this simple premise, based on a digitally created bass and rhythm track, to the "next door neighba" referenced in the lyrics – Jammy – the producer spotted its unique quality but found the tempo too frantic. He slowed it down, asked musician Tony Asher to add some piano and percussion, and premiered it at a sound system battle with Black Scorpio in February 1985; it went down a storm. The canny Jammy rush-released "Sleng Teng" and licensed it to the London-based reggae specialist Greensleeves for international release; he also began cutting versions by Cocoa Tea, Tenor Saw and John Wayne, while King Tubby jumped on the digital bandwagon with "Tempo'' by Anthony Red Rose. "Sleng Teng'' sounded the death knell for the roots reggae genre that relied on session musicians, and paved the way for the emergence of the dancehall and ragga that only needs a programmer/keyboard-player and a vocalist. Smith scored further hits with "Come Along" and "Ain't No Meaning", again produced by Jammy, but never matched the success of the game-changing "Sleng Teng". In 1989 he moved to New York, where he set up his own Sleng Teng label. He finally made his live European debut in 2011, when he toured with the Little Lion Sound system from Switzerland. Smith was admitted to Kingston Public Hospital with severe stomach pains on 14 February and died of heart failure. PIERRE PERRONE Ian "Wayne" Smith, singer and songwriter: born Kingston, Jamaica 5 December 1965; five children; died Kingston 17 February 2014. Source The Independant: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/wayne-smith-singer-and-songwriter-who-took-reggae-into-the-digital-era-with-his-worldwide-hit-under-mi-sleng-teng-9174800.html
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BUCKY JO a young progressive and determined (C.E.O/ PRODUCER/ ARTIST) @ BUZWAKK RECORDS started in the music industry at a tender age of 10 singing at church and also adapting skill’s as a player of instruments. From a young age playing Dad's large collection of records from a toddler and loving sound systems, BUCKY JO formed his own sound system (BLACKHAWK INT) at 15 playing throughout London and the UK with many top sound’s from all over the world. At the age of 16 he was introduced to the studio field while voicing dub plates at local Recording studio’s and it’s there he went on to be schooled by top engineers working in the UK. BUCKY JO quickly progressed in this field and went on to build his own Recording studio. In 2008 BUCKY JO teamed up with RENK (Manager @ STRENT2STRENT) on their very progressive production’s (STRENT2STRENT PRODUCTIONS) and also BUCKY JO's own BUZWAKK PRODUCTION, which consists of Dj's, Singer's such as REAL AFRICAN & QUEENY and also Players of instruments. He has also gone on to teaching & Mentoring young and talented artist's around him and worked with many top Artist’s & Musicians in UK and around the world such as: GYPTIAN, ERROL DUNKLEY, ROBERT LEE, JAH MASON, JIMMY LONDON, BUNNY LIE LIE, GAPPY RANKS, STYLO G, MIKEY GENERAL, LUCIANO, CHRISTOPHER ELLIS (son of ALTON ELLIS), SELVIE WONDER, HOREMOUTH "WALLACE", DEAN FRAZER, RAS NEGUS I, TENNA STAR, MR MELODY, RICKMAN, TALL UP, GENERAL LEE + many many more voicing and also building riddim’s such as "One drop, Dancehall, to RnB & Hip Hop". Since then BUCKY JO has developed more skills and gone on to recording his own song’s. Just a few years in the business as a recording artist BUCKY JO has gone on to releasing two mix Cd's also numerous dancehall & one drop riddims. He has promoted dancehall events throughout London and in April 2010 his first year as a recording artist in the business, BUCKY JO was up for two awards at the C.M.A Awards For: BEST NEWCOMER ARTIST & BEST ARTIST MIX CD in which he took both awards. Since then BUCKY JO has carried on pursuing his career as a musician through the passage of time, independently with his very own successful company BUZWAKK RECORDS where he as gone on to building his own BUZWAKK recording studio. (110 Acre Lane Brixton, London SW2 5R2) "Above Supertone Record Shop" located in the UK. It's there he works on Artist Mentoring, Voicing, Mixing, Dub Plates, Adverts, Jingles & Editing and all major music productions... He Also Design's & Print's: Flyers, Posters, Business Cards & Mix Cd Covers. There will be much more musical material from BUCKY JO and BUZWAKK RECORDS. The Green will open Bruno Mars’ sold-out shows in Honolulu next month as the Grammy Award-winning artist kicks off the second leg of his eagerly anticipated blockbuster “Moonshine Jungle World Tour.” The shows take place Friday, April 18, Saturday, April 19, and Monday, April 21, at the Neal Blaisdell Center Arena. The local band says it’s “beyond stoked” to be the star’s opening act and rescheduled its original California appearances for May. All tickets will be honored. The Green formed in 2009, blending elements of Hawaiian style with dub roots reggae. Their self-titled debut album, released in 2010, earned both critical and commercial acclaim, and was awarded iTunes Best Reggae Album of the Year. The group’s sophomore album, Ways & Means, topped iTunes and Billboard Reggae charts, and the latest album, Hawaii ’13, charts a journey through Hawaiian life and music in 2013. Source Khon2: http://khon2.com/2014/03/05/local-band-the-green-to-open-for-bruno-mars-in-hawaii/ Jamaican Music Producer, Song Writer. All these beats on my page was done by me Leighton Murray and available for lease or purchase at my website www.smallaxemp.com bare n mind that most of my beats are on the website It's both strange and exciting to find Garland Jeffreys playing in a north London church, for he surely merits the status of an American legend. Now 70, he was born in Brooklyn to African-American and Puerto Rican American parents, and in the 70s and 80s he shook up the New York music scene by mixing rock, reggae, soul, blues and Latin influences with thoughtful lyrics about race and identity. He was admired by Lou Reed, Bob Marley and Bruce Springsteen – with whom he has performed – and he borrowed from them all, as well as Van Morrison. Then he slowed down. There was a 13-year gap before the release of The King of In Between in 2011, and now, following the release of Truth Serum, he is in the UK for his first-ever tour here. It's a low-key affair, without a full band, but he is in remarkable form. He came into the church carrying an acoustic guitar, sporting a glittery black shirt and hat and backed by two musicians, his British co-producer James Maddock on acoustic guitar, and a respectful percussionist. They started out with one of his newer songs, an atmospheric acoustic rocker, Coney Island Winter, before moving to a ballad from the 90s, and the chugging, Velvet Underground-inspired 35 Millimetre Dreams, from 1977. Jeffreys had a powerful soulful voice, and bravely walked out into the crowd, singing without a microphone. He told stories of Marley and Springsteen in New York as he switched between the pained reggae of Colour Line to the Latin-influenced Spanish Town and a new song about race, It's What I Am. The songs were written decades apart, but fitted together perfectly. He was called back for three sets of encores, including a furious 96 Tears, the ? & the Mysterians' garage rocker from the 60s. This man deserves a far bigger British following. . • At the Green Hotel, Kinross, on 7 March and St Bonaventure Social Club, Bristol on 8 March Source The Guardian: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/mar/05/garland-jeffreys-review-st-pancras-old-church-soul? BIO Dub-o-phonic is a new netlabel from Cyprus, which distributes freely downloadable, Creative Commons licensed music on the internet. We aim to seek and provide you with exclusive releases of quality music, from artists who are dedicated and passionate about their work, whether it’d be electronic or acoustic. We try to retain focus on the art of dub music in its most diverse forms, whether it would be electronic or acoustic/organic, roots or steppers, classic or contemporary. We are especially interested to promote crossover projects, fusing dub music with other genres of music, whether this would be funk, jazz, hip-hop, world music or electronica. |