Screaming J
He'll put a spell on you
I really enjoyed the programme. The Music - most of it - was fantastic. But...THE HATS!!!! They were to DIE for. Especially Linton Kwesi Johnson's!
If you want serious critical comment I think there was a bit of a dichotomy between :-
1) "reggae music and how it developed in the UK" - which has to include Clash, and 2 Tone (plus 2 seconds to kick Andy Summers head in); or
2) "how the W Indian Immigrants took a Jamaican musical style and developed it etc in their new home"
the second of which would give you a very different story.
For me
1) Slits etc were a bit too posey. But the Clash's version of 'Police & Thieves' made me get into stuff I'd never have discovered otherwise
2) Some of the Steel Pulse etc stuff was to just too right on/Agit prop and po-faced. Not that I disagreed with the politics; it was just too earnest. [I remember being ostracised by several lefty acquaintances simply because I thought Linton Kwesi Johnson's lines "The SWP can't set we free, and the communist Party, true dem too arty-farty" were just great Poetry and made me roar with laughter, never mind what you thought of the sentiments. Thank heavens for Lovers rock and Dub!!
If you want serious critical comment I think there was a bit of a dichotomy between :-
1) "reggae music and how it developed in the UK" - which has to include Clash, and 2 Tone (plus 2 seconds to kick Andy Summers head in); or
2) "how the W Indian Immigrants took a Jamaican musical style and developed it etc in their new home"
the second of which would give you a very different story.
For me
1) Slits etc were a bit too posey. But the Clash's version of 'Police & Thieves' made me get into stuff I'd never have discovered otherwise
2) Some of the Steel Pulse etc stuff was to just too right on/Agit prop and po-faced. Not that I disagreed with the politics; it was just too earnest. [I remember being ostracised by several lefty acquaintances simply because I thought Linton Kwesi Johnson's lines "The SWP can't set we free, and the communist Party, true dem too arty-farty" were just great Poetry and made me roar with laughter, never mind what you thought of the sentiments. Thank heavens for Lovers rock and Dub!!
