Steve, Stephanie and I got into one of our musical discussions last weekend where we all sort of talk at once to try to get our tastes/opinions down each others throat~ kind of like discussing religion and politics.
This particular conversation was about the influence of reggae/ska on popular music which I remember hearing first in The Clash classics; Police and Thieves, Bank Robber and Pressure Drop. The Police, UB40, Madness and The Specials drew upon this influence as well. Elvis Costello had a hit with the reggae tinged "Watching The Detectives" and actually produced The Specials definitive debut album, with "Rudy Can't Fail". I don't think it ever charted as a single but Joe Jackson's Fools in Love was a great reggae flavoured tune off of his first album, Look Sharp.
The one little known band that was greatly influenced by reggae music is The Slits, fronted by lead singer Ari Up who backed up The Clash on their 1977 White Riot tour along with The Buzzcocks (one of the great British bands)...
I was pleased to find out that the first song the Slits played in practice was Blitkrieg Bop by the Ramones~ Ari Up, an artist and original...love the lid.
2 comments:
Gaw! I really really like that hair.
Very cool. I must admit that I would have to youtube the music in order to remember...
I was listening to hits from 1975 on the radio today and was shocked at myself for not remembering some of the bands/vocalists.
Shame on me!
That hair is awesome! I doubt the Slits ever made it to the radio...in North America anyway...
Post a Comment