Top of the pops was always cool for keeping up with musical trends as was the tyne tees production THE TUBE..However the next sample of reggae that realy made me stand up and take notice was musical youth on blue peter of all places singing pass the dutchie..now that was a massive hit here in the uk..still not quite pure reggae but something that lifted you up and gave you that feel good feeling..please bear in mind i was maybe 13 or 14 at the time so knew very little about music, but liked to hear a good tune..
The appeal of bob marley and freddie mcgregor was still a long way away and reggae was pretty much unheard of in middlesbrough (well to my ears anyway).
Two-Tone Ska had been born and was gaining a lot of fans with bands like the beat..the specials and selecter..then the kinda fun side of ska with bad manners and their lead singer buster bloodvessel..i wasn't realy that keen on this version of reggae untill the slower GHOST-TOWN was released by the specials, i quite liked this and DO NOTHING..still not the pure reggae but my ears were by now getting curious and i wanted to explore..
It must have been around 1985 when leaving school or shortly after i made friends with micky smith and clive ramsey..clive was of jamaican origin and a bit of a local hard case, well respected but also feared by a lot of our generation in middlesbrough..both micky and clive were a year or so older than me but we got on great and this frienship was my vehicle to get to know reggae music better..i'd often be round at mickeys house playing snooker and listening to his collection of ub40 and other reggae compilation stuff..artistes i'd never heard of like eek-a-mouse..yellowman..gregory isaacs..dennis brown and more.
As time moved on and i was getting more and more into reggae i discovered there was a radio show on radio 1 on sunday nights..the ranking miss p was truly awesome and i'd record her shows and play back the tapes all week till the next show..
Its thanks to miss p i discovered lovers rock reggae..to this day its still my favourite genre of reggae and of course its all british but with jamaican flavour..
We started getting to the speakeasy in linthorpe rd in the boro, a notorious club but one of the only places to hear reggae music in the town..yes it got a bit nasty in there from time to time, but hey it was nasty in most clubs and pubs in the boro if you were unlucky to be there when all hell broke out..
After the speakey as we called it, we'd head off to a blues party..usually in a derelict house in town with the venue kept hush hush until the last minute so to speak..you could get in if you knew people and we were never turned away...in the blues you could hear the sweet reggae tunes being played and get a plate of curry goat, rice and peas and a can of red stripe to wash it all down..the full jamaican package middlesbrough stylee...GREAT TIMES.
Moving on and on i was now hooked on the reggae and my record and tape collection was growing..it wasn't easy to get hold of reggae music back then unless you went down to london to the specialist shops..so i'd often be in alan fearnleys little music shop on linthorpe rd thumbing and searching..my first ever LP was this one below and it was a great mix of lovers rock tunes that i still love today..
So there you have it realy..its been a great journey collecting and listening to reggae music..theres not a day goes by when i don't listen to reggae..it lifts me up and chills me out..it takes me to places and brings back great memories of friendships past..all without the aid of a spliff..i did try that stuff years ago but it just made me sick when smoking it..
I suppose i'd better leave you with one of my favourite reggae tunes and yes its a lovers rock tune..a tune that hits me in the heart and makes me smile every time i hear it..
PEACE & LOVE TO ALL WHO HAVE TAKEN THE TIME TO READ MY BLOG...
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