the 40th anniversary of "ISRAELITES" by Desmond Dekker, plus unicorn spotting
This spring marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most important singles of the 20th century. Desmond Dekker's song "Israelites" marks the advent of ska on the international music scene when it became an international smash hit charting at no. 1 in the UK, West Germany, Holland, Sweden, South Africa and Canada. It also made the Top Ten in the United States despite being sung in Jamaican patois so that many of the lyrics were incomprehensible to many of its fans.
Dekker said that the song was about the terrible economic times people were going through in Jamaica in the late 1960s so it's even more apropos to mark it's arrival into the world at this point in time.
Here's the best Youtube of the song I could find audioquality-wise.
The lyrics and a translation/analysis of them are here
Desmond Dekker's career went through many ups and downs, he was helped by the resurgence of interest in ska with the advent of bands such as the Specials, the Beat, Madness and the Selector. He died in Surrey, England in May 2005.
There's an excellent obituary from the Independant here.
This is not messing around I swear: I'm preparing a lecture on reggae for my ethnomusicology class tomorrow. So what better way to start than with
"Get up in de mornin' slavin' for bread sir ..."
incidentally, the history of reggae music involves the contributions of Jamaicans of all racial backgrounds, including the Chinese. Probably the most influential were the producers Leslie Kong and Clive and Vincent Chin who (as men with access to capital) were able to finance, produce and promote the fledgeling recording industry in Jamaica.
This relationship was never an easy one, with many accusations that the producers would rip off the artists. So there's an interesting parallelism with the Jews in the US and the Chinese in Jamaica as middle-men/entrepreneurs/visionaries/supporters/exploiters of black musical talent. Nevertheless, these guys did play a role in birthing the cultural force that is Jamaican music so you have to give credit and criticism where each is due.
Other Jamaicans with Chinese ancestry who are worth noting are: Mikey (Mao) Chung who played guitar for a number of bands including Black Uhuru, Sly and Robbie and the Upsetters among others; and then there's Sean Paul, the mad-excellent poet Stacey-Ann Chin, Tyson Beckford, Kristen Kreuk, female race-car driver Natasha Chang (!!? extra unicorn points for that), a bunch of politicians (of course) and last but definitely not least, my girrrrl Naomi Campbell.
There's a pretty interesting Wikipedia article on Chinese/Afro-Chinese Jamaicans here
not that I'm at all biased in any way towards Chinese/Afro-Caribbean people
Dekker said that the song was about the terrible economic times people were going through in Jamaica in the late 1960s so it's even more apropos to mark it's arrival into the world at this point in time.
Here's the best Youtube of the song I could find audioquality-wise.
Click to viewThe lyrics and a translation/analysis of them are here
Desmond Dekker's career went through many ups and downs, he was helped by the resurgence of interest in ska with the advent of bands such as the Specials, the Beat, Madness and the Selector. He died in Surrey, England in May 2005.
There's an excellent obituary from the Independant here.
This is not messing around I swear: I'm preparing a lecture on reggae for my ethnomusicology class tomorrow. So what better way to start than with
"Get up in de mornin' slavin' for bread sir ..."
incidentally, the history of reggae music involves the contributions of Jamaicans of all racial backgrounds, including the Chinese. Probably the most influential were the producers Leslie Kong and Clive and Vincent Chin who (as men with access to capital) were able to finance, produce and promote the fledgeling recording industry in Jamaica.
This relationship was never an easy one, with many accusations that the producers would rip off the artists. So there's an interesting parallelism with the Jews in the US and the Chinese in Jamaica as middle-men/entrepreneurs/visionaries/supporters/exploiters of black musical talent. Nevertheless, these guys did play a role in birthing the cultural force that is Jamaican music so you have to give credit and criticism where each is due.
Other Jamaicans with Chinese ancestry who are worth noting are: Mikey (Mao) Chung who played guitar for a number of bands including Black Uhuru, Sly and Robbie and the Upsetters among others; and then there's Sean Paul, the mad-excellent poet Stacey-Ann Chin, Tyson Beckford, Kristen Kreuk, female race-car driver Natasha Chang (!!? extra unicorn points for that), a bunch of politicians (of course) and last but definitely not least, my girrrrl Naomi Campbell.
There's a pretty interesting Wikipedia article on Chinese/Afro-Chinese Jamaicans here
not that I'm at all biased in any way towards Chinese/Afro-Caribbean people