Mention the word reggae and immediately visions of sun-soaked Jamaica come to mind. Reggae is, after all, a Jamaican music form. Its birthplace is the back alley recording studios and steamy streets of Kingston, the island’s major city. But ever since the death of Bob Marley back in 1981, Jamaican reggae has wandered in a cloudy, shapeless limbo. Marley was reggae’s king and Rasta prophet, its most acclaimed spokesman and recording artist, and its most compelling live performer. Along with his band, the Wailers, Marley tirelessly set about introducing the rest of the world to reggae. He was both reggae’s and Jamaica’s favorite son, and that’s why when he passed on, a victim of cancer, the island and the music went into a state of shock. Kingston’s most prominent recording artists seemed stymied and unable to carry on with the same “everyting cool man” attitude that had previously encompassed their […]

March 1985 Issue