Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. Australia has several bands and sound systems that play reggae music in a style faithful to its expression in Jamaica. Australia has a relatively small Jamaican community, but reggae penetrated local consciousness via the popularity of reggae among the non-Jamaican population of England in the 1960s and 1970s. Many indigenous musicians have embraced reggae, both for its musical qualities and its ethos of resistance. Examples include No Fixed Address and Coloured Stone.
[edit] History
The first Reggae sound system in Australia was Soulmaker, established in 1972 by J.J. Roberts, a Jamaican from Saint Catherine Parish. Bob Marley & The Wailers toured Australia in 1979, playing Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney. One of the first Australian reggae bands was Untabu. They had releases on Larrikin Records and were resident in a number of clubs in the Darlinghurst and Manly area of Sydney. They also toured the East coast regularly. They performed original music and reggae covers. The Aboriginal band No Fixed Address from Adelaide also had reggae songs in their repertoire.
In 1984, Australian label Corroboree Records had its first release with Dangerous Times.[1] This 7" single was recorded at Channel One Studios with the Roots Radics, voiced and mixed at King Tubby's with Bugs as engineer, and voiced by Dudley Green and General Justice. It Contains the song "Dangerous Dub" on the B side, which was mixed by King Tubby. It was released in Jamaica, the UK and Australia. In 1987, two years after his arrival from Zambia Larry Maluma released his first album Confusion on his own Safari Music label. The video clip Black and White from the same album was aired on Countdown Revolution and Rock Arena on ABC. The first notable dub release in Australia was Ten Dubs That Shook The World by Sheriff Lindo And The Hammer, issued on the artist's own label, Endless Recordings, in 1988. The LP was reissued on the Creative Vibes label with five extra tracks in 1998, and again by EM Records of Japan in 2006, on CD (catalogue number EM1049CD) and LP (EM1049LP), limited to 500 copies. Only the CD contains the five extra tracks.
In September 2006, Astronomy Class released Exit Strategy on the record label Elefant Traks. The record fused reggae and hip hop music. In February 2007, Melbourne-based producer Mista Savona released Melbourne Meets Kingston on Elefant Traks. It is a 21-track collaboration with Jamaican singers and deejays such as Anthony B, Determine and Big Youth. In September 2008, the Sydney-based band King Tide released their debut album To our Dearly Deported on the UK label Urban Sedated. The single "No Dog War" was used worldwide by the Sony corporation for their Wag the Dog campaign. The commercial shot in Brazil featured members from the cast of the feature film City of God. In December 2009, Australian artist Matty Woods released The Ras Gong Guerrilla EP, a 10-track recording that tackles Australian and international political issues such as Indigenous sovereignty, climate change and human rights.[2]
Reggaeton, a music genre that blends reggae, hip hop, and traditional Latin American music, is also popular in Australia. The genre first came to prominence when Puerto Rican reggaeton artist Daddy Yankee released his most notable single, "Gasolina," to Australian radio in 2006. Already a hit worldwide, it reached a peak of #12 on the ARIA Singles Chart and was certified Platinum,[3] making it one of the few Spanish-language songs to reach that position on the Australian charts.
[edit] Festivals
Reggaetown is an annual reggae and roots music festival near Cairns in Far North Queensland. South Beach annual Reggae Party Fremantle Western Australia started in 1998. Raggamuffin Music Festival is an annual reggae music festival that tours Australia and New Zealand. Byron Bay Reggaefest[4] started at The Brewery[5] (previously known as The Buddha Bar) on 4 December 2010 & is looking towards a 2 day festival at Missingham Park, Ballina NSW[6] on 17 & 18 September 2011.
Notable Australian reggae radio programs of the past include Splashdown and The Pounding System. Australia's longest running reggae radio show is Jamdown Vershun which has been broadcasting on 92.1 FM in Perth with selector General Justice since July 1979.[7] The Jamaican singer, producer, and broadcaster Mikey Dread produced and presented a reggae radio special for 2JJJ in the mid to late 1980s. In Melbourne, the PBS 106.7FM program "Chant Down Babylon" [8] has been presented by Jesse I since the late 1990s.
[edit] Notable artists
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[edit] External links
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