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Jah Thomas records women's 'Shoulder Move'
Published: Sunday | May 24, 2009
Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer
Jah Thomas' Dance Hall Stylee. - Contributed [COLOR=orange ! important][COLOR=orange ! important]Photos[/COLOR][/COLOR]
When deejay Jah Thomas saw a group of women in a dance on Waltham Avenue, in 1985, doing a dance in which they bent over and imitated a jockey , he told them he was going to do a song about them.
He did not, however, do the song about their hoisted posteriors; he concentrated on the body parts that bobbed as they controlled their imaginary horses' reins, recording Shoulder Move at Channel One:
"You set yu han inna jockey fashion[COLOR=orange ! important][COLOR=orange ! important][/COLOR][/COLOR]
Yu move up yu feet top the riddim pattan."
The musicians on the song, released on Jah Thomas' Midnight Rock label, were members of the Roots Radics band - Flabba Holt on bass, Dwight Pinkney on guitar, Steelie Johnson on organ, Gladstone Adams on piano, Style Scott on drums, and Sky Juice on percussions.
Ironically, though, Jah Thomas had originally got the rhythm recorded for someone else. "The rhythm for Shoulder Move is a tune me did buil' for Johnny Osbourne, but him fly out an' me jus' record pon it," Jah Thomas told The Sunday Gleaner.
He was confident in the song making an impact, as he had tried it out live in the dancehall in the four weeks between writing the lyrics and recording them. "I used to get the response in the dance. We do it in the dance live. Anytime you get that forward from the people you record it," he said, naming the Kingston 11 area as a great testing ground for songs.
"Payne Land, Back To, from them get excited in the dance you know you can go record."
'A instant hit'
Jah Thomas' Dance on the Corner.
So he tested the response on Kilamanjaro, Metromedia, General Guard and Jammy's sound system. There was also an important spot where many deejays gathered and their feedback would naturally be as important as the crowd's. "A Cockburn Pen you used to have a lawn name Bamboo Lawn. You have a resident soun' name Soul Imperial, play every Sunday night. Among the numerous deejays who would come to perform were Supercat, Louis Lepke and Clint Eastwood.
Jah Thomas says, "Barry G play mi tune. A instant hit." Being played by the 'Boogie Man', as Barry G was called, was a natural fit; at the start of Shoulder Move Jah Thomas deejays:
"From weh day gone dem a talk bout boogie down
I man Jah Thomas have de new dance around
Shoulder move, shoulder move an yu get inna de groove ... ."
After recording, the first time Jah Thomas performed the song was at the Students' Union, UWI. "It was number one in the time I do it there," he said.
Jah Thomas says that Shoulder Move spawned many other 'moves', among them Gunman Move by Louis Lepke, Higgler Move by Johnny Ringo, Money Move by Barrington Levy and Yellowman's Body Move.
'Jump pon the wagon'
"If it no great people no imitate it. A buss it buss, a big it big why dem jump pon the wagon," Jah Thomas said.
He is planning to revisit the rhythm for Shoulder Move, in his long-time role of producer, voicing Carlton Livingstone, Little John, Michael Palmer, Horace Grosset, King Rolex and Danny English, among others. And the studio he is using is an old stamping ground for the beat.
Channel One.
Jah Thomas records women's 'Shoulder Move'
Published: Sunday | May 24, 2009
Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer
Jah Thomas' Dance Hall Stylee. - Contributed [COLOR=orange ! important][COLOR=orange ! important]Photos[/COLOR][/COLOR]
When deejay Jah Thomas saw a group of women in a dance on Waltham Avenue, in 1985, doing a dance in which they bent over and imitated a jockey , he told them he was going to do a song about them.
He did not, however, do the song about their hoisted posteriors; he concentrated on the body parts that bobbed as they controlled their imaginary horses' reins, recording Shoulder Move at Channel One:
"You set yu han inna jockey fashion[COLOR=orange ! important][COLOR=orange ! important][/COLOR][/COLOR]
Yu move up yu feet top the riddim pattan."
The musicians on the song, released on Jah Thomas' Midnight Rock label, were members of the Roots Radics band - Flabba Holt on bass, Dwight Pinkney on guitar, Steelie Johnson on organ, Gladstone Adams on piano, Style Scott on drums, and Sky Juice on percussions.
Ironically, though, Jah Thomas had originally got the rhythm recorded for someone else. "The rhythm for Shoulder Move is a tune me did buil' for Johnny Osbourne, but him fly out an' me jus' record pon it," Jah Thomas told The Sunday Gleaner.
He was confident in the song making an impact, as he had tried it out live in the dancehall in the four weeks between writing the lyrics and recording them. "I used to get the response in the dance. We do it in the dance live. Anytime you get that forward from the people you record it," he said, naming the Kingston 11 area as a great testing ground for songs.
"Payne Land, Back To, from them get excited in the dance you know you can go record."
'A instant hit'
Jah Thomas' Dance on the Corner.
So he tested the response on Kilamanjaro, Metromedia, General Guard and Jammy's sound system. There was also an important spot where many deejays gathered and their feedback would naturally be as important as the crowd's. "A Cockburn Pen you used to have a lawn name Bamboo Lawn. You have a resident soun' name Soul Imperial, play every Sunday night. Among the numerous deejays who would come to perform were Supercat, Louis Lepke and Clint Eastwood.
Jah Thomas says, "Barry G play mi tune. A instant hit." Being played by the 'Boogie Man', as Barry G was called, was a natural fit; at the start of Shoulder Move Jah Thomas deejays:
"From weh day gone dem a talk bout boogie down
I man Jah Thomas have de new dance around
Shoulder move, shoulder move an yu get inna de groove ... ."
After recording, the first time Jah Thomas performed the song was at the Students' Union, UWI. "It was number one in the time I do it there," he said.
Jah Thomas says that Shoulder Move spawned many other 'moves', among them Gunman Move by Louis Lepke, Higgler Move by Johnny Ringo, Money Move by Barrington Levy and Yellowman's Body Move.
'Jump pon the wagon'
"If it no great people no imitate it. A buss it buss, a big it big why dem jump pon the wagon," Jah Thomas said.
He is planning to revisit the rhythm for Shoulder Move, in his long-time role of producer, voicing Carlton Livingstone, Little John, Michael Palmer, Horace Grosset, King Rolex and Danny English, among others. And the studio he is using is an old stamping ground for the beat.
Channel One.