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Sometimes threads become so cluttered that it adversely affects clarity as far as debates are concerned.
Bricktop, I’m not surprised that your post here is inaccurate.
First of all, I have ALWAYS supported reggae! The Mavado-Bounty Killer-Vybz Kartel-type of dancehall -- in other words current digitally-based dancehall which is bereft of essential musical ingredients -- is what I have always criticized! Surely you must be aware of this by now!
Incidentally, since I’m on the subject, if we should try and pinpoint a turning point in dancehall, it would probably be, in my opinion (and this, mind you, is merely an opinion), that memorable night in 1985 at the massive clash between King Jammy’s and Black Scorpio’s sound systems. This was the night when King Jammy unleashed his secret weapon, Wayne Smith and his revolutionary recording, “Under Me Sleng Teng”!
That recording, done by Smith on (believe it or not) a simple, inexpensive Casio keyboard, heralded the digital age in Jamaican music and so signaled the death of live, creative bands.
But I have finished trying to explain to the forum my views on Jamaican music. These views are documented in the archives for those who care to peruse what I’ve consistently said here for the past three years (and, in fact, started to say from 2002 on the old forum).
Secondly, Tempo did NOT emphasize dancehall as much as it did old-school reggae! When Tempo started in the fall of 2005, it was primarily reggae of the 1980s and 1990s (for which music videos were available) that Tempo emphasized, although 1960s stuff like recordings by Millie Small occasionally surfaced. So, there were large doses of Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Beres Hammond, Third World, Lady G, Patra, etc. on the Tempo menu in 2005 and throughout 2006.
There was relatively little dancehall during the first years of Tempo, and what dancehall was shown was primarily videos by people like Shabba Ranks, Beenie Man, etc. The huge amount of old school reggae and the small doses of dancehall were amalgamated with a few soca videos (although by the second year or so the number of soca videos started to increase), a few reggaeton videos primarily from Puerto Rico, one or two items from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and a fairly large amount of American stuff by people like Common, Lil’ Kim, R. Kelly, and so on.
Tempo at that time was owned by Viacom, the parent company of MTV. This is why the original name was “MTV-Tempo”! Tempo’s popularity started to fall around the time when its founder, Frederick Morton, Jr., got together with some associates of his and purchased Tempo, rebranding its image in the process.
But my essential point is that soca started to make its presence felt in huge ways from 2006, before there were massive amounts of dancehall. In fact, Tempo’s “Live and Direct: Trinidad” was produced and broadcast as a separate hour-long special (I think it was an hour, although it might have been slightly longer), unlike the first “Tempo Live and Direct” which ran for about 90 minutes or so, and featured Jamaica, Nevis and Barbados.
Originally posted by Bricktop
Bricktop, I’m not surprised that your post here is inaccurate.
First of all, I have ALWAYS supported reggae! The Mavado-Bounty Killer-Vybz Kartel-type of dancehall -- in other words current digitally-based dancehall which is bereft of essential musical ingredients -- is what I have always criticized! Surely you must be aware of this by now!
Incidentally, since I’m on the subject, if we should try and pinpoint a turning point in dancehall, it would probably be, in my opinion (and this, mind you, is merely an opinion), that memorable night in 1985 at the massive clash between King Jammy’s and Black Scorpio’s sound systems. This was the night when King Jammy unleashed his secret weapon, Wayne Smith and his revolutionary recording, “Under Me Sleng Teng”!
That recording, done by Smith on (believe it or not) a simple, inexpensive Casio keyboard, heralded the digital age in Jamaican music and so signaled the death of live, creative bands.
But I have finished trying to explain to the forum my views on Jamaican music. These views are documented in the archives for those who care to peruse what I’ve consistently said here for the past three years (and, in fact, started to say from 2002 on the old forum).
Secondly, Tempo did NOT emphasize dancehall as much as it did old-school reggae! When Tempo started in the fall of 2005, it was primarily reggae of the 1980s and 1990s (for which music videos were available) that Tempo emphasized, although 1960s stuff like recordings by Millie Small occasionally surfaced. So, there were large doses of Bob Marley, Burning Spear, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Beres Hammond, Third World, Lady G, Patra, etc. on the Tempo menu in 2005 and throughout 2006.
There was relatively little dancehall during the first years of Tempo, and what dancehall was shown was primarily videos by people like Shabba Ranks, Beenie Man, etc. The huge amount of old school reggae and the small doses of dancehall were amalgamated with a few soca videos (although by the second year or so the number of soca videos started to increase), a few reggaeton videos primarily from Puerto Rico, one or two items from Cuba and the Dominican Republic, and a fairly large amount of American stuff by people like Common, Lil’ Kim, R. Kelly, and so on.
Tempo at that time was owned by Viacom, the parent company of MTV. This is why the original name was “MTV-Tempo”! Tempo’s popularity started to fall around the time when its founder, Frederick Morton, Jr., got together with some associates of his and purchased Tempo, rebranding its image in the process.
But my essential point is that soca started to make its presence felt in huge ways from 2006, before there were massive amounts of dancehall. In fact, Tempo’s “Live and Direct: Trinidad” was produced and broadcast as a separate hour-long special (I think it was an hour, although it might have been slightly longer), unlike the first “Tempo Live and Direct” which ran for about 90 minutes or so, and featured Jamaica, Nevis and Barbados.
empress jeanille, met her one time ..... tiny ... sorry "petite",
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