Re-make/Re-model Pt 2 - Norma White - I Want Your Love

I Don't know much about Norma White and The Brentford Disco Set, but I do know that their politely plodding reggae rework of Chic's 'I Want Your Love' is a joy and a gem. It's so good I'm giving you both versions.

Norma White and The Brentford Disco Set - I Want Your Love.mp3



Norma White and The Brentford Disco Set - I Want Your Love (version).mp3



(Version) in reggae speak is usually the instrumental backing track with extra echo and added dubby squeaks and bleeps.

It's not uncommon on 12" versions of reggae releases say ...six minutes long, for the first three minutes to be the vocal version, followed by a slight but audiable click, where the (version) version has been spliced on to take up the final three minutes.

Funky Friday - Make It Reggae

It's not unusal for people with impossibly good taste and impeccably fancy record collections to make claims about not liking Reggae. I think they just haven't found the right type of Reggae yet.

I gave it swift shrift for years - put off by the white, white whine of UB40 and polished pop sound of Bob Marley - but after getting a blast of the broad bassy brushtrokes and thick crackle and pop of Studio One recordings (via a freebie CD, played several times on the bounce) I was soon hooked on the good stuff and discovering Reggae had it's own offbeat sizzlers and funky nuggets. Out of all the thumpbusting Studio One collections, the 'Rockers' comp is probably the perfect place to start your trip to Sir Coxsone Dodd's Studio One .

And, if you happen to be in the sunny Southend area tonight why not pop along to Weird Fantasy where Agent Cooper, Paul Sigg's and myself will be firing up a few Fifties, Freakbeat Garage, Ska and Reggae rockers.
I'll certainly be spinning the Jackie Mittoo track below.

Sharkey Wilson - Make It Reggae.mp3



Jackie Mittoo - Hang Em High.mp3



Now, why not have a skank on over to 56 Special where Rock n Roll meets Reggae in one uptown pop rocking bundle.

Or if you fancy something in a more mellow mood check out Jamaican guitarist and father of Ska Ernest Ranglin's loose and laidback rework of Toots and The Maytals '54-46 Was My Number' here.

Derrick Morgan, Ernest Ranglin & Prince Buster on the roots of Reggae rythm