Jammy's Records. 1987
PF put a few reggae tracks on tape that was doing the rounds in 1990ish. There were a couple of tracks I was desperate to find out about, but he didn't know where they'd come from, and I didn't have a lot to go on. I don't know where the tape is now, but I did find one of the tracks - here it is.
Lee 'Scratch' Perry played at Newcastle Uni a few years ago (a No-Fi gig), and as LSP doesn't play very long sets nowadays they had a couple of DJs on. One was DR, a local reggae nut and mate, the other was a guy who'd come up from London I think. Anyways, halfway through the night this other guy played this. It was the first time I'd heard it anywhere other than that old tape, so I found out what it was. He said I could have the 7", but he actually gave it to DR, who'd also been wanting to know who it was for ages, apparently. I borrowed the 7" off DR and ripped a copy to CD. Then I found a copy online and bought it. Still with me?
The 'Version' on the B-side here is different to the one on DR's 7".
To the music - this is an outstanding track. Raw, minimal instrumentation, with this guy (Denzil Palmer) drawling in a guttural way over the top about singing like a synthesizer. For years I thought he was saying 'a zing a zy zanga zanga zinga zy zaaaa', so I bought some Yellowman CDs to see if it was him.
It seems (after a bit of Googling) it's all about a feud he had with a DJ called Uglyman: 'Inna '85 me do the rockstone voice, now in '87 me the synthesizer voice. The one Uglyman him pirate me style, that's why Pampidoo me haffi change up me style! The synthesizer me are the synthesizer.'
That clears that up, then.
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