Everybody knows about 'The Harder They Come', the seminal 1973 'reggae-ploitation' flick starring Jimmy Cliff that helped put reggae on the world music map -- but far fewer know about 'Rockers', Theodore Bafaloukos' cooler-than-fuck film about a group of Robin-Hood dreds who use their music and wits to help their brother man.
Steve Barker turned my friends and me onto this flick last year, and since then, nary a day goes by when I don't flip into some lame rasta patois inspired by the pimped out stars of the movie: Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace, Gregory Isaacs, Robbie Shakespeare, Richard 'Dirty Harry' Hall, Big Youth and a host of other reggae legends.
Speaking of which, reggae-fan Jeremy Goldkorn posted an interesting article a while back about Chinese reggae producers on his blog Danwei.org. Byron Lee, Leslie Kong, Clive Chin and other Chinese-Jamaicans all helped produce, play and distribute some of the cornerstones of reggae music, and their legacy has long been understated.
I've heard a few fleeting rumors here and there about people wanting to make documentaries about this fascinating subject, but nothing substantial. Anybody know anything about this?
Hear Burning Spear singing 'Jah No Dead' from the Rockers Soundtrack. I-tection!
Ah true! Also just out on Pressure Sounds is "Aquarius Rock: the Hip Reggae Sounds of Herman Chin-Loy" and soon come "Down Santic Way" more from the production lair of the great Leonard Chin.
And here's a cheeky China (reference) reggae playlist:
Stephen Cheng – Always together
Baba Brooks– Shank I Sheck
Skatalites – Chinatown
Wong Chu – Keep on moving (DJ)
Skatalites – Shanghai
Prince Buster – Black Head Chinaman
Barrington Levy & Jah Thomas – Shaolin Temple
Lee Perry – Kung Fu (meets the Dragon)
Byron Lee & the Dragonaires - Rocksteady
Don Drummond – Confucius
Lee Perry – Roast Duck
Elephant Man – Chiney Ting
Desmond Dekker and the Aces – Fu Manchu
Augustus Pablo – East Man Sound
Don Drummond – China Clipper
Don Drummond – Further East
Prince Jammy – Downtown Shanghai dub
Jacob Miller – Susie Wong
Dean Fraser – Dean in Chinatown
Desmond Dekker & the Aces – Fu Manchu
Augustus Pablo – Hap Ki Do
Matumbi – China Gate
Yellowman – Mr.Chin
Frankie Paul – Pass the Tu-Sheng Peng
Ethiopians – Hong Kong Flu
Posted by: Steve Barker | February 03, 2005 at 04:31 PM
One of the many cool images I can remember from ROCKERS is the scene with two rasta kids practicing Kung-Fu! That was the bomb-ba-zee! I always put ROCKERS up there with WILDSTYLE as a cultural-cool measuring stick.
Nat
Posted by: Nat | February 28, 2005 at 01:22 PM
=O
Wow, am I glad I found this blogpost! I'm writing a paper on Chinese-Jamaicans in the music industry, and KUDOS to the above commenter for compiling such an amazing list. Thanks so much!
And do let me know if you guys ever find someone who's working on a documentary--I'd love to help out!
Posted by: Christina | December 29, 2008 at 03:13 PM