King Jammys

<i> "I love sweet music!" <BR> King Jammy's </i> <P> In the same way that the creative collective of musicians from the Studio One and Treasure Isle Studios led the way for reggae music throughout the sixties and seventies there can be no disputing when reggae moved into the mainstream again that its next overgoround phase, ragga, was through the inspiration of King Jammy's. His studio, his musicians, and his Super Power Sound System laid the ground plan for digital reggae and his positive thinking and global strategy pointed the way forwared for the music after the impasse of the first half of the eighties. The sound of The Roots Radics had controlled the music and their spare, bare stripped to the bone sparseness would eventually come to full frutition with the advent of computer technology. They had already demonstrated that the back to basics approach could work but the added elelment of computer built rhythms changed the pattern and it now worked even better. <P> Jammy's sound was totally different in the way that it embraced new technology with open arms yet always remained true to the spirit of reggae music. It was to form the bridge between the sound of so-called 'classic' traditional reggae and the nineties full on ragga attack when the music would again achieve worldwide success but while the sound of King Jammy's was probably the most popular and most populist reggae music ever crossover success seemed to elude him and, outside of the reggae cognoscenti, his contribution to the history of reggae music has never been properly appreciated or given the apporpriate respect. King Jammy's is a key figure in the development of reggae music initially for his mixing apprenticeship at the studio of the master King Tubby's, then for his searing roots anthems as featured on 'The Crowning Of Prince Jammy' but, most importantly of all, for his pioneering digital work in the latter half of the eighties.