Chaka Demus & Pliers

Not even Bob Marley can match the success of Chakademus and Pliers on the British Charts. Between June 1993, and January 1995, they notched up a record five (5) consecutive UK Top 20 entries, including Twist and Shout, their number one hit with Jack Radics. The duo became household names as a result; the combination of Pliers’ Yearning vocals and Chakademus’ rock stonechat proving irresistible to their newfound Global audience, and earning them a Gold disc for their debut album Island Jamaica album “Tease Me”.
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The reason they were unable to maintain such overwhelming success was due to the collapse of their record company, who, inexplicably failed to promote their follow up set For Every Kind of People, and then dropped them shortly afterwards. Life at the top temporarily on pause, Chakademus and Pliers returned to Jamaica and launched their own labels: Pliers sharing Bonner Productions with his younger brothers Spanner Banner and Richie Spice (both singers in their own right) and Chakademus controlling Bright Star, whose roster included the likes of Freddie McGregor at one stage. Whilst not so prolific as before, Chakademus and Pliers also continued to record as a duo contributing the lead single Every little Thing she does is Magic to the Virgin album Reggae Mondatta: A reggae tribute to the Police and What’s the Move to the soundtrack of popular Jamaican movie Dancehall Queen.
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As good as these songs were, they represented slim pickings for an act that had toured all over the world, and crossed every boundary (Musical and otherwise) in the preceding five years. This phase of their career is now thankfully over, and after signing to Unexpected Entertainment, the only direction is up with the release of their brand new album. It’s their third to feature production from Sly and Robbie, who remain unchallenged as Jamaica’s premier rhythm section, and whose understanding of contemporary music trends is second to none. It was their rhythms which had propelled the likes of Tease Me and Murder She Wrote, Twist and Shout and She don’t love Nobody to over ground fame, and by weaving Latin, hip hop and club beats into their usual tapestry of infectious dancehall backdrops, they have provided the ideal platform for Chakademus and Pliers to compete at the highest level once more.
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With Dennis Charles and Ronnie Wilson and the veteran Clive Hunt contributing eight tracks between them, it is a varied set, both musically and lyrically, and there is no shortage of songs with crossover potential. Bright and sumptuous ballad Falling, produced by Charles and Wilson is a prime example, showcasing Pliers’ aching vocals at their most tender, whilst Marvin Gaye would have surely approved of the seductive, Got to Get you home: an intimate soul/reggae track framed by sweeping strings and soft female harmonies. Like Gentle and Hunt’s forlorn Crying in the rain, such tracks demonstrate why Chakademus and Pliers still enjoy the kind of enduring widespread Appeal many of their contemporaries can only dream about. “Life goes on raps” Chaka on the latter “ but don’t leave me standing all alone”. It’s a lyric that strikes deep in the heart of abandoned lovers everywhere, although the sadness turns to excitement elsewhere with the steamy I like it, Sweets for my Sweet and Street Lover being stoked by a passion that is barely contained within a three or four minute framework. Diana, again produced by Hunt like a throbbing low slung Dangerous warns against messing with a temptress, whilst Do it like that revamps the rhythm from Sly and Robbie’s ’87 U.K hit Boops (Here we go again) in murderous fashion. It is still a groundbreaking groove; the riddim twins’ blend of reggae, classical and prototype hip hop driving Chakademus and Pliers to dizzying heights. “Hit it, Hit it” explodes Chaka whose clear enunciation and deceptively simple phrasing has made him mainstream ‘s favorite reggae deejay.
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With a Latin flavor informing the hypnotic One Night and Heaven Knows getting ready to explode on the club circuit, it’s not just pop and lovers rock fans who should take note. The curiously titled F.F is reggae dancehall without apology with its tough insistent rhythm- Sly and Robbie clenching their iron hand underneath Chakademus and Pliers velvet glove- whilst redemption is a plea for universal love and harmony and re-mixed in hip hop and garage styles for even greater exposure. In short, all the hallmarks of their former cross over success are here. The longing in Plier’s delicate vocals is still guaranteed to have female fans swooning, whilst Chaka’s cajoling and prompting confirms his mastery of a dancehall style he has already spent over 15 years perfecting.
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The story of their humble beginnings has been documented by any number of media interviews over the years, but for the record, both were born in Kingston, Jamaica and grew up there and won their early reputations on the vibrant local dancehall scene, just as computerized rhythms were changing the face of modern reggae music forever.
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Chakademus whose real name is John Taylor whose jovial demeanor and strong moral character provides a welcome contrast to the raga raga bad bwoy stereotype derived his moniker from the late Jamaican MC, Nicodemus, and after learning his skills on smaller set such as Roots Majestic and Supreme and then King Jammy’s Champion Sound system, stationed in the nearby ghetto community of Waterhouse. It was Jammy’s who produced his debut songs Increase your Knowledge and a 1995 hit, One Scotch, which he shared with fellow dee-jay, Admiral Bailey. The affable Chaka rose quickly to prominence thereafter, recording hits for Black Scorpio, Harry J. Skengdon, Bobby Digital and Penthouse before teaming up with Pliers in 1991 after a chance encounter at a Miami stage show.
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Pliers, whose real name is Everton Bonner was raised in the Rock hall District of St. Ann and was initially known as Blues Melody before being renamed Pliers because of his resemblance to another deejay named Pinchers. His early hits included the very first version of Murder She Wrote as voiced for Pioneer Musik in 1986, although encouraged by Yellow man, he had already marked his debut with the stark reality song Babylon a brutalize we, a good three years previously. With his fluent warble weaving a pretty path between original songs and cover versions, Pliers was the archetypical mid to late eighties dancehall singer and he found the ideal foil in Chakademus.
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Their first collaboration, Gal Wine, was recorded for producer Ossie Hibbert and spent over three months on the reggae charts in 1992. It was the success of this song, which led them in the direction of Sly and Robbie, who originally built the mesmerizing Murder She Wrote for guitarist Lloyd “Gitsy” Willis whose nimble handiwork, could be heard on most subsequent Chakademus and Pliers releases. Issued on Sly and Robbie’s own Taxi label, together with a solo song by Pliers called Bam Bam, Murder She Wrote became the biggest selling reggae dancehall single of 1992, inspiring a host of other Chakademus and Pliers duets’ for producers such as Jah Screw and exterminator’s Fattis Burrell before the duo eventually signed to Island Record’s Mango subsidiary.
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It was contagious dancehall/ska track Tease Me written by Spanner Banner that provided their debut U.K chart hit the following year- The Jamaican twosome striking the perfect balance between grassroots credibility and pop success, and setting the pace for the extraordinary feats which were to follow.
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With this new album, they maintain such high standards with the same all embracing effervescence that distinguished their best work from the past. That its designed to recapture the hearts of their mainstream audience goes without saying, but rather than repeat their original blueprint, Chakademus and Pliers have redefined it, and moved forwards: their sizzling mix of contemporary dance styles still rooted in the reggae tradition that first nurtured then.
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-John Masouri