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MP3 Monday: Randy's Studio 17

You name it, we have it - By Alastair Sloan, Nov 09, 09

The arrival of Clive Chin in Shanghai this week heralds the return of a Chinese-Jamaican producer whose career has consistently found him at the centre of Jamaican Reggae music. His father's business, Randy's, was a used record store, and then a studio and record label to early Reggae/Ska/Dub luminaries like Lee Perry, Bunny Lee, Augustus Pablo, and The Wailers. In the late sixties, Randy's was the focal point for Reggae music in Jamaica, and Randy's Studio 17 (with Errol 'Errol T' Thompson and Chin himself stirring the pot) was where the finest sounds of the era were created.

To get you in the mood for hearing some of the greatest Reggae ever made, SmartShanghai has blagged some of the finest records from those heady days to give away to you, all gleaned from Clive Chin's extensive back catalogue and free for you to download.

Clive's Shanghai trip has him appearing at two places. This Wednesday at Dada bar, is "An Evening with Clive Chin" in which he'll be giving a presentation on Reggae music, with old film footage and photos from the '70s. He'll also be doing Q&A with the crowd about this golden era of Jamaican music. This Saturday Clive is at The Shelter with Uprooted Sunshine, DJing the classic stuff from the Randy's era.



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"Independent Jamaica" opens the MP3 Monday selection -- a tune celebrating how Jamaica shrugged off colonial rule in 1962. The record came about after Trinidadian singer Lord Creator met up with Clive's father, Vincent (who started Randy's) in a bar in East Kingston. Lord Creator swiftly became Randy's leading solo singer after this track was recorded at Federal Studio and released to mass acclaim.



Next up is Java from Augustus Pablo, a long-time friend and classmate of Clive Chin. Clive produced this track in 1971, melding straightforward instrumentals with more complex dub works to create an ethereal sound that represented everything the studio was capable of at that time. Tracks like these, with the collaboration of "master of sound" Errol Thompson paved the way for the dub sound we know today.



Donovan Carless was one of the lesser-known artists recording at Randy's, but this cover version of William Devaughn's "Be Thankful" enthralled his nightclub audiences with it's breezy vocals and light-footed style.



In a tribute to the great US political leader, The Skatalites constructed this jaunty ska instrumental featuring the trumpets of John "Dizzy" Moore and tenor sax from Roland Alphonso -- in an adaptation of US jazz maestro Lee Morgan's "The Sidewinder." The two instrumental parts meld seamlessly together and although the track feels like it might turn for the melancholy at points -- it's a head-nodding tribute to Malcolm X.



And finally we have the humorous "Fattie Bum Bum" from Carl Malcolm which eventually reached #3 in the UK charts in late 1975. Infectious good times!



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"An Evening with Clive Chin" is this Wednesday at Dada bar. No cover. Starts at 9pm. Don't miss Clive this Saturday at The Shelter, along with Uprooted Sunshine. Cover: 50rmb. Starts 9pm.

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