Fire We A Bring
'Watch the ride' as Rude Bwoy Bilko works himself into a sweat at
Tighten Up: one of London's most rockin' reggae nights.
Jamaican music has been filling dance floors in London since ska
first set pulses racing in the 60s. Since that time, houses, town
halls, clubs, shebeens and shpielers have been shaken to their foundations
by heavier and heavier sounds from the likes of Saxon, Fatman and
Taurus. London clubs like the Four Aces, Shenola's, Phoebes and the
Shady Grove have a mythology all their own. Pheobes used to be owned
by the Krays; and Shenola's was the kind of place where if you didn't
have a weapon, the bouncers sent you home to get one. Good times!
|
During the 1980s --
the time of my misspent youth – Duran Duran and all that
pony passed me by. Eek A Mouse and Frankie Paul were booming
up live, and UK DJs such as Peter King, Horseman and Ricky Ranking
were playing out as well as cutting. My Saturdays were
spent crushed round the counters of record shops in Dalston
and even sometimes (horror of horrors) south of the river, trawling
for Trojan and Pama singles and picking up the latest Greensleeves
12"s from the likes of Yellowman, Ranking Dread and Barrington
Levy. Competition for records was intense and asking for the
wrong tune could make you a
|
laughing stock; resulting in a shame so bad you couldn't show your
face again for months. Back In 1980 there was even a film, 'Babylon',
which neatly captured a sound system and life generally in late-Seventies
London.
We play very spiritual music; but we're not self-righteous about
it. It's about getting hammered, playing great tunes and seeing the
crowd have a good time.
London's longest running club night, Gaz's Rockin'Blues has always
served slices of ska as it's main course, but the Tighten Up crew
are the Keith Floyd's of the moment, and have been putting the needle
to the record for five years now.
Reggae is played differently
at dances, it's one thing that new faces to the club frequently
comment on. The set-up is for the selector to choose the tunes.
He pulls records out from his war chest, while keeping an eye
on the crowd to see what's setting their feet to dancing. He nods
to the DJ who'll introduce the tune, stop it and play it again
if the crowd cheer for it, before setting the place alight by
chatting over the top of it.
It's a typical Friday night and Champion - a tall, frenetic
streak of cheerful intensity - has just downed a slammer before
taking the mic' to chat over a solid Mighty Two cut; the room
is hot and everyone; dreads, old skinheads, a couple of Brazilian
girls in football shorts and even students are filling the floor
and working up a sweat. |
 |
'This club's different in that we bring a good mix of people,' says
Mistah Brown. 'We celebrate all aspects of Jamaican music. We're doing
something fantastic and lovely. It's a history lesson, but you won't
get bored. Champion will run down who produced a tune, what label
it's on and who the group is before it kicks in... and if he omits a
fact he'll make you pull the tune up whilst he delivers it: it's a
laugh! We play very spiritual music, it's soul music in fact; but
we're not self-righteous about it. It's about getting hammered, playing
great tunes and seeing the crowd have a good time.'
Tighten Up runs on the last Friday of the month at the Salmon &
Compasses, 58 Penton Street, Islington,London. N1. Also check out
Return of the Boom Bap! first Sunday of the month at the Vibe Bar,
Brick Lane, E1.
Extracted from a longer article which first appeared in Nude, issue
4 (Sept/ Oct 2004) © Rude Bwoy Bilko
|
