Conference mr1pst::music

    Re -.1
    
    	I don't think it's really fair to compare Snow to Vanilla Ice -
    ok, ok, I know the surface similarities are there - they even LOOK
    kinda of alike - but I think 'Informer' is really quite good, while
    Vanilla Ice was IMO just a blatant rip off artist.  Maybe I'm missing
    something . . . 
    
    	Would you class 'Dance hall' with 'Ska'?  I think ska may have a
    bit harder edge, and dance hall is more, well, danceable . . . these
    classifications always tend to blur, I think - with so many songs being
    a fusion of many different styles...  
    
    	Dance hall/ska/reggae groups make some of my favorite music -
    Fishboine, Potato 5, Skankin' Pickle, Shabba, Bim Skala Bim, etc, etc
    etc.
    
    						-Jim
    

    I think what you're calling Jamaican dance hall music is what I call
    dub.  Dub is any kind of reggae (rocksteady, bluebeat, ska,...) with
    more low end (if you can believe that!) and mixed with a lot of
    production wierdness: sections where it's just a snare drum dripping
    with reverb and the bass, for example, parts where a vocal phrase is
    sampled and repeatedly played back, stuff like that.  Lots of fun to
    produce and, with the right reggae band, you can pull some of it off
    live.
    
    Dub's been around for a while.  King Tubby and the Aggravators, MC
    Gummy Dee, and Toaster Winston are some practitioners.

    I thought ska was a predeccessor to reggae, that went through a
    subsequent revival with the two-tone bands in England like the
    Specials, and the English Beat.
    
    There was a whole era of reggae I found tough to listen to as the
    pace of the songs became so slow, and stoned-out, that I think one
    would have to be stoned to appreciate them.
    
    

    "Original" ska I would say came about in the early sixties - the
    Specials ect,were definatley influenced by ska but were really a white
    english pop version of ska.
    
    I've been listening to reggae,first time for a while,all weekend.
    Black Uhuru,Aswad,LKJ,Marley,Burning Spear ect.

    
    
    UB40 has a single (once again, what is a single these days) coming out
    which is a cover of an Elvis Presley song, I forgot which.
    
    Lale
    

    Re .0
    
    I'm no expert, but in the UK the long-lined staccato dancehall rap
    style is referred to as "ragga" (raggamuffin).
    
    Ragga belongs to a tradition of rapping (ie live talking/singing over
    background recordings) that goes back to 40s Jamaican dancehall DJ 
    "toasting" (which in turn was apparently copied from black US DJs).  
    There's a highly competitive and somewhat aggressive Jamaican/UK/US 
    ragga establishment - if you're in London, try KISS or CHOICE FM.

    The only band I have heard recently to do Ragga has been Chops MC and SL2
    - any other bands?
    

    Apache Indian are an excellent ragga act and had a chart single a few 
    weeks ago, which I can't for the life of me...
    
    There are also a lot of live ragga acts (Saxon etc) around, as well as 
    ragga-ish bangra acts, who have faithful fans but don't get much airplay.
    
    I reckon the 5-10 year old ragga sound has had a huge influence - on bands 
    like the Dream Warriors, Definition of Sound, Arrested Development, House 
    of Pain, Digable Planets...

    You mentioned some excellent bands there - US3 had a Jazzy
    trach,Cantaloop,which was good but I heard their new one last night
    which is VERY ragga and going on first listen is one of the best ragga
    trax I've heard in years - though I had had a few beers.
    Also there was a band who recently did a "jazzy" song called the Jazz
    Man which was excellent - can't remember their name though.
    
    I bought Shineheads Jamaican In New York which has 5 versions,the rave
    version,which is called "the jamaican dance hall mix" is brilliant and
    the "ragga" version is very good also.
    It's the best mixed cd I've heard - the sound of the bass is
    excellent,the ghetto blaster "shakes like hell" but there is no
    distortion - I take it it's Shinehead who mixed it 'cause he's a
    producer - isn't he?
    
    

    > Also there was a band who recently did a "jazzy" song called the Jazz
    > Man which was excellent - can't remember their name though.
    
    Do you mean the one called (I think) "Jack le Jazz Man" by (I think)
    David Dexter D?  That's a good song.

    That's the one.