News round-up for SOS - April 2006

The biggest news in the reggae world this month has to be the sale of UK-based label Greensleeves Records, one of the pillars of the industry and home to top artists like Sizzla, Vybz Kartel and Anthony B. The label also has an interest in eight songs on Sean Paul's current album The Trinity, thanks to its close links with Jamaica's top producers. Independent music publishing group and record label Zest has bought the label for £3.5m, presumably with a view to further exploiting its massive catalogue of classic reggae and dancehall.

It was announced earlier this month that widely respected rocksteady legend Alton Ellis will be inducted into the International Reggae and World Music Awards Hall of Fame this year. Ellis recorded hits for both of the pre-eminent reggae labels of the 1960s - Treasure Isle and Studio One - and tunes like Dance Crasher and Get Ready Rock Steady have kept his name alive into the twenty first century.

Elsewhere, the legacy of reggae's golden era remains controversial - the bassist from Bob Marley's band The Wailers has taken his claim for a £60m share of the late reggae singer's estate to the High Court in Londn. Aston 'Family Man' Barrett claims he is owed the royalties from a contract signed with Island Records in 1974, plus earnings from songs co-written with Marley. The bassist was a member of the band from 1969 until Marley's death in 1981. Barrett - who has reportedly fathered 52 children - alleges that he was only paid a proportion of the amount owed to him after Marley's death.

In more up-to-the-minute goings on in Jamaica, the artist Spice, who has come to prominence through her work with Dave Kelly (she voiced two wicked cuts on his massive Eighty Five riddim), has denied Bounty Killer's claims that he 'discovered' her. While the warlord has tried to take credit for the career of one of the island's hottest up and coming artists, Spice has been quick to set the record straight: "Bounty Killer neva know mi from nuh weh, him nuh know mi, him jus si a likkle girl come up pon di stage, weh him stay an discova mi?"

Heatwave Chart

1. Cham - Ghetto Story (Mad House - Eighty Five riddim)
2. Ding Dong - Badman Forward, Badman Pull Up (VP Records)
3. Beenie Man - Politrix (Free Willy - Jah Rainbow riddim)
4. Sean Paul - Trinity (Chalwa - Game Time riddim)
5. Gyptian - Mama (No Doubt - Triumphant riddim)
6. Daddy Yankee - Rompe (Universal)
7. Mr Vegas, Alozade, Hollow Point & Richie Spice - Sensi Spice (Nuffwish - Family Affair riddim)
8. The Fugees - Fugee-La Rock (Guantánamo - Real Rock riddim)
9. Sweldaag - Gold Diggar (White label)
10. Busy Signal - Think Dem Bad (John John - Nukie riddim)

Posted by Gabriel Heatwave | Monday 03 April 2006