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Thirty Years ago Ethiopian Reggae was injected into Jamaica’s homegrown music with Bob & Rita Marley’s children’s group, Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers .
Here are the Two Crucial albums that help propel them to a much wider audience than they had previously appealed to with the help of Dallol Ethiopian Afro-Reggae band.
Reggae has been influenced by a number of genres of music , including American R&B , Rock, etc. but also has African origins of course too. Collaborations or supporting musicians, studio session men or a backing band have also been a part of that sound .
There was an Ethiopian influence in Reggae that came to Chicago in 1980 by the Dallol Ethiopian Afro-Reggae band which formed in 1977 in their homeland before fleeing the brewing turbulence to the US in 1980 .
They brought that sound to Jamaica when they teamed up with Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers for two albums with supporting tours that helped propel ZMM in the international spotlight , making hit songs with Dallol as the backing band touring periodically from around 1987 – 1990.
Conscious Party (1988, Virgin)
http://www.melodymakers.com/music/consciousparty/
The Melody Makers were well known to reggae fans everywhere when they went into the studio in 1987 to record this album. In the music business and in wider circles however they were often still viewed as something of a novelty act. This album changed all that.
Full of great hooks and incisive lyrics, Conscious Party was a breakthrough for the band both commercially and artistically. The third track, “Tomorrow People” was a top 40 hit in U.S and the song that introduced many people to the new Marley magic. The sublime but less well-known “New Love” follows, and then the second hit single on the album, “Tumblin’ Down”, re-mixed to ride high on the R&B charts. An excellent CD bonus track (“We A Guh Some Weh”) follows, then “A Who Say?” with Stephen taking over on lead vocals. One rhetorical question is followed by another as the Melody Makers ask “Have You Ever Been to Hell?”. “We Propose”, “What’s True?”, and “Dreams of Home” then round out this sparkling set.
Members of the Ethiopian band Dallol and guitar great Earl “Chinna” Smith provide backing instrumentation throughout. The album was produced by ex-Talking Heads Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth. Reaching Platinum sales internationally, Conscious Party was one of the best-selling reggae albums ever released and it received a Grammy award for “Best Reggae Album”.. Thirty Years later it remains as a crucial recording.
One Bright Day (1989, Virgin)
http://www.melodymakers.com/music/onebrightday/
The Melody Makers’ follow-up album One Bright Day, released in 1989. The album charted at no. 26 on the Billboard 200 and at no. 43 on the R&B Albums chart. The single “Look Who’s Dancin'” received positive feedback and charted at no. 41 on Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart and at no. 23 on the Dance Music/Club Play Singles charts. The album also spawned the singles “Black My Story (Not History)”, “One Bright Day”, “Justice”, and “When the Lights Gone Out”. The album received a Grammy award for “Best Reggae Album”.
The album’s leadoff track “Black My Story (Not History)” is one of Ziggy’s finest compositions to date. Background vocals on this track are sung in Amharic by Dallol. “Urb-an Music” is a sly comment on both radio formatting and the felicitous combination of music and herb.
Recorded at Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas, this recording also features Dallol, the Chicago-based Ethiopian band that toured with the Melody Makers throughout 1987 and early 1988. They were joined for the recording by reggae guitar great Earl “Chinna” Smith. The album was again produced by Frantz and Weymouth, this time in conjunction with Ziggy and engineer Glen Rosenstein.
The melody makers Dalol Bands
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