/ARTS WEEKLY/MUSIC-JAMAICA: Reggae Pioneers Fight ‘Oldies’ Label

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Howard Campbell

KINGSTON, Jan 28 2003 (IPS) - For most of the 1960s, Toots and The Maytals were one of the hottest acts on Jamaica’s growing music scene, churning out a succession of hit songs that are regarded among reggae’s best.

Fast-forward to 2003 and Toots has become a victim of his own success.

The 56-year-old singer recently released a new album, ‘World Is Turning’, his first collection of original songs in five years. But Toots, like several of his contemporaries who still record, has found it difficult to get airplay for his new songs because disc jockeys consider him an "oldies" act.

"I give it to radio stations but I don’t hear it," said Toots. "It’s important for people to hear the new songs because they can give you new fans."

Toots, who was set to appear at the Air Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Montego Bay Jan. 30, has been busy promoting ‘World Is Turning’ here since it was released in December. So far, there has been little response from disc jockeys, who are more willing to play his classic songs from the 1960s, which include "54-46", "Monkey Man" and "Pressure Drop".

Those songs still form the base of Toots’ live set, which he performs overseas, touring at least three times annually in Europe and North America, where his Gospel-influenced ska sound retains a dedicated following. Even overseas, he says, the fans associate him with the old songs.

"Everywhere I go they want the old songs so I give them what they want," he said.

For his first studio album since 1998’s Grammy-nominated ‘Ska Father’, Toots went for a contemporary feel while keeping the sound that has made him famous. Popular roots singer, Luciano, sings with him on "Feel Free", one of the lead tracks, while he recruited some of Jamaica’s most respected young musicians to work on some of the songs.

Film actor and reggae lover, Steven Seagal, also appears on the album, playing guitar on one track.

Jamaican radio has not been kind to its pioneer musicians, many of whom complain about being locked into the "oldies" category. Leroy Sibbles, a contemporary of Toots, has been the most vocal of this group: he says his new songs are usually ignored in favour of the hits he made in the 1960s and 1970s.

"I’ve got nothing against my old songs, you know, but I still make a lot of good tunes. Them just not getting played," said Sibbles recently.

With his music steeped in gospel and influenced by the soul coming out of the United States, Toots Hibbert’s sound was different from the many ska acts that emerged in Kingston in the early 1960s.

Born in Clarendon, a sugar-rich parish in central Jamaica, Hibbert migrated to Kingston while still a teenager to seek a career in the burgeoning music business. He struck gold in 1963 with the Gospel-based "Six And Seven Books" for producer Clement Dodd and never looked back.

Along with his backup group, The Maytals (Jerry Mathias and Raleigh Gordon), Toots worked the charts with hits like "It’s You", "Never You Change" and "Sweet And Dandy". His career suffered a setback in 1967 when he was sent to prison for one year after allegedly being found with marijuana.

The hits continued to flow on his release with "54-46", an account of his incarceration, which became a reggae standard. The historical "Do The Reggay" (reportedly the first song to contain the term reggae) and "Sweet And Dandy" confirmed Toots’ status as one of Jamaican music’s true stars.

In the 1970s, as Jamaican music evolved into reggae, Toots was introduced to an international audience through the cult movie, ‘The Harder They Come’. He and The Maytals had a cameo in the 1972 film performing the song, "Pressure Drop", a minor hit in the United Kingdom.

Toots’ hits dried up in the latter part of the 1970s, though he made a comeback to local charts in 1983 with ”Spiritual Healing”, his spin on soul singer Marvin Gaye’s smash, "Sexual Healing". In 1988, his live album, ‘Toots In Memphis’, was certified gold.

Those days seem far away but Toots believes he still has the capacity to bridge the generation gap. As he sings on "Hit Meck," a song from ‘World Is Turning’, "I got to make a hit song for the younger generation."