Narratives from Beyond the UK Reggae Bassline: The System is Sound (Palgrave Studies in the History of Subcultures and Popular Music)

This book explores the history of reggae in modern Britain from the time it emerged as a cultural force in the 1970s. As basslines from Jamaica reverberated across the Atlantic, so they were received and transmitted by the UK’s Afro-Caribbean community. From roots to lovers’ rock, from deejays harnessing the dancehall crowd to dub poets reporting back from the socio-economic front line, British reggae soundtracked the inner-city experience of black youth. In time, reggae’s influence permeated the wider culture, informing the sounds and the language of popular music whilst also retaining a connection to the street-level sound systems, clubs and centres that provided space to create, protest and innovate. This book is therefore a testament to struggle and ingenuity, a collection of essays tracing reggae’s importance to both the culture and the politics of late twentieth and early twenty-first century Britain. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvii Introduction: Narratives from the Bassline (William ‘Lez’ Henry, Matthew Worley)....Pages 1-5 Vexed History: Time and the Waning of Heart-I-Cal Philosophy (Paul Gilroy)....Pages 7-28 Reggae Culture as Local Knowledge: Mapping the Beats on South East London Streets (William ‘Lez’ Henry, Les Back)....Pages 29-57 A Who Seh? Reflections of a Lost and Found Dub Poet (Martin Glynn)....Pages 59-83 ‘What a Devilment a Englan!’ Dub Poets and Ranters (Tim Wells)....Pages 85-100 Smiley Culture: A Hybrid Voice for the Commonwealth (Lucy Robinson)....Pages 101-123 The Story of Nzinga Soundz and the Women’s Voice in Sound System Culture (Lynda Rosenior-Patten, June Reid)....Pages 125-142 Sound-Tapes and Soundscapes: Lo-Fi Cassette Recordings as Vectors of Cultural Transmission (Kenny Monrose)....Pages 143-162 ‘Dem a Call Us Pirates, Dem a Call Us Illegal Broadcasters!’: ‘Pirates’ Anthem’, PCRL and the Struggle for Black Free Radio in Birmingham (Lisa Amanda Palmer)....Pages 163-183 Rebel Music in the Rebel City: The Performance Geography of the Nottingham ‘Blues Party’, 1957–1987 (Tom Kew)....Pages 185-207 ‘Curious Roots & Crafts’: Record Shops and Record Labels Amid the British Reggae Diaspora (Peter Hughes Jachimiak)....Pages 209-232 From Sound Systems to Disc Jockeys, from Local Bands to Major Success: On Bristol’s Crucial Role in Integrating Reggae and Jamaican Music in British Culture (Melissa Chemam)....Pages 233-247 Growing Up Under the Influence: A Sonic Genealogy of Grime (Joy White)....Pages 249-268 Sound Systems and the Christian Deviation (Carl Tracey)....Pages 269-288 Handsworth Revolution: Reggae Theomusicology, Gospel Borderlands and Delinking Black British Contemporary Gospel Music from Colonial Christianity (Robert Beckford)....Pages 289-314 Back Matter ....Pages 315-320