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The Reggae RevolutionBy Paul Provenza and Harvey Becker —^Peter Tosh and the Wallers Irvine Auditorium Tickets $5 and $6BYOSC(Bring your own sugar cane)The Wallers?? We are expecting sailors In raincoats with wooden legs and harpoons shouting, “Thar she blows! I to music. What we got was reggae.TRUCK STOPSThis delightful form of music brings to mind the lush tropical jungles of Jamaica basically because of its tendency to cause dysentery. This is not to say that we don’t like reggae music. It is our second favorite thing, next to sitting on cattle prods.We’ve given reggae a chance — after ail, it is sweeping the country. We've listened to records. We’ve gone to concerts. We’ve smoked bananas. We’ve lived in mud huts. We’ve made straw bags. Why, we’ve even made an attempt to visit Jamaica, but ended up in Flushing instead. Still, we find reggae about as interesting as papaya juice.Perhaps the reason reggae is so popular stems from the driving, sensual, rhythmic beat that acts like a thousand tiny bongo drums urging a woman to let go. We also looked into the history of this unique form of music to try to get an understanding of its popularity.Contrary to public belief, reggae did not originate in Jamaica. The first reggae piece was written in the Baroque period by Johann Sebastian Bach, It was entitled, “The Well-Tempered Coconut” and it was received with great enthusiasm by those Europeans who kept ganja in their snuff boxes.Most Europeans, however, found the music to be disgusting, saying, “It's disgusting. Bach was crushed by this failure and turned instead to writing bawdy rugby songs. He died penniless, unable to sell his music, for rugby had not yet been invented.Many years later, the British colonization of Jamaica took place, forcing the island inhabitants to accept the customs of Western Europe. They were forced to eat tea and crumpets instead of their usual afternoon knish. Along with their customs, the English brought their music.The Jamaicans, however, did not take favorably to this culture. They were a backward people and the closest they had ever been to crumpets was Tastykake. but they found in the music something that their ears appreciated: reggae. They also enjoyed the bawdy rugby songs, but to a lesser extent, since, although they hadrugby in Jamaica, singing had not yet been invented.So, Jamaica adopted reggae as its own form of music, and England was a more than willing donor. “It’s still disgusting,” commented England.In the years since that time, reggae has gained the island flavor it is known for. A currently popular tune, “Legalize It/’ refers to a popular practice of people all over the world, sodomy. Hence, this island music has caught on ail over the world, especially in America. Perhaps one of the hottest recording groups, Toots and the Maytags, broke the mold of the traditional reggae group, being the first group to consist of a lead singer and four washer-dryers.An Israeli group, Izzy Mariey and the Tailors, recorded a milestone in reggae development. The lyrics of their immortal hit, “Reggae got Suits/' demonstrate the emotions behind all reggae: We got corduroy, we got suits. If they don’t fit, we’U take 'em in a little bit.”Well, we tried to figure out what makes people love reggae, but we must admit we are baffled. Why is Reggae catching on like wildfire? Why not Archie, or Veronica, or Jughead, or Betty, or...Paul Provenza and Harvey Becker are sophomores in FAS. Truck Stops is a bt-weekly/eature of this page. l WAS HOPING WE WEI? t__THAT WEIL
Newspaper Details
Philadelphia Daily Pennsylvanian
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US
Tue, Oct 26, 1976
Page 4
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 14 May 2025
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