ROCKERS - THE GOLDEN AGE OF REGGAE

The Rockers Era roughly took place from around 1975 to 1979. By this time Bob Marley had been keenly marketed by Island Records as a Pop Act, had achieved global success and was awakening the world to the laid back grooves of reggae music. But he wasn't the only one. All over Jamaica new forms of the musical style, such as Dub, Flyers and Steppers, and the influence of Rastafari were keeping it fresh and exciting. It was the most potent and brilliant reggae ever being produced, the Jamaican reggae scene at arguably its creative peak.

The term Rockers came to be a generic term for the bass-heavy 70's reggae, partly due to the emphatic nature of the term. The name is derived from the "Rockers Hi-Fi Sound System", founded by Dub Legend Augustus Pablo. Later, King Tubby, Sly Dunbar, The Revolutionaries and many others kept on using that term for their style of music.

By 1970, the early and jumpy sounds from Ska and Rocksteady were replaced by slower rhythms that better suited the lyrics that were surfacing - lyrics of oppression and sufferation. Rastafari has always been strongly linked to Reggae, making the music important socio-politically as well as culturally. Rastafari have sighted Jah since the late 30's, but came to the world's notice in the 70's through Bob Marley's righteous music. Rasta's influence over the sounds became obvious: the bass got deeper and more pronounced, the tempo slowed down portentously, and lyrics frequently spat fire and brimstone. It was dread.

The image that was being portrayed (Rastas, Dreadlocks, red, gold and green, the smoking of weed etc), this was as interesting as the music, and musically it was maybe more diverse as well, taking in vibes from Soul and Funk. Marley's Wailers, originally as a vocal trio, in the same manner as Curtis Mayfield's Impressions, Dennis Brown like Sam Cooke etc. The freshness in music style and production were outstanding, the funky rhythms from the Wailers members Aston & Carlton Barrett, the bizarre sounds outta Lee Perry's mind, the "far east" sounds of Augustus Pablo, the spiritual sounds from Yabby You, the unique sounds of dub from King Tubby. The styles multiplied and inbred with the American genres.

It was also the period that saw reggae being taken seriously by rock fans around the world as a music that had something to say - punks in Britian adopted roots reggae as a big part of their soundtrack, identifying closely with its sense of alienation. During the Rockers era, artists like Burning Spear, Culture, The Congos, Big Youth, The Mighty Diamonds, Dillinger, Tapper Zukie, Lee Perry, The Ethiopians and Max Romeo became cult heroes, while the roots movement's figurehead Bob Marley became the most famous Jamaican ever. Reggae had already done big things in Jamaica for its own crowd, but when Marley and the others got into the American and UK audiences, it just lifted.

This was the rockers era, a period that saw reggae go international and the world discover the unique vibe of Roots Reggae.


Important Artists from the Rockers-Era:
Abyssinians, Barry Brown, Big Youth, Black Uhuru, Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, Cornell Campbell, Culture, Dennis Brown, Dillinger, Freddie McGregor, Gregory Isaacs, Horace Andy, Hugh Mundell, Ijahman Levi, I-Roy, Jacob Miller, Johnny Osbourne, Junior Murvin, Leroy Smart, Linval Thompson, Peter Tosh, The Congos, The Ethiopians, The Heptones, The Mighty Diamonds, Third World, U Roy

Important Producers from the Rockers-Era:
Augustus Pablo, Augustus Clarke, Bunny Lee, Coxson Dodd, Duke Reid, Henry Lawes, Joe Gibbs, King Jammy, King Tubby, Lee Perry