CLINTON LINDSAY » Entries tagged with "The Melodians"
LEGENDARY GROUP THE MELODIANS, RELEASE NEW ALBUM OF CLASSIC SONGS!
By Howard Campbell— The Melodians performing at Skamouth music festival in the United Kingdom last month. From left: Taurus Alphonso, Trevor McNaughton and Winston Dias— Rocksteady greats, The Melodians, released their latest album digitally on Friday. Titled The Return of The Melodians Ska—Rocksteady—Reggae, it is the first collection of songs featuring a new line-up that came together in 2014.Founder Trevor McNaughton is the sole surviving original member in the current group which also includes Winston Dias and … Read entire article »
Filed under: BREAKING NEWS, GUEST RUNDOWNS, NEW RELEASES
THE MELODIANS, HALF PINT, RITA MARLEY, GT TAYLOR, CHRIS BLACKWELL, ALTON ELLIS, HONORED BY THE JAMAICA REGGAE MUSIC ASSOCIATION (JaRIA) FOR THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS!
BY RORY DALEY— Trevor McNaughton of The Melodians with his award. (Garfield Robinson)— Organizers of the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) Honor Awards stressed its importance Sunday at the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston. “I just want to thank everyone that has stayed with the JaRIA awards for the past nine years,” said Ibo Cooper, JaRIA chairman. For Cooper, the strong turnout of artists and fans was a direct response to the clamoring for Jamaica’s version of the Grammy Awards. The sentiment was echoed by former JaRIA chairman Freddie McGregor who, upon receiving his Iconic Artist award, commented on the lack of knowledge locally about the awards. “The vision is not only to honor those that laid the foundation for us, but for us to lay that foundation for a larger vision,” he explained. The finale on … Read entire article »
Filed under: BREAKING NEWS, GUEST RUNDOWNS
THE LEGENDARY GROUP THE MELODIANS, EVEN WITH NEW MEMBERS, STILL ROCKING THE PLACE!
The Melodians: (from left) Trevor McNaughton, Taurus Alphonso and Winston Dias performing at the This Is Ska Festival in Rosslau, Germany, in June. OF the flood of harmony groups that ruled the rocksteady era, The Melodians is among the few still active. In late June, the trio performed at the June 24-25 This Is Ska Festival, in Rosslau, Germany. The current Melodians has one original member in Trevor McNaughton. Like the other members, Winston Dias and Taurus Alphonso, he lives in South Florida. This Is Ska is the group’s their biggest gig since Dias and Alphonso officially joined in 2014, one year after original member Tony Brevett’s death. Brent Dowe, who started the group with McNaughton and Dowe in 1963, died in 2006. Alphonso said This Is Ska showed The Melodians are still in demand. “Even when … Read entire article »
Filed under: BREAKING NEWS, GUEST RUNDOWNS
THE MIGHTY DIAMONDS BROUGHT SOULFUL HARMONIES TO THE 70’S REGGAE!
By Roy Black— The Mighty Diamonds in 1975.— The Mighty Diamonds belong to an exclusive fraternity of three-part harmony group singers that emerged in the mid-1960’s in Jamaican popular music and lasted into the next decade. Earlier, The Heptones, The Techniques, The Paragons, The Melodians, The Wailers, and The Gaylads had laid the foundation for the phenomenon, which produced a plethora of hits, mainly in the rock steady and early reggae styles. Those who were around at … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
THE LEWIS BROTHERS OF INNER CIRCLE FAME,CALL FOR A “REGGAE HALL OF FAME” IN JAMAICA!
By Brian Bonitto—- Brothers Roger (left) and Ian Lewis of the reggae band Inner Circle.— BROTHERS Ian and Roger Lewis, founding members of the Inner Circle band, believe Jamaica could realize benefits from its music with the creation of a multi-purpose Reggae Hall of Fame. “Reggae music is a universal thing. So the hall of fame would have to be self-sufficient that people from all over the world can come,” bassist Ian Lewis told the Jamaica Observer. The siblings, who are on a break from a three-month tour of Europe, said the north coast would be an ideal location for the ‘Hall’. “It would have to be somewhere scenic like Ocho Rios (in St Ann). It could be a place where people learn about the history of the music… learn ’bout wicked singers like Brent … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
WITH NEW MEMBERS, IT’S THE RETURN OF THE LEGENDARY MELODIANS!
(From left) Trevor McNaughton, Taurus Alphanso and Winston Dias. WHEN Tony Brevett died in October 2013, it left Trevor McNaughton as the sole survivor of The Melodians, one of reggae’s great harmony groups. The other original member, Brent Dowe, passed away in January 2006. McNaughton, who started the group in 1963, was not ready to call it quits. After performing solo last year in the United States, Canada and Europe, he recruited Winston Dias and Taurus Alphonso to revive the group and is currently recording songs for an album with producer Willie Lindo in South Florida. So far, they have done fresh versions of Sweet Sensation and You Don’t Need Me, two of The Melodians’ biggest hit songs, for Lindo’s Heavybeat Records. Lindo was working on new material with the group when Dowe … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
THE HARMONIOUS SOUNDS RULED THE 1960’s AND 70’s!
John Holt – File— One of the prominent features of 1960s and 1970s popular music was the prevalence of singing groups. The feature seemed to have been triggered by the penchant of many artists of that period to emphasise harmony in their musical output. According to the late Brent Dowe, leader of the 1960s Jamaican vocal trio, The Melodians, “At the time, the whole emphasis was on harmony, not on the lead singer. Harmony was the thing. … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
NEW YORK-BASED K-VIBES TO RELEASE DEBUT ALBUM “ROSE AMONG THORNS” IN JUNE!
By Howard Campbell K Vibes/Brick Rose—- TO many in the competitive New York City music beat, singer K Vibes/Brick Rose has paid her dues, having recorded for several of the Big Apple’s top reggae producers since the early 1990s. After years of releasing singles, her debut album Rose Among Thorns, will be released in June. According to K Vibes/Brick Rose, releasing a full set is a personal accomplishment. “This album is to show the quality of my music and that … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
40 YEARS OF THE HARDER THEY COME – THE SOUNDTRACK OF THE AGES!
By Howard Campbell—– This month marks 40 years since the release of Perry Henzell’s sensational movie The Harder They Come which helped introduce Jamaican pop culture to the world. This week, the Jamaica Observer presents a series of stories on the film’s impact and persons who were involved with it. LONG before Hollywood decided that blockbuster films should be complemented by soundtracks, The Harder They Come showed music’s importance in promoting a movie. Jimmy Cliff plays the role … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
REGGAE – THE JEWEL OF JAMAICA’S INDEPENDENCE!
By Gordon Robinson—- Since 1962, Jamaica’s Independence has shone through music. Jamaica created three original music beats. Reggae is the most famous, but before reggae came ska and rocksteady. It’s a widespread myth that ska evolved from mento. Actually, ska and all that followed came from our embryonic attempts to copy imported music to fuel 1950s sound systems’ fierce rivalry. The thirst for ‘exclusive’ popular music drove our fledgling industry. At first, records were imported and labels erased to … Read entire article »
Filed under: GUEST RUNDOWNS
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