Now Generation Band

Last updated April 28, 2019

The Now Generation Band (or NOWGEN) was a Jamaican reggae band during the late 1960s into the 1970s. Beginning as a dance band on the road, they gradually undertook more recording dates and, in 1972, quit road work to concentrate on studio work.

Jamaica is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning 10,990 square kilometres (4,240 sq mi) in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the fourth-largest island country in the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about 145 kilometres (90 mi) south of Cuba, and 191 kilometres (119 mi) west of Hispaniola.

Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s.The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae", effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, especially the New Orleans R&B practiced by Fats Domino and Allen Toussaint, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political comment. Reggae spread into a commercialized jazz field, being known first as ‘Rudie Blues’, then ‘Ska’, later ‘Blue Beat’, and ‘Rock Steady’. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat, and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.

A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instruments, such as the jazz quartet or the orchestra. Some music ensembles consist solely of singers, such as choirs and doo wop groups. In both popular music and classical music, there are ensembles in which both instrumentalists and singers perform, such as the rock band or the Baroque chamber group for basso continuo and one or more singers. In classical music, trios or quartets either blend the sounds of musical instrument families or group together instruments from the same instrument family, such as string ensembles or wind ensembles. Some ensembles blend the sounds of a variety of instrument families, such as the orchestra, which uses a string section, brass instruments, woodwinds and percussion instruments, or the concert band, which uses brass, woodwinds and percussion.

The band comprised Mikey Chung and Geoffrey Chung on guitar, Val Douglas on bass, Robbie Lyn and Earl Wire Lindo on keyboards, with Martin Sinclair and Mikey "Boo" Richards on drums. They recorded with most Jamaican record producers such as Duke Reid, Joe Gibbs, Bunny Lee, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Harry J, and Harry Mudie. Songs they recorded included "Dem Ha Fe Get a Beatin" and "Maga Dog" by Peter Tosh, (Joe Gibbs); "Beat Down Babylon" by Junior Byles, (Lee Perry); "Baby Don't Do it" and "Things in Life" by Dennis Brown, (Lloyd Matador); "Breakfast in Bed" by Lorna Bennett, (Harry J); "Life Is Just for Living" by Ernie Smith, "Shaft" by The Chosen Few (Derrick Harriott); plus "Y Mas Gan" by The Abyssinians.

Michael Chung also known as Mikey "Mao" Chung, is a keyboard, guitar and percussion player, arranger and record producer of Jamaican music. He has worked with a wide array of musicians from Jamaica and elsewhere, notably Lee Perry and Sly and Robbie.

Geoffrey Chung was a Jamaican musician, recording engineer, and record producer.

Robert "Robbie" Bernard Lyn is a Jamaican session musician who plays piano, keyboard and synthesiser.

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