Steely & Clevie | |
---|---|
Origin | Kingston, Jamaica |
Genres | |
Years active | 1973–2009 |
Labels | Steely & Clevie Profile Rounder VP |
Members | Cleveland "Clevie" Browne |
Past members | Wycliffe "Steely" Johnson |
Website | Myspace Website |
Steely & Clevie was a Jamaican dancehall reggae production duo that was composed of members Wycliffe Johnson and Cleveland Browne. [2] The duo worked with artists such as the Specials, Gregory Peck ("Poco Man Jam," 1990), Bounty Killer, Elephant Man, and No Doubt.
Steely debuted as a keyboardist with Sugar Minott's Youth Promotion collective in the 1970s, playing the keyboards on Minott's 1978 album, Ghetto-ology. [2] Clevie pioneered the use of drum machines in reggae. Steely and Clevie first played together at Lee "Scratch" Perry's Black Ark Studios during the late 1970s. In 1986, the duo was the house band at King Jammy's Studio, which became the center point of late-1980s reggae, by which time Steely & Clevie were established production leaders with an immense slew of 12-inch and dub singles. The duo formed the Steely & Clevie label in 1987, a year in which reggae riddims and dub-influenced hip-hop production by Ced Gee and KRS-One in the Bronx became prominent. [2]
In 1993, Steely and Clevie produced and co-wrote three tracks from Billy Ocean's eighth studio album Time to Move On , including the single "Pressure". [3] In 1994, Steely and Clevie produced a new version of the 1967 track "You Don't Love Me (No No No)" by Dawn Penn for the album Steely and Clevie Play Studio One Vintage. The track was released as a single that same year and became a Billboard Hot 100 hit in the US. [4]
In 2004, Steely was charged with dangerous driving after being involved in an accident in which high-school student Shakara Harris was fatally injured. [5] Steely was cleared of all charges in November 2005. [6]
On 1 September 2009, Steely died in a hospital in East Patchogue, New York. He had been suffering from pneumonia after having recovered from kidney complications in December 2008. He had surgery for a blood clot in the brain shortly before he died. [7] Clevie continues to produce and record.
In 2021, Steely’s estate and Clevie filed a lawsuit in California’s central district court against Universal Music Group and Warner-Chappell Publishing for ownership of over 1,800 reggaton songs. The Fish Market riddim, produced by the duo in the 1980s, became the basis for reggaeton’s Dem Bow riddim, which has been used in over 1,800 tracks according to the suit.
In Jamaican dancehall music, a riddim is the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the term consist of the riddim plus the voicing sung by the deejay. A given riddim, if popular, may be used in dozens—or even hundreds—of songs, not only in recordings but also in live performances.
Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style. Generally, dub consists of remixes of existing recordings created by significantly manipulating the original, usually through the removal of vocal parts, emphasis of the rhythm section, the application of studio effects such as echo and reverb, and the occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.
Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separately in Jamaica as professional musicians. Shakespeare died in December 2021 following kidney surgery.
Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music.
The Stalag riddim is a popular reggae riddim, which came to prominence in the 1980s. It was originally written and recorded as "Stalag 17" by Ansel Collins and released by Winston Riley's Techniques record label in 1973. The riddim has been used on hundreds of derivative records.
The Roots Radics Band was formed in 1978 by bass player Errol "Flabba" Holt, guitarist Eric "Bingy Bunny" Lamont and drummer Lincoln "Style" Scott. They were joined by many musicians, including guitarist Noel "Sowell" Bailey, Dwight Pinkney and Steve Golding, keyboard player Wycliffe "Steelie" Johnson, Pianist Gladstone "Gladdy" Anderson and saxophonist Headley Bennett. As a combined force the Roots Radics became a well-respected studio and stage band, which dominated the sound in the first half of the 1980s. In addition to their own catalogue, they have worked with artists such as Bunny Wailer, Gregory Isaacs, Michael Prophet, Eek-A-Mouse, and Israel Vibration.
Tapper Zukie is a reggae deejay and producer.
Harry Zephaniah Johnson, known by the stage name Harry J, was a Jamaican reggae record producer.
Me and You are a Jamaican reggae trio.
Garnet Silk was a Jamaican reggae musician and Rastafarian, known for his diverse, emotive, powerful and smooth voice. During the early 1990s he was hailed as a rising talent, however his career was ended by his early death in 1994, while attempting to save his mother from her burning house.
Burro Banton is a dancehall reggae deejay popular in the mid-1980s and 1990s.
Bushman is a Jamaican reggae singer. He was raised in the Rastafari culture from a young age.
Mafia & Fluxy are a British reggae rhythm section and production team, consisting of the brothers Leroy (bass) and David Heywood (drums), whose careers began with London reggae band The Instigators in 1977. They backed Jamaican artists on UK tours, and in 1987 visited Jamaica, building rhythm tracks for producers such as Bunny Lee, King Jammy,Mad Professor, Donovan Germain and Philip "Fatis" Burrell, becoming one of the most in-demand rhythm sections of the ragga age. They started their own label, producing for artists such as Sugar Minott, King Kong, Gregory Isaacs, Johnny Osbourne, Cornell Campbell and General Levy.
Augustus "Gussie" Clarke is a reggae producer who worked with some of the top Jamaican reggae artists in the 1970s and later set up his own Music Works studio.
"Pressure" is a song by Trinidadian-British singer Billy Ocean, which was released in 1993 as the lead single from his eighth studio album, Time to Move On. The song was written by Ocean, Wycliffe Johnson and Clevie Browne, and produced by Steely & Clevie. "Pressure" reached No. 55 on the UK Singles Chart and remained in the Top 100 for two weeks. It remains Ocean's last appearance on the chart.
Nyah Man Chant is the debut album from Jamaican roots reggae singer Bushman. It was released in 1997 by Greensleeves Records in the United Kingdom and by VP Records in the United States. Bushman had hitch-hiked seventy miles to Kingston in the hope of furthering his career. After meeting renowned production team Steely & Clevie in the car park of the Arrows dub-cutting studio, where they were playing football, he auditioned on the spot and was invited to their studio. Prior to the album, Bushman recorded a string of singles for the duo, including "Grow Your Natty", "Call the Hearse", "Remember the Days", "Black Star Liner", and "Man a Lion", all of which were included on the album. The whole album was produced by Steely & Clevie, and employed a real horn section in contrast to many reggae albums of the time, and met with a positive critical reaction. The album recreated the sound of 1970s and 1980s reggae, and included musicians such as Earl "Chinna" Smith, Dean Fraser, and Vin Gordon. The album was described in the Rough Guides book Reggae: 100 Essential CDs as "a coherent, excellently crafted set" and "as good an example of modern roots singing as you could hope to find". Allmusic called the album "a classic".
Baby Wayne, born Wayne Parkinson, was a Jamaican dancehall artist known for his conscientious lyrics.
Kemar McGregor, also known by his nicknames, DJ Flava and Flava McGregor, is a Jamaican-American pop reggae producer. He has recorded and produced music for the most renowned artists in the music industry, including Sinéad O'Connor, Musiq Soulchild, Syleena Johnson, Snoop Dogg/Snoop Lion, Jon Secada, Maxi Priest, Sizzla, Marcia Griffiths, Beenie Man, Wayne Wonder, Buju Banton, Capleton, Sanchez, Freddie McGregor, Luciano, Sugar Minott, Barrington Levy, Gregory Isaacs, Morgan Heritage, Half Pint, Tanya Stephens, Gyptian, Cas Haley, Beres Hammond, Glen Washington, Etana and Cocoa Tea, among many others. McGregor is the owner and chief executive officer of FM Records.
Time to Move On is the eighth studio album by Trinidadian-British singer Billy Ocean, which was released by Jive in 1993. It would be Ocean's last studio album until 2009's Because I Love You.
Erik Weiss, better known by his stage name Liondub, is an American DJ, producer, and record label owner who specializes in jungle, drum and bass, reggae, dancehall, hip hop and dubstep.
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