Wackies is an American independent record label specialized in reggae and dub music. Lloyd Barnes founded the label in 1976, and it is possibly the longest-running American recording studio for reggae.
Wackies is an American independent record label specialized in reggae and dub music. Lloyd Barnes founded the label in 1976, and it is possibly the longest-running American recording studio for reggae.
Wackie's is run by Lloyd "Bullwackie" Barnes, who was born in Trench Town, Jamaica, and moved to New York in 1967. He worked construction and bought the equipment for the studio at the nearby Sam Ash store. He started his studio at 4781 White Plains Road in The Bronx, as one of the earliest reggae studios in the country, with a record store named Wackie's House of Music nextdoor. Low on money, he had to be technically resourceful; his recording techniques added to the distinct quality of the sound. [1]
Barnes recorded upcoming and lesser-known artists, with a backing band called Wackie's Rhythm Force. [1] One artists who released all his work on Wackies was Noel Delahaye, a roots reggae singer who released three albums. [2] In 1979, Barnes recorded Solid C., Bobby D. and Kool Drop's "Wack Rap", an early hip-hop single. By that time, Barnes was recording established artists, including Johnny Osbourne, Wayne Jarrett, and Leroy Sibbles (after he left the Heptones). The label also released songs by Horace Andy and others that are now considered classics. [1] Jamaican musician Milton Henry moved to New York in 1976 and worked for Wackie's, and recorded his first album there, Who Do You Think I Am (1985). [3]
In the 1980s the White Plains Road building was sold, and Wackie's moved to Englewood, New Jersey, and around 1998 (when Barnes returned from a lengthy period in Jamaica) moved back, to Boston Road in the Bronx. [1]
Wackie's record releases have a distinctive lo-fi sound. [4]
Most if not all of the original (1970s and 1980s) Wackies recorded releases are out-of-print and in demand among reggae music collectors. Germans Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus, passionate devotees of the label's sound, have undertaken an extensive and ongoing 12" and LP re-issue campaign for the label through an exclusive imprint in the Basic Channel record label family, bearing the Wackies logo and label design. To date, the imprint has put out work from artists such as Horace Andy, Jerry Harris, Wayne Jarrett, Love Joys, The Meditations, and Sugar Minott, as well as several strictly dub releases by Wackies-sponsored bands.
Christopher Coy directed a documentary on Wackie's in 1986, Bullwackie. [5] In 2013, Supreme skategear released a series of Wackie's-inspired t-shirts and other items. [4]
Lincoln Barrington "Sugar" Minott was a Jamaican reggae and dancehall singer, producer and sound-system operator.
Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish reggae, including harmony groups such as the Techniques, the Paragons, the Heptones and the Gaylads; soulful singers such as Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, Bob Andy, Ken Boothe and Phyllis Dillon; musicians such as Jackie Mittoo, Lynn Taitt and Tommy McCook. The term rocksteady comes from a popular (slower) dance style mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rocksteady", that matched the new sound. Some rocksteady songs became hits outside Jamaica, as with ska, helping to secure the international base reggae music has today.
Horace Andy is a Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer, known for his distinctive vocals and hit songs such as "Government Land", as well as "Angel", "Spying Glass", and "Five Man Army" with English trip hop group Massive Attack. He is also famous for a cover version of "Ain't No Sunshine". Andy is often described as one of the most respected and influential singers in Jamaica.
Alton Nehemiah Ellis was a Jamaican singer-songwriter. One of the innovators of rocksteady, he was given the informal title "Godfather of Rocksteady". In 2006, he was inducted into the International Reggae And World Music Awards Hall Of Fame.
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Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser known by his stage-name Mad Professor, is a Guyanese-born British dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub music's second generation and was instrumental in transitioning dub into the digital age. He has collaborated with reggae artists such as Lee "Scratch" Perry, Sly and Robbie, Pato Banton, Jah Shaka and Horace Andy, as well as artists outside the realm of traditional reggae and dub, such as Sade, Massive Attack, The Orb, Gaudi, the Brazilian DJ Marcelinho da Lua, Grace Jones, and Perry Farrell.
Lloyd Woodrowe James, better known as Prince Jammy or King Jammy, is a Jamaican dub mixer and record producer. He began his musical career as a dub master at King Tubby's recording studio. His dubs are known for their clear sound and use of effects.
Lloyd Barnes, popularly known as Bullwackie, is a reggae music producer and the founder of the independent record label Wackies, which specialized in Jamaican music.
Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music.
Clive Hunt is a Jamaican reggae multi-instrumentist, arranger, composer and producer.
Leroy Sibbles is a Jamaican reggae musician and producer. He was the lead singer for The Heptones in the 1960s and 1970s.
Harry Zephaniah Johnson, known by the stage name Harry J, was a Jamaican reggae record producer.
Phil Pratt, born George Phillips is a Jamaican reggae singer and record producer.
Glenmore Lloyd Brown, also known as "God Son" and "The Rhythm Master", was a Jamaican singer, musician, and record producer, working primarily in the genres of reggae and dub.
Jarret Lloyd Vincent, better known by one of his stage aliases Bim Sherman, was a Jamaican musician and singer-songwriter.
Tyrone Evans was a Jamaican reggae singer and musicians. He was one of the founding members of the rocksteady group The Paragons, who had a worldwide hit song with "The Tide Is High".
Winston Jarrett is a Jamaican reggae singer who was part of Alton Ellis's group The Flames in the 1960s before recording with The Righteous Flames and as a solo artist.
Wayne Jarrett is a reggae recording artist born in Kingston, Jamaica, and raised in Allman Town, Jamaica. He currently resides in the US in Hartford, Connecticut.
