6 February: Reggae Day

Today is Reggae Day, a day to recognise and honour all reggae musicians, celebrated on Bob Marley’s birthday. February is also Reggae Month in Jamaica. So here are 10 facts about reggae:

1. There’s more than one theory as to where the word “reggae” came from. Some say it came from a Jamaican slang term, “rege-rege,” which means "rags, ragged clothing" or "a quarrel, a row", because the genre emerged from a mix of other styles. Bob Marley would disagree. He subscribed to the other theory which is that comes from the Latin “Regi,” meaning “to the King” or Spanish for “the king’s music.”
2. There is certainly a long list of musical styles which could have influenced reggae in Jamaica. Jamaican folk music, English gospel music and sea shanties, calypso, blues and Jazz would all have been heard there in the early 20^th century. There was a type of music called Mento, a calypso-influenced style which made light of local issues and events, and was made using whatever came to hand. the first recorded mento song, Mento Merengue Meringue was played on harmonica, coconut grater, and homemade wooden trumpet.
3. In due course, Jamaica became independent and began to develop a new musical style of its own. Ska was a popular genre there at the time of independence. Ska is quite upbeat, and when the Jamaican economy went into depression people started to slow it down as they sang about the social issues of the time. This type of music was called rocksteady. Add in some experimentation with different instruments and the Rastafarian religion, and over time, rocksteady evolved into reggae. One story goes that reggae as we know it was born when reverb on an amp coincidentally mimicked the chord on the offbeat, and people liked the sound.
4. A characteristic of reggae is that it has regular chops on the back beat (off-beat), played by a rhythm guitarist. This is known as “skanking”. The bass drum hits on the second and fourth beat of each bar. These are called the “drop”. The role of the bass and guitar are essentially reversed - the bass plays the melody and the guitar plays the rhythm. The lyrics are often delivered in a Jamaican-English dialect called patois. The songs are frequently about politics and religion, in particular, thanks to Bob Marley, Rastafarianism.
5. What was the first recorded reggae song? Again, there’s some disagreement. Some say it was The Pioneers’ Long Shot (Bus’ Me Bet), in 1967, a song about a racehorse which bore all the hallmarks of reggae; others say it was Do the Reggay by Toots & the Maytals in 1968. The latter was certainly the first popular song to use the word "reggae" and give the genre a name.
6. In turn, reggae has influenced many other styles of music, including punk rock. The Clash covered a number of reggae tunes. Bob Marley would later write a song called Punky Reggae Party in acknowledgement of the fact.
7. Some believe that in order for it to be authentic, reggae must be created and performed by Caribbean artists. Reggae made by anyone else, such as white British band The Police, has been labelled “Cod reggae”.
8. Reggae has been extremely good for Jamaica’s economy. It boosts tourism, for one thing, with over 2 million reggae fans visiting each year. Bob Marley’s birthday and Jamaica’s national Reggae Month in February is one draw; in July, there’s another influx of reggae tourists as tend of thousands attend the annual Reggae Sumfest in Montego Bay.
9. In 1973, The Wailers were fired in the middle of a tour, when they were opening for Sly and the Family Stone, because they proved more popular with audiences than the main act.
10. The richest reggae artist alive is Shaggy, who is worth $22 Million. He’s got a long way to go before he catches up with Bob Marley, however, who would be worth $130 Million if he was alive today. Needless to say, the best selling reggae album of all time is one of his – Legend.

Who's That Girl?

Matt Webster lives in a tower block and attends a failing school. He dreams of being a spy like James Bond. Little does he know that he is being watched by someone who can make him into even more than that – a superhero.

His first solo mission is to attend a ball at the Decembrian Embassy and discover who is planning to steal a priceless diamond. While there, he meets the mysterious Lady Antonia du Cane, and is powerfully drawn to her. It soon becomes clear, however, that Lady du Cane is not what she seems. Matt’s quest to discover who she really is almost costs him his career.

A modern day Guy Fawkes gathers a coterie around him with the aim of blowing up Parliament with a nuclear bomb. To achieve this, they need money. Lots of it. Selling the Heart of Decembria Diamond will provide more than enough. All that stands in their way is the Freedom League – but the League is beset by internal disagreements. Can the heroes put their differences aside in time to save the day?

Prime Minister Richard Miller and his wife Fiona grieve for their daughter, Yasmin, who has been missing for three years, and is presumed to be dead. Viper agent Violet Parker could hold the key to what happened to Yasmin, but Violet is accused of giving away the organisation’s secrets. She is to be executed without trial. Will she take her knowledge of what happened to Yasmin with her to her grave?

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