U-Roy: the singularly musical toaster was a vital part of reggae’s bloodline
For as long as there have been soundsystems, there have been DJs toasting them. Known as “the originator”, U-Roy was far from the first, but nobody had made a significant impact outside Jamaica before him. In 1970, his album Version Galore landed in London courtesy of Trojan Records. We’d never heard anything like it. There had been soundsystem men bigging up their dances and selections in an ad-libbed, often intrusive manner, but nothing that took what was essentially talking over records seriously enough to create its own uniquely rhythmic art form.
While the mixing and Duke Reid’s masterful studio technique provided the perfect environment for toasting on such rocksteady classics as The Tide Is High, Tom Drunk and Everybody Bawling, it was U-Roy’s light touch, musical nous and general sense of celebration that made these tracks so special.
via U-Roy: the singularly musical toaster was a vital part of reggae's bloodline.