Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
RODIGAN
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE CLASH with Barry G tonight outside Cuddyz in New Kingston is dubbed 'London Calling', but seven hours before he heads out the front door to take a flight out of the British chill, it is Jamaica which is calling David Rodigan.
"I can't wait. I love Jamaica. I love the music, the culture, the climate," I can't wait," Rodigan said.
But even as he anticipates the visit, his musical mind is spinning like a 45 rpm record on a turntable. He hums a familiar melody, then says "I just remembered Ba Ba Boom. I must play it tomorrow night."
That is one track given away, but the rest remain a secret - until tonight.
David Rodigan started playing reggae on radio in 1878 on Radio London, moving to Capital Radio after. But it was his trip to Jamaica in 1983, when he went toe to toe or, rather, tune to tune with disc jock Barry G "on JBC radio with Dennis Hall" (and Rodigan briefly goes into the Dennis Hall voice, without the cough), that marked his Jamaican debut and the beginning of a legend.
He cannot identify just how many times he has clashed with Barry G ("how long is a piece of string," he asks whimsically), but there are some highlights. Like the Sleng Teng clash of 1985 when Barry G drew an Echo Minott dub, complete with specially built into done at Tubby's, and a clash at Mountainside in St. Elizabeth.
That one, though, he remembers not so much for stinging dubs but the crowd.
"I was driving to the venue and I saw all these people, hundreds of them, going down the country roads. And I thought where are all these people going? And they were going to the clash," he said, in a voice of remembered wonderment.
INFLUENCE
It was living, moving confirmation of something that Barry G had told him, that "Jamaicans love a clash".
"And he is right," Rodigan said.
He now plays on Kiss FM in London, his home on the radio dial for the past 13 years.
He says that there has never been any animosity between himself and Barry G. "It was jive talk, it was fun. There was no disrespect ever. I hold Barry in high esteem for his passion for music and I have the same passion," Rodigan said.
In fact, Barry G does not even refer to their encounters as a clash. "He used to refer to it as an expo, a musical expo," Rodigan said.
As such, there is no real scorecard of wins and losses, no 'played against' statistics as in West Indies vs. England in cricket. "In the course of a night there will be goals scored, weak defenses, strong defences. He puts the pressure on me, I put the pressure on him... The winners are the listeners," Rodigan said.
"I have had some good beatings from Barry. I have given him a few shots on the chin. Because these clashes were long. The first clash started at 8:00 p.m. and went back to 2:00 a.m."
There is a particularly sweet dub he remembers dropping, though, Tenor Saw's Ring The Alarm in New York. And he sucks in his breath sharply as he remembers getting a wicked slap from a Josey Wales dub in Lucea, Hanover.
And he comments that back when they started the clashing, an artiste would not do a tune for either of them and then do a counteraction for the other person. "In those days an artiste would not voice for the opposition. There was honour amongst us," Rodigan said.
The clashes were held annually from 1983 to 1989, sometimes going up to twice a year. On the brink of the 1990s they decided that it had run its course, then they resumed 10 years later, on the cusp of the turn of the century. "In the last six years we have played extensively across the US," Rodigan said, laying out a city trail along the eastern seaboard that came right down to Miami.
LOVE OF REGGAE
A near 30-year reggae radio veteran, Rodigan is far from retro. "I try to stay up to speed, to cut dubs that are relevant. I don't think one should rest on one's laurels. I try to anticipate songs that are going to hit. Sometimes I am right, sometimes I am not," Rodigan said.
And he credits two rhythms, the 'Hard Time' and 'Drop Leaf' for a turnaround in the last six months.
"The bashment thing bash itself up... It raced away with itself. It has its place, especially for the young crowd," Rodigan said, but commented that "some of the lyrical content of those left a lot to be desired".
"Someone once said music makes you dance, lyrics speak to your soul."
He names a crop of entertainers, among them Sizzla, Jah Cure, TOK (Footsteps is a magnificent song") and Jnr. Gong (Jam Rock is a massive hit in Europe"), but has a special word for I-Wayne. "I think I-Wayne is very exciting," Rodigan said, naming Lava Ground among the 'big tunes'.
And he has seen the impact of reggae all over the world and is able to report that "this music is very deep. It touches the soul. There is no country that has not been touched," Rodigan says, speaking of playing from Belgrade to the toe of Italy.
"You can go to a reggae party in Berlin every night of the week. Germany has more new sound system crews than England. The media don't give us the credit we deserve, but still 30,000 people come to Reggae SummerJam in Cologne over three days."
"I am so proud to be a part of that," Rodigan said.
And headed to bed, to answer his 'Jamaica calling'.
