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ROCKSTEADY: THE ROOTS OF REGGAE

ROCKSTEADY: THE ROOTS OF REGGAE

ROCKSTEADY: THE ROOTS OF REGGAE
Year: 2009 / Running Time: 90 mins
Running Time: 97 minutes
Format: 35mm (shot on HD)
Aspect ratio: 1:1,85
Sound: Dolby Digital
Musical documentary
Directed by: Stasha Bader
Producers: Valentin Greutert (HG Films), Betty Palik (Muse)
Executive Poducers: Simon Hesse (HG Films), MIchael Prupas (Muse)
Rocksteady is a music style that developed in Jamaica in the late sixties of the last century and is the ultimate predecessor and foundation of Reggae. For the untrained ear, it sounds just the same. Out of this era come a few songs which have become world hits in later interpretations, such as "The Tide is High" by Blondie or "No No No" by Dawn Penn. The record that will be released along with the movie will include all these major hits.

Come with us to Kingston to find the old neighbourhoods and studios and get ready to see where Reggae was born. Join us to learn about the origins of Reggae and get ready to meet the people who created it. Lean back to enjoy the caribbean spirit, see them play their old hits and get ready to hear the sweet music. Or simply: Get ready to Rocksteady!

MEET THE ARTISTS!

SHORT SYNOPSIS:
The remaining great singers and musicians of Jamaica’s Golden Age of music, Rocksteady, come together after 40 years to record an album of their greatest hits, to perform together again at a reunion concert in Kingston, and to tell their story.

LONG SYNOPSIS:
The documentary film Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae is a musical journey to Jamaica’s Golden Age of music, Rocksteady. The film features the music and stories of the legendary singers and musicians of the Rocksteady era. They come together after 40 years to record an album of Rocksteady hits, to perform together again at an All-Stars reunion concert in Kingston, Jamaica, and to tell their story.
Rocksteady was the rage on the Caribbean island from 1966-69. By 1970, Rocksteady had transformed into Reggae, the popular musical style known and loved around the world today. While everybody has heard the music of Bob Marley, the superstar of Reggae, few people know that it was Rocksteady that developed the buoyant rhythms, prominent bass pulse, soulful vocals and socially conscious lyrics that gave Reggae its power.
In their own words, the Rocksteady singers and musicians tell the audience about the 1960s in Jamaica, a roller-coaster decade during which the island was transformed politically, socially, economically and culturally.
In 1962, the island gained its independence from Great Britain. During the next few years, there was celebration, optimism, economic growth and opportunity. Recording studios popped up all over Kingston, competed for the best artists and produced an astounding number of songs, many of which became hits in Jamaica and overseas. Many wonderful and famous songs were created during this era, such as “You Don’t Love Me Anymore, No No No,” “Tide is High” and “Rivers of Babylon.” By 1968, however, Jamaica’s economic bubble had burst and unemployed youths fought with police for control of the streets. As violence, poverty and political upheaval spread, Rocksteady artists stopped singing about love and romance and instead gave voice to the social problems around them.
The performers include Hopeton Lewis, a Gospel-Reggae singer in New York who recorded the ?rst Rocksteady song “Take it Easy” when he was 16; Dawn Penn, nowadays a community worker in London, whose Rocksteady song “You Don’t Love Me Anymore, No No No,” was re-recorded by many other artists and became a world hit; Wilburn “Stranger” Cole (“Love me this Evening”), who had left Jamaica for a new life in Canada; Marcia Griffiths, a Reggae performer who still tours the world (“Tide is High”); Ken Boothe, who performs in Reggae festivals worldwide (“Shanty Town, 007”); Derrick Morgan (“Tougher than Tough”), a famous Ska singer who also had numerous hits during the Rocksteady era; Leroy Sibbles (“Equal Rights”), who, as part of the Heptones, created many Rocksteady songs; and U-Roy (“Stop That Train”), a “toaster” who influenced “rap music” in the U.S.; and Judy Mowatt (“Silent River Runs Deep”), who, with Marcia Griffiths and Rita Marley, was part of the I-Threes, legendary backup singers for Bob Marley. In a special appearance, Rita Marley tells the audience about her life in Trenchtown in the 1960s with Bob Marley.
The musicians featured in the film include Earnest Ranglin, Sly Dunbar, Jackie Jackson, Gladstone Anderson, Hux Brown, Lloyd Parks and Scully Simms among others.
The film features a mix of studio recording sessions at Tuff Gong Studios, rarely seen archival footage from the period and interviews with the performers at home or at places on the island that had had profound effects on their music and lives.
The film takes the audience to the roots of Reggae and also draws a colorful and enriching portrait of the founders of this great musical heritage.

Legendary Singers & Musicians: Dawn Penn, Derrick Morgan, Hopeton Lewis, Judy Mowatt, Ken Boothe, Leroy Sibbles, Marcia Griffiths, Stranger Cole, U-Roy, The Tamlins

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