www.yardie-reggae.com

TENOR SAW (b. 1966 - † 1988)

TENOR SAW MEETS NITTY GRITTY

* * * /

1985 - 17 North Parade - studio - discs: 1

The Waterhouse ghetto mid 80's sound. That't what we are talking about here. This seminal set in its original release presented eight tracks. Four from Tenor Saw and four from Nitty Gritty. Tenor Saw (born in 1966 and sadly murdered in Texas, US in 1988) came to the attention of the Dancehall audience with a single called "Lots Of Sign" cut for Sugar Minott's Youth Promotion label. Jah Stitch had already recorded him for the first time cutting a dubplate for Youth Promotion Sound System. In 1985 Saw cut the fenomenal non-digital single "Ring The Alarm" (produced by Winston Riley). The rhythm was based on Ansel Collins' 1973 instrumental hit "Stalag 17". Saw contribution to the second half of the 80's Dancehall scene was as strong as quick, but he was able to deliver some very good hits with maybe "Ring The Alarm" as his highest peak. The original set presented "Lone Ranger And Tonto", "A House Is Not A Home", "I Got To Be There" and "If You Only Know (Rub A Dub)". Nitty Gritty was born Glen Augustus Holness in 1957 and died during a shooting in New York in 1991. His debut album came with "Turbo Charged", cut for King Jammy in 1986. What said about Saw can easily repeated for Gritty. His brief career delivered strong hits punctuated by his sophisticated style. The original set presents "Auntie Lu Lu", "Drape Her Up", "Everything You Try" and "She's A Delilah". This re-release offers four bonus tracks from both. Saw presents "Ring The Alarm", "Pumpkin Belly", "No Work On Sunday" and "Golden Hen". Nitty delivers "False Alarm", "Hog In A Minty", "Gimme Some Of Your Something" and "Run Down The World". These bonus are digital at full effect and with a couple of exemptions they are far from my preferred vibes. They remain in any case a statement of what was happening once the digital era took the stage and kept it for quite a long time.