Who Cork The Dance: Interview with Jayman and Andrew
Tags:dancehall, download, soundsystem, who cork the dance
Since 2007 “Who Cork The Dance” offers the biggest archive of sound system tapes from back in the 70s and 80s, a real dancehall ting. Houseofreggae.de has talked to the men behind – Jayman (45, London, Sound tape doctor) and Andrew (47, Wirral, Sound tape archivist) – about the beginnings, their favourite sessions, their tape sources and why you can download everything for free.
What do you like about the old dancehall times?
Jayman: I have an old school mentality about sound system and dancehall in that I loved the days when sound systems were hand built and you would have artists live and direct. Selectors would play the whole tune and really work the set and the crowd, then the deejays would do their thing over the version. I can’t really get into the juggling style of nowadays were you get to hear 30 seconds of a tune and then it’s onto the next one.
Andrew: For me it is the raw excitement, the creativity of the entertainers and the ever changing style and fashion of the dancehall sound systems as they were evolving in the seventies and throughout the eighties. I love hearing “live” artists working a sound over classic dancehall rhythms.
First logo of Who Cork The Dance
How did you get into collecting dancehall session tapes and starting “Who Cork The Dance”? Have you ever run an own sound system or dance?
Jayman: I was exposed to reggae and sound systems at a young age, my friend’s brother and his mates had a small house set and we used to listen to them playing out tunes in his flat. Back then I used to love hearing the dub and deejay records like King Tubby, Big Youth, U Roy, Dr Alimantado etc..
A lot of my school friends were from the Ladbroke Grove area so I would spend a lot of time around there and you would always hear reggae being played especially around Carnival time, that’s where I heard my first proper sound systems at Carnival.
I was fascinated by the speakers that were literally like wardrobes and the mass of amps and other equipment all strung together driving those speaker boxes to a beautiful distortion, really powerful stuff for an impressionable youngster! I still love looking at pictures of the old time sets.
I got my first Jamaican sound tape in 1979, it was a Taurus tape and it had Brigadier Jerry, Nicodemus and Ranking Trevor on it. I had been collecting reggae records for a while but now I had heard dancehall reggae Jamaican style and this, in my opinion was how it was supposed to be heard, over a sound with the deejay’s working live and the vibes of the crowd etc.
Immediately I was hooked and wanted more. The stuff I was into then was mostly the dub style and the Jamaican tapes helped get me into a next style of reggae, great times indeed! I just seemed to be very lucky and over the next few years I went from having a handful of tapes to 100’s. I used to mainly trade with people. I had a business selling tapes from a record shop in Camden for a while (big up to Mick Roundhouse if he reads this.)
I used to attend dances regularly during the early 80’s favourites being Jah Shaka, Jah Tubbs, Coxsone, Jah Revelation, Stereograph, Frontline, Java, Saxon etc. I also tried to catch all the visiting Jamaican sounds like Jahlove, Gemini, Jack Ruby etc. Coxsone sound was always a good one to go to if Jamaican artists were in the country as they could usually be found in attendance at the sessions they played, and would hold the mic if the vibes were right.
Some friend’s and I built a small blues dance set in the early 80’s called Libra Hi Fi. It was based in West Norwood, South London and was a great deal of fun, sadly no tapes exist (a long and sad story that one!). We all sort of drifted apart after the digital thing took hold. I could not really get into the new style of dancehall so went back to just attending Jah Shaka and Jah Tubby sessions as I was always most excited by the heavy roots sound.
In 2006 I started doing some roots podcasts on podomatic, my page was called Strictly Rockers. One day I put a live Shaka tape up on it and it went down very well which made me wonder if anyone would be interested in any of the Jamaican sound tapes so I created another podcast, thus Dancehall Revival was born.
I cleaned up the audio on a few and put them up on the new Dancehall Revival page and within a day or two the bandwidth was used up. I waited until the bandwidth was reset and posted some more and Bam! Bandwidth done again!
Still being new to the podcast thing I thought my only option was to pay for more bandwidth so I turned pro on podomatic. The sessions were proving so popular that the bandwidth was still not lasting the month. By this time I was realizing that people were really into this stuff, a good thing really as the boxes of tapes were all packed away gathering dust.
By following linkbacks to my followers I got introduced to the forums DHR (big up to Roddy) and Chatty Mouth (Gordon’s old place). As my bandwidth was going quickly I could not post new stuff up so I started posting on the forums and again got great feedback from people. I was just happy to be able to share all these old tapes with people and more importantly, that there was a younger generation of dancehall fans that were really into hearing tapes from the golden age of sound system.
Then one day I got a private message on Chatty Mouth from a guy called Andrew asking if I could do a bit of work on a couple of tapes for him. We immediately struck up a good friendship as our tastes in tapes were so similar and we both wanted to get these classics out there for the world to hear.
We decided to start posting the sessions as a team, me concentrating on the audio and pictures side and Andrew doing the reviews which he had been doing for some years in Ray Hurford’s fantastic Small Axe magazine. The “Who Cork The Dance” format was now created.
We started with a series of rare one’s, the King Tubby’s, Black Harmony etc. At this time we also discovered that we had a real piece of history when I cleaned up a tape that was known as Emperor Faith 1974. As you can imagine a cassette from this era was not of the best sound quality, but with a lot of hard work I managed to get the audio brighter and more listenable.
When we listened back to the finished piece we discovered that there were two sounds in the lawn, Emperor Faith and Arrows Hi Fi and that they were both on the tape making this the earliest known recording of a sound clash. This was a real exciting discovery and just cemented our working relationship.
Shortly after this we decided to start our own project to make sure these sessions would always stay online not just the audio but with as much information about the sounds and artists as we could get together. We started Who Cork The Dance a blog on blogger in 2007 with a special on Virgo Hi Fi. We followed that with a big special on Stereophonic. In between specials we would post rare one away sessions and other bits.
After a couple of years we had outgrown the blog format so we decided to create our very own website, I had a crash course in Dreamweaver and designed the place then with help from Glenn and Ras Menelik we found a host and the brand new Whocorkthedance.com was launched. We are really happy with the place, it costs a bit more to run but we are now our own bosses and we only have ourselves to answer to.
Who Cork The Dance, soundcard
Who Cork The Dance, tapedeck
Andrew: I took a totally different route towards dancehall than Jayman. I hail from an area that is certainly not a hotbed of reggae, sound systems or dancehall runnings. Whilst my schoolmates all followed rock bands like Motorhead and Iron Maiden I heard Bob Marley’s “Exodus” and decided this was for me. I started to investigate Jamaican music further but it was not easy for me to hear reggae music anywhere at all.
I discovered John Peel’s BBC Radio One shows and this became just about the only source of reggae I could find. He would often feature “roots music” from the likes of Culture and The Mighty Diamonds but the big plus was his regular playing of Jamaican pre-release singles. Through these shows I got to hear grass roots rub a dub deejays like U-Brown, Nicodemus and Ranking Trevor.
As the eighties dawned, records by artists like Eek A Mouse, Yellowman, Toyan, Ringo etc. had a great impact on me, but I still was unaware of the sound system culture and the subsequent rise of dancehall cassettes. About 1982 I saw an advert for a live tape of Ranking Trevor on Echo Vibration sound system but when it arrived I was so disappointed with it. It was such a bad recording and it wasn’t even Ranking Trevor or Echo Vibration either.
It wasn’t until 1984 when I discovered Samba Records in Liverpool and it was during one of these visits Ricky, the shop’s selector, put on a Killamanjaro cassette which sounded incredible. He had a large collection of these tapes and he kindly let me borrow a load of them to copy.
With this selection I then started to trade with Ray Hurford of Small Axe and pretty soon my collection quickly multiplied. Through trading I was introduced to many sounds like Jah Love Musik, Volcano, Gemini, Jaro. As much as I like the bigger sounds I’m always keen to hear smaller “one away” sounds, too. Sounds like Ultrasonic, Magnum Force, Bonafide Love, King Mellow may have been small in comparison but they could still be very entertaining.
I am a very keen listener to the tapes and like nothing more than getting a tape marked up with just the sound system’s name. I then set about decoding them, finding out which artists are appearing, the date and venue of the dance. I think this is an important part of archiving all these tapes. Recently a close listen to a 1979 Stereophonic session revealed that a singer going by the name of Artibella was in fact a very early performance from the late Nitty Gritty.
Who Cork The Dance, notes by Andrew
Could you please tell me something about the statistics of “Who Cork The Dance”.
WCTD: We gave up following the statistics a long time ago, kept finding places either copying our site or even selling the sessions we have posted so it’s best to remain blissfully unaware. We have had almost 160.000 hits on the place since we started it and it has been said we are the number one place for foundation sound system runnings.
Where do you get your tapes from?
Jayman: I got my tapes from various sources over the years, as I said before, I used to mostly trade with people. We are starting to get people that want to donate sessions to the archive which is great as it helps keep the place running. As it is we have a massive catalogue of stuff that is ready to go and an even bigger catalogue of tapes not transferred yet, so we should be able to keep going for some time.
Andrew: Individually we both had large collections of sound tapes and now combined together we will be able to continue for many years to come. On quite a few occasions we have presumed we had the same cassette of a particular dance only to find that my copy was a different part to Jayman’s. We get help from regulars on DHR who also check their cassettes against ours. Then we can also add their contributions, with credit, to the site.
Have you ever had problems with publishing rights?
WCTD: No.
Please name your top 3 sessions, if possible.
Jayman: A very hard question this one, so many great tapes over the years. If I have to be pushed they would be Jamaican sound tapes:
- Jahlovemuzik Skateland 13-5-81
- King Attorney August Town Community Centre 1975
- Stereophonic Skateland September 1980
UK sound tapes:
- Jah Shaka (most of them)
- Jah Tubby vs Rema Havana Club, Derby 12-8-83
- Sir Coxsone vs Moa Ambassa Wandsworth 1979
Andrew: So many to choose from. Jamaican sound tapes:
- Killamanjaro @ Skateland July 1984
- Studio One @ Lacovia 1983
- Jahlovemuzik @ Ascot Lawn Drive In Old Harbour 1978
USA sound tapes:
- Downbeat @ Bronx 1984
- Prince Lloyd @ Bronx HQ 1983
- Papa Moke v Downbeat v African Love @ Bronx 26-5-1984
Who Cork The Dance, tape archive
Who are your favourite singers and deejays?
Jayman: Another tough question. Deejay’s I really enjoy are U Roy, Ranking Trevor, Brigadier Jerry, General Echo, Ranking Joe, Nicodemus, Lone Ranger, U Brown, Yellowman (circa 80-82) Buro, Ringo, Welton Irie, Covenant Hinds, Bobby Culture, Toyan, Josey Wales, Charlie Chaplin and Color Ranking (Sturgav days), Early B, Purpleman I could go on forever!!!
Andrew: My favourites mirror Jayman’s, but I particularly enjoy Ranking Trevor, Brigadier Jerry, Lone Ranger, Nicodemus, General Echo, Buro, Toyan, Josey Wales, Charlie Chaplin, General Trees, Super Cat, Early B, Peter Metro, Papa San, Lt. Stitchie. On the singers side I like to hear Sugar Minott, Johnny Osbourne, Madoo and Cocoa Tea. I too could go on forever!!!
Have you ever met them personally and get some response about “Who Cork The Dance”?
WCTD: No, not personally but we have done interviews via the net with Noel “Papa Jaro” Harper, Maddo (aka Stereophonic’s Madoo), Lone Ranger (thanks to Papa Hutchinson) who were all very supportive of the project. We have heard from people that artists have discovered our place and that they like it. We reunited Maddo with all of the Stereophonic sessions and he was “inspired by the memories”.
We recently sent Dennis Alcapone a lot of sessions and we’ve heard that another big collector of soundtapes, U Brown likes our site. Someone else told us Mikey Jarrett is into the project and we have recently heard from Welton Irie who wants to do something with us. We spoke to Ricky Trooper, who is another long time collector and he loved what we are doing.
We got an email from Papa Moke aka the late Vincent Henry’s daughter who was very grateful for the Papa Moke special we did. She was over the moon at being able to listen to the Moke sessions that brought back so many good memories of her Father to her.
A lot of sound systems and artists do not have or have ever heard a lot of these tapes and when we can reunite them with them it really does make all the hard work worthwhile.
You give thanks to Beth Lesser for some pictures on your website. She is the author and photographer of the famous books “Dancehall: The Rise Of Jamaican Dancehall Culture” and “King Jammy’s”.
WCTD: Yes that’s right. We did a thing with Beth last year to raise some money for Jah Stitch who was very ill for a while and he needed cash for hospital treatment in JA. She has given us some great pictures to use and we have done an interview with her for a forthcoming special. We are big fans of her work.
I always wonder why “Who Cork The Dance” is for free. Some collectors would pay a lot of money for some dancehall sessions, I guess.
Jayman: We never started this for any monetary reasons, it’s about the love of the music for us. We wanted to try and create an archive to show the history of sound system/dancehall culture from the early days so that the coming generations can find out how the sounds and music evolved over the years. We do have a donation button as it does cost us to keep the site running and times are very hard right now, all donations go into keeping us going and are really appreciated.
Who Cork The Dance, work in progress
Andrew: I have always happily traded my dancehall tapes no matter how “rare” they may be regarded. A lot of these tapes are now around 30 years old now and time is taking a toll on them. These vintage tapes need to be saved before time perishes them. Archiving them not only saves them and in many cases the sound quality is enhanced and improved so that they can be enjoyed by sound system enthusiasts everywhere.
Are there any special sessions, dancehall treasure which are hard to get but you really would like to show on “Who Cork The Dance”?
Jayman: More of the 70’s tapes would be fantastic, there must be some out there gathering dust. Would be nice to hear some more King Tubby’s recordings, but the holy grail for me would be tapes of Pablo’s Rockers International set from the 70’s or early 80’s … Anyone?
Andrew: I’d definitely love to hear more sound tapes from the seventies. Maybe a Tippatone with Big Youth or El Paso with Dennis Alcapone. A Rockers International tape would be fantastic….I heard that some certainly do exist!
How can people support your project?
WCTD: As mentioned above, we do have a paypal donation button on the homepage and we really could do with a bit more help with running costs. We always welcome sessions for donation too, especially 70’s or early 80’s one’s. We have recently expanded into the later juggling 90’s and beyond arena.
We also now have a very healthy section of the UK style roots sounds in session so those types of tapes are always welcome too. If any Sound systems or artists would like to tell us their story, it’s great to get first hand info.
We are also always on the lookout for pictures of sets, artists etc, again, especially from the 70’s or early 80’s. Fliers are always good to have too if you can help with anything like this mail me at: whocorkthedance@gmail.com.
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