There are several tracks that I recorded and never put them out, for whatever reason. In retrospect I really like this one, plus I got to meet Sister Nancy at a Reggae festival. It reminded me: I’d placed a track, over the same Riddim, on YouTube many years ago. No Mercy is about pure Sound clash lyrics. It’s my dream that we get back to the idea of “Bangin’ on Wax”, which is the real tradition of settling disputes. It’s a form of DIPLOMACY
Sound clashes existed long before the Caribbean was flooded with guns by imperial forces. My uncles tell me of Calypso bands who would play fierce competitions against one another, traversing the islands over the weekends. They would be back at work on Monday morning with stories to tell. It was all done in the spirit of collaborative competition.
Beginning in the 1960’s Jamaican Soundsystems and studios would produce hit songs for vocalists, aimed at their rivals. Winston Riley created this version of the “Stalag” Riddim, originally entitled “Stalag 17”. It was named after the 1953 movie about Americans in a WWII German prison camp. Although Jamaicans would go on to establish the Hip-Hop scene in New York, via the same “Soundsystem” ethos, their influences had been heavily American from the onset.
Coincidentally Hip-Hop was also influenced by Capoeira (another one of my true loves). The Break Dancing craze resembled what Brazilians refer to as a “Roda” (pronounced “Hoda”) It means wheel, and dates back to ancient Angola. This was another diplomatic way of settling disputes. All of it was thwarted by the introduction of gun and drug culture. That began to change the music, and many people responded by blaming the music. Still, it’s music that will save us, if we let it.
It was amazing to watch Sister Nancy tell the crowd about never receiving any money, although her version of Bam Bam had been ubiquitous, since its 1982 release. Nancy pursued the matter in court, winning, but claiming only 50% of the proceeds… “because I’m not a greedy person”. After explaining this to the crowd she proceeded to hype up the entire place.
The original “Bam Bam” credit goes to Toots Hibbert from The Maytals (1964). It was a Calypso styled song.
:::EXTRA::: No Mercy Remixed by BIONIK