Sly & Robbie

Sly And Robbie
Website Www.Officialslyandrobbie.Com Members
Lowell Dunbar
Robert Shakespeare Sly And Robbie Are Reggae's Most Prolific And Long Lasting Production Team. The Rhythm Section Of Drummer Lowell Dunbar Nicknamed Sly After Sly Stone One Of His Favorite Musicians And Bass Guitarist Robert Shakespeare Started Working Together In The Mid 1970s After Having Established Themselves Separately On The Jamaican Music Scene. They Are Humorously Also Sometimes Referred To As Sly Drumbar And Robbie Bassspeare. Sly And Robbie May Well Be The Most Prolific Recording Artists Ever. One Estimate Is That They Have Played On Or Produced Some 200 000 Songs 1 Considering That Some Of Their Riddims Such As "Revolution" Have Been Used On Over 100 Songs. Before Joining Forces Sly Was Drumming For The Skin Flesh And Bones Band And Robbie Was The Bass Player For The Aggrovators. They Also Used To Play In Clubs Sly At Tit For Tat And Robbie At Evil People And Used To Check Each Other Out. They Found Out That They Had The Same Ideas About Music In General Both Are Huge Fans Of Motown Philly Sound And Country & Western In Addition To Jamaican Legendary Labels Studio One And Treasure Isle And Reggae Production In Particular. They First Worked Together With The Revolutionaries For The Newly Created Channel One Studio And Label Operated By The Hoo Kim Brothers. They Changed The Face Of Reggae Several Times In 1976 They Introduced A Harder Beat Called "Rockers" Which Quickly Replaced The Then Prevalent "One Drop" Style Then Introduced The "rub A Dub" Sound In The Early 1980s. Sly And Robbie Were Important In Developing The Trend Towards Computer Assisted Music And Programming In The Mid 1980s. Also In The Early 1990s They Introduced A Novel Sound With The Hits "Bam Bam" And "Murder She Wrote" By Chaka Demus & Pliers. Chaka Demus' Rough DJ Vocals Were Matched With Pliers' Sweet Melodic Soul-Influenced Singing This Unusual Vocal Pairing Was Championed By Sly And Robbie. This Formula Has Since Been Used With Great Success By The Likes Of Shaggy Who Teamed Up With Singers Rayvon Or Rik Rok Shabba Ranks Maxi Priest And Others. This Predates And May Have Influenced The Recent Trend In Some Rap Music Where A Song's "hook" Or Chorus Is Sung By A Guest While The Verses Are Rapped. In The "Bam Bam" Style Sly Introduced Indian Tabla Sounds In His Drum Beats While Robbie Altogether Stopped Playing Bass On This Particular Project. Sly & Robbie Continued To Innovate During The 1990s And Early 2000s Fusing Dancehall And Latin Music Sounds La Trenggae Or Dancehall And Hip Hop/R&B Their 2004 Big Up Riddim . In 1999 Their "Strip To The Bone" Album Paired Them With Electro Producer Howie B And Together They Explored New Dub Territories. Their 1999 Single "Superthruster" From This Album Became A Mainstream Hit By Being Played On MTV Frequently. Reason For This Was Undoubtly Not Only The Pulsing Beat But The High Quality Animated Video In Sinister Anime Style. It Showed Sly And Robbie In Battlesuits Chasing A Harlequin Through A Technological Complex. As The Video Progresses The Harlequin Turns Out To Be A Marionette Directed By The Real Villain. The Early Scene Involving The Harlequin Marionette Bears At Least A Passing Resemblance To Sven Väth's 1994 Animated Cult-Video "Harlequin". "Superthruster" Was Released On Vinyl And As A DVD Single Its February 9th 1999 Release Date Making It One Of Or Even The First DVD Single Ever To Go On Sale. In 2003 They Compiled And Mixed A DJ Mix Album Late Night Tales Sly & Robbie As Part Of The Late Night Tales Series For Azuli Records. Far From Restricting Themselves To The Jamaican Scene In Which They Have Played For Virtually Every Prominent Jamaican Musical Artist From Beenie Man To Sean Paul To Peter Tosh Black Uhuru Gregory Isaacs Dennis Brown And Others They Have Been One Of Pop Music's Most Sought After Rhythm Sections Playing For And Producing Superstars Such As Ben Harper Bob Dylan Mick Jagger The Rolling Stones Grace Jones Joan Armatrading Gilberto Gil Joe Cocker Serge Gainsbourg Simply Red Michael Franti Sting Khaled Tricky Doug E. Fresh Carlos Santana Sinéad O'Connor And Many More. They Have Produced No Doubt's Hits "Hey Baby" And "Underneath It All". They Also Produced Some Tracks Off Suggs First Album The Lone Ranger Including The Hit Version Of Cecilia Featuring Louchie Lou And Michie One Which Sold Over 500 000 Copies In The UK Alone. After 30 Years Together They Still Tour And Record Relentlessly. Their Last US Tour Was With Tony Rebel And Half Pint During The Spring Of 2005. During The Summer Of 2005 They Toured Europe And The UK With Bunny Rugs Lead Singer For Third World. During The Fall Of 2005 They Were On The Road With Sinéad O'Connor And In August 2006 They Appeared With Don Carlos At The Reggae On The River Festival. They Have Produced Several New Jamaican Artists For Their TAXI Label Including Kibaki Mynimoo And Zennlocc As Well As Confirmed Superstars Such As Elephant Man. They Have Also Recorded With Their Original Group The Revolutionaries To Produce Horace Andy's New Album "Livin' It Up". They Recently Signed The Lovers Rock Sensation Bitty McLean To Their TAXI Label And Plan To Record An Album With Bitty During The Fall Of 2006. read less