Michael Baxter | Philip Myers - Junior Militant Records - 1985 @mickeypenguin | Uploaded December 2020 | Updated October 2024, 8 minutes ago.
I know nothing of this artist, nor the record label… The only thing I know about it is that I bought it from Body Music in Tottenham, which I’m sure ain’t the informative text that you would really care about, but there you go, it’s all I got!
There is only one slice of information online which is on a record store site, as I understand that it is now repressed, so they are going full on with the description, again that’s all I got!
"Philip Myers released only a handful of tunes in the second half of the 1980's, and among them was this now exceedingly rare 45 from 1985. The lone release on Daniel Senior's Junior Militant label, based out of Seaview Gardens, Kingston 11, this tough digital cut features lyrics about Babylon coming to mash up your dance. Arranged by Noel Davey (legend has it, before the release of Sleng Teng!), this tune perfectly captures the digital dancehall sound just being born, and proves yet again that so many killer tunes were bubbling under but never made it into the spotlight".
Personally, I like the record, and as it states above, it is a decent example of the mid-eighties digital dancehall sound, that would soon become the prominent force in reggae music from that point on, for at least for a couple of decades.
Interesting story, a friend of mine wanted to buy wanted to buy the Casiotone keyboard that ‘Sleng Teng’ was produced on, from Jammy in Jamaica. I phoned up Jammy from Southern Record Distributors phone line (a decent perk that) and had a chat with him. Short version: He said no. Very nicely it must be said. The greatest story ever told this ain’t, but there you go, it’s all I got!
The text below, just a few words on that actual keyboard and song, ripped unceremoniously off of the melodics magazine website.
"The Sleng Teng Riddim is iconic for bringing reggae into the digital era. While relatively simplistic this sample was originally a Rock preset on the 1985 Casiotone MT-40 keyboard. MELODICS MAGAZINE. The keyboard was bought by reggae artists King Jammy and Wayne Smith with the rock pre-set being used as the bassline for their 1986 track ‘Under Mi Sleng Teng’. The interesting thing was that Smith didn’t even want to buy the keyboard but did so due to financial reasons.The person who created the pre-set is a Japanese engineer but the name of Hiroko Okuda. In subsequent interviews Okuda has stated she based the pre-set on 1970’s British Rock song however refused to say which one. While there are a few theories as to which song many believe it to be David Bowies 1972 song ‘Hang On To Yourself’.Another interesting fact about Okuda was that she said she listened to a lot of reggae while at University. Perhaps these influences may have subliminally emerged when creating this pre-set. This piece of information combined with the fact that King Jammy and Wayne Smith never intended to purchase the MT-40 keyboard in the first place make this story even more incredible. Maybe it was destiny".
I know nothing of this artist, nor the record label… The only thing I know about it is that I bought it from Body Music in Tottenham, which I’m sure ain’t the informative text that you would really care about, but there you go, it’s all I got!
There is only one slice of information online which is on a record store site, as I understand that it is now repressed, so they are going full on with the description, again that’s all I got!
"Philip Myers released only a handful of tunes in the second half of the 1980's, and among them was this now exceedingly rare 45 from 1985. The lone release on Daniel Senior's Junior Militant label, based out of Seaview Gardens, Kingston 11, this tough digital cut features lyrics about Babylon coming to mash up your dance. Arranged by Noel Davey (legend has it, before the release of Sleng Teng!), this tune perfectly captures the digital dancehall sound just being born, and proves yet again that so many killer tunes were bubbling under but never made it into the spotlight".
Personally, I like the record, and as it states above, it is a decent example of the mid-eighties digital dancehall sound, that would soon become the prominent force in reggae music from that point on, for at least for a couple of decades.
Interesting story, a friend of mine wanted to buy wanted to buy the Casiotone keyboard that ‘Sleng Teng’ was produced on, from Jammy in Jamaica. I phoned up Jammy from Southern Record Distributors phone line (a decent perk that) and had a chat with him. Short version: He said no. Very nicely it must be said. The greatest story ever told this ain’t, but there you go, it’s all I got!
The text below, just a few words on that actual keyboard and song, ripped unceremoniously off of the melodics magazine website.
"The Sleng Teng Riddim is iconic for bringing reggae into the digital era. While relatively simplistic this sample was originally a Rock preset on the 1985 Casiotone MT-40 keyboard. MELODICS MAGAZINE. The keyboard was bought by reggae artists King Jammy and Wayne Smith with the rock pre-set being used as the bassline for their 1986 track ‘Under Mi Sleng Teng’. The interesting thing was that Smith didn’t even want to buy the keyboard but did so due to financial reasons.The person who created the pre-set is a Japanese engineer but the name of Hiroko Okuda. In subsequent interviews Okuda has stated she based the pre-set on 1970’s British Rock song however refused to say which one. While there are a few theories as to which song many believe it to be David Bowies 1972 song ‘Hang On To Yourself’.Another interesting fact about Okuda was that she said she listened to a lot of reggae while at University. Perhaps these influences may have subliminally emerged when creating this pre-set. This piece of information combined with the fact that King Jammy and Wayne Smith never intended to purchase the MT-40 keyboard in the first place make this story even more incredible. Maybe it was destiny".
