Tenor Saw
Tenor Saw (actually Clive Bright ; born February 12, 1966 in Kingston , Jamaica , † August 1988 in Houston , Texas ) was one of the first and most influential singjays of digital reggae .
youth
Tenor Saw grew up in Kingston in the infamous Kingston 12 ghetto district . As a child he sang in the church choir of the Seventh-day Adventist congregation, so there are gospel references in some of his later songs. The nickname Tenor Saw , later used as a stage name, he got in early youth when he was incessantly warbling Mr. Buddy of Big Youth with the line Who's dead - Mister Tenor - Mister Tenor Tenor Saw . His great role model was the singer Barrington Levy, who was very popular in the early 1980s .
Musical career
From 1984 he sang for Sugar Minotts Youth Promotion and a year later wrote his anthem Ring the Alarm for this sound system (see below).
He recorded his debut Roll Call in February 1985 for producer George Phang and his label Powerhouse . Afterwards Lots of sign on the Tonight - Riddim for Youth Promotion.
Pumpkin Belly , formerly a dubplate for youth promotion, only became a hit as a version of King Jammy's revolutionary, digital Sleng Teng Riddim . The slightly slippery text is performed innocently and is based on a Jamaican proverb: “How water walk thru a pumpkin belly? Through the stem! "(" How does water get into a pumpkin belly (pregnancy belly)? Through the stem (penis)! "). Sugar Minott later published it himself in three different, own Sleng Teng versions.
Run Come Call Me and Fever ( Tempo Riddim) were hits of this magnitude as well. In the same year Tenor Saw won the Dancehall 85 - Best Artist of the Year award.
Golden Hen for the label Uptempo expanded the list of successive hits until 1986, when Sugar Minott released tenor Saw's debut album Fever . Tenor himself had already left the label to record in Miami for Skengdon Dancehall Feeling and Tune Bad Boys , released after his death .
After a trip to England and the successful record No Work on A Sunday (Pressure and Slide Riddim) for Donovan Germain , Tenor Saw went to New York in 1987 . There he recorded This Train with Freddie McGregor's Studio One band. Singles were also created for Witty, Robert Livingston and Jah Life. His duet with General Doggie on Chill Out Chill Out for Digital English is tenor Saw's final release.
Ring the alarm
Tenor Saw had his biggest hit with the classic Tune Ring the Alarm . He improvised the text for it at a soundclash directly on stage in 1985 , when he competed against Jammys, Aces International and Black Scorpio for Youth Promotion: Four big sound inna one big lawn, Promotion a play, de other three keep calm. The success was resounding, Youth Promotion won the soundclash. The text was quickly expanded and added to the Stalag Riddim for Winston Riley's Techniques label.
Ring the Alarm is still played today as the sound killer anthem at dancehall parties. In 1992 Buju Banton helped tenor Saw to posthumously gain new honors with the pseudo-duet Ring the Alarm Quick , in which he supplemented the original with interjections that were more screaming than sung with the typical aggressiveness of a 90s deejay.
It is also thanks to Tenor Saw that the Stalag riddim, which was created in 1972, became the most popular “sound-bwoy-burial” riddim in dancehall: The first answer was False Alarm from Nitty Gritty , followed by Dust a Sound Boy ( Super Beagle ), Killa Sound (Candyman), We Do the Killing ( Cocoa Tea ), Kill a Soundboy ( Future Troubles und Bounty Killer ), Kill that Sound Boy ( Ini Kamoze ), Slaughterhouse ( Jigsy King ), Call Mr. Madden ( King Kong ) as well as countless dubplates from various sound systems.
style
Tenor Saw's clear, wailing and eerie voice with the nasal sound was permeated with a seemingly religious zeal. The often slightly out of tune intonation is also characteristic . His special singing style was copied and developed further by some reggae singers in a surprisingly similar way. B. by Nitty Gritty , King Kong , Jig Saw , Little Howie , Bunny General , Anthony Red Rose and Colonel Lloydie . Even Lady Saw received her stage name because of the similarity of her singing with that of Tenor Saw, but moved soon after her style.
When performing, he waved his arms wildly and twisted his face into grimaces so that his concerts were almost like performances. Although he could sing fluently and flawlessly, he stuttered while speaking.
Unexplained circumstances of death
In August 1988, Tenor Saw died in a car accident in Houston , Texas . According to other sources, he was murdered in a dispute over drug deals.
Who Killed Tenor Saw by Nitty Gritty asks the question of guilt; his death is featured in many more songs, e.g. B. Themed Nuff Man A Dead by Super Cat.
From Roll Call by Tenor Saw: When the roll is called up yonder, Tenor Saw will be singing there, I'll be singing a happy song, all the saints will be dancing, Nitty Gritty will be there… The reggae singer Nitty Gritty was shot in self-defense in New York in 1991 by his "colleague" Super Cat .
Discography (selection)
- Fever (LP Blue Mountain 1986, CD RAS 1989)
- The Golden Hen (Uptempo), with Don Angelo
- Clash (LP Witty 1987), with Cocoa Tea
- Powerhouse Presents (Powerhouse), with Nitty Gritty
- Tenor Saw Meets Nitty Gritty - With Lots Signs (CD Jet Star)
- Tribute To Tenor Saw: Wake The Town (LP, CD VP 1989)
- Lives On: A Tribute To Tenor Saw (LP, CD Sky High 1992)
Web links
- Tenor Saw on Allmusic by Steve Huey
- Tenor Saw at Discogs (English)
- Cool Runnings August / September 1986 - Interview with Lesli Singer
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Tenor Saw |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bright, Clive (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Jamaican reggae musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 12, 1966 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Kingston , Jamaica |
| DATE OF DEATH | August 1988 |
| Place of death | Houston , Texas |