A cloud over the future of Reggae?
1997 article.
A CLOUD OVER THE FUTURE OF REGGAE
?
By Howard
Campbell
[KINGSTON, JAMAICA] Oct. 12 -
More trouble is looming over the future of reggae with yet another major record
company raising questions about the ability of the music to be a mass seller in
the United States.
Atlantic Records'
perceived disappointment with the performance of reggae acts at one of its
affiliated labels, is threatening to end the days of reggae at California-based
Mesa/Bluemoon Records.
Sluggish sales
by current Mesa reggae acts have not impressed marketing executives at Atlantic
which will be assuming sole control of Mesa in a matter of months. Atlantic has
major shares in the company which was once solely owned by Mesa founder Jim
Snowden.
Among the reggae acts
presently signed to the Berkley label are veteran British bands Steel Pulse and
Aswad, and the highly- thought-of Jamaican group, Mystic
Revealers.
In the past, other noted
reggae performers like Grammy winners Black Uhuru were signed to Mesa which is
primarily known as a distributor of contemporary jazz and blues acts like singer
Randy Crawford, trumpeter Rick Braun and guitarist Scott Henderson.
According to Theo Butler, the
company's promotions manager, Atlantic executives have not shown any sign that
they are willing to give Mesa's reggae personnel any strong support. "It just
doesn't seem to me that Atlantic is willing to support this music," said Butler.
"I'm not telling any (reggae) artiste to come to Mesa right now."
Founded by Snowden, Mesa was purchased
by Atlantic in 1994, acting as its distributor but allowing the company to
retain its original staff. In October last year, Atlantic closed several of its
smaller companies as part of its scaling down operations. Most of the Mesa
staff, including Snowden who had stayed on as interim president, had their jobs
terminated.
With Snowden went the hopes
of several reggae acts the company had been promoting including Steel Pulse and
Revealers.
Interestingly, Steel Pulse
was axed by MCA, another major label, last year. Butler says the mood at Mesa is
not strong at present. "I'm just an unfortunate survivor of what they've done to
our label in the past few years," he said in somber tones. "We used to have our
own staff, our own vision. All that's been taken away now."
Mystic Revealers and Steel Pulse are
Mesa's latest reggae signings. Steel Pulse, from the West Indian-strong city of
Birmingham, built a reputation as one of the most popular roots reggae groups of
the 1980s. Early albums like "True Democracy" and "Handsworth Revolution" are
considered classics, but they have not had a good track record with major
labels. Prior to MCA, they had been dropped by Elektra Records.
Mystic Revealers' work, like Steel
Pulse, is heavily influenced by their Rastafarian faith. Previously signed to
Washington-based independent RAS Records, their management was hoping that with
Atlantic's influence, Mesa would have pushed them to another level.
Both groups recently released albums
were their first for Mesa, but according to Butler, Atlantic executives were not
impressed with the below par sales of both
efforts.
Steel Pulse's "Rage And Fury,"
considered by many as the 20- year-old British band's strongest album in some
time, has sold 35,000 units to
date.
Revealers' impressive "This One's
For Jah" has not been complemented by its 9,000-unit sales
figure.
Considering the present
situation, Butler believes it would not be advisable for other reggae
performers, like singer Mikey Spice, who was earmarked for a Mesa deal, to
pursue negotiations. "I've already told his management that he would be no
better off if he was at VP (a New York-based independent label) or RAS," he
says. Butler says he will be moving on at the end of the year possibly for a job
with Snowden's proposed distribution company. He believes Atlantic's reluctance
to spend marketing dollars on reggae is the primary reason for the music being
put on the backburner.
That has been
the case with reggae and several major labels over the years. With the exception
of Shabba Ranks, Shaggy and Mad Cobra, very few reggae acts have crossover
appeal. Consequently, record sales in the United States are usually poor. In
1994, several big reggae names were dropped from the rosters of big companies
including Columbia Records, Motown, and Capitol, and most of the acts claimed
that their product was ignored and badly
promoted.
But Butler pointed to another
reason why reggae is not likely to flourish under Atlantic: their refusal to
collaborate with smaller labels like VP and RAS to work the less lucrative
ethnic markets where most reggae performers have strong followings.
"They (Atlantic) don't want to deal
with the fundamental things needed to sell this music," Butler charged. "They
don't want to sell vinyl, they don't want to deal with VP or RAS."
As bleak a picture as Butler paints,
Julius Chin Yee, manager of Mystic Revealers, does not believe Atlantic will
turn its back on the four -album deal it has with his group. "Our commitment
with them is long-term no matter what happens," said Chin Yee.
Posted: Thu - February 6, 2003 at 05:57 PM