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While most Reggae fans have enjoyed the iconic Chronixx song “Smile Jamaica” and celebrate 2023 as its 10th anniversary, the producers of the song are not so well known, and in fact, are a somewhat unlikely German duo who have been promoting Reggae music since it came to Germany in 1986. Oliver Schrader and Joscha Hoffman are the co-founders of the Silly Walks Soundsystem, finding their way to reggae through exposure to UK Ska and punk rock in the 1970s and 1980s.

Path To Reggae

Oliver Schrader had a friend in Germany in the 1980s who listened only to Reggae, which Schrader found odd at the time. However, he found himself falling in love with the music, which became his main musical choice. He was addicted, he said, “a real nerd.” He turned to deejaying to share his passion with others. At the same time, Joscha Hoffman discovered his love for “everything that had off-beats,” got into ska, and then realized that original ska came from Jamaica. He started listening to the Skatalites as a teenager and began exploring Germany’s dancehall and reggae scene in the 1980s and 1990s. Some years later, after he had started his own project, Schrader contacted him, and the pair began working together. They have now played sound systems together for the past two decades.

Europe Eager For The Jamaican Sound

Schrader and Hoffman played parties throughout Germany, Austria, and Switzerland as the sounds of Jamaica became more popular via tours by reggae artists and the development of commercial dancehall in the 1990s through artists like Sean Paul, Beenie Man, and others. Neither Hoffman nor Schrader was happy with just playing records, however, so they traveled to Jamaica to enter the production side. On the island, they worked with the likes of Jah Mason, Luton Fire, Tonya Stephens, Ginger, and Natural Black. Their work with these star reggae performers did not open doors in the reggae scene for Silly Walks until the two producers partnered with Chronixx. Once the song dropped, they were widely recognized as “the guys who did ‘Smile Jamaica,’” and they were in. “It helped a lot,” Schrader added.

The Ups And Downs Of Reggae In Europe

Schrader and Hoffman experienced the rise and fall of reggae’s popularity in Europe, but they are not overly concerned about its possible demise. Hoffman noted that there is a lot of good music coming from Jamaica now, adding that it might even be “too diverse.” Sound systems in Europe used to cover everything from roots reggae to dancehall, but now fans have evolved and want to hear either reggae or dancehall but not both genres. This has given rise to more niche-type events. The Silly Walks founders say reggae still dominates in Europe, but admit that no one could sell the genre like Bob Marley.

Still Committed To Reggae

Hoffman said that he and Schrader are reggae nerds, however, and check out every new artist to follow their vibe. Silly Walks returned to Jamaica in February 2023 for the first time since 2019 to attend the Lost in Time Festival where they linked up with previous collaborators and worked to create new relationships. They are currently working with contemporary stars like Demarco, Agent Sasco, and Khalia. They continue to craft reggae tunes in Germany at Silly Walks, one of the last defenders of the genre in Europe.

Photo – Official Facebook Page for Silly Walks Discotheque

The post It’s the 10th Anniversary Of Chronixx’s ‘Smile Jamaica’ Hit Song. Meet The Producers From Germany appeared first on Jamaicans.com.

The late 80s represent a robust but controversial period in the Jamaican recording industry, as DJs were on the rise with new lyrical approaches, and digital production ruled the day. In the center of the storm was Lloyd James, better known as King Jammy, who is credited for revolutionizing digital production several years earlier with Wayne Smith’s “Under Mi Sleng Teng.” This was the era the term ‘dancehall’ came widely into circulation to describe the new digital sound that came to commonly include slack lyrics and gun themes popular on the street.

Still relevant, the artists from the 1970s were working to redefine themselves in the digital era. Groups like Wailing Souls and Cultural Roots remained active, even if their multi-part harmony vocals might have seemed overly ornate on these new digital backing tracks, replete with drum machines and sparse synthesized chords. Solo singers like Johnny Osbourne, Junior Murvin, and the up-and-coming Cocoa Tea found a place for melody alongside the new crop of emcees.

King Jammy outside his Kingston, Jamaica studio August 2000. Photo Credit: David Corio

With the thorough compilation Cries From The Youth (set for July 7, 2023 release), Greensleeves Records’ Chris O’Brien presents the period at King Jammy’s across 32 tracks, alongside two original, out of print albums in their entirety, from Wailing Souls, Stormy Night (set for June 16th), and Cultural Roots, Running Back To Me, (set for June 30th).

Cries From The Youth is stridently and defiantly focused on the progress of underclass Jamaicans, recorded in the heart of Kington’s Waterhouse neighborhood at Jammy’s Studio at 38 St. Lucia Road. The collection features the work of established artists such as Sugar Minott, Dennis Brown, Johnny Osbourne, and Wailing Souls, alongside the cutting-edge dancehall artists like Super Cat, Cocoa Tea, Nitty Gritty, and King Kong. The material deals with both reality narratives and more aspirational spiritual themes, all of which defined the times in Waterhouse and across the city of Kingston.

Cries From The Youth will be available on CD, digital platforms and a 10-track vinyl LP with stunning period photos by Simon Buckland. The first pressing of the LP package includes a 2′ x 2′ poster of the cover art.

Cultural Roots – Running Back To Me

Originally released by Mango Records in 1988, Cultural Roots’ Running Back To Me features prime King Jammy digital production that brought forth hits like Wayne Smith’s “Sleng Teng” and would dominate Jamaican music between 1985-1995.

“His Majesty Reign” is the essence of the group’s lyricism and spirituality.

Cultural Roots emerged as a four-part harmony group for producer Donovan Germain in the late 1970s, releasing two albums. The group with its original lineup then recorded for Junjo Lawes, releasing Hell A Go Pop, one of the Greensleeves label’s lesser-known classics.

The group reemerged in 1988 with a new trio lineup for King Jammy, still led by singer Wade Dyce. Tracks include the ever cultural “His Majesty Reign” and the moving love song “Passion Lover,” which shares the backing track with one King Jammy’s all-time smash hits, Frankie Paul’s “I Know The Score.”

Wailing Souls – Stormy Night

The neighborhood of Waterhouse provided a natural connection between the members of Wailing Souls and producer King Jammy. The Souls, like many, had moved from their original base and home in Trench Town at the dawn of the 1980s to Waterhouse and spent the decade in the area they helped make famous with their anthem “Fire House Rock” in 1981.

For King Jammy, the Souls found a new sound for a new era, still holding their epic harmonies, but with a downsized trio lineup that included co-founders Pipe Matthews and Bread McDonald adding Earth Messengers’ Devon Beckford. For these sessions, Bobby Digital was at the helm, bringing the latest sound straight from King Jammy’s Studio.

In the tradition of dancehall music, the 10-track album, originally released on the US Rohit label in 1989, included backing tracks found elsewhere in the King Jammy catalog, including the ace “Propaganda,” also voiced by Frankie Paul as “You Standing There,” and by Cultural Roots as “Sweet Lady“ plus a remake of their Studio One breakout track “Fire Coal Man.” Their popular single “Move On” appeared on this LP as “Carry On.”

Photo – David Corio

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