A documentary promoting reggae and social icon, the late Bob Marley’s vision of a united Africa featured during We Beat celebrations in St James last Tuesday night. The WeBeat film night, which featured a full length documentary and a short film, was hosted by the T&T Film Festival (TTFF) and took place at the St James Amphitheatre. The full length documentary called Africa Unite saw three generations of Marleys as they journeyed through Africa for the annual Africa Unite Concert in 2005 for what would have been Bob Marley’s 60th birthday. The documentary also featured footage of live performances by Marley and fans could be seen singing the lyrics while dancing to the different beats.
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The 12-hour concert, which took place in Ethiopia, was attended by more than 300,000 people from around the world. The documentary was produced by Stephanie Black and executive produced by Rita Marley, Cedella Marley, Danny Glover and Joslyn Barnes. The free movie night, was moderately populated as patrons ventured out to see the Marley film and a locally produced short film by director Leroy Smart called The Suspect. Those who attended also had the opportunity of interacting with Donisha Prendergast, granddaughter of Bob Marley. Prendergast interacted with the crowd, not only in introducing the film but also holding a short discussion about her experiences while making the documentary with her family.
In an interview with the Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, Prendergast described the journey documented in the film as a remarkable experience. She shared that her family was extremely close and described them as a unit. “My family is like an army and we were cultured to be ‘Jah’ soldiers,” she said. Prendergast was also in T&T to promote a documentary film that she co-directed. The film titled Rasta: A Soul’s Journey, features Prendergast on her journey of self discovery as she searches for what it really means to be a Rasta in today’s society. Her documentary is set to premiere at the Toronto Film Festival in September and Prendergast said she was looking forward to returning to Trinidad so it could be screened at the T&T Film Festival later this year.
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The producers behind Rihanna's 'Man Down' single have claimed that it was intended as a resnonse to Bob Marley's ‘I Shot The Sheriff’.
The track and its video, which portrays the singer shooting her attacker after being raped, has attracted controversy. The Parents Television Council attacked the song, saying it promotes murder. Rihanna responded, saying she wanted the track to 'give a voice to victims'.
Now production duo Rock City, consisting of brothers Theron and Timothy Thomas have entered the discussion, saying they drew inspiration from Marley.
Timothy told MTV News: "When we wrote the song, me and my brother were trying to recreate in the best way possible, you know, like Bob Marley's 'I Shot The Sheriff', the female version of what that would be."
Theron added: "We wanted the song to be something where everybody had an opinion. Some people felt it was literal, some people felt it was literal, some people felt it was a metaphor."
Responding to the controversy over the song's video, he continued: "It's like somebody wrote a script for a movie and she delivered it perfectly. I just think sometimes people need something to talk about… 'cause when you listen to the song word-for-word, if she shot it theatrically how [the lyrics are], it probably would have been a little [more graphic] if you ask me."
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Fuller and Blackwell Create Joint Venture for Established Artists
By BEN SISARIO
The creator of “American Idol” and the record executive behind Bob Marley and U2 have started a joint venture to develop media and branding deals for superstar musicians who no longer have recording contracts.
Called Blackwell Fuller, the partnership was founded by Chris Blackwell, who founded Island Records, and Simon Fuller, the producer who created “American Idol” and other shows. In a statement released on Monday the two men said that their goal was to broker deals for “important artists” with media companies and big brands, which would put the artists “in full control of their careers and their businesses for the first time.”
“There has been a need for a new business approach for artists and content owners for many years,” Mr. Blackwell said in a statement. “As the entertainment industry and media companies struggle to find new financial models, the arrangements struck with artists have become more and more restrictive and onerous. Our new approach will give artists the freedom to explore new paths to market with the kind of support and resources it takes to create real scale, control and reach.”
Mr. Blackwell founded Island in 1959 and sold it to PolyGram 30 years later; it is now part of the Universal Music Group. Mr. Fuller created “Pop Idol” in Britain in 2001, which was brought to the United States the following year as “American Idol.”
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22 April 1978: Number 36 in our series of the 50 key events in the history of world and folk music
Robin Denselow The Guardian, Thursday 16 June 2011
The One Love Peace Concert, held in the outdoor National Stadium in Kingston, the Jamaican capital, was the longest and most political reggae concert ever staged, and one of the most remarkable musical events I have attended. That day in April was a remarkable day for Jamaican reggae and its greatest celebrity, Bob Marley. It started at 5pm, and ended, under a full moon, in the early hours of the following morning with the prime minister Michael Manley and opposition leader Edward Seaga embracing two previously notorious rival gang leaders, Bucky Marshall and Claude Massop. The two political leaders then joined hands with Bob Marley, in an emotional scene that was made all the more bizarre by the billowing marijuana clouds provided by the watching Rastafarians.
This was a crucial period in Jamaican politics. The city's ghettos had been torn apart by the gun battles between Marshall and Massop's quasi-political street gangs (Massop supporting Seaga's Jamaica Labour party, and Marshall favouring Manley's ruling People's National party, PNP). Now, the two sides had declared an uneasy truce and the Peace Concert was planned to celebrate the ending of the killings and also the visit to Jamaica exactly 12 years earlier by the Ethiopian leader Haile Selassie, regarded as a deity by the Rastas.
This was also the first concert that Bob Marley, Jamaica's international celebrity, had given in his homeland in a year and a half. He had left the country after what appeared to be a politically motivated assassination attempt in December 1976, when unknown gunmen, assumed to be linked to the JLP, fired on him inside his home, wounding the singer in the chest and arm. Opposition groups claimed that Marley supported Manley, because he had agreed to appear at the Smile Jamaica free concert, organised by Manley, which aimed to stop fighting between the warring political street gangs.
The Peace Concert had many of the same aims, but very different organisation. This show was put together by the gang leaders Marshall and Massop, who now called themselves a peace committee and said that their aim was to raise money to improve conditions in the Kingston ghettos. The audience was divided into sections marked "togetherness", "love" and "peace" (peace being the most expensive ticket), while the government provided extensive police and military assistance to stop any trouble. There was even a ban on the sale of oranges in the stadium, as they were considered to be potential weapons.
Considering the background, the Peace Concert was a remarkably easy-going event. The crowd was informed that Mick Jagger and the foreign press were present, and watching them, and there were constant chants of "peace" from the Rastas. For their part, the politicians and security forces refused to be publicly angered either by outspoken comments by the musicians or the blatant marijuana smoking by the Rastas. If they had reacted, there would have been a riot.
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The concert was a who's who of Jamaican reggae, including veterans such as Big Youth and the Mighty Diamonds alongside newcomers Althea and Donna. Many of the best songs of the day were the most topical, with the hefty Jacob Miller adding lyrics about Massop to the tune of The Streets of Laredo. He then sang The Peace Treaty is Going On, Hurrrah, to the tune of Johnny Comes Marching Home, lit an enormous joint, jumped down in front of the prime minister, and put on a policeman's helmet. He knew that no one would dare arrest him.
Peter Tosh must have upset the prime minister even more with a bitter and personal attack from the stage, in which he accused Manley to his face of not doing enough to help the poor. Now it seemed that there might be a riot, but Tosh moved on to the safer topic of marijuana, with a long version of Legalise It, and the situation was defused.
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Bob Marley headed the bill, preaching unity and showing why he had become an international star, with a short set that included Trenchtown Rock, Natty Dread and War. He was not singing as well as he had at his memorable London shows at the Lyceum in 1975 or Rainbow in 1977, but was still exhilarating to watch, and it would have been impossible for any other artist to create such a theatrical, emotional finale. He improvised the lyrics to Jamming, demanding "could we have here on stage the presence of Mr Michael Manley and Mr Edward Seaga? I just wanna shake hands and show the people that we're gonna unite".
And he did just that, before easing into One Love, as gunmen, opposing political leaders and Rastas embraced. It was an extraordinary, if brief, moment of hope for Kingston; Bob Marley could hardly be blamed for presiding over a Peace Concert that failed to end the violence.
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Kevin Macdonald has called Bob Marley "the most influential musician of the 20th century by far".
The Life in a Day director's next project is an upcoming documentary of the Jamaican reggae singer called Marley, and he told Digital Spy how iconic he believes the musician is, even in today's world.
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Macdonald said: "I guarantee you cannot spend a day in London without hearing at least one Bob Marley song or [seeing] Bob Marley memorabilia."
"All these rastas walking around, people with dreadlocks - that all comes from Bob Marley. Nobody would have dreadlocks if it weren't for [him]."
The director continued by talking up the worldwide appeal of Marley.
"You go to any part of the globe and people know who [he] is," Macdonald added. "They don't know who The Beatles are. They don't necessarily know who Lady GaGa is in a slum in Kenya, in Indonesia or in Papua New Guinea."
"He's the only icon in 20th century music who actually had a proper poor third world background. He grew up sleeping in a hut and sleeping on the ground. That makes him totally different, and that's why he's so important."
(Watch Kevin Macdonald talk about musician Bob Marley below)
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Re: some news
Ziggy Marley on Legend Bob Marley's Tough Love
For Father’s Day, Bob Marley's eldest son, Ziggy Marley—whose new album, 'Wild and Free,' was released June 14—reflects on their boxing matches, his father’s aggressive, tough-love approach, and his last words.
"Bob was a very active person and, as kids, whether it would be a pickup soccer game or on the beach to run, he would take us with him. But Bob also grew up tough, in the ghetto, so he was a fighter. He had to fight and was capable of defending himself.
"I remember me and him boxing, and he hit very hard when he boxed. He just loved sports. So one day, me and him went a round. There was no ring, it was outside on the concrete at Hope Road, Bob’s headquarters. He was just boxing with his friends and everybody was there. I don’t remember how I ended up having gloves on my hands. He gave me a few body blows. For me, it was bad, but I’m sure it could have been harder. It didn’t knock me down, but you feel it, and you get more scared at that point because you know you’ll get more. I didn’t get any hits on Bob because he was fast. He was known for speed and footwork. Of course, he won. He didn’t cut you no slack. No headgear, just gloves. He toughened us up, you know? He always wanted us to be tough, so he gave us that tough treatment.
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"You’d get a spanking or a good whipping with the belt if you didn’t listen carefully. I used to jump my fence and go check my friends across the street. I remember one time he told me, 'Don’t leave the yard.' As soon as he drove out, I left the yard and went over to my friend’s. On his way back down, he saw me in one of the yards, he caught me, and gave me a nice belt beating. It’s nothing to cry about, either. That’s how we do it in Jamaica. It’s no big deal. He taught us discipline, ruggedness, and survivability. We have that makeup. We have to protect ourselves and do what we have to do.
"During school days, I used to get in some fights. Because of that upbringing, my father’s style, I wouldn’t back down. I wouldn’t be disrespected. So that toughness wore off on me. The last fight I had was when I decided I didn’t want to fight no more, unless it was something I had to really fight for. It was in Kingston, and I was in my early 20s, around 23 or 24, and it was over a soccer game. It was getting a little rough. But then this guy was trying to deliberately hurt me. He was just kicking me over and over again on my foot—not for the ball, just trying to break my leg or something—so I had to take some action to stop that. It happened during a pickup game, and I knew of him from the community, but he wasn’t a friend of mine. And what I realized is that when I’m fighting, in those days, I would fight to stop fighting. But some people are fighting to really hurt you. During that fight I realized that I was thinking the same thing—I have to really hurt this person—and realized that not everyone thinks the same as you do during a fight, so if you’re going to get in a fight, make sure it’s for the right reasons.
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“
The last time we spoke, he called me and he said, “What’s up Young Bob. I have a song for you.” And his song was, “On your way up / Take me up / On your way down / Don’t let me down.”
” "One time, we went to Zimbabwe, and it was guerrilla warfare at the time because they were still under colonial British rule. When Bob went over there to play for the independence concert, he took me and my brother Stephen with him. I was about 11. The guerrillas came to visit him because Bob was a revolutionary, and his music was used for revolution. So, the guerrillas came and they started talking, and then one of the guerrillas took out one of these old World War II grenades, and he was showing Bob how to use it. As a kid it was like, 'Wow! A grenade!' It didn’t scare me, but it tested me.
"I was 12 when my father passed, so I didn’t have a father during my teenage years. I grew up doing stuff on my own, learning from my mistakes. But Bob was a strong person even in the hospital when I saw him a few days before he passed away. I was staring at him through the window of the door at the ICU, and I don’t think he liked me seeing him that way. He told me, 'Move from the window. The last time we spoke, he called me and he said, 'What’s up Young Bob. I have a song for you.' And his song was, 'On your way up / Take me up / On your way down / Don’t let me down.' That’s all he said. And then I used that for a song called, 'Won’t Let You Down.' "
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June 17, 2011
By Teresa Thomas
Mail Tribune
Stephen Marley, the second-eldest son of acclaimed reggae artist Bob Marley, has set out to prove to the media and music industry that "pure" reggae is still around. The Grammy Award-winning Jamaican artist just completed his third solo album, "Revelation Part 1: The Root of Life," released May 24. Marley says he was inspired to produce a roots-reggae album after he read an article about how the genre was on a downward spiral. The album is his response that claim.
"It was me getting defensive and being, 'What? OK, let's go,' " he says.
In comparison with the "poppy" reggae promoted and played commercially, true reggae has integrity and is "the device of the oppressed people ... and should always be upheld and defended," he says.
Based out of Miami and Kingston, Jamaica, Marley began his national tour about a week ago and will perform at 8 p.m. Friday, June 17, at the Historic Ashland Armory, 208 Oak St.
Marley's debut album, "Mind Control," hailed as “the best Marley album in a generation” by Entertainment Weekly, was much more open-ended than his recent release. In it, he spoke out against various forms of mental slavery, protested his jail term for marijuana possession and mourned a breakup.
"My first album was just music that was inside of me and more open," says Marley. "I didn't have a concept."
The album premiered at No. 1 on Billboard's reggae-album chart and was awarded a 2008 Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. Two years later, his acoustic rendition of the album also was awarded a Grammy, bringing his Grammy total to seven, five of which he had earned for various collaborations.
"Revolution Part 1" focused on promoting roots reggae with hits such as "Jah Army," a Rastafarian anthem, featuring Marley, younger brother Damian Marley and Buju Banton; "No Cigarette Smoking," which made its debut at No. 1 on iTunes' reggae charts; and Stephen Marley's personal favorite, "Made in Africa," recognizing Africa as the birthplace of mankind. Besides his original songs, Marley pays homage to his father's legacy by including Bob Marley's "Freedom Time," "Pale Moonlight" and "The Chapel."
As a composer, producer, vocalist and multi-instrumentalist (guitar, keyboards and percussion), Stephen Marley has contributed to many family projects. As a youth, he helped produce three Grammy-winning albums for The Melody Makers, featuring older brother Ziggy Marley and other family members.
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More recently, Stephen and Damian Marley assembled four award-winning albums, to which the former contributed songwriting, production and musical expertise.
In 1993, Stephen and Ziggy Marley founded Ghetto Youths International, a record label, and Ghetto Youths Foundation, an organization established to help minority and disadvantaged youth get an education and a chance to fulfill their own musical aspirations.
While Stephen Marley is content working on various family projects, he has been pleased with the positive feedback from solo work.
"I don't really see it as doing it on my own because I'm a finger on this hand, you know," he says. "It feels good to put out your efforts, and it is well-received and appreciated."
Tickets to the show at the armory are $25 in advance, $30 at the door. A dollar from each ticket purchase is donated to Ghetto Youths Foundation. Advance tickets are available at Music Coop in Ashland and at http://stephenmarleyashland.ticketanimal.com. Doors open at 7 p.m. See www.stephenmarleymusic.com or call 305-731-6951.
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Fans of Bob Marley have no doubt noticed the late, great Reggae star’s recent come back in the action sports industry. From a Burton board, to Billabong line, to VonZipper shades, Marley’s image and message have been popping up across the industry via partnerships with the House of Marley, an organization founded by the Marley family to spread its core values of equality, unity, authenticity, sustainability, and charity.
The next move for the company, which has already launched a line of coffee and relaxation beverages, is a foray into the personal electronics and accessories market. The House of Marley is releasing a full range of headphones and docking stations which are targeting the action sports market, and will ship to retailers worldwide, including 1,700 doors in the US, on August 15, with bags, eyewear, watches, and other accessories to follow.
We sat down with House of Marley Co-founder and Bob’s son Rohan Marley; Director of Sales, Lifestyle and action sports industry veteran Jen McVey; and General Manager Don Inmon to learn more about what makes their products sustainable, why the world needs another headphone company, and the responsibility of carrying on Bob Marley’s legacy.
Rohan, you are a pretty serious entrepreneur with endeavors including Tuff Gong Clothing, Marley’s Mellow Mood, and Marley Coffee. Why did you decide to focus on headphones and the action sports market for your next endeavor?
Rohan Marley: Music is what my family is known for—my father’s message is known through his music. We decided to enter the electronic world through headphones to keep the message going. Also, why we decide to do anything, it’s all about sustainability and being eco-conscious, realizing that there’s more to it. If we are going to do something, it has to be done right. Charity plays a great part in that too. We can bring one story with all the messages.
So how do you make headphones eco-conscious?
Marley: You start off with the material: recycled aluminum, eco-friendly fibers such as hemp and cotton, and also canvas. If we use any plastic, it has to be recyclable and reusable as well. The first thing is research. Don and the team went to China and all over America, finding the people that have the resources to be sustainable and eco-conscious and do things to leave less of a footprint.
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Don, you’ve been in the consumer electronics industry for a long time, how much of a challenge has this posed?
Don Inmon: I’ve been in CE for 23 years. I know how to build headphones and products in this category, but to make them out of sustainable materials has been a challenge. We literally have to bring people in and educate the factories on how to do it—there certainly wasn’t a high level of desire. We explained that there’s a shift going on that people are starting to embrace. It’s going to branch out beyond clothing and obviously companies like Billabong have already had a lot of success doing it with the Marley brand over the last few months.
Jen, you have a great deal of experience in action sports. I’m interested to see how you feel the industry ties in with House of Marley and why you joined the team?
Jen McVey: It’s straight up the sustainability. Of course, I love being around the Marley’s and the culture, it’s so much fun. But for sure, it’s the sustainability message—I have wanted to do the right thing inside the industry. I work closely with Protect Our Winters, and I felt that I needed my career to have some kind of meaning. It’s really inspiring when you meet with a retailer who is on that train with you. There’s a huge shift in the industry and I’m really excited to be part of it.
How does the final product compare to a traditional headphone from a sustainability standpoint?
McVey: It’s not just the guts of the product, it’s our packaging, it’s our POP displays, it’s everything. We try to avoid using plastic whenever we can. Our packaging is going to have a completely different look, it’s going to be an organic feel, and I think that retailers that are trying to go that way are excited about that. It also differentiates us, differentiates the product from everyone else, because the headphone game is really saturated right now in action sports.
Are you guys tying in with Tuff Gong Clothing as well?
McVey: No. This is all House of Marley. We are not stopping with the audio [though]. Eventually, this will be a full-blown accessory brand, luggage, bags, wallets, we are going to do eyewear, all sustainably made.
What is the time frame for rolling out those other categories?
McVey: We started design development on watches, bags, and backpacks. I’d estimate we would have a product in the market next year for those categories.
As far as reaching out to consumers and retailers in the action sports channel, how are you tying in your roots and the Marley name, how much of a leg up does that give you with that demographic?
Marley: Action sports has always been important to us, because that’s where the roots people mainly hang out. Billabong has done a great, great amount of work with us on the recycled shirts, and they’ve been doing that for the last few months, so that’s really who we’ve joined forces with to walk us through that region and become a strong partner in that space.
McVey: Billabong is an amazing partner to be working with and for a retail partner to launch into that space.
McVey: Backcountry.com will be a really good partner for us in the outdoor snow space, Karmaloop is going to be a really good partner in the streetwear space, and CCS in the skate space. I love the fact that we can be at Outdoor Retailer, at Project, and we can be at Agenda. We’re also in all the better action sports stores.
To Be continued...
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A LANDLORD in the Northern Territory attacked one of his tenants with a samurai sword during a dispute over loud music, a court has been told.
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Peter Raymond Mundy, 67, was charged with unlawfully causing serious harm to David Stuart Smith after allegedly cutting his neck with the 90cm ceremonial sword, the NT News said.
Crown Prosecutor John Adams yesterday told the NT Supreme Court jury that Mundy was the owner of a three-bedroom property in Leanyer, Darwin, where Mr Smith was renting a room.
He said Mr Smith came home and found Mundy sitting in the kitchen wearing nothing but underpants on June 24 last year.
During examination-in-chief, Mr Smith said that he told Mundy: "For f***s sake, I'm not gay - you don't turn me on.
to be continued
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