This month we take you to the concrete jungle of New York City, where one of the most unique excursions into Reggae music took place at the junction between 241st Street and White Plains Road, from the heart and mind of now-legendary producer, Lloyd “Bullwackie” Barnes.
Born in Trenchtown, a student of Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, Barnes emigrated to New York in 1967. After a time of running sound system around Queens and Brooklyn he gathered enough equipment and cash to rent a leaky basement in the Bronx. It was here that Barnes, along with musicians such as Jah T, Jerry Harris and Skatalite-founder Roland Alphonso, created what became known as the “Wackies Sound”. With a dry and heavy feel, lurking reverb, delay and skittery drum patterns, a Bullwackie production became instantly recognizable from its Jamaican counterparts.
Despite rarely finding distribution outside of the United States, the Wackies label became an underground mover-and-shaker amongst sound men in the UK and Jamaica, with instantly recognizable artwork to match the unique sound. Singers and deejays like Horace Andy, Jah Batta, Wayne Jarrett, The Chosen Few and many others sought out Bullwackie, the Bronx reggae wizard, who slept in his studio to “keep the music alive”.
So this month we’re pleased to bring you some deadly music from the “dry and heavy” sound. The sound of Scratch Perry transplanted to the streets of New York City, “the city without nuh pity” – Run it Bullwackies!