40 years after Grammy win, Sly recalls Black Uhuru’s ‘Anthem’
For Anthem, Black Uhuru’s fifth album for Island Records, producers Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare wanted to broaden the roots trio’s appeal. They accomplished that by incorporating fresh instrumentation.
The strategy worked, as Anthem became the first to win a Grammy Award for Best Reggae Recording in 1985, 40 years ago. It was released by Island Records in June 1984.
It capped a fruitful six-year run for Duckie Simpson, Michael Rose and Puma Jones, the most successful edition of Black Uhuru who began working with Sly and Robbie in the late 1970s.
Their union produced hit songs such as General Penitentiary, Plastic Smile and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.
“Anthem was di first Black Uhuru album with horns an’ wi also used the Simmons drums. It was also di first Black Uhuru album recorded at Compass Point,” Dunbar recalled in an interview with Observer Online. “It had a totally different sound, an’ a different style of playing.”
The octagon-shaped Simmons were cutting-edge in the early 1980s. Its sonic sound was popular with new wave groups out of the United Kingdom such as Soft Cell, A Flock Of Seagulls and The Human League.
Compass Point in Nassau, The Bahamas, was a getaway studio for major pop stars like The Tom Tom Club (best known for the hit single, Genius of Love) and Grace Jones.
Anthem contains songs such as Party Next Door, What is Life, Bull In The Pen and Somebody’s Watching You. The latter is a cover of a Sly And The Family Stone original released in 1970.
Reggae finally got Grammy status in 1984 after years of lobbying by interests in Jamaica and the United States. The other nominees in 1985 for what was then known as Best Reggae Recording were: Reggae Night by Jimmy Cliff, Steppin’ Out (Steel Pulse), Captured Live (Peter Tosh) and King Yellowman by Yellowman.
Dunbar says he and Shakespeare learned about Black Uhuru’s victory from Bob Dylan while working on the folk legend’s Infidel album in New York.
“We wasn’t even thinking ‘bout winning a Grammy or awards. Is not like now when a man say, ‘mek we mek a Grammy album’. We jus’ mek music,” he said.
The Recording Academy will announce nominees for the 68th Grammy Awards on November 7. Approximately 73 albums and EPs are being considered for Best Reggae Album.
