With a thundering kick drum and deep, dread bass line and Perry's trademarked mid-'70s phased guitars, the rhythm is ubbeatable. And for me, it has a special place.
I moved to Milwaukee a few weeks short of my 17th birthday, having spent my high school years devouring Gil Bailey's reggae radio show on WHBI, watching Black Uhuru at the Palladium and scarfing up 45s at Cool Runnings and other record shops.
So, it didn't take long for me to find Tropical Records on 27th and Wells and I'd walk there at least once a week (Come on, I was from New York, it took months before I even considered learning to drive!) -- even through the snow -- to chat with the great Nigel Scott, who also did a three-hour reggae show on Sundays on WLUM, and to sift through the bins, alphabetized by artists' first names.
Unlike in New York where the only 45s to be had usually were the latest crop, Nigel's place boasted piles of 45s dating back to the mid-'70s and it was there that I found my now priceless -- but then probably $2 -- copy of The Congos "Fisherman" on Upsetter (as well as tons more great stuff).
The a-side with Cedric Myton's wailing falsetto and harmonies by Ashanti Roy Johnson and Watty Burnett was killer, but then on the flip side -- according to Jamaican tradition -- there was a dub. Man, was there a dub! Music to make the weak heart drop.
So, Blood and Fire's double-disc set, with 24 versions of the "Fisherman" rhythm is more than welcome for me. Disc one has 12 veterans, from Big Youth to Horace Andy to Dillinger to Black Uhuru's Mykal Roze to Freddie McGregor (someday we'll talk about that Century Hall gig) to Sugar Minott and on and on -- all the surviving idols of my generation. Disc two has Gregory Isaacs among a host of younger talent, from Luciano to Lutan Fyah and Paul St. Hilaire. All are newly voiced, since, inexplicably, there were no alternate versions of the "Fisherman" rhythm recorded.
The whole thing is bookended with the original vocal version and the original dub version and the set was mixed by Germany's Rhythm and Sound.
Sadly, Tropical Records closed in the 1980s -- as did Victor Atkins' shop, and De Hole in De Wall on Teutonia is also long gone -- and there is currently no record shop in Milwaukee devoted strictly to Jamaican music.
Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he lived until he was 17, Bobby received his BA-Mass Communications from UWM in 1989 and has lived in Walker's Point, Bay View, Enderis Park, South Milwaukee and on the East Side.
He has published three non-fiction books in Italy – including one about an event in Milwaukee history, which was published in the U.S. in autumn 2010. Four more books, all about Milwaukee, have been published by The History Press.
With his most recent band, The Yell Leaders, Bobby released four LPs and had a songs featured in episodes of TV's "Party of Five" and "Dawson's Creek," and films in Japan, South America and the U.S. The Yell Leaders were named the best unsigned band in their region by VH-1 as part of its Rock Across America 1998 Tour. Most recently, the band contributed tracks to a UK vinyl/CD tribute to the Redskins and collaborated on a track with Italian novelist Enrico Remmert.
He's produced three installments of the "OMCD" series of local music compilations for OnMilwaukee.com and in 2007 produced a CD of Italian music and poetry.
In 2005, he was awarded the City of Asti's (Italy) Journalism Prize for his work focusing on that area. He has also won awards from the Milwaukee Press Club.
He has be heard on 88Nine Radio Milwaukee talking about his "Urban Spelunking" series of stories, in that station's most popular podcast.
