Blackbeard magic
Rare dubs, roots and lovers rock from the British reggae legend.
By Simon McEwen.
Grass roots: Dennis ‘Blackbeard’ Bovell (back, second from right) with Matumbi, Ridge Farm Studio, Surrey, 1979.
Dennis Bovell
★★★★
Sufferer Sounds
DISCIPLES. CD/DL/LP
THERE’S AN extraordinary scene in director Steve McQueen’s 2020 Lovers Rock TV episode which perfectly encapsulates the appeal of the Barbados-born dub producer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Dennis ‘Blackbeard’ Bovell’s music. Revellers gather at a house party in west London in 1980, the DJ drops Janet Kay’s immortal lovers anthem Silly Games (written and produced by Bovell), and the place ignites, the crowd ecstatically singing the tune long after the needle’s left the record. It’s a joyous moment, this yearning love song transformed into a defiant expression of the black British experience, with Dennis himself making a cameo appearance as one of the dancers.