Can you school me on david rodigan?

benjybars

village elder.
saw this video on dubstepforum

so much to take in!!

so, what's the story?? someone fill me in please!
 

john eden

male pale and stale
He's been into reggae since hearing Millie Small's "My Boy Lollipop" and started off in radio in the seventies.

His radio "clashes" with JA radio dj Barry G in the mid-80s were and are legendary.

The bloke is a total legend and generally gets massive respect from JA artists, soundsystems, etc. This is because of who is and also probably because of his deep deep dubplate box.

His 2 hour show at 11pm on Sunday nights on Kiss FM is essential listening.
 

Clubberlang

Well-known member
He also compiled a bunch of absolute monster CDs for Rewind-Selecta (among others.) The Lovers Rock collections are essential (as was the Dub one at the time although it's since been somewhat superseded by other stuff.)
 

Don Rosco

Well-known member
I had no idea who he was until he played in Dublin, somebody put me wide about the gig and I thought i'd have a look. My god!!! He looks like your dad, but is the most energetic, loudest selector i've ever seen. Bona fide legend!
 

stelfox

Beast of Burden
he's a trained actor and has been in episodes of sherlock holmes. that can mess with your head a bit on a hungover sunday morning.
he's not a mentalist. his clash persona is not what he's like in real life. he's a great example of the importance of constructed character and artifice in reggae.
he's an old white dude who loves reggae - plenty of them around - but he can get into this ridiculously wicked chararcter and go spastic at a dance in a way tha matches any jamaican sound.
also clashes are all about musical confrontation and bigging up your own sound - if you're going to clash, you need to be able to yell and scream and go nuts, not sit back and be all reserved.
the fact that he can do this so convincingly is at least as big a part in his success as a selector as the fact that he's got dubs for days.
 
Last edited:

john eden

male pale and stale
trust you to know that :D

I would like to make it clear that I know it because I am a reggae trainspotter and not a sci-fi trainspotter!

Been listening to the UK cup clash 2003 CDs this week. Roddy vs matterhorn vs trooper vs black cat vs mighty crown. [insert one of droid's smilies here]
 

SIZZLE

gasoline for haters
Badman, truly.

Heard a great clash tape of him, I think against Bass Odyssey in Brooklyn. Absolutely sick, they pulled every single insult against him they could and he just counteracted them blow for blow.

And as far as him being a mentalist, I think that's a pretty good term. It's one of the things I truly love about reggae and dancehall which continues to this day, the emphasis on mad, passionate, insanity.
 

nomos

Administrator
that video is fantastic. i haven't seen much footage of clashes. where's the best place to see more?
 
D

droid

Guest
Buy them in reggae shops or online - or link up. Ive got a few Rodigan vids - his recent clashes with matterhorn, and at Death before Dishonour 6. The first 2 Downbeat clashes from this year are coming out on DVD as well.

http://www.turntablelab.com/video/14/152/15611.html

128-400x600.jpg
 

philblackpool

gamelanstep
Yet another revival thread...

I've been aware of Rodigan for years & listened to him a bit on the radio, but I'd never seen him doing it in concert...what a livewire! Theres a bunch of good bits off the back of that original youtube link...it goes pretty nuts at the start of this one:
I didn't realise he was the hype man! And I'm loving his straight-up white shirt garb in a bunch of these vids!

Theres definitely some ultra-cool old white guys into reggae in the UK (and US - Bobby Konders for instance). DJ Derek sounded lovely at Womad the one I saw him... I'm pals with some of the Blackburn people involved with On The Wire & they're on a completely different, dubby vibe, but the love for the music is seriously deep. they've got some great stories about hanging out with Lee Perry & co. Life-affirming proof that its true about music being a universal language...makes me want to get down to a Rodigan clash...

Speaking of clashs, I've long thought theres massive scope for more compilations of reggae specials. Some of the versions that come out of vocals over different rhythms than the first recordings are better than the originals...I guess its a legal minefield, but I'm guessing some of it will make it out when the post-1990 stuff starts getting appreciated properly...
 
Top