Bob Marley.

luka

Well-known member
not white crusties, posh white girls from north london called e.g.
Amelia and Xanthie.
 

luka

Well-known member
what a great thread. what great music that everyone likes even if they had forgotten

which reminds me of something. the first time i ever heard him my ear was so, so confused. ive never been so
discombobulated by music before or since. it was the rhythm. just sounded completely wrong.
 

Woebot

Well-known member
just heard Bob coming out a car. sounded joyful. reminded me he is the least fashionable artist and has been for as long as i can remember.



legend.

bob marley. massively underrated. "natty dread" up there with "heart of the congoes" and "right time" - wrongly hewn from the rest of reggae. super magic man.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
Having a work of "serious" literature produced about him (or around him) indicates a certain middle-classification which I am contributing to by mentioning it.
really don't think it's possible for Bob Marley to undergo further middle-classification, and if it were it wouldn't be by a Jamaican author of Jamaican historical fiction.

it's always been the case that Bob Marley is great but part of his fanbase is so insufferable, and some his work so associated with them, as to make it unlistenable.

Like, I never, ever want to hear Three Little Birds, or fucking Buffalo Soldier, for the rest of my life.

it's not his fault but they're inextricably linked to the kinda frat boy assholes who like Dave Matthews. I mean it's absolutely brutal.

and One Love is basically the Sandals Resort national anthem. One of his sons recorded a version for a Virgin Airlines ad.

he suffers in that respect to an extent by comparison to for example Peter Tosh, tho tbf who knows what he would've gone on to do if he'd lived longer (both of them, really)

this is my favorite Bob Marley song, fwiw. unsurprisingly I prefer his work with Lee Perry, in general.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
A Brief History of Seven Killings is a fantastic novel also, that I recommend highly, especially to anyone with an interest in recent Jamaican history, i.e. most people here
 

luka

Well-known member
unsurprisingly I prefer his work with Lee Perry, in general.

i specifically forbade anyone to express this inane and tediously contrarian opinion right at the very start of this thread! sometimes i honestly feel like you have been sent by god specifically to troll me. a kind of karmic avenger for all the people i have mercilessly trolled in life.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
i specifically forbade
ah I missed that

Plenty of the Island stuff is great, tbc. I'm not insane. War, for example.

You have to remember that U.S. - especially the Midwest - doesn't have a huge ingrained reggae element.

Not only is Bob Marley the only reggae most people know, Legends is the only Bob Marley they know.

Imagine hearing terrible people play those songs to death your entire life, hearing them in commercials, in terrible movies, as muzak in elevators.

It makes you shudder when you hear Jamming or Get Up Stand Up or No Woman No Cry or I Shot the fucking Sheriff.
 

version

Well-known member
it's always been the case that Bob Marley is great but part of his fanbase is so insufferable, and some his work so associated with them, as to make it unlistenable.

I knew a guy who would get stoned, play the same three or four Bob Marley songs over and over and put on what he thought was a hilarious Jamaican accent. He also broke his collar bone attempting to do the Fosbury Flop over a washing line.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
Either way you should check out A Brief History of Seven Killing. I can see you not liking it for luka whatever contrarian reasons, but I think you would.
 

luka

Well-known member
ah I missed that

Plenty of the Island stuff is great, tbc. I'm not insane. War, for example.

You have to remember that U.S. - especially the Midwest - doesn't have a huge ingrained reggae element.

Not only is Bob Marley the only reggae most people know, Legends is the only Bob Marley they know.

Imagine hearing terrible people play those songs to death your entire life, hearing them in commercials, in terrible movies, as muzak in elevators.

It makes you shudder when you hear Jamming or Get Up Stand Up or No Woman No Cry or I Shot the fucking Sheriff.

i do understand. buffalo soldier is probably still going to bring up bad associations for me too.
 
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