Originally recorded in 1968 for Studio One by Dawn Penn, ‘No, No, No’, first titled ‘You Don’t Love Me’ is a reggae monster with people from all walks of life, musical tastes and attitudes loving it as a piece of music. A reggae tune that is on most pub jukeboxes that I have ever seen is quite a rare thing and a position only enjoyed by Bob Marley, Althea and Donna and Jimmy Cliff to name a few. The Dawn Penn version is the best know although not the Coxsone original due to the fact that this tune has seen countless re-cuts. My favourite version, which appeared on Big Youth’s screaming target is sung by a male singer by the name of K.C White and is much more rootsy in its feel. There is a version on the Orpheus label which is different to this new 7” from the 1980’s and uses a different riddim to the classic studio one style. I’m not sure if this (Fatman) version came on a single when it was made, but what I do know is that it does now courtesy of Fatman sound system who have also consistently released tunes over the years, most notably ‘Late Night Blues’ by Don Carlos amongst other things.
The K.C white is a brilliant down tempo version of the classic, with a heavy emphasised bassline and a brilliant minor key guitar throughout. A very tough version indeed. The next piece is by the artist Tremendous, a version that I haven’t heard before but I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. Tremendous tackles the ‘problem dung ina Babylon’ and talks about how there can’t be peace because man made guns and ammo and put confusion on the people to divide them further. The riddim on this cut has a slightly different mix with the music cutting out to emphasise certain vocals. The chatting style really suits the riddim itself and the more ‘dancehall style’ mix is suited to the vocals. It’s nice to have a song with serious commercial appeal also carrying conscious and positive messages. The dub version is mixed by DJ Flip, the selector for Fatman soundsystem and the mix is crazy! I mean this obviously in a good way too, the tune being mixed in a real soundsystem style, another tune I can’t wait to play out just to hear how it roars on the sound. The mix itself is called the champion sound mix and champion sound it certainly is!
These tunes are available now so get to your local record shop and SUPPORT UK MUSIC!!
Review By Jack Duffield
