Hollie Cook, Horseman and Prince Fatty

African Caribbean Centre, Glasgow, 30th September 2011

Earthquake on Osborne Street

A clammy night in Glasgow as the Indian summer ends after two days with a monsoon, and all dedicated reggae lovers are huddled together in the basement of the brand new African Caribbean Centre on Osborne Street.  Everyone knows by now if JA Live is running a show, you are guaranteed the finest in reggae and tonight brings together the old and the new in classic roots, dub, dancehall and lovers. The venue is looking smart upstairs as the final touches are made for next week’s official launch with Misty in Roots, but the basement is already meant for bass, with the mighty Bass Warrior sound system strung up on one side, shaking the building to the foundation.  The low ceiling, dim lights, sofas at one end and makeshift bar give the place what I feel is the vibe of an old time blues dance, but I only ever got invited to one, so don’t take my word for it. Tonight is the first birthday party for the Radio Kilimanjaro reggae show, as DJ Caroline gets the crowd moving with her unparalleled selection, recruiting new listeners with every tune – it’s like she has raided my record collection and then travelled into the future and raided it again for all the records I have to buy after hearing on her show.

Not before long, Horseman is first out of the starting gate as Prince Fatty moves up on the inside with Mutant Hi-Fi taking up a good position on the left (OK, I’m going to stop that now, promise). Horseman warms things up nice and easy with his old school toasting style and no slackness guarantee, and then the eagerly awaited Hollie Cook joins him on the mike. Now, for me, one of the great things about lovers rock is the contrast between a sweet, floating female vocal and a pounding, rocking bassline. Some people used to say it was not proper reggae, just schoolgirls singing about being dumped. But what damn fools they have been proved to be as this genre has become established as a unique British sound with a depth of singing and songwriting talent and production in its heyday to emulate Motown. The shy, unassuming figure of Hollie Cook should now be added to the likes of Louisa Marks, Janet Kay and Sandra Cross as she manages to hold her own on top of Prince Fatty dubs reminiscent of Dennis Bovell, with haunting horns and bouncy organ riffs that give a late 2-Tone feel. She sounds just like she does on her self-titled album (one of the best of the year, which if you have not got it already, download it now - legally of course), and recreates tracks like ‘That Very Night’ and ‘Cry’ perfectly with a little help from Horseman. His husky tones complement her wistful melodies and even though he towers over her, he leaves her plenty of space and reveals a paternalistic concern for safety and electric shock and ting when a bottle of water goes over. She also sang a couple of tunes new to me so watch out for more from Hollie Cook in the future.

As the night hots up, Horseman takes centre stage and launches into Prince Fatty hits with a hip hop flavour like ‘Gin and Juice’ and ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ to great approval of the crowd, sweating and skanking off our feet by now. But there was no way he was going to leave Glasgow without giving us something of his 1985 reggae chart topper, ‘Horsemove’ and did not disappoint with an acappella version of his signature tune to close the performance. The music did not stop there, as Bass Warrior served up a dub plate special from Macka B – coming soon to the African Caribbean Centre. If you missed this great night, don’t miss the next one. In fact, don’t let Scotland miss out; reggae is getting bigger everywhere from Japan to Italy, Germany and France so make sure Glasgow is the next stop for all reggae artists, and Trongate is still shaking.