Too many legends passing away this year.

I was reading up today on yesterday’s passing of Wycliffe “Steely” Johnson, half of the legendary reggae/dancehall production duo Steely and Clevie, and came across this interview with them at the Red Bull Music Academy in 2005. Thought I’d share it here:

It’s a great look into their history as musicians and producers, their many talents, and the breadth of influence they had upon music. It also digs deep into the history of Jamaican music.

Steely Johnson was winding his waist to the original dancehall boom in the early ’80s, playing with Sugar Minott and Roots Radics. But things got kinda cloudy when he linked with Clevie Brown in Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s Black Ark studio. Clevie was playing with these new drummachines that had just come out, which were totally dissed by the reggae drummers. That didn’t stop them becoming the house band at King Jammy’s before they really hit their stride and literally led Kingston down the path of electronic production by the scruff of a neck. By the time they’d formed their Steely & Clevie label in ’88, they were in charge of runnings proper. Nice up!

R.I.P. Steely. You will indeed be missed.