Heart of a Punk Soul of a Rasta

HEARTLAND REGGAE

Once upon a time in a land far away where videos used to retail for over twenty quid (and the rest) someone oneday decided to release a product on BETAMAX & VHS that was called HEARTLAND REGGAE. Here's a review and an ad from back in the day (release date circa 1984) :-

Well the journo from back in the day pretty much hit the nail on the blunt bit; Heartland is most definitely a curate's egg of a piece, there are moments of sublime music mashed together with seconds of toe curling tedium. But that was then, what does Heartland Reggae have to say to us today?

Well for a start £19.95 may seem a ludicrous price to pay for a VID today when these dusty old bricks are stacked to the ceilings of every charity shop in this venerable nation. Sold for .50p a throw or by weight; currently £2.73 per hundredweight. But once upon a time these precursors of BlueRayDVDigitalthingywotsits demanded one hell of a rob dog price. I guess that's why Mr Branson of Virgin can afford an airline and a space programme nowadays; mmm time flies when you're coining it.

Of course the cost of a music video back then had to be compared to the price of a record; you had to make pretty sure you were going to get something pretty special on a vid for 20 quid; when you could get FIVE ALBUMS or go to FIVE GIGS for the same amount of KA$H. Video's were a costly business, if one of your mates bought something desirable a copy had to be made of it like pronto, and as soon as something desirable made its way to the VIDEO SHOP ditto.

Heartland Reggae was made a desirable product back in '84 by being packaged up as a tribute to Bob Marley, and by pushing to the fore the footage of the "ONE LOVE PEACE CONCERT" of the 2nd April '78. But this seminal gig is only one part of HEARTLAND. Essentially the documentary is a three cornered work. The bulk of the footage comes from an outdoor festival in Sav-la-mar, Westmoreland Jamaica, November 1977. This gig features performances from the Jacob Miller who died tragically young in a car crash just three years later (& Inner Circle); Dennis Brown & U Roy who are both as magisterial as is their attire; Althea & Donna bringing a smile to the face of even the most hardened soul with their UK chart topper "Uptown Top Ranking"; and finally Judy Mowatt of the I Threes is captured singing "Black Woman" from her 1980 "Black Woman" album. All the footage from Sav was collected with a delightfully light touch; each artist appears unceremoniously from side of stage, does their bit, and then we move on.

The third part of HEATLAND REGGAE is made up of 4 tracks from a Peter Tosh gig. There's two Wailer tracks "400 years" and "Get Up Stand Up"; "Legalise It" from his '76 debut and "African" from "Equal Rights". The TOSH gig is dynamically very different to the Sav gig; it's indoors and confined, where the heat and the sweat is palpable. TOSH puffs on his pipe and stomps down hard on his wah wah pedal. Every movement and gesture is powerful and underlined - it's quintessential TOSH!

The problem with HEARTLAND REGGAE lies within its editing. The three different elements juxtaposed together jar horribly. The Sav gig has an easy vibe which is shattered when the highly charged ROCK reggae of TOSH comes bursting in on it. Similarly the dark intensity of the TOSH gig is lost when we return to the light lush green overcast day of the Sav gig. And really the overbearing gravitas of the "ONE LOVE PEACE CONCERT" should be viewed only in isolation.

If HEARTLAND had been assembled thus: with the all the Sav footage first, then the TOSH gig and finally BOB (and without the commentary ever encroaching on the music) then I think the whole would have been greater than its constituent parts. And let's be honest the constituent parts are not only unique but also totally priceless. If you want 17 performances the like of which we're unlikely to see or hear again then HEARTLAND REGGAE still remains absorbing viewing. If you can't find a dirty old video like mine I believe there's a DVD out there - somewhere.

ONWARD TO THE CLIPS!!!!!

U-ROY

DENNIS BROWN


..........finally come 1986 there was an alternative to buying the £20.00 video, if you wanted to see Heartland Reggae - One Love Peace Concert that is, and with dumplings and jerk chicken on the go too! Happy days.