Rhythm Killers

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rhythm Killers
Studio album by Sly and Robbie
Released May 1987 (1987-05)
Recorded 1987; Quad Recording (New York City)
Genre Funk, dance
Length 35:32
Label Island
Producer Bill Laswell, Material
Sly and Robbie chronology

Language Barrier
(1985)		 Rhythm Killers
(1987)		 The Summit
(1988)
Singles from Rhythm Killers
  1. "Boops (Here to Go)"
    Released: 1987 (1987)
  2. "Fire"
    Released: 1987 (1987)

Rhythm Killers is the second studio album by Jamaican musical duo Sly and Robbie, released in May 1987 on Island Records. After their prolific output in reggae, the duo experimented with electronic sounds and contemporary recording technology, while branching out into international, cross-genre endeavors during the 1980s. For the album, they enlisted record producer and mentor Bill Laswell and recorded with an ensemble of musicians at Quad Recording in New York City. Along with their live instruments, Sly and Robbie used electronic recording equipment such as the Fairlight CMI synthesizer and electronic drums.

A funk and dance album, Rhythm Killers has a dense sound that incorporates contrasting musical elements and disparate styles, including reggae, hip hop, hard rock, worldbeat, and downtown music. Arranged in two side-long gapless suites, the album's songs are characterized by electronic grooves, striking beats, improvisational rhythms, string synthesizers, and cross-rhythms produced by turntable scratches, African and Latin-influenced percussion, and percussive raps. The album has been noted by music writers for its electronic rhythms, treatment of African-American music elements, and Laswell's densely layered production.

The album charted in four countries, including the United Kingdom, where it peaked at number 35 on the UK Albums Chart. It was promoted with two singles, including the UK hit "Boops (Here to Go)". Upon its release, Rhythm Killers received positive reviews from music critics, who found its music interesting and praised the duo's take on funk and dance styles. It was ranked in year-end albums lists by critics such as NME and Robert Christgau, who named it the seventh best album of 1987. Encouraged by its success, Sly and Robbie continued their digital direction on subsequent albums. The album is currently out of print.

Background

Sly Dunbar became interested in newer recording technology, particularly electronic drums.

Amid their prolific reggae output as sessions musicians, solo artists, and production duo, Sly and Robbie—drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare—opened their own record label Taxi Records and attained a distribution deal with Island Records during the early 1980s.[1] After Island founder and executive Chris Blackwell hired them to work with singer Grace Jones, the duo developed a more sparse, robotic production style with funk and dub influences.[1] This deviated from their past reggae work, as well as the genre's roots sound and light rhythms.[2] Sly and Robbie recorded primarily at Blackwell's Compass Point Studios in the Bahamas with state-of-the-art equipment, which led to Dunbar's experimentation with electronic drums and drum machines.[2]

After their work with Black Uhuru and that group's line-up change, Sly and Robbie pursued more international music endeavors.[2] They branched out into cross-genre experiments with a conceptual, ensemble-oriented approach,[3] while developing a mentorship with record producer Bill Laswell,[4] whom they met through Blackwell and by working on Mick Jagger's 1985 album She's the Boss.[2][4] In 1985, they collaborated with Laswell on their album Language Barrier, which had guest contributions from Herbie Hancock, Bob Dylan, Afrika Bambaataa, and Manu DiBango.[5] Its recording developed from a track the duo had revisited from their work on the soundtrack to the 1983 film Never Say Never Again.[2] The track had been done with electronic drums at Compass Point Studios, but scrapped as a rhythm track for later use.[2]

A dub album,[5] Language Barrier showcased a musical clash between the duo's characteristic rhythms and Laswell's own production style,[1] with African jazz influences,[6] predominant use of the Fairlight CMI sampling synthesizer, and experimentations with tempo and dub techniques.[7] Dunbar was enthused by newer recording technology and, in a 1987 interview for The Sydney Morning Herald, said that he wanted to "be a part of it, not be left out."[8] Although it had a lukewarm reception from music critics,[4] Language Barrier was Sly and Robbie's first work to receive international exposure.[8] For their next album, they sought to record a like-minded album to expand their audience.[9]

Recording

Bill Laswell applied dense layering of songs in his production.

After releasing The Sting (1986) and Electro Reggae (1987) as members of their Taxi Gang band, Sly and Robbie enlisted Laswell again to work on Rhythm Killers.[1] They recorded the album over a period of three months at Quad Recording in New York City.[6][10] Before entering the studio, Sly and Robbie originally had planned music and demos to work with, but scrapped them after Chris Blackwell of Island discouraged the idea.[6] Blackwell wanted the duo to come up with original material at the studio, as they had been known to do since their early years in Jamaica.[6]

In an effort to crossover with music listeners outside of reggae's market, Sly and Robbie heightened their experimentation with other musical sounds, particularly funk and occasional hip hop music.[4] Despite his eclectic output, Laswell himself had started out as a bass player in funk groups, an experience that inspired him to compose his musical arrangements with a rhythmic foundation.[11] Dunbar explained their approach for the album in an interview for Musician at the time, saying that "We're trying to get new fans. Once they come into the funk, they're going to have to come into the reggae, because that's where we're going to take them."[6] Sly and Robbie's direction was also influenced by the supervision of Blackwell who, according to Dunbar, "wanted us to make two tracks, 17 minutes long. So we cut two tracks and extended them, each side consisting of three songs. Non-stop dancing, that's the idea."[8]

In the early stage of recording, Sly and Robbie focused primarily on constructing difficult grooves for songs.[6] To record their rhythm tracks, Dunbar worked in the studio alone and cut a drum part without having a melody in mind.[6] He recounted his approach for the album to Musician, saying that "I just played what I felt, working from a sense of 'now I'll do 103 beats per minute.' And Robbie would come in the next night and lay a bass part."[6] Unlike most reggae or funk bassists, Shakespeare approached his playing as a jazz soloist and attempted numerous subtle variations to his riff.[6] He said that his inspiration "comes from God. Sometimes endless ideas just keep coming to me. Sometimes I'll change the drum pattern to a bass line and Sly will play the bass line on the drums."[6] Along with live percussion, Dunbar played Simmons drums, and the duo integrated contemporary electronic music technology such as the Fairlight CMI synthesizer in the album's recording.[8][10] Dunbar used his recorded live drums to trigger the synthesizer's sampled drum sounds.[6]

Sly and Robbie worked with an ensemble of musicians,[12] including funk artists Bootsy Collins, Bernie Worrell, and Gary "Mudbone" Cooper, reggae vocalist Shinehead, avant-garde jazz musicians Karl Berger and Henry Threadgill, hip hop artist Rammellzee, turntablist D.S.T., and guitarist Nicky Skopelitis.[10][13] Rhythm Killers was produced by Laswell with his band Material, which included Shakespeare, vocalist Bernard Fowler, and percussionist Aïyb Dieng, among others.[10] Sly and Robbie recorded songs in single takes and cut approximately 20 tracks a day with Laswell and engineer Robert Musso, who used reel-to-reel tape recording.[6][14] Laswell also hired violinist Mark Feldman, who was working at a dinner theater in Connecticut at the time.[15] He had Feldman read charts in the strings section and play syncopated lines, which he found "a little more funky" than the theater.[15] The album was mixed at The Power Station and mastered by Howie Weinberg at Masterdisk in New York City.[10]

Composition

This is a record about contact points, less about the styles it serves up than about the unpredictable conflicts and agreements that arise at their intersection. By incessantly overlapping the fragments in the mix, Laswell sustains a constant state of juxtaposition. The music never defines itself statically; it's always just evolved out of something and on its way to evolving into something else. And it's defined by both of these perspectives.

“
”
— John Leland, Spin[16]

Rhythm Killers is a funk and dance album,[6][17] with contrasting musical elements.[16] Musicologist Robert Palmer views it as an attempt at "an ambitious dance-music synthesis, with funk the stylistic common denominator", adding that the "funk ethos – less is more, the groove is the tune – underlies all of Mr. Laswell's work".[11] Although it is not a reggae album, Rhythm Killers exhibits Sly and Robbie's Taxi Records production aesthetic,[13] which drew on their cultural connection to Jamaican dance halls and their collective interest in experimental electronic sounds.[1] Dunbar was particularly fascinated with the Syndrum instrument, and Rhythm Killers is one of the last albums to feature live drums by him.[1] Incorporating mechanized beats, rocksteady tempos, and sinuous bass, the aesthetic presaged ragga music and the rise of digital instrumentation in reggae during the 1980s.[1] Similar to Language Barrier, Rhythm Killers has a dense, thudding sound and heavy-handed, humorless tone, but has more recognizable hooks.[18]

The songs are typified by deep bass, striking beats,[19] low-frequency electronic grooves,[3][13] improvisational rhythms,[17] electronic percussion,[8] rippling,[7] disco-era string synthesizers,[16] aggressive guitar riffs,[20] and stylistic influences from reggae,[16] early hip hop,[21] downtown music,[13] hard rock, and worldbeat genres.[9] They are densely layered in a fashion similar to Phil Spector's Wall of Sound production.[22] Bud Kliment of Trouser Press writes that they comprise a groove-oriented "song cycle" that is "heavy-bottomed from start to finish".[23] Similar to the album's funk instrumentation, the guest rappers have exclamatory,[17] confrontational tones and percussive vocals.[7][11] The vocals are complemented by improvisatory turntable scratches and African and Latin-influenced percussion, elements that produce cross-rhythms on songs.[11] Carl Matthews of the Baltimore Afro-American observes "a noticeable looseness in the vocals and a sort of P-Funk quality to the rhythm tracks."[24]

The Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995) asserts that the album "truly broke ground" after the experimentation on Language Barrier and calls Rhythm Killers "the story of late-20th-century black music done as symphony."[7] Music journalist Peter Shapiro observes "a striking collision of urban sounds" in the album's music,[25] while Robert Hilburn calls it an "unpredictable salute to the liveliness and character of urban pop music in its broadest sense."[26] Mike Joyce of The Washington Post finds its "more punchy and elastic" than Language Barrier and states, "the accent is still on electronic rhythms, but the mood is vibrantly expansive".[27] Robert Christgau calls the album Sly and Robbie's "Laswellized art-funk statement".[28] He characterizes the duo as a "world pop" rhythm section and writes that their style is complemented by "a chauvinistic variation on Bill Laswell's usual international brigade".[29] John Leland views the album as "the continuous synthesis that Laswell promised on Herbie Hancock's 'Rockit'", "extended in both length and scope", adding that he exhibits "a knack for unexpected juxtapositions and no respect for artificial boundaries."[16]

Songs

"Let's Rock"
The symphonic song features P-Funk vocalists, string synthesizer by Material, and guitar by Pat Thrall.[10][30]
"Rhythm Killer"
Co-written by Shinehead, the title track has descending strings and elegant saxophone phrases by Henry Threadgill.[11][17]
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The album's songs are arranged into a gapless suite on each side, both of which begin with covers of early 1970s R&B songs.[16] Stereo Review writes that each side is stylistically "derived" from its respective opening track and distinguishes the two side-opening tracks as "anchoring songs [that] serve as starting points for uninterrupted improvisations in rhythm that build to multiple climaxes while drawing from wildly disparate musical styles."[17]

The opening track "Fire" reworks the Ohio Players' 1974 song of the same name into an extended vamp with an irregular rhythm, percussive bass, and piano stabs by Bernie Worrell.[22] The uptempo "Boops (Here to Go)" has an uncredited sample of Liquid Liquid's 1983 song "Cavern".[16][22] The song's lyrics proclaim "bass" to be "the final frontier" and features vocals by Shinehead,[31] whose rap begins with a Howard Cosell impersonation,[22] and Bootsy Collins, who advises listeners that "you have one desire and that's to dance until you drop."[16] It also incorporates saxophone and flute passages, a heavy beat, and a whistled verse of symphonic music.[16] "Boop" is a Jamaican Patois slang term for a man who spends money for the benefit of a younger woman.[32] Both "Fire" and "Boops (Here to Go)" touch on popular dancehall topics.[33] The Prince-styled "Let's Rock" features octave-doubled vocals, abrasive guitar, and funky riffs.[22]

Opening the second side,[34] "Yes, We Can Can" is a cover of the Pointer Sisters 1973 song of the same name,[18] originally written by Allen Toussaint.[22] It eschews the original song's jazz influence for hip hop elements,[35] gritty dub, and Art of Noise-like grooves.[22][24] "Rhythm Killer" features aggressive percussion, vibrating strings, frantic toasting by Shinehead, and downtown saxophone by Henry Threadgill.[19] The song was featured in the 1988 film Colors.[36] The song's groove transitions into "Bank Job",[22] which has a relaxed style,[37] lavish production, and accented electronic rhythms.[27]

Commercial performance

Sly and Robbie's second album,[18] Rhythm Killers was released on Island Records in May 1987,[38] on CD, LP, and cassette formats.[12] It charted in the Netherlands, Sweden, and New Zealand, where it reached its highest overall chart position at number 12 and charted for eight weeks.[39] In the United Kingdom, it spent five weeks and peaked at number 35 on the UK Albums Chart.[40] Rhythm Killers did not chart in the United States.[41]

The album produced two singles. "Boops (Here to Go)" charted at number 22 on the US Billboard Dance Club Play Singles.[42] It was a hit in the UK,[4] where it charted for 11 weeks and reached number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.[40] The song was later sampled on Robbie Williams' 2006 song "Rudebox".[43] "Fire" peaked at number 14 in New Zealand, where it charted for nine weeks.[44] It also peaked at number 60 and charted for four weeks in the UK.[40]

Critical reception

Rhythm Killers was well received by contemporary music critics.[4] In a four-star review for Rolling Stone, Gavin Edwards called it "a thirty-five-minute dance party full of surprises and strange noises", and wrote that it "sounds like the Great Missing DJ Set — albeit one played by live musicians with perfect telepathy."[21] Steve Hochman of the Los Angeles Times gave the album four out of four stars and hailed it as one of the most exceptional albums of the year in funk or any other genre because of how Sly and Robbie compress "the best of the past 20 years of funk, from Sly & the Family Stone through George Clinton, along the way throwing in reggae, rap and even a bit of Rossini."[45] Simon Witter of i-D said that it is the most entertaining and exceptionally conceived dance album of the year.[46] Stereo Review praised the duo's take on contemporary urban dance music, calling it one of the best dance albums "in a very long time", and felt that their creative, yet accessible music shows how to combine the best parts of older music with the modes of contemporary music.[17]

Mat Smith of Melody Maker said that the enthusiastic music is driven by a "schizophrenic art of noise attack all lashed around a nonstop rhythm that bumps each track nose to tail tight."[47] The Washingtonian called it a "minor masterpiece" and wrote that its disparate styles are "distilled and mixed to pulsing perfection."[19] Ken Tucker, writing in The Philadelphia Inquirer, remarked that having mastered reggae, Sly and Robbie prove that they can perform funk music well.[48] The Nation commended them for assembling first-rate musicians to play through engaging songs whose sounds range from Beethoven and Jimi Hendrix.[49] Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave Rhythm Killers an "A" grade and praised both the guest artists' "lyrical signatures" and the duo's "sensationalism", which he said "combines with Laswell's imperiousness to rock each side from its Ohio Players or Allen Toussaint intro."[29]

In a negative review, Greg Taylor of The Sydney Morning Herald criticized the album's music as "wallpaper" and felt that Sly and Robbie misused their talent, which he said is undermined by a gaudy hip hop production.[8] John Leland of Spin wrote that while it is ambitious and successful as a "dialogue on the crosscultural elasticity of the funk", the album lacks vigor as actual funk music, as it "looks beyond funk to a rad thesis; by my ears it never gets beyond its thesis and into the funk."[16] Robert Palmer of The New York Times critiqued that "the insight that funk is the Rosetta Stone of contemporary dance music is a worthy one, but it doesn't necessarily follow that everything deriving from funk needs to be crammed into every tune."[11] Although he observed an excess of disordered effects on otherwise expressive rhythm tracks, Palmer said that its simpler moments are artful and Rhythm Killers has "enough fresh ideas, and captivating grooves, to repay repeated listening."[11]

Accolades

NME ranked the album number 25 on its year-end best albums list for 1987.[50] "Boops (Here to Go)" was ranked number 18 on the magazine's best singles list,[51] while The Face ranked it number eight on their list.[52] Rockdelux ranked it number 11 on its year-end list.[53] They also named "Boops (Here to Go)" the sixth best song of the 1987.[54] Rhythm Killers was voted number 25 in The Village Voice's Pazz & Jop critics' poll for 1987.[55] In his dean's list, poll creator Robert Christgau named it the seventh best album of the year.[56]

Aftermath

Encouraged by the album's success,[4] Sly and Robbie recorded The Summit (1988), an instrumental ragga album with digital riddims that was decried by roots critics,[57] and Silent Assassin (1990), a collaboration with several American rappers.[4] The latter album's fusion of Jamaican dub and American hip hop was a precursor to the rise of dancehall in the US during the early 1990s.[4] Bootsy Collins, who had kept a low profile for much of the 1980s, followed-up his appearance on Rhythm Killers with a comeback album, What's Bootsy Doin'?, in 1988.[58] Shinehead's own appearance on the album bolstered his mainstream exposure as he was receiving American radio airplay with his debut single and performing on an international tour.[59][60] Rhythm Killers was reissued by Island on 4 June 1990,[61] but eventually became out of print.[3]

Legacy

Professional ratings
Retrospective reviews
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [13]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music [62]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide [63]
Spin Alternative Record Guide 9/10[7]

Culture critic Mark Anthony Neal considered Rhythm Killers to be an essential album of 1980s underground funk,[20] while reggae historian Steve Barrow cited it as one of the most engaging projects that Sly and Robbie were involved in during the 1980s.[33] In a retrospective article, The State wrote that on albums such as Rhythm Killers, they frequently attempted to broaden the role of their instruments and consequently took bass and drums to "unexplored rhythmic frontiers".[64] Music journalist Mark Coleman, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide, said that the album was "so coherent and smooth that you could mistake it for a suite if it wasn't also so thoroughly down and dirty."[3] In The Rough Guide to Rock (2003), Peter Shapiro cited the album as Laswell's "best outside production" and one that "fulfilled his fusion/fission concept ... in which some of the finest dance musicians in the world jam on two side-long grooves that imply New Orleans R&B, 70s funk, hip-hop and ragga are all part of the same continuum."[25] In a mixed review, Allmusic editor Stephen Cook called it "a valiant venture gone awry" and felt that the songs are monotonous and comprising "one tired electronic groove after another".[13]

Track listing

All tracks were produced by Bill Laswell and Material.[10]

Side one
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Fire"  William Beck, Leroy Bonner, Marshall Jones, Ralph Middlebrooks, Marvin Pierce, Clarence Satchell, James Williams 5:24
2. "Boops (Here to Go)"  Edmund Aiken, William Collins, Lowell Dunbar, Bill Laswell, Robert Shakespeare 5:15
3. "Let's Rock"  Karl Berger, Collins, Dunbar, Laswell, Shakespeare 7:24
Side two
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
4. "Yes, We Can Can"  Allen Toussaint 6:16
5. "Rhythm Killer"  Aiken, Dunbar, Laswell, Shakespeare 7:17
6. "Bank Job"  Berger, Collins, Dunbar, Laswell, Rammellzee, Shakespeare 3:55

Personnel

Credits for Rhythm Killers adapted from liner notes.[10]

Charts

Chart (1987) Peak
position
Dutch Albums Chart[39] 75
New Zealand Albums Chart[39] 12
Swedish Albums Chart[39] 44
UK Albums Chart[40] 35

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Greene, Jo-Ann. "Sly & Robbie – Music Biography, Credits and Discography". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Katz, David (30 March 2005). "Sly & Robbie: Real Drum and Bass". XLR8R (Andrew Smith). Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Coleman et al. 2004, p. 746.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 Contemporary Musicians 2010, pp. 186–89.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Bultman, Scott. "Language Barrier – Sly & Robbie". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 6.10 6.11 6.12 di Perna, Alan (August 1987). "Sly & Robbie: Can the Riddim Twins Rock the Mainstream?". Musician. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Spin Alternative Record Guide 1995, p. 403.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 Taylor, Greg (4 October 1987). "Two Jamaicans Make Rhythm with Crunch". The Sydney Morning Herald. p. 115. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 LeRoy, Dan. "Silent Assassin – Sly & Robbie". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 10.7 Rhythm Killers (CD liner). Sly and Robbie. New York City: 4th & B'way Records. Island Records. 842 785-2.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 Palmer, Robert (2 August 1987). "Recordings; Arriving at Funk from Two Directions". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 Milward, John; Stearns, David Patrick (14 May 1987). "Popular". USA Today (McLean). Life section, p. 4.D. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 Cook, Stephen. "Rhythm Killers – Sly & Robbie". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012. 
  14. ↑ "Musso 77s". Mix 12: 178. 1988. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 "Mark Feldman". Option. 66–71. 1996. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 16.5 16.6 16.7 16.8 16.9 Leland, John (June 1987). "Review: Rhythm Killers". Spin (New York) 3 (3): 36–37. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 P.G. (September 1987). "Sly and Robbie: Rhythm Killers". Stereo Review 52 (7–12): 102–104. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Hori, Jim (1987). "Review: Rhythm Killers". The Reggae & African Beat (Bongo Productions) 6: 35. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 "Fascinatin' Rhythms". The Washingtonian (Washington, D.C.): 68. July 1987. 
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Neal 2004, p. 567.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 "Review: Rhythm Killers". Rolling Stone (New York): 114. 1987. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 22.6 22.7 Booth, Philip (28 June 1987). "Nancy Wilson's 'Forbidden Lover' album delivers". The Ledger 81 (249) (Lakeland). p. 8E. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  23. ↑ Kliment, Bud; Wachtel, Amy. "Sly & Robbie Et Al.". Trouser Press. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Matthews, Carl (16 May 1987). "Sounds". Baltimore Afro-American. p. 4. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Shapiro et al. 2003, p. 583.
  26. ↑ Hilburn, Robert (26 June 1987). "Check 'em Out: From Elvis to L.l. Cool J". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Joyce, Mike (11 December 1987). "Unseasonably Warm Reggae". The Washington Post (Washington, D.C.). Weekend section, p. n.21. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  28. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1 March 1988). "Pazz & Jop 1987: Significance and Its Discontents in the Year of the Blip". The Village Voice (New York). Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 Christgau, Robert (2 June 1987). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice (New York). Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012. 
  30. ↑ Forrest, David (1998). "The Mountaineers". Overland (Melbourne) (150–153): 64. 
  31. ↑ Brophy et al. 1990, p. 110.
  32. ↑ Meschino, Patricia (20 January 2012). "Winston Riley, Veteran Jamaican Producer, Dead at 65". Billboard. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2012. 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Barrow & Dalton 2004, p. 292.
  34. ↑ Antoni, Nelson (1987). "Review: Rhythm Killers". High Fidelity 37 (2–11): 84. 
  35. ↑ Thompson 2002, p. 270.
  36. ↑ Nash 1997, p. 40.
  37. ↑ Dedina, Nick. "Rhythm Killers by Sly and Robbie". Rhapsody. Archived from the original on 11 August 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012. 
  38. ↑ Heatley, Lester & Roberts 1998, p. 184.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 "Sly and Robbie – Rhythm Killers". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  40. ↑ 40.0 40.1 40.2 40.3 "Sly & Robbie". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  41. ↑ "Rhythm Killers – Sly & Robbie". Billboard. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  42. ↑ "Boops (Here to Go) – Sly & Robbie". Billboard. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  43. ↑ McCormick, Neil (3 August 2006). "Is Robbie's new single a work of genius or a bad joke?". The Daily Telegraph (London). Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2012. 
  44. ↑ "Sly and Robbie – Fire / Ticket to Ride". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  45. ↑ Hochman, Steve (12 July 1987). "Big Funk, Big Fun". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  46. ↑ Witter, Simon (May 1987). "Sly & Robbie: Musclefunk Throwdown". i-D (London). "the year's most enjoyable, perfectly formed dance album" 
  47. ↑ Smith, Mat (30 May 1987). "Review: Rhythm Killer". Melody Maker (London). 
  48. ↑ Tucker, Ken (3 May 1987). "Tom Petty, With Rougher Edges". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  49. ↑ "Our Holiday Lists". The Nation (New York) 245. December 1987. 
  50. ↑ "Albums of the Year". NME (London). 2 January 1988. 
  51. ↑ "Singles of the Year". NME (London). 2 January 1988. 
  52. ↑ "1987 The Year in Review". The Face (London) (93). January 1988. 
  53. ↑ "Albums of the Year". Rockdelux (in Spanish) (Barcelona) (37). January 1988. 
  54. ↑ "Songs of the Year". Rockdelux (in Spanish) (Barcelona) (37). January 1988. 
  55. ↑ "The 1987 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice (New York). 1 March 1988. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  56. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1 March 1988). "Pazz & Jop 1987: Dean's List". The Village Voice (New York). Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  57. ↑ Greene, Jo-Ann. "The Summit – Sly & Robbie, Sly Dunbar". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012. 
  58. ↑ Strong 2002, p. 204.
  59. ↑ Mitchell, Justin (8 June 1990). "Rock-Steady Griffiths Reggae Artist Here Sunday". Rocky Mountain News (Denver). Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  60. ↑ Heim, Chris (9 February 1989). "Rap 'N' Reggae". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 
  61. ↑ "Sly & Robbie – Rhythm Killers CD Album". CD Universe. Muze. Archived from the original on 15 September 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2012. 
  62. ↑ The Rolling Stone Album Guide 1992, pp. 640–41.
  63. ↑ "'Best Albums' from '79–89 to Be Picked". The State. 17 November 1989. Weekend section, p. 11D. Retrieved 14 August 2012. 

Bibliography

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