Peter Dalton, Rough Guide To Reggae, Reggae Megamix singles, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man

THE BRIEF LIFE OF THE MEGAMIX SINGLE

The megamix, in which a series of tunes are segued together seamlessly, entered reggae when sound systems like Delano Thomas’s Renaissance replaced the single turntable traditional to Jamaican dancehall culture with the twin decks associated with American and European discos. There was then no longer the need for a few second pause between one tune and the next. Once established in the dancehall, the practice soon transferred to vinyl/CD, when the already popular one-riddim or version album was complimented by its megamix counterpart.

     Well-received early examples of this included Trevor ‘Uncle T’ James’s Miss Ivy Meg Mix, which appeared in 1995 with a modest (by later standards) 11 cuts of Bounty Killer’s “Miss Ivy Last Son” dancehall hit, followed the next year by Dave ‘Rudeboy’ Kelly’s Pepper Seed Jam (with no less than 26 edited performances of the said track) and Arabian Jam (featuring 31 tracks divided evenly between the “Arab Attack” and “Heartbeat” riddims).

     Further notable megamixes to appear on album included Dancehall Xplosion ’99 and Dancehall Xplosion 2000, released on JamDown, both of which segued together hits from a variety of producers, including Richard Browne, Richie Stephens and the aforementioned Dave ‘Rudeboy’ Kelly. Soon one of the other label bosses whose work was featured on the Dancehall Explosion sets, Donovan Germain went on to release an entire series of Party Mixes, numbering nine at the last count. Some of these Penthouse sets were mixed by the ever-reliable Delano Thomas, while for others such alternate masters of the turntable as Mixmaster Steve of Stur-gav, Jason ‘Zigzagula’ Henriques of Copperhead Disco and Miami’s King Waggy T were brought in to work their magic at the controls.

     The megamix 7” singles never enjoyed quite the prolificacy of such albums but did enjoy a brief moment of glory in 1996, with occasional additions to the genre making sporadic appearances thereafter. As Bounty Killer was the hottest deejay of the time, challenged only by Beenie Man, it’s not too surprising to find his hits featured on the earliest of these - nor that Delano Thomas was credited with mixing both “Mega Nitro Mix” (Fat Eyes), which employed the “Stucky” rhythm to good effect, and “East Coast Mega Mix” (East Coast), over Sly Dunbar and Jazwad’s “Mecca.”   On the latter the arch rivals actually had the opportunity not so much to battle it out head to head on the same 7” piece of vinyl, as complement each other’s considerable talents with some of their recent hits in edited form.

    The most striking megamix 45s after these two pioneering efforts probably came with “Big Squa Mega Mix” (Rookie 7-11) and “Murder Mega Mix” (Taxi), again both mixed by Delano Thomas. No prices for guessing the Sly & Robbie riddim employed on the latter; the former, however, might be less familiar to anyone who wasn’t a dedicated dancehall follower during the 1990s, utilizing as it does the relatively obscure but still smoking “Smokie Joe” riddim from Andre Tyrell, the most popular cut of which was Wayne Wonder’s “Taking Control.”

     There were never quite enough megamix singles to constitute a fully-fledged trend, but listening to the above examples almost two decades after their original appearance must raise the question of why many more producers didn’t follow suit. But, it's hard to imagine a better taste of genuine dancehall excitement in the comfort of your own living room, especially as none lasts long enough to get boring.

Peter Dalton

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