L to R: Wayne Wonder, Sebastian, Super Beagle, Frankie Sly, Buju Banton, Spragga Benz @ Arrow Dub Studio 1992. Photo courtesy: Denzie Beagle
LU: Talk about little bit more about Chancery Lane with Buju Banton and Capleton. Any stories from those days?
SB: We were at Chancery Lane before Buju started coming down there. Like you said, I am a singer, songwriter, producer so I was one of the first persons trying to produce Buju at that studio behind Regal. I had him up there for over four hours but his songs sounded like ‘Stamina Daddy’; his voice was like a tenor. We used to hang out at Chancery Lane, Techniques Record shop, me, you Donahue, Kurt, Buju, the rest of us. Capleton did come to Chancery Lane and establish himself too after he did “Lotion Man.” I remember the night I voiced “Dust A Soundboy,” we were all at the studio—me, Capleton, Buju, Dr. Nuts, Nardo Ranks, Frankie Paul, Wayne Wonder, I mean a gang of man, even Fargo and Don. T. The studio was full. It started from there. Buju started to identify what he really wanted to do musically when he came to Chancery Lane and started to hang out with me. Do you remember his first concert at [Kingston College] Mayfair?
LU: I still have pictures of Buju and Capleton from that Mayfair—Shabba Ranks, Nardo Ranks, and Half Pint all touched the stage, it was 1990.
SB: Buju rip the place as the youngest DJ. He mash up the place that year. That’s when everybody realized he was going to be a force to reckon with.
Capleton and Buju Banton at Kingston College Mayfair, 1990. Photo courtesy: Sherman Escoffery
LU: As far as dub studios downtown, Arrows [Recording] used to run it. I remember Capleton used to live there and Buju used to saying he is not going to done his career and live in no dub studio.
SB: [Terror] Fabulous used to be there too, everybody.
LU: Now most people know Techniques Records on Orange Street, not from the days of Chancery Lane, in a little blow wow 15’ x 15’ box that used to shape music in Jamaica.
SB: The whole thing for us [at Techniques] started from Capleton, to me, to Buju. Every one of the artists at Techniques shot in the 80’s, Supercat, Red Dragon, and the Whitehall crew.
At UV Radio HQ in Portmore
LU: Even the run that Pipper got…
SB: After [“Whining Skills’] became a hit, we were looking for a distributor so I introduced Pipper to Mr. Riley. That’s how Pipper got a chance to do his thing. Me and Reggie Stepper made a hit. He just had to deal with things properly for the tours. We had documents to travel, but Pipper started to take on more than he could manage. We should’ve been traveling to make money. He got people he thought he could control instead of focusing on the two people that made him. That’s when things flop. He also ended up getting into problems with Mr. Riley. He got beat down.
LU: The infamous beatdown at Dynamics Sound. The wickedest thing about that was that Riley told you everything he was going to do before. “I’m going to kick him in his batty, thump him down, and give him two kicks in his ribs” The man ran into Byron Lee’s office and got beat down, right then and there. Byron Lee stood in his office saying, “Stop lick him, Stop lick him Mr. Riley.” That was funny. So you run a little dub studio now, right?
SB: In the 90’s, you had to go to the big studio like a Penthouse, Mixing Lab, Music Works-you name them. Now anybody can have a studio, you can have it in your car. It’s all digital, so I can do anything at my house. If I choose to go to the big studio, there are over a million studios within the area I live as well, so studio is not a problem like one time.
LU: What else do you have on the road, Beagle?
SB: In addition to that song ‘Mama Cry’ with Terror Fabulous, I have another song called ‘What Have I Done’ and I also have one with Terry Ganzie call ‘Watch Face’ on the same rhythm.
[audio:http://largeup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/02-What-Have-I-Done.mp3|titles=02 What Have I Done]
Super Beagle, “What Have I Done”
[audio:http://largeup.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/01-Watch-Face.mp3|titles=Super Beagle- Watch Face]
Super Beagle feat. Terry Ganzie, “Watch Face”
LU: How is The Outlaw, Terry Ganzie?
SB: Terry Ganzie is doing great. He is based in Atlanta. I talk to him from time to time.
Click here for more images from our photo series in Portmore with Super Beagle