Toppa Top 10: Ten Classic Songs with a Melodica

Words by LargeUp Crew—

Augustus Pablo was not the first musician to make good music with a melodica but the late reggae pioneer, born Horace Swaby, legitimized the instrument with his ethereal, hypnotic and now legendary collaborations with Herman Chin-Loy, King Tubby and Lee “Scratch” Perry, as well as his own productions for his Rockers label. He was the first popular musician to be closely identified with the instrument, appearing on numerous album covers with the blow-organ in hand.

For us, the instrument will always be associated with Pablo and, by association, reggae and dub—even when it shows up in other genres and music. In light of Pablo’s 70th birthday this Saturday—which is being celebrated in Kingston as we speak with a weekend-long series of events culminating with a live concert featuring Augustus’ son Addis Pablo and friends at Countryside Club Saturday night — we’ve gone ahead and highlighted some of our favorite uses of melodica use in popular music, from Peter Tosh’s reggae versions to Oasis’ Britpop, and everything in between.

Click here to start the list.

And for more on Augustus Pablo and Rockers, read “Addis Pablo Selects 10 Classic Rockers.”

10. Gang of Four – Ether

In the late 1970s and early ’80s, the heavy baselines and calls to chant down Babylon of Jamaican music found a dedicated audience across the pond in England, and not just with its large Jamaican ex-pat communities. White working-class kids disillusioned with a poor economy and a society rift with class and racial tension identified with reggae’s message and started incorporating some of its sonic elements into a new style of music: punk.

So it’s not surprising that the melodica would wind up throughout Gang of Four’s seminal debut Entertainment!, most prominently on the opening track “Ether.” Pablo’s instrument of choice adds a perfectly eerie element to the album’s paranoid vibe despite its sonic distance from Pablo’s sweet dub-heavy melodies.—Saxon Baird

9. Crashers- “Flight to Jamaica (Cool Runnings)” (1981)

By the early ‘80s, the melodica had become so closely identified with reggae that the instrument was being used as a signifier to represent Jamaica. And so it is deployed on “Flight to Jamaica (Cool Runnings),” a funky, post-disco track from Jamaican keyboardist and vocalist Glen Adams (who recorded the one-off track under the Crashers name while working as a producer in the New York R&B scene), which transports the listener to the island not with standard reggae elements, but with the blowing of a melodica. Curiously, Adams, best known as a member of the vocal duo Ken and Glen and for his studio work with Lee “Scratch” Perry and The Wailers, also worked with Herman Chin-Loy’s Aquarius Records, where he was one of several keyboard players who recorded under the name Augustus Pablo, before Horace Swaby officially adopted that identity.

Little known at the time of its release, the song has been rediscovered and by contemporary DJs since it was remixed by Dmitri from Paris for his 2000 compilation, Disco Forever (The Sound of Underground Disco). —Jesse Serwer

8. New Order – “Your Silent Face”

New Order’s classic Power, Corruption and Lies LP is best known for the widely played single “Age of Consent.” But “Your Silent Face” follows not too far behind in popularity among new-wave enthusiasts, with its breezy tale of heartbreak carried by the instantly recognizable melodica melody that appears sporadically throughout the song. While it might not be immediately apparent, the flourishes of melodica utilized on “My Silent Face” are similar in how Pablo used the instrument on many of his dubs, where the melodica didn’t necessarily carry the track but rather added a defining element to the groove. New Order also used the melodica on other tracks such as “Truth” and “Hurt” as well as on “Decades” with Joy Division, the previous incarnation of the group.—Saxon Baird

7. Oasis “Champage Supernova” (1995)

Noel and Liam Gallagher’s britpop brotherhood Oasis carried UK musicians’ love affair with the melodica into the ‘90s with “Champagne Supernova,” the follow-up to Oasis’s first mainstream hit “Wonderwall.” There’s the descending guitar riff, Noel Gallagher’s idiosyncratic whine, and then Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs on melodica, with a two-chord lick that pretty much completes the song’s spacey, psychedelic sound. Check out some of history’s most emo melodica playing in the video below. —Natalie Weiner

6. Depeche Mode -”Everything Counts” (1983)

The melodica might just show up more frequently in ‘80s new wave than it does in reggae and dub. Along with the aforementioned New Order and Gang of Four, another post-punk British outfit which put the instrument to brilliant use was Depeche Mode. It’s among several unusual instruments, including the xylophone and shawm, employed by guitarist/lead songwriter Martin Gore on “Everything Counts,” one of the most popular and enduring singles of the group’s early ‘80s heyday. —Jesse Serwer

5. The Kinks- “Sunny Afternoon” (1966)

Augustus Pablo was the first musician to make melodica a staple of his studio repertoire in the ‘70s but the instrument, which was introduced by the Hohner company in the late 1950s, was used quite widely (if sporadically) during the 1960s by rock and roll bands. Although the track would not see release until years later, the Beach Boys, a group whose sonic innovations parallel those of dub pioneers like Tubby, Pablo and Perry in some ways, used a melodica on “Cabin Essence,” a tune recorded in 1969 during sessions for their long-delayed album Smile. And the Kinks had a massive 1966 hit with “Sunny Afternoon.” The song, which went to No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart that year and reached #14 in the US, features intermittent melodica playing from Nicky Hopkins, a musician best known for his work with the Rolling Stones. —Jesse Serwer

4. Gorillaz – “Clint Eastwood” (2001)

Damon Albarn just might be the melodica’s most esteemed living ambassador. The producer/vocalist used the instrument on 13, the 1999 album by his Britpop group Blur, and has since used it on the soundtrack to the movie101 Reykjavik, hisMali Music project, and his solo album Democrazy. But his most notable melodica lead is on “Clint Eastwood,” the massive 2001 single (featuring Del tha Funky Homosapien) that introduced Gorillaz, the cartoon band he founded with then-collaborator Dan the Automator. —Jesse Serwer

3. Billy Preston- “Will It Go Round In Circles” (1972)

Just as Pablo was beginning his experiments with the melodica in the early ’70s, the instrument turned up in two vastly different, but equally memorable R&B classics: “Will It Go Round In Circles” by Billy Preston, and the Chi-Lites’ “Oh Girl.” In both cases, the melodica was used in a manner similar to that of a harmonica, leading to some confusion over exactly which instrument is being played (Preston’s playing on “Will It Go Round In Circles” has been inaccurately credited to Stevie Wonder online). Lest there be any confusion over what instrument he’s using, Billy brought his melodica to the Johnny Carson Show for a performance on the legendary late-night show seen below. —Jesse Serwer

2. The Wailers-”Sun is Shining” (1973)

The Wailers originally recorded “Sun is Shining,” one of the group’s greatest and most distinctive tunes, sans melodica, for Lee “Scratch” Perry, appearing on 1971’s Soul Revolution album. And Bob Marley would later record the song again, with the 1978 edition of The Waliers, for Kaya, in what is probably the best known version of the song. But the “Sun is Shining” that appeared on 1973’s African Herbsman album is the genuine article, the original Wailers trio of Bob, Bunny and Peter at their peak. Peter Tosh’s hypnotic melodica playing answers Marley’s lead vocals, adding another level of etherealness to an already brilliant, otherworldly song. —Jesse Serwer

1. Augustus Pablo— “East of the River Nile”/”Java” (1971)

We couldn’t pick just one Augustus Pablo tune. But since Addis Pablo chose “Java,” Pablo’s biggest and most enduring hit, to top his countdown of favorite Rockers International cuts, which you can read right here, we’re going to use this space to illuminate “East of the River Nile,” Augustus’ other signature tune. Personally speaking here, this was the first Augustus Pablo tune I ever heard, and it’s still my favorite. It’s everything: reggae, funk, Ethiopian jazz, and stacked with loops that lend themselves to further remixes and sampling. The melodica isn’t as prominent as on later Pablo material, but his breakthrough track literally blew new life into the reggae instrumental. Listen to “East of the River Nile” in its entirety here, and watch a live medley of “Java” and “East of the River Nile,” from 1986’s Japan Sunsplash concert. —Jesse Serwer

+1: Fantomas-The Godfather

Moving from the classic to the odd and unusual here. Another melodica enthusiast who’s used the instrument in various projects is Mike Patton, best known as the madman vocalist of Faith No More. On Fantomas’ “The Theme From the Godfather,” Patton faithfully reproduces the melody from the classic movie theme on the melodica for much of the track, breaking it up with some thrash.

+2: Peter Tosh – “Anti Apartheid” (1977)

Reggae’s other great melodian, Peter Tosh first played the instrument with the Wailers on “Memphis,” from 1970’s Soul Revolution, and used it on numerous recordings in his solo career. Most notable is “Anti Apartheid” a version on former bandmate Bunny Wailer’s “Armagideon.”

+3: The Hooters – “And We Danced” (1985)

The melodica is also known as the melodian, pianica, blow-organ and key-flute, with various manufacturers coining new names to differentiate their products. Another nickname, apparently, is a “hooter.” Hence The Hooters, a Philadelphia ‘80s rock band known for its use of the hooter on songs like the 1985 hit “And We Danced.”

+4: Honorable Mention

In the not necessarily classic but worth mentioning category are Ben Folds Five (which featured the instrument on several tracks from 1997 album Whatever and Ever Amen); Clinic, the 2000s-era British band known for wearing surgical masks; and Tortoise, the Chicago band which defined the “post-rock” sound of the ‘90s; and jazz drummer Jack DeJohnette. And it’s been alleged that apparent synth sounds on Steely Dan’s “Hey Nineteen,” a track which would easily fit near the top of this list if we could confirm how it was made (we couldn’t), are actually melodica.