''Anthem'' is an album by

Black Uhuru Black Uhuru is a Jamaican reggae group formed in 1972, initially as Uhuru ( Swahili for 'freedom'). The group has undergone several line-up changes over the years, with Derrick "Duckie" Simpson as the mainstay. They had their most successful per ...

, released originally in 1983 and internationally in 1984. In 1985, the album won Black Uhuru the first

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

for Best Reggae Recording. ''Anthem'' has been released in three editions, each with different track listings and mixes, as well as a

box set A box set or (its original name) boxed set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box and offered for sale as a single unit. Music Artists and bands ...

History

Lyrically, ''Anthem'' retains the trenchancy of its predecessors, criticizing social injustice and

economic materialism Materialism can be described as either a personal attitude which attaches importance to acquiring and consuming material goods or as a logistical analysis of how physical resources are shaped into consumable products. The use of the term materia ...

and extolling

Rastafarian Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...

values such as

Afrocentrism Afrocentrism is an approach to the study of world history that focuses on the history of people of recent African descent. It is in some respects a response to Eurocentric attitudes about African people and their historical contributions. It ...

social equality Social equality is a state of affairs in which all individuals within a specific society have equal rights, liberties, and status, possibly including civil rights, freedom of expression, autonomy, and equal access to certain public goods and ...

and

ital Ital, also spelled I-tal (), is food often celebrated by those in the Rastafari movement. It is compulsory in the Bobo Ashanti and Nyabinghi mansions, though not in the Twelve Tribes of Israel. The word derives from the English word "vital", w ...

diet. Musically, it fuses

roots reggae Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of Africans and those in the African Diaspora, including the spiritual side of Rastafari, black liberation, revolution and the honoring of God, called Jah ...

and dub with "synthetic",

electropop Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...

instrumentation and effects, resulting in an "ambiance of pop-reggae futurism".Katz, David (2004) Liner notes, ''The Complete Anthem Sessions'',

Hip-O Select Hip-O Records is a record label that specializes in reissues and compilations. It is part of Universal Music Group. Established in 1996, the label has distributed releases from 'out of style' genres such as disco and early hip-hop music as wel ...

Legacy

''Anthem'' won the

for Best Reggae Recording in 1985, the first year the award existed. The album was well-received, earning Black Uhuru the highest accolades and broadest audience of their career. The traditionally non-reggae elements added in the remixes were polarizing. Both

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

and

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's John Gonsalves were dubious about the remixes; Christgau felt that the songs held up in spite of the added effects while Gonsalves did not. The album's success led to tensions between Duckie Simpson and Michael Rose, resulting in Rose's departure from the group. Rose has stated that the album "came before its time".

Releases

''Anthem'' has been released in three editions: the original recording, the UK remix and the US remix; despite their names, both of the latter were marketed internationally. All three editions were included in a limited-edition box set, ''The Complete Anthem Sessions'', along with non-album and previously-unreleased tracks. Originally produced by

Sly and Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separa ...

, the album was resequenced and remixed by record company

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

,Campbell, Howard (2014)
Black Uhuru makes an Anthem
, ''

Jamaica Observer ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in Kingston, Jamaica. The publication is owned by Butch Stewart, who chartered the paper in January 1993 as a competitor to Jamaica's oldest daily paper, ''The Gleaner''. Its founding editor i ...

'', 10 January 2014. Retrieved 11 January 2014 omitting gaps between songs and further emphasizing the electropop aspect, particularly on the US version. The UK and US editions respectively omitted "Party Next Door" and the

Sly and the Family Stone Sly and the Family Stone was an American band from San Francisco. Active from 1966 to 1983, it was pivotal in the development of funk, soul, rock, and psychedelic music. Its core line-up was led by singer-songwriter, record producer, and multi-i ...

cover "Somebody's Watching You", substituting a cover of

Steven Van Zandt Steven Van Zandt (né Lento; born November 22, 1950), also known as Little Steven or Miami Steve, is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and actor. He is a member of Bruce Springsteen's E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin ...

's "Solidarity", a charting non-album single from late 1983.

Personnel

* Michael Rose – lead vocals *

Puma Jones Sandra "Puma" Jones (October 5, 1953—January 28, 1990) was an American singer, best known as a member of the Grammy Award-winning reggae group Black Uhuru. Career Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Jones graduated from Columbia University ...

– harmony vocals * Duckie Simpson – harmony vocals * Darryl Thomson – guitar *

Mikey Chung Michael Chung (1950 – 28 December 2021) also known as Mao Chung, was a Jamaican musician who played keyboards, guitar and percussion instruments. He was also an arranger and record producer of Jamaican music, and worked with a wide array of m ...

– rhythm guitar *

Robbie Shakespeare Robert Warren Dale Shakespeare (27 September 1953 – 8 December 2021) was a Jamaican bass guitarist and record producer, best known as half of the reggae rhythm section and production duo Sly and Robbie, with drummer Sly Dunbar. Regarded as ...

– bass *

Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Biography Dunbar began playing at 15 in a band called ...

– drums * Franklyn "Bubbler" Waul, Radcliffe "Dougie" Bryan – keyboards *

Dean Fraser Dean Ivanhoe Fraser (sometimes appearing as Dean Frazer) (born 4 August 1957) Allmusic.com biography by Sandra Brennan/ref> is a Jamaican saxophonist who has contributed to hundreds of reggae recordings since the mid-1970s. He was awarded the Mu ...

– saxophone * Ronald "Nambo" Robinson – trombone * David Madden, Junior "Chico" Chin – trumpet *

Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll ...

– clavinet on "Somebody's Watching You" * Chris "Sky Juice" Burth – percussion on "Party Next Door" *

- producers (original and dub releases) * Steven Stanley - mixing (original release) * Black Uhuru,

Steven Stanley Steven J. C. Stanley (born July 11, 1958), is a Jamaican audio engineer, record producer and keyboardist who has worked in the reggae, dub and rock music genres since 1975, most notably with Talking Heads, Tom Tom Club and Black Uhuru. Stanle ...

and Paul "Groucho" Smykle - producers (UK and US remixes) *

Chris Blackwell Christopher Percy Gordon Blackwell (born 22 June 1937) is an English businessman and former record producer, and the founder of Island Records, which has been called "one of Britain's great independent labels". According to the Rock and Roll ...

- executive producer (UK and US remixes) * Noel Hearne,

– engineers *

Lynn Goldsmith Lynn Goldsmith (born 1948) is an American recording artist, film director, celebrity portrait photographer, and rock and roll photographer. She has also made fine art photography with conceptual images and with her painting. Books of her work hav ...

– photography

References

{{Authority control 1984 albums Albums produced by Sly and Robbie Black Uhuru albums Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album Mango Records albums