The Stalag riddim (or Stalag

version Version may refer to: Computing * Software version, a set of numbers that identify a unique evolution of a computer program * VERSION (CONFIG.SYS directive), a configuration directive in FreeDOS Music * Cover version * Dub version * Remix * ''V ...

) is a popular

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

riddim In Jamaican dancehall music, a riddim is the instrumental accompaniment to a song and is synonymous with the rhythm section. Jamaican music genres that use the term consist of the ''riddim'' plus the ''voicing'' (vocal part) sung by the deeja ...

, which came to prominence in the 1980s. It was originally written and recorded as "Stalag 17" (named after the 1953 war film) by

Ansel Collins Ansel Collins is a Jamaican musician, composer, singer, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Dave Barker as Dave and Ansel Collins. Biography Born 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica,Winston Riley Winston Riley (14 May 1943 – 19 January 2012) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter and record producer. The ''Jamaica Gleaner'' notes he was one of the most successful reggae producers.

's Techniques record label in 1973. The riddim has been used on hundreds of derivative records.

History

Ansel Collins and Santa Davis both recalled in separate interviews that Winston Riley's brother Buster was the one who organized the recording session that produced "Stalag 17". The Rileys ran a jukebox business, and Davis recalls that Winston was busy with those on the day of the recording at

Harry J Studio Harry Zephaniah Johnson (6 July 1945 – 3 April 2013), known by the stage name Harry J, was a Jamaican reggae record producer. Biography Born in Westmoreland Parish, Jamaica, in 1945, Johnson started to play music with the Virtues as a bass p ...

. Collins said Buster's idea was to have him play with the

Soul Syndicate Soul Syndicate, originally called the Rhythm Raiders, were one of the top reggae session bands in Jamaica from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. History In the first half of the 1970s the band from the Greenwich Farm area of Kingston recorded ...

on seven tunes. He went into the session with the idea for "Stalag 17", told the musicians the style he wanted, and everyone came up with their own parts. Davis said the song "was a collaborative effort of everyone putting in their little ingredients in the pot". He also claimed Buster tried to pay him for his session work with coins straight out of the Riley's jukeboxes. "Stalag 17" was a big seller in Jamaica. Other artists started to use it on b-sides of records for dub instrumentals. Stalag Riddim was used for songs by

General Echo Earl Anthony Robinson (8 December 1955 – 22 November 1980), better known as General Echo, a.k.a. Ranking Slackness, was one of the first reggae deejays to move away from 'cultural' lyrics towards 'slackness' (risqué or sexually explicit lyri ...

Barrington Levy Barrington Ainsworth Levy (born 30 April 1964) is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist from Clarendon, Jamaica. Career In 1977, Levy formed a band called the Mighty Multitude, with his cousin, Everton Dacres; the pair released "My Bla ...

Big Youth Manley Augustus Buchanan (born 19 April 1949, Trenchtown, Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica),Thompson, Dave (2002) "Reggae & Caribbean Music", Backbeat Books, better known as Big Youth (sometimes called Jah Youth), is a Jamaican Toasting (J ...

, and

Prince Far I Prince Far I (23 March 1945 – 15 September 1983) was a Jamaican reggae deejay and producer, and a Rastafarian. He was known for his gruff voice and critical assessment of the Jamaican government. His track "Heavy Manners" used lyrics abou ...

. In 1980,

The Wailers Bob Marley and the Wailers (previously known as the Wailers and prior to that the Wailing Rudeboys, the Wailing Wailers and the Teenagers) were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley (Rober ...

played Stalag Riddim as an introduction on the

Uprising Tour The Uprising Tour was a concert tour organised to support the album '' Uprising'' by Bob Marley and the Wailers. It was Marley's last tour and the biggest music tour of Europe in that year. The tour started at the Hallenstadion in Zurich, Sw ...

. Keyboardist

Tyrone Downie Tyrone Downie (20 May 1956 – 5 November 2022) was a Jamaican keyboardist and pianist best known for his involvement as a member of Bob Marley and the Wailers.Foster, Chuck (1999) ''Roots Rock Reggae'', Billboard Books, , p. 66, 116 He studie ...

chanted "Marley!" over the riddim while

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

came onstage. This intro is commonly called "Marley Chant" among fans. The song was so influential that even Jamaican

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

artists like

Monty Alexander Montgomery Bernard "Monty" Alexander OJ CD (born 6 June 1944) is a Jamaican American jazz pianist. His playing has a Caribbean influence and bright swinging feeling, with a strong vocabulary of bebop jazz and blues rooted melodies. He was in ...

have felt compelled to interpret it.

Personnel

Ansel Collins Ansel Collins is a Jamaican musician, composer, singer, songwriter and producer, best known for his work with Dave Barker as Dave and Ansel Collins. Biography Born 1949 in Kingston, Jamaica,Carlton "Santa" Davis Carlton "Santa" Davis (born 21 November 1953) is a musician from Jamaica, primarily known for his drumming with bands such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Aggrovators, Soul Syndicate and Roots Radics. He has worked with reggae artists such ...

, drums *

Tony Chin Albert Valentine "Tony" Chin is a Jamaican guitarist, who has collaborated with many reggae artists including Bob Marley, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Freddie McGregor, Bunny Wailer, Big Youth, U-Roy, Max Romeo, Don Carlos, Mikey Dread, Burning ...

, guitar *

Earl "Chinna" Smith Earl "Chinna" Smith (born 6 August 1955), a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest,Johnson, Richard (2013)The Melchizedek way, ''Jamaica Observer'', 6 October 2013. Retrieved 12 October 2013 is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late ...

, guitar

Sister Nancy

Sister Nancy Ophlin Russell (born on 2 January 1962), better known as Sister Nancy (or Muma Nancy), is a Jamaican dancehall DJ and singer. She is known as the first female dancehall DJ and was described as being a "dominating female voice for over two dec ...

brought Stalag Riddim to

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

with her 1982 hit " Bam Bam", which was produced by Winston Riley. Over Collins' track, she sang original lyrics with a chorus that quoted a 1966 song by

The Maytals The Maytals, known from 1972 to 2020 as Toots and the Maytals, are a Jamaican musical group, one of the best known ska and rocksteady vocal groups. The Maytals were formed in the early 1960s and were key figures in popularizing reggae music. F ...

with

Byron Lee and the Dragonaires Byron Lee and the Dragonaires (known as Byron Lee's Dragonaires after Lee's death and now The Dragonaires) are a Jamaican ska, calypso and soca band. The band played a crucial pioneering role in bringing Caribbean music to the world. Byron L ...

called "Bam-Bam". Sister Nancy's song is one of the most widely sampled in the history of reggae, spreading the Stalag Riddim even further.Borthwick, Stuart. ''Positive Vibrations: Politics, Politricks and the Story of Reggae''. Reaktion Books, Limited, 2022. 171, 191. "Bam Bam" appears in "

Famous Famous may refer to: Companies * Famous Brands, a South African restaurant franchisor * Famous Footwear, an American retail store chain * Famous Music, the music publishing division of Paramount Pictures * Famous Studios, the animation division ...

" by

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

, Jay-Z's " Bam, and several other records by artists like

Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American musician. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the popular music, m ...

and

Pete Rock Peter O. Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapping, rapper. He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned along ...

Legacy

In 1984, Winston Riley further built on the success of Stalag Riddim with an entire album of songs based on the track. ''Original Stalag 17–18 and 19'' featured artwork by

Wilfred Limonious Wilfred Limonious (1949 – 1999) was a Jamaican dancehall artist. His career started to take off in the 1970s, with his art being published in various Jamaican newspapers. Also in the 1970s he started to work for Jamaican Movement for the Advancem ...

and recordings by

Yami Bolo Rolando Ephraim McLean (born 1 October 1970), better known as Yami Bolo, is a Jamaican reggae singer. Biography Yami Bolo grew up in postal zone 13 of Kingston. His first professional job and exposure was with Sugar Minott's Youth Promotion C ...

Michael Prophet Michael George Haynes (3 March 1957 – 16 December 2017), known professionally as Michael Prophet, was a Jamaican roots reggae singer known for his "crying" tenor vocal style, whose recording career began in 1977. Prophet was one of Jamaica’s ...

, and other artists. "Stalag 17" was included as the last track and was now attributed to the "Technique All Star". The album included "Ring the Alarm" by

Tenor Saw Clive Bright (2 December 1966 – 13 August 1988), better known as Tenor Saw, was a Jamaican dancehall singjay in the 1980s, considered one of the most influential singers of the early digital reggae era. His best-known song was the 1985 hit "R ...

, which relies on Stalag Riddim like every other track on the LP. It became the biggest song of Tenor Saw's career and his chorus became a touchstone in pop music, used by artists as diverse as

Mos Def Yasiin Bey ( ; born Dante Terrell Smith; December 11, 1973), formerly known as Mos Def ( ), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. A prominent figure in conscious hip hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and commentary on social an ...

and

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They were noted for their style-transc ...

.Bonadio, Enrico, and Bryan Khan. "Remix, Reuse and Reggae: Creativity and Copyright in Jamaican Music",
Music Borrowing and Copyright Law: A Genre-by-Genre Analysis
'. United Kingdom, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2023. 218. The riddim also influenced hip-hop, and can be discerned on

Public Enemy Public Enemy is an American Hip-hop, hip hop group formed in Roosevelt, New York, in 1985 by Chuck D and Flavor Flav. The group rose to prominence for their political messages including subjects such as Racism in the United States, American r ...

's hit "

Don't Believe the Hype "Don't Believe the Hype" is a song by hip hop group Public Enemy and the second single to be released from their second album, ''It Takes a Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back''. The song's lyrics are mostly about the political issues that were cur ...

" as well as on

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by his stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper. A pioneer of West Coast hip-hop, Shaw was among the first acts to receive recognition in the genre during the late ...

's "Blowjob Betty". Stalag Riddim is so widely known that even a brief quote of it can be used to signify a connection to Jamaican culture, like the sample of the horns in the Blackout Remix of " This Is Why I'm Hot" by Mims.

Steely & Clevie Steely & Clevie was a Jamaican dancehall reggae production duo that was composed of members Wycliffe Johnson and Cleveland Browne. The duo worked with artists such as the Specials, Gregory Peck ("Poco Man Jam," 1990), Bounty Killer, Elephant M ...

used Stalag Riddim in their production for Reggie Stepper called "Drum Pan Sound", which has been sampled by

Run-DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the mos ...

, Nas, and

Lords of the Underground The Lords of the Underground (L.O.T.U.G.) is an American Hip hop music, hip-hop trio based in Newark, New Jersey. The group is composed of Dupré Kelly (professionally known as DoItAll) (born January 14, 1971), Al'Terik Wardrick (professionally ...

Bounty Killer Rodney Basil Price OD (born 12 June 1972), known as Bounty Killer, is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall deejay. AllMusic describes him as "one of the most aggressive dancehall stars of the '90s, a street-tough rude boy with an unrepentant fl ...

sampled the song on "Go Now", "Kill a Sound", and "Gun Down", because "Stalag is the wickedest rhythm..." Despite not composing or performing on "Stalag 17", Winston Riley owned the copyright and got into a dispute with Bounty Killer over the sample, even though he gave the rapper permission to use it.

Reggaeton Reggaeton (, ) is a modern style of popular music, popular and electronic music that originated in Panamanian reggaetón, Panama during the late 1980s, and which rose to prominence in the late 1990s and early 2000s through a plethora of Puert ...

artists like

DJ Playero Pedro Gerardo Torruellas Brito (born 2 November 1964), better known as Playero DJ, DJ Playero, Playe, Play, is a Puerto Rican DJ who was a key figure in the dissemination of reggaeton during its formative period in the 1990s in San Juan, Puerto ...

often rely on Stalag Riddim.Marshall, Wayne. "From Música Negra to Reggaeton Latino: The Cultural Politics of Nation, Migration, and Commercialization", ''Reggaeton''. Ed. Raquel Z. Rivera, et al.,

Duke University Press Duke University Press is an academic publisher and university press affiliated with Duke University. It was founded in 1921 by William T. Laprade as The Trinity College Press. (Duke University was initially called Trinity College). In 1926 ...

, 2009. 46.

References

External links

Bam Bam Riddim
at Frenkieh Riddim Database. (135 entries)
Stalag Riddim
a
Frenkieh Riddim Database
(327 entries)
Bam Bam Riddim
at Riddimguide. (102 entries)
Stalag Riddim
at Riddimguide. (295 entries) *Audio of The Wailers opening their concert with the
Marley Chant
in Paris, March 7, 1980. Dub music Riddims 1973 songs Reggae songs Jamaican reggae songs {{reggae-stub pl:Stalag riddim