2 April 2016 would be Garnett Silk’s 50th Earthstrong Day. DJ 745 Salutes the man, his music and message in a two hour ‘Strictly Vinyl’ edition of the Irie Jamms Show.
From humble beginnings in Manchester, Jamaica he recorded his first song under the name of Little Bimbo in 1985 before taking the world by storm working alongside fellow artists like Tony Rebel, Uton Green, Yasus Afari and on sound systems including Conquering Lion, Soul Remembrance, Pepper’s Disco, Stereophonic, and Destiny Outernational.
1992 was the year in which Garnett Silk really made his musical mark working from some of the biggest studios on the island of Jamaica teaming up with Bobby Dixon, Lloyd James, Richard “Bello” Bell and Courtney Cole to record a series of positive, uplifting conscious reggae songs including It’s Growing, Hello Mama Africa and Lord Watch Over Our Shoulders. This was at a time when conscious music did not rule and it was the slackness and somewhat crude lyrics of reggae dancehall which was in public favour.
His contribution to Jamaican music in the relatively short period he was active in the industry is truly phenomenal and it leaves me asking the question of where he would be today had he lived to see the fruits of the album he was recording for Atlantic Records at the time of his passing.
A World A Reggae Music from DJ 745!
ABOUT DJ745
DJ 745 is a cultural reggae selector/record collector/journalist based in Leicester, UK. His weekly Irie Jamms Show is the heaviest radio show of its kind featuring an international selection of roots reggae, revival and dub along with the latest music news and freshest artist interviews. Regular features on the Irie Jamms Show include ‘Riddim Reloaded’ tracing back the origins of classic ‘riddims’ and ‘Single of the Week’. The show is aired LIVE every Friday night from 7pm-9pm GMT exclusively on www.reggaespace.com
True to his name, DJ 745 has been a record collector/journalist of reggae music for over three decades and regularly spins music on his preferred format -7″ vinyl. His vast collection of reggae spans five decades. He has travelled extensively to search for rare reggae vinyl to add to his collection. His initial love for reggae music began when he was a youth in 1990 when he heard an infectious beat blasting out of the world-famous Daddy Kool Records in London. This led to the purchase of his first reggae records by Eek A Mouse and Dennis Brown. The rest they say is history.
Over the years DJ 745 has travelled to Jamaica, Japan, America and throughout Europe regularly tracing back the origins of reggae music and revisiting reggae landmarks including the original location of King Tubby’s Studio in Waterhouse and Treasure Isle Studios in Downtown Kingston. With a strong passion to help to preserve reggae music he has interviewed artists young and old including Bunny Wailer, Ken Boothe, Marcia Griffiths, Beres Hammond, Jah9, Raging Fyah, Micah Shemaiah, Morgan Heritage, Luciano, Tarrus Riley, Etana, Chronixx, Protoje, Busy Signal, Freddie Mcgregor, and Horace Andy.
In the earlier part of his music career, DJ 745 played on a number of community stations in Leicester, including Fresh FM and has also been involved in Restricted Service License radio stations including Juice FM, Vision FM and Radio2Funky 95.1FM. He has also been a guest DJ on Demon FM. Since 2010 he has hosted a weekly show on an online radio station Reggaespace.com.
