The Comedy of Errors: Anthony Red Rose - Tempo [Fever Pitch Riddim] (6 June 1992)

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The fact that this Bunny Lie Lie produced remix of Anthony Red Rose’s 1985 track - originally produced by King Tubby - was preserved as one of the 1992 selections for the Peelenium automatically concurs some level of respect to it.  But is it justified?  Well, it may take a second listen to confirm it, but I think that it is worthy of a place in any list of great/representative 20th Century tracks.  It’s certainly up there with one of the great remixes of any era because it manages to achieve the difficult task of boosting both the singer and the song.
The ‘85 original is perfectly fine in its way, but it is first and foremost a statement by King Tubby.  Red Rose finds himself enmeshed in murky echo, like he’s singing behind frosted glass.  This may count as a piece of considered production work, but it does feel like a waste of a good singjay.  Also, for a track called Tempo, the first recording proceeds at a pretty dirge-like one.  The most successful element of the original is the sense of tension and menace it brings to the idea of face-offs between the soundboys, though this in itself is as common in reggae dancehall as broken hearts are in country music.  Had Peel played the ‘85 recording on this show, and he acknowledged after playing the remix that the original had been a favourite of his back in the day, I might have included it here.  But I might well have passed too.  It’s good, but feels a lot like something to be observed under a glass bowl rather than fully engaged with.
Now the Bunny Lie Lie production may lack a little in the way of musical variation - essentially the same backing melody runs all the way through from beginning to end - but this is fine because it means that while Red Rose has to do all of the heavy lifting, he at least gets to be star of his own song rather than an element to be phased up and down at the producer’s whim.  What Anthony brings to the piece is a tangible sense of joy.  In 1985, the dancehall felt an intimidating place to be, possibly with good reason, but in 1992 and to era defining effect, Lie Lie and Red Rose turn it into a palace of delights.  The title, Tempo, could have any number of contexts and intriguingly, the remix touches on many of them by bringing out a number of the essential elements required to make popular music so compelling.  These include the thrill of being out where the action is (“I just love how the dancehall vibes keep flowing”), the competitive edge underlying soundclashes (“clip them wing” etc), the sheer transformative power of this music (“I just love how the champion sound keep playing”) and finally and most importantly of all, the chance to impress women (“Girls them bubble like a soup in a pot...”). It’s far more than just “a little of this and a little of that”, it’s the world of Dancehall presented as an intoxicating way to spend your money, time, hopes and life.

Video courtesy of Dylan Esquivel