The Gladiators: Trenchtown Mix-Up - 1976
The Gladiators, were, along with The Mighty Diamonds and The Wailing Souls, one of those roots reggae groups from the mid seventies that combined a devotional Rasta consciousness with some melodic, mid-pace reggae “riddims”. Their brand of roots was, on the whole, upbeat, gently singalong and while having a full bass line, was certainly not in the realms of heavy dub. There was something pleasant and eminently accessible about their sound.
Let's join those soul rebels....
Their best albums came from 1976-1978, and were their debut Trenchtown Mix Up from 1976 and Proverbial Reggae from 1978. Bellyfull and Mix Up are classic examples of the sound to be found on these offerings. The sound quality on both albums is excellent, crystal clear on the trebly percussion and rich and warm on the ubiquitous bass lines. A favourite of mine is the subtly melodious Looks Is Deceiving - a delicious slice of lilting reggae, rumbling guitars and some “stream of Rasta consciousness” lyrics about Babylon and parables and the like.
Chatty Chatty Mouth has an irresistible piano intro and a booming, steady beat, just perfect seventies roots-inspired reggae. The Gladiators were probably my favourites of this particular arm of the genre. The vocals were the lightest and the most tunefully affecting. The backing is top notch throughout - sharp, rhythmic and toe-tapping.
Their cover of Bob Marley’s Soul Rebel is superb, as good as the original, to be honest, and that is saying something. Lovely clear backing, great vocal, great backing vocals and that omnipresent rumbling bass. Great stuff. Nice semi-dubby part two thirds of the way through. Eli Eli is a very Rasta-inspired song and very uplifting with yet more soaring vocals. This really is seventies reggae of the highest quality.
Hearsay is a warning type of song, as if delivered from a pulpit. There is lot of religious meaning in the lyrics to these songs, but it doesn’t really matter because the backing is so good. There is some lovely light guitar skanking parts on this one. Rude Boy Ska is suitably vibrant and joyful, with a thoroughly addictive singalong refrain. Know Yourself Mankind is another in the same serious but lightly delivered roots groove. "This is 1976" they sing and "we don't want no war". Nothing changes there, then. Thief In The Night is a folky, jaunty number with female call and response backing vocals, while Hello Carol - which dated from 1968 - sticks out a bit incongruously in its carefree, poppy feel. Great bassline though.
Overall, all marvellous stuff. I could wax lyrical about all the songs on this excellent album. Needless to say they are all good. Just a breath of fresh summer air. Somehow these albums perfectly suit a sunny summer’s morning.
