page 8
daily nebraskan
tuesday, march 25, 1980
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Ska, reggae, dub influence P.B.R. Band's sound
liy Patti Wieser
Seven men, under the influence of Don Drummond,
Huey Smith and Frankie Lymon, produced predominant
ly reggae and ska sounds last week at Lincoln's Zoo Bar.
Pat's Blue Riddim Band, from Lawrence, Kan., formed
about a year ago, said Scott Korchak, lead vocalist and
trumpet player.
Their roots, Korchak said, are with Sam Cooker and
Otis Redding, with heavy influence from jazz on the Blue
Note label. Bob Zohn, lead vocalist, guitarist and drum
mer, said he was influenced by Ben E. King of the Drift
ers, Soloman Burke, Jackie Wilson and Reggae Toasters,
Big Youth and U. Roy.
The band plays four styles; reggae, calypso, ska and
dub, Korchak said. Ska, he said, is rock 'n roll and filtered
down through New Orleans and Miami. It was started in
1959, was influenced by Fats Domino and was basically
created by Don Drummond, a trombonist. Ska is what
reggae evolved from.
Zohn said ska "is what happened in Jamaica when they
started playing their own music," adding that it was a
"converted boogie-woogie kind of shuffle."
Korchak and tenor saxophonist and percussionist Jack
Blackett talked about dub. They said the band tries to get
a live dub sound. Dub, they said, is the dropping in and
out of instrumentation. Different combinations of instru
ments are played at different times.
Korchak said band members became interested in
reggae when they first heard it in 1974 and 1975. Al
though the band members have known one another for 10
years, this combination occurred about a year ago, he
added.
Pat's Blue Riddim' Band tries to appeal to everyone
and keep everyone dancing," he said.
"New wave is opening the door for us," Korchak said.
"A lot of people haven't heard anything other than Bob
Marley and we try to give them more."
Zohn, formerly with K.C. and the Sunshine band, is
from Fort Lauderdale. He came to Kansas City seven
years ago and played with Rhythm Function, a band that
contained most of the people in the P.B.R. band, he said.
Zohn said he has played all types of music, adding that
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the first recording he ever listened to was Crazy Alan
Crazy by Bill Haley and the Comets.
I lis list of influences goes from Bobby Bland to the
Beatles to Dion to the Beach Boys.
Pat Pearce, keyboard player, said even Beethoven
affected him musically.
The keyboardist said the band has played in Memphis,
Tulsa, Wichita, Omaha, Leavenworth, Topeka and Arkan
sas. The response has been "real good," particularly at
places they've played at more than once, he said. He said
they are headed for Miami next.
Pearce said the band hasn't recorded anything yet but
plans to do a small recording in April and release about
4,000 copies.
Other band members are: Steve McLane, drums and
bass; Steve Prince, guitar; and Andy Myers, bass and trom
bone; Jack Allen runs the sound.
Waiters' reggae is
fun, captivating
By Michael Zangari
Invariably, when late night conversations turn to
reggae, someone will chuckle over the fact that everyone
was claiming that it would sweep the country in short
order. It is the same sort of gleeful attitude that is now
being used to bury disco-and ignorantly so.
The impact that disco has had on all popular music is
something you will not have to look very far for. Some
Girls by the Stones, The Wall by Pink Boyd, and even
Led Zeppelin's In Through The Out Door have marked
disco influences with their boosted bass and drum tracks.
Photo by Tom Gecsner
Members of Pat's Blue Riddim' Band try to keep everybody dancin' at the Zoo Bar last week. They are, from left;
Bob Zohn, Andy Myers, Scott Korchak and Jack Blackett.
Reggae's influences, although much more subtle have
also permeated popular music. Whether it is the outright
reggae of the Police, or the almost subliminal reggae strut
on the Eagle's Hotel California, it has made a mark on
how popular tunes are put together.
Outside of the brilliant soundtrack to the film The
Harder They Come, probably the most visible of the real
reggae artists is Bob Marley, and his band, the Wailers.
The Wailers' albums are marked by the things most
people associate with reggae music-a heavy Jamaican
cultural leaning with gentle walking rhythms and strongly
religious and political overtones in a Rastafarian mode. It
sounds deceptively simple, but the music employs odd
rhythm techniques, including a series of false starts and
stops that make the music fun, but somewhat difficult to
play.
Continued on Page 9
World's oldest writing trick fools readers again
By Peg Sheldrick
"I should be writing."
"So? Write."
"Ha! If only it were that easy."
"Then don't write."
"But I have to. The deadline is coming up.?'
"Well, then write."
"You're right. I should. I really should ... Do you
think there's anything good on cablevision?"
"I thought you were going to write."
"You're right. That's what I should be doing. But what
I will undoubtedly end up doing is talking about writing
Oh look, Dream ofJeanie. "
humor
"But you hate that show."
"I sure do. God, even the theme music drives me up
the wall . . ."
"So why are you watching it?"
"Oh, masochism. Laziness. The usual."
"I think you're just trying to avoid doing anything."
Procrastination
"I don't think that. I know that. I know me. I know
that as long as there is a minute left before deadline and
breath in my body I will avoid doing anything. Not only
that. I will talk about avoiding doing anything, and that
becomes a thing in itself. Allows my conscience to let off
steam. Otherwise it might work itself up into a full head
of responsibility and I'd probably end up doing some
thing." "And we couldn't have that."
"Oh we could, but we won't. I know me."
"Well what do you think the problem is?"
"Well ... I'm having trouble finding ideas."
"And you think garbage TV will give you ideas?"
"No, it will take them away, so I won't care that I
don't have any. Sort of Bke two fers, y'know?"
"I think you should turn off the TV."
Time to write
"You're right. There. Now I should go write. I really
should."
"Then why did you just pick up that magazine?"
"Ideas. I'm looking for ideas."
"Are you sure that's kosher?"
"I'm not going to do what you're thinking. I'm just
looking for inspiration. Like something that will make me
mad."
"How about if I stomp on your foot?"
"No, no. I'm talking about some cause. Some injustice.
Some spark that will, that will kindle the literary fires
within me and blaze onto the page into a glorious inferno
of incendiary prose."
"They left the crossword puzzle out of the paper last
week."
Fight for cause
. "No, no, no. I mean some cause celebre, some issue to
bravely choose a side of, some reason to take a firm if un
popular stand and fight for with all the ink in my pen and
blood in my veins."
"IU see if we have any out in the kitchen."
"Hey, here's something. Listen to this. "Chairman Lucy
Bates says blah blah blah.' "
"Huh?"
"Chairman! They called her chairman."
"Oh. And you want them to say 'chairperson.' "
"What's wrong with 'chairwoman?' "
"That's your idea of a big issue?"
"It's the tip of .a whole linguistic iceberg. Besides,
if you give up on skirmishes, how do you expect to win
the war?"
Passing fists
"I thought you were a pacifist."
"I'm going to pass my fist to you in about a minute."
"Don't get testy. Get busy. Write."
"Well ... On second thought, it's too big an issue. I
could never give it adequate coverage or give it the scope
it would need. Nope, 111 have to find something else. I
wonder what's on now? What time it is?"
"What time is your deadline?"
"Right. Time to stop all this fooling around and get
down to it."
"Put down the nespaper."
"But I need "
"You heard me. Now pick up that pencil."
"It's not sharp."
"Pick it up."
"I need coffee."
"Now write!"
"About what?"
"How about not 'having anything to write about?"
"Are you kidding? That's the oldest, cheesiest trick in
the book. Talk about tacky. No, I think 111 watch the
Beverly Hillbillies and see if anything comes to me."