Rebel Base

In september 2004 I started writing for the music magazine REWIND. 3R Magazine and RifRaf musiczine soon followed. Now I'm mainly writing for the Flemish reggae portal website Reggae.be and the world music blog Tropicalidad.be. The interviews I did and still do for them, are republished here. Enjoy!

INTERVIEW JUNIOR MURVIN HANDELSBEURS 10/2004

Forever and a day, Junior Murvin's name will be synonymous with his biggest hit single 'Police And Thieves'. Fact is the man has one of the most remarkable voices in reggae music, even though he'd rather avoid using the term "falsetto"...

Your unmistakeable falsetto voice is still as strong as ever. Is there anything you do to protect it or to train it?
Junior Murvin: "I'm not criticising music schools or anything but I have a 'real-setto', not false. Anything false can not come from your body. So I correct that: it is a 'real-setto'! I'm a disciplined singer.  I do things that are disciplined: I jog, I don't smoke, I don't drink, I don't have a lot of women, I go to bed early and I keep singing and basically I'm talented from God."
One of the main influences on your singing-style was Curtis Mayfield (just as it was for Bob Marley, red.). Why exactly Curtis Mayfield?
Junior Murvin: "Well all singers like Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye, Sammy Davis Jr., Sam Cook, Billy Epstein...I could go on and one... inspired me from when I was a little child; but Curtis Mayfield was a spiritual singer. He sang for the people, to help them to live better. He was an American type roots singer. All black men come from the same root. So spiritually and musically Curtis Mayfield came to Bob and to me."
Lee Perry already prophesised it a long time ago: "'Police And Thieves' will never die!", but what does this song mean to you? Has it been your blessing or more of a curse?
Junior Murvin: "That song is a song that just came to me. It was like a messenger sent that to me, an angel. And the rest is history. I went to Lee Perry and we sorted it out together. It's like an angel put melodies in my head, because sometimes I sing songs and don't even know the impact until afterwards. And it was like that with ‘Police And Thieves', they called it a social comment."
On that topic, the song was definitely actual back then but it doesn't seem that much has changed?
Junior Murvin: "Worldwide now and more even. A new generation is also catching on to it. I'm doing a lot of college-shows now, so I'm singing to a whole new generation. And it makes me feel very good inside to be able to do that. My interest is to uplift human beings to the highest heights!"
Can you recall your time with Lee Perry and how he was to work with?
Junior Murvin: "When I went to Lee Perry, he rated me very high. He told me one time I reminded him of Bob. Bob was influenced by Curtis Mayfield and by Lee Perry too. And with me that came right back. So when I did 'Police And Thieves' Scratch said: "Well this youth sound like Curtis Mayfield!"  He is a great producer and he thought me a lot. What he did was good, the 'Police And Thieves' album is still selling!"
Tonight we saw you working together with Mad Professor. Is that a one time thing or are you collaborating more?
Junior Murvin: "We have more gigs coming up. Mad Professor is another great producer. I will be doing some work with him in the future. When Sir Coxsone Dodd died, I was working with him on an album called 'Facts Of Life', which shall be released pretty soon. I'm also working on my own album together with Devon Bradshaw, who used to back Garnett Silk. It will be titled: 'I'm Still Around'."
A more than appropriate title it seems (laughter). Talking about your records, you released a whole string of albums in the seventies and eighties, but, except for ‘Police And Thieves', they are very hard to find. What's happened there?
Junior Murvin: "What really happened is that the producers that I recorded these albums for, never really understood how to market them properly. For example I did a record for Mikey Dread called 'Bad Man Posse'. It went to number one in the Black Echo charts in 1981. But bad marketing stopped it from selling. 'Police And Thieves' did so well partly because Chris Blackwell knew a lot a bout marketing reggae properly and also because that tune went internationally. It was in the British charts. Boy George covered it, it was in about five movies, Luciano did a version, George Nooks did a version, the Clash did a version..."
In closing, do you have any special words for the readers of this interview?
Junior Murvin: "Yes...you people keep on doing what you are doing for reggae. I'm so very happy that people like you can help us to push reggae further. May God bless you!"