Saturday, November 29, 2008
"Tumblin' Down," Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers (12/24/88)
One of the most perplexing, befuddling #1s of the entire decade - how in the world did a Marley, let alone one named Ziggy, go where no Marley had ever gone before: to the top of the U.S. R&B charts?! (The highest his father Bob ever got was #19, with 1977's "Exodus.") And of all people, the major assist came from Talking Heads' Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, who produced the Melody Makers' debut record. Mind you, they helped him make a pretty solid pop-reggae record - one which not only topped the R&B chart but also the college radio charts (which I'm pretty sure had never happened before or since). The excitement isn't in the record itself, but its existence and the heights it inexplicably scaled. B
One of the most perplexing, befuddling #1s of the entire decade - how in the world did a Marley, let alone one named Ziggy, go where no Marley had ever gone before: to the top of the U.S. R&B charts?! (The highest his father Bob ever got was #19, with 1977's "Exodus.") And of all people, the major assist came from Talking Heads' Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth, who produced the Melody Makers' debut record. Mind you, they helped him make a pretty solid pop-reggae record - one which not only topped the R&B chart but also the college radio charts (which I'm pretty sure had never happened before or since). The excitement isn't in the record itself, but its existence and the heights it inexplicably scaled. B
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