MONTEGO BAY SOUND SYSTEMS
We have collected together all our recordings of the Ticka Musik sound system which operated, and still does to this day, out of Montego Bay. We are not sure when the set actually started but one of these early recordings indicates that it was probably around 1980-81.
On the first couple of recordings the selector is Chungy Napthali but from about 1983 onwards it was Daddy Harold, aka Dirty Harry, who controlled the music.
Ticka Musik was one of the major sounds active in the Montego Bay area in the eighties. Others included Ghetto International, Electro Force, Pisces and two of Jamaica’s largest sets African Symbol and Kangol.
Mo Bay boasted deejays like Briggy Levi, Peter St Patrick, Sonny Ranking, now a well known entertainment promoter, Mr Pants, Ippy Ranking aka Lappa Leng, Jockey Rider and the late Papa Richie could all regularly be found holding the mic on the bigger sounds in Jamaica’s second city, Montego Bay.
Ticka Musik @ Ugem Lawn, Mount Salem, Montego Bay, St James, circa August 1981
Peter St Patrick, Briggy Levi, Danny Dread
Selector – Chungy Napthali
“This early Ticka Musik session in Mount Salem cost a mere $2 Ja for a whole evenings entertainment. And for that you get to hear two of Ticka’s stalwart deejays, Peter St Patrick and Briggy Levy handling things. The selection, chosen by Napthali, consisted of tunes by singers like Sammy Dread, Sugar Minott and Dennis Brown, mixed with their Studio 1 originals. Danny Dread pops up all too briefly with “Gwan A School” but for the most part it’s left to Peter St Patrick, with “Mo Bay People A No Country People” and the talented Briggy Levi, who excels on “Stonebreaking” and “Natty Know Him Structure”, to ram the dance.”
Ticka Musik @ Anchovy, St James, 14th November 1982
Peter St Patrick, Sonny Ranking, Briggy Levi, Pants
Selector – Chungy Napthali
“This time Sonny Ranking and his spar, Pants, join Briggy Levi and Peter St Patrick to bring the reggae vibes to Anchovy, a small town south of Montego Bay, late in the year of 1982. Briggy Levi again stars with some rootsman chat in conscious pieces like “Send Another Moses”, “Nah Cut Me Natty” and “No Fuss Nah Fight” over the evergreen Studio 1 “Jah Shakey” riddim. Napthali throws a Sammy Dread/Eek A Mouse dubplate special “Play Papa Ticka” into the mix and a topical Sonny Ranking comments on the unrest in the world in “Riot In Brixton”.
Ticka Musik @ La Ronda Club, Cambridge, Montego Bay, St James, August 1983
Briggy Levi, Sonny Ranking
Selector – Daddy Harold
“It’s “2 the Hard Way” in this Ticka session at La Ronda Club in the Canterbury area of Mo Bay. For the first half of the tape Briggy Levi rides a selection of tune from the likes of Sugar Minott, Johnny Osbourne and Frankie Jones, leaving the second half to Sonny Ranking, a good mic talker who learnt his trade from Bobby Culture on Jack Ruby’s set, and he shows his style and fashion with “Home Sweet Home” and “In A Dis” over nuff Dennis Brown dub cuts.
Ticka Musik @ Billie Jean Club, Top Road, Little London, Westmoreland 1983
General Jah Mikey
Selector – Daddy Harold
“General Jah Mikey, a veteran of the Papa Roots sound, has made the journey from Kingston to Westmoreland to guest on the Ticka Musik set and he sounds right at home at the Billie Jean Club in Little London. With lyrics ranging from “Rasta Boogie”, “Ticka Hold Them”, “Lyrics A Flow” through to “Chalice A Fi Burn” and “El Paso”, a confident Jah Mikey is in full control. On the selection front Daddy Harold groups together big tunes from Horace Ferguson, Frankie Jones, Carlton Livingston and Anthony Johnson.”
Ticka Musik @ Flankers, Montego Bay, St James 1984
Jockey Rider, Papa Richie, Sonny Ranking
Selector – Daddy Harold
“Live from the Flankers area of Montego Bay and this one features some of Mo Bay’s top deejays. The crowd roar when Jockey Rider decides to “Flash It In A Flankers Style” and he continues impressively throughout, adding more lyrics like “Bobo Dread”, “You See Me” and “Jockey Still Deh Ya”. He’s helped by Papa Richie, briefly, and Sonny Ranking who gives us a run down on all the latest dance moves in “A Di Dancehall Vibes”.
Ticka Musik @ Canterbury, Montego Bay, St James, circa January 1985
Super Cat, Tonto Irie, Jockey Rider, Sonny Ranking, Bobby Zarro, Echo Minott, Blacka
Selector – Daddy Harold
“This time out Ticka have two of Jamaica’s top ranking deejays in the shape of Tonto Irie and Super Cat guesting on their sound. Tonto Irie has starred in the past on Black Star and more recently the King Jammy’s set, he entertains the Canterbury crowd with ”Talking Pigeon” and “Drop Off A Shape”. The “Apache” Cat is a seasoned veteran too, sending out special requests to all Mo Bay-ites and coming strong with “Why Babylon No Like Ganjaman” over the version to Barrington Levy’s monster tune “Under Mi Sensi”. The tape is only a C45 but as Blacka here says, “Ticka Mek Yu Dance Pon Yu Toe”.
