CHUNE

Riddim: Tenement Yard

Producer: The Lewis Brothers

Fifteen years before the song “Bad Boys” would be released¹, Inner Circle was a very different sounding band—especially for the years they had the inimitable Jacob Miller on vocals. This song was credited to Miller alone, though, and has endured as a song about the general hassles he endured living in an urban setting.

Dreadlocks can’t smoke him pipe in peace
Too much informer and too much beast
Too much susu-susu-susu, too much watchy-watchy-wah
Too much susu-susu-susu, too much watchy-watchy-wah…

This proved to be such a popular message and track that the following year Miller released “Too Much Imitator” over the same riddim with the same melody—basically voicing a dubplate, but for general release.

Dreadlocks can’t sing him song in peace
As him do one, 50 more release
…
You say that you are the gorgon
But only dread tune you leap pon
Too much imita-a-a-a-a-tion
Too much folla-folla-folla-folla faaaa…

You gotta respect it.

Additional Listening:

• Miller perfoming “Tenement Yard” in the movie Rockers: There’s more to be written about the 1978 film in future posts. For now, enjoy Miller in his prime, along with Inner Circle and the film’s star, Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, on drums. (Miller would perish in a car crash in 1980.)

• Dillinger, “Babylon Yard” (1976) One of the biggest follow-ups to Miller’s original; that’s Johnny Clarke singing, with Dillinger coming in to DJ and The Aggrovators on the track.

• Jacob Miller, “Baby I Love You So” (1974): Probably Miller’s best-known track, recorded with Augustus Pablo; the dub version of this would become the title track for the iconic album King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown.

1. And, in one of history’s great ironies, become the theme song to Cops. ↩︎