Feb. 2016 [7inch] 3titles Released!
DSR-RN7-10
Stephen Chang - Always Together / Sam Carty - Rich Man, Poor Man
The BMN label was started by Ronnie Nasralla who was born in to a rich Lebanese family, the name taken from the initials of group names that he was managing at the time, the Blues Busters and the Maytals, with his own at the end, thus BMN. He also ran Sunshine and Soul labels. Ronnie’s aim in music industry was to support a number of artists who had not been treated well by the producers, and gave them half of the profit which was extremely rare compare to then industry standard in Jamaica.
A descendant of a venerable family, Ronnie is related to an American pop singer, Paul Anka, and one of his old friends is Edward Seaga who later became Jamaican Prime Minister. He also went to school with Byron Lee and together they started the Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.
Blessed with lots of talents and long legs, Ronnie started to cut a brilliant figure in show business, dancing, acting, marketing, and sports such as cricket, football, badminton, squash, rackets, tennis, baseball, softball, fencing etc, he also made a great effort for Kingston’s show business scene.
Many people remember him on the cover art of the Byron Lee produces Ska LP and booklet “Dance The Ska”, in which he was lecturing how to dance to Ska in pictures and comments. By the way, the dancing couple is Ronnie and Mrs. Byron Lee, Shiela who is a descendant of Federal Records’ Kouri family.
This project took place as they wanted to show Minister of Culture at the time, Edward Seaga the West Kingston’s Ska scene, so they could possibly get an official Jamaican government promotion for Ska music. Joined by three executives from Atlantic Records, USA, they organized a special dance at the uptown nightclub, Glass Bucket. After that they flew over to States to introduce Jamaican culture, the Ska Dance on TV and famous nightclubs.
The very first James Bond film, “007 Dr. No” was notably shot in Kingston. In this epic, there is a scene where Byron Lee could be seen playing with the band in a nightclub, which was produced by Ronnie himself. Incidentally, he appears as a dancer dancing along the Mule Train’s Count Prince Miller. Ronnie tells a story behind the scene “Then obscure Bob Marley came for the audition. However he didn’t fit the role so we failed him. Ain’t that funny?” It seems he was involved in organizing other scenes apart from this.
Few years later, then-future president Edward Seaga who had a great interest in music launched West Indies Record Limited (WIRL) and sold it to George Benson several years later. However Edward Seaga didn’t own a studio back then, so Ronnie was approached to build one and he did it along with Graham Goodall in the back yard of WIRL. Later on, he sold the whole facilities to Byron Lee and finally, these became Dynamic Sounds, the international studio where everybody from local artists to big names like Rolling Stones recorded.
Ronnie used to sing and play percussions in early years of his musical career, although since bands were constantly on tour and having had a passion for playing sports, he eventually quit being a musician and devoted himself to artist management.
According to Mr. Nasralla, he would never agree with drugs. Toots Hebbert got arrested by possession of marijuana while he was riding a bicycle and ended up in Richmond Farm prison. Ronnie spoke to the administrator of the prison to “conduct a Byron Lee ‘s show in prison and Toots played the guitar and sang there. It was quite fun.” 2 years later when Toots was freed from the prison, Ronnie approached him to record a song that he wrote in prison and suggested him that it should be about his prisoner identification number, 54-46. Toots disagreed because “everybody would know I was in prison” but Mr. Nasralla answered him that “it wouldn’t be a problem because everybody knows it already” and turn him down. They recorded the song at Leslie Kong’s studio and “it was a big hit because I produced it” said Mr. Nasralla.
His main jobs were advertising and marketing, managing many artists. Eventually he established Jamaica Federation of Musicians along with Byron Lee and Sonny Bradshaw, for musicians who worked for long hours without getting any drink or meals supplied at nightclubs and created innovative new rules like setting the working hours to 5 hour maximum with drinks and meals, drafting a contract and paying half of their salary in advance. If there was a nightclub that treated musicians badly, he even stepped in and forced to close the place.
With all these facts, it’s quite reasonable to think that he made a high level of contribution to the music industry with different approach from others.
What he thinks the most important is to save artists who were exploited from other producers. It was clearly seen in himself when we approached him to offer a publishing deal, as he contacted Llans Thelwell whom he hadn’t seen for decades and they came a long way to attend the meeting.
Mr. Nasralla is a great gentleman whom Jamaica must be proud of and he was recently honored as Tribute To The Great. It’s great to know that his contribution has been paid off.
We highly recommend his autobiography.
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DSR-RN7-10 |
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Side A) Stephen Chang - Always Together |
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Side B) Sam Carty - Rich Man, Poor Man |
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Extremely rare rocksteady masterpiece recorded in 1967. Curiously sang in Chinese, this novelty record was originally pressed and spread within the Chinese commynity in Jamaica. Even though comparing to its entire population this island has exceptionally high rate of musical recordings, this could possibly be the only verified track solely sang in Chinese. One that has always been spoken about due to its oddity and should be succeeded eternally. |
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7inch Vinyl |
| Product Number:
DSR-RN7-10 |
| Approx. year:
1967 |
| On Sale! |
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DSR-RN7-09 |
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Side A) The Maytals - Bam Bam |
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Side B) Sir Lord Comic - Ska-ing West |
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7inch Vinyl |
| Product Number:
DSR-RN7-09 |
| Approx. year:
1966 |
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DSR-RN7-08 |
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Side A) David Isaacs - I'd Rather Be Lonely |
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Side B) David Isaacs - See That Man |
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7inch Vinyl |
| Product Number:
DSR-RN7-08 |
| Approx. year:
1966 |
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DSR-RN7-07 |
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Side A) Byron Lee & The Dragonaires - Frankenstein |
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Side B) Byron Lee & The Dragonaires - Musical Pressure |
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7inch Vinyl |
| Product Number:
DSR-RN7-07 |
| Approx. year:
1966 |
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DSR-RN7-06 |
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Side A) The Blues Busters - There's Always Sunshine |
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Side B) The Maytals - Sometimes (Love Is A Special Feeling) |
A magnificent Rocksteady piece in one-off style sang by one of the groups that represent the golden age of Ska.
Since the number of their recordings decreased devastatingly after the Ska era, this truly is a rare Rocksteady made in its top form with the veteran’s dignity.
In addition, this is the own Rocksteady cover version of one of their first ever recordings at the Coxsone’s in 1960. |
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7inch Vinyl |
| Product Number:
DSR-RN7-06 |
| Approx. year:
1967 |
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DSR-RN7-05 |
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Side A) The Blues Busters - Soon You'll Be Gone |
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Side B) The Blues Busters - I Don't Know |
Another smash hit Ska masterpiece by the Blues Busters, the superstar duo who had been dominating the Jamaican pop music industry since the 50’s!!
Covering the American hits as their specialty, the popular group had left a number of Jamaican souls, although only a few ska hits.
Out of those few, this is undoubtedly another one of the most considerable tunes they had left. An excellent singing melody sparkles on top of the Byron Lee’s iconic softly touched bass line. |
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7inch Vinyl |
| Product Number:
DSR-RN7-05 |
| Approx. year:
1964 |
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DSR-RN7-04 |
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Side A) The Blues Busters - I Won't Let You Go |
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Side B) The Blues Busters - Love Me Forever |
The big hit Ska classic everybody loves, sang by one of the top groups of the 60’s!!
Along with the Maytals and the Wailers, the Blues Busters were one of the top groups at the time, however commercially they were going more of a mainstream than the others.
Since their career goes way back in the late 50’s, they must have been idolized by so many of those who made their debut later in the Ska era.
This is an essential mainstream Ska classic by the brilliantly skilled duo in their best form backed by no other than Byron Lee. |
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7inch Vinyl |
| Product Number:
DSR-RN7-04 |
| Approx. year:
1964 |
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DSR-RN7-03 |
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Side A) Llans Thelwell & His Celestials - Golden Horns |
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Side B) Llans Thelwell & His Celestials - Choo Choo Ska |
The Celestials trademarked imminent sound can be heard in this elegiac killer Ska instrumental!!
The bang on titled ‘Golden Horns’ representing the music itself. If they were ever based in Kingston, they may have had more opportunities for recordings which might have changed the history of Ska music. Such a great band indeed.
Although it’s still quite a tune, it may sound a little monotonous on the flip side, showing Thelwell’s personal affection for Carlos Malcolm’s band. |
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7inch Vinyl |
| Product Number:
DSR-RN7-03 |
| Approx. year:
1965 |
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DSR-RN7-02 |
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Side A) Llans Thelwell & His Celestials - Jive Samba |
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Side B) Busty Brown, Llans Thelwell & His Celestials - Pick Up The Pieces |
The Cannonball Adderley’s famous Jazz classic beautifully covered into Afro Caribbean Jazz masterpiece.
This precious piece digs into depth of the Jamaican music to show unique side of the history. Due to their regular appearances in hotels at Montego Bay, it is reasonable to understand that the band had a range of repertoire other than Ska. The MC's hype heard right after the riff interprets the excitement of the session and creates a great atmosphere.
Matching the original release, backed with a prime Jamaican Soul by talented Busty Brown who later recorded with Lee Perry. |
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7inch Vinyl |
| Product Number:
DSR-RN7-02 |
| Approx. year:
1965 |
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DSR-RN7-01 |
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Side A) Llans Thelwell & His Celestials - Mughead Ska |
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Side B) Llans Thelwell & His Celestials - Free For All |
One of the most wanted Ska titles to date, this is an ultimate killer Ska instrumental for all DJs.
An exclusive reissue of the utterly rare and unique title amongst all the Ska instrumentals! Some say the title of this super killer masterpiece was taken from the musician Barry Malcolm’s nickname “Mughead”.
Backed with an excellent B-side ‘Free For All’just like the original release. There are no more instructions needed for this great release! |
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7inch Vinyl |
| Product Number:
DSR-RN7-01 |
| Approx. year:
1965 |
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LP & CD Release
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| Llans Thelwell and The Celestials - Llans Plays It All |
1. Jive Samba
2. No Parking
3. Lonely Night
4. Pick Up The Pieces
5. Mughead Ska
6. Golden Horns
7. Choo Choo Ska
8. Free For All
9. Hanging Tree
10. El Bobo |
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Miraculously recorded in 1965 when Ska was at its best, this is one of the rarest and killer LP to date.
Llands Plays It All is constructed with a Caribbean coast vibe such as Ska, Jazz, Afto, R&B, Soul, Jump Up, Cha Cha Cha to name a few. However this killer Montegonian band is surprisingly tight, presenting second to none great performances. LP starts with “Jive Samba” by Cannonball Adderley, brilliantly arranged in the Afro-Caribbean Jazz style. Then moving on to some Jamaican R&B, to the featured track of the album “Mughead Ska”, a slightly longer version than the 7” cut (DSR-RN7-01), furthermore there is“Golden Horns”, this is an ultimate selection for all DJ’s and Selectors. This is definitely a must-have for shelves of the Jamaican music lovers.
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CD |
Product Number:
DSR-CD-003 |
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LP |
Product Number:
DSR-LP-003 |
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