Lone Ranger – D.J. Daddy

1984, Techniques

In the book “The Small Axe Reggae Album Guide: Deejays”, reviewers Joakim Kalcidis and Ray Hudford lament the financial un-viability of this album due to Lone Ranger fading out of popularity in favour of new stars like Josey Wales and Charlie Chaplin, writing “It could have been the best deejay LP of all time and it would not have mattered”. Which is an interesting way of putting it, because it very nearly is. D.J. Daddy is full of everything that makes dancehall great, the mix is just perfect, the riddims are hard (Winston Riley & Roots Radics inna highly refined ’84 stylee), and Lone Ranger still has as many lyrics and as sharp a tongue as he did in his first LP seven years earlier. Lyrically the contents are quite different to his previous works, roots & culture make way for anthem tunes (D.J. Daddy, Big Everytime, Style And Fashion) and girls tunes (Jennifer Lee, Look How She Fat), then Me And Yvette saddled between the two topics and Susan A Gorgon I will leave for yourself to listen to. And between all that is the miscellaneous bit sand pieces, special mention to Walkman Connection, a lighter tune, for showcasing once again how simple a lyrical concept can be in dancehall, and how far that can go.

In 2005 this album was re-packaged together with the Ranger’s ’81 LP “Rosemarie”, another masterpiece, and although the tracklist is kind of all over the place it is probably not a bad way to experience both albums – if you like one you’ll surely like the other. Before I finish this article I have to take a moment to mention the mix on this record again – for casual listeners it might seem like a minor detail, and if you have experienced rock music remasters and been thoroughly disappointed then try putting this record on back-to-back after his 1982 LP “Badda Dan Dem”. The difference is truly night and day. In 80’s dancehall there are only a handful of records that have yet to age a day in the realm of mix, audio fidelity, D.J. Daddy is one. Probably THE one. “Winner, gwaan!”

My picks: Jennifer Lee, Susan A Gorgon, Look How She Fat, Me And Yvette, Walkman Connection
Bim count: 27