NICK MANASSEH – ARTIST PROFILE
June 15th, 2006 by rui
MANASSEH SOUND SYSTEM EARLY DAYS
Manasseh first played out at Notting Hill Carnival 1985. The sound was literally finished that Sunday and they found someone with a vehicle pass and blagged some power off somebody in McGregor Rd and then played all that day, and in a basement flat across the road, all that night. Although this was the beginning of a Sound System, it was also the culmination of a good few years of planning and hoping. The speakers were all hand made and the amps and pre-amp were custom built by the veteran amp builder ‘Jah Tubbys’. Right from the start their sound was specialised in Roots Reggae Music. Although they play all types of reggae and always have done, the roots is where they’re coming from and is the reason why they started the sound, (especially in the middle eighties when Roots music was not being heard). The original crew consisted of Nick as the Selector and Operator, Eddie as the box designer / Tech, and Billy T as the overseer and voice of reason. Based in West London, Shepherds Bush, it wasn’t long before they were playing all kinds of parties and blues around the place.
It was when Manasseh hooked up with Femi and the brothers Joey and Norman Jay that they started to provide Reggae music at some big warehouse parties in the middle to late 80s. Apart from playing at some great nights and finally making a bit of money, the association had one big consequence: Joey and Norman got them a late night show on the pirate station Kiss FM.
MANASSEH ON KISS FM
began in February 1987 after Nick and Jeremy Armstrong returned from a trip to Jamaica loaded up with rare oldies, brand new music and some dubplates from King Tubbys. The new show ran from 3am to 7am or whenever somebody else turned up! Along with Joey Jay’s Sunday evening show these were the first hardcore roots shows on the radio and their popularity revolutionized Manasseh as a sound system.
Manasseh was now playing to the people who wanted to hear and started to do some big Roots dances. In 1988 they clashed with the mighty Jah Shaka which was a big dance and a memorable night in Hackney. We also played three dances with Jah Warrior, sessions with Coxsone, Observer, Jah Tubbys, Fatman, Abbashanti and again with Shaka and even Soul 2 Soul inna dubwise style.
Kiss FM finally went legal and on air in September 1990 and until early 99 they did the late Saturday night 3 till 6 slot. With various changes of personnel the final Manasseh Djs on Kiss in 1999 were Nick Manasseh, Eddie Rocksteady, Oxman and Jeremy “Equalizer” Armstrong . Manasseh’s and Joey Jay’s shows helped to create the climate for today’s Roots Scene with new artists like Luciano, Sizzla and Garnet Silk becoming massively popular; as well as huge interest being generated in revival Roots music, their now being an important re-issue 45 industry based in Jamaica and several labels in the UK re-issuing hard to get LPs and compilations (Blood & Fire, Pressure Sounds etc). We hear of Manasseh radio tapes from all over the world and know of vast collections going back years; it’s quite common to meet somebody of 25 who has listened to the show since they were 13 or 14!
NICK MANASSEH PRODUCTION
Manasseh began producing music for sound system exclusives around 1986 and after hooking up with Scruff Guilder in 1987 started to concentrate on a particular project, which eventually became Sound Iration in Dub. The first single “Seventh Seal” was cut on the 8/8/88 and was big on the Roots scene, and was widely credited with being the first new wave UK dub track. The album was released in March 1989 on W.A.U. Mr. Modo records, a label which was the brainchild of Alex Patterson and Youth. The album sold well and the label went on to release some other notable Roots/dub albums produced by me and Scruff such as Tena Stelin’s first LP “Wicked Invention” (a vocal set to S.I. in Dub); Lidj Incorporated: Black Liberation and the Dub album to it as well as various singles.
In the early 90s Manasseh set up Riz Label along with Gil Cang, Eddie Rocksteady and Mak Gilchrist. The first releases were Orville Smith’s Leaving Rome, Bob Skeng’s Education and Earl 16′s Natural Roots. 16′s track went very well and the label quickly established itself as one of the leading UK roots labels. Other big things on Riz were Admiral Tibet “Permission”, Marcella French “Be Still” and Manasseh meets the Equalizer “Soul Jah” from the album Dub The Millennium. Riz is still occasionally active, more recently releasing 45s with Johnny Osbourne (Rise Up) and Devon Russell (Underground), although the momentum and vibe were dampened due to unrelated personal issues.
When Riz released the Manasseh meets the Equalizer LP on vinyl a lot of interest was generated and the album was soon licensed to Acid Jazz records who were getting into putting out some roots music and tuned into the slightly jazzy flavour of the record. This began a period of major label interest in Manasseh productions with Columbia/Sony releasing Danny Red’s album “Riddimwise” in 1994 (co-produced with Pepe Acunzo and Martin Madhatter). B.M.G became involved when Manasseh met up with the Stereo Mcs and their manager Keith Cooper to sign a deal for a more leftfield dub record for their new label Natural Response which was in itself signed to B.M.G. This project became “Spectre : The Missing Two Weeks” and was recorded solo by me with James Style as the vibemaster and overseer. This was recently re-issued by Echo Beach records based in Hamburg. Another Manasseh meets the Equalizer album for Acid Jazz came out in late 96 called “Shining” and although a great piece of work it suffered a lot from the problems which troubled that label and led to its (temporary?) demise. Both the Manasseh meets the Equalizer LPs were released in America on Hollywood records and are still available. Manasseh and Jeremy Equalizer have recently finished a new album and have just lined up a deal for it . The last record out was the Skenga EP , which features some music from the new album , and which mashed up the place in the summer of 99 . Manasseh also work as a producer and remixer and recently produced an album for one of Portugal’s top bands. Remixes are too numerous to list but labels worked with recently include: Guidance (Chicago), Interchill (Canada), Soundtrees (London) and Butterfly / Dubtrees (London). A full (ish) discography is available. SPRING 2002 – 10″ on Impact / Jammyland from New York ” Forward the Bass “, and a 10″ on P.I.A.S. records Super Discount – “Prix Choc- Manasseh real cloudy mix”
MANASSEH NOW
Manasseh stopped playing on their actual sound system a few years ago , partly because of losing some equipment but really because most of their work did not involve using their own sound and if they need one, they often use RDK sound from Brixton. When they play now, it’s Nick selecting with, usually, Brother Culture on the mic.
Manasseh now play all over Europe and the UK. Having played at Rodigan’s Reggae as resident for a year and a half (99-2001), they now play this night at Subterrania occasionally and play in Edinburgh, Dublin, Derry, Brighton and Manchester all 1, 2 or 3 times a year. Manasseh also do one off nights in Paris with the Dub Action crew and toured Germany and Austria through September and October 2001 alongside the Blood and Fire sound. There are occasional Social Centre gigs in Italy (Rome, Milan) and Portugal: Lisbon & Porto.
Manasseh are also regulars at 100%Dynamite; a night run by Soul Jazz records and related to that great series of compilations of the same name. Through the spring of 2002 they also played at a great series of nights for Earl Gateshead at Plastic People in London, Dj-ing as well as selecting the tracks for some heavyweight P.A.s by Big Youth, Little Roy and Junior Delgado. At the Souljazz B’day bash in 2001, Manasseh selected for Horace Andy and then did the same show with 100% Dynamite in Dundee. Going back to the early 90s, Manasseh played the first ever night at London’s Dub Club and has continued to play there since.
