8: No.1 Station

When Marcus departed from Lee Perry's band, Lee had said to him "when a musician no longer works with me, I send them back." This thought percolated in Marcus's mind during his year long sabbatical and the idea grew that to 'go back' meant to go back to the roots of the music. 

He now started planning to form a new band specialising in playing traditional Ska, Rocksteady and Reggae - a sort of homage to the seminal Jamaican music that he'd grown up with. 

One of his neighbours had a home computer studio set up and he was also a superb saxophonist.

Marcus began laying down a couple of rhythms on Stuart Atkins' computer, recording new versions of some old Jamaican tracks - a Studio One standard, and a version of Ken Booth's Freedom Street. The tracks were laid, but before they could be finished the computer crashed and all the data was lost irretrievably. 

This prompted Marcus to reject computer technology and seek a return to recording on tape. He'd been chatting to a bass player nicknamed 'Donut' who had a music room set up in his spare bedroom with a four track recorder. Marcus proposed that they get together to build some demo recordings with a view to assembling a new band. Donut agreed, and the pair set to work on a new recording project. 

Marcus had the idea to use a mini-disc recorder to bounce the tracks onto, to reduce tape hiss and sound quality deterioration - usually a setback in four track recording. He also had the idea to play live drums using a hi-hat recorded from a programmed drum machine as the click track, and overdubbing live drums individually. This gave the drum sound a more realistic flavour than a drum machine, and although the results were imperfect, the recordings sounded quite authentic - like old records - and good enough for demo purposes.

The pair set about recording a series of ideas that Marcus built from scratch, getting Donut to overdub live bass lines. He would record the drums onto four tracks, mix them down to the mini disc, then bounce the mix onto one track and add keys, rhythm guitar and bass, then mix that rhythm onto the mini-disc, and repeat the process until the track was complete, and then Stuart - to whom Marcus had now given the nickname 'Stax' - would overdub sax and flute to Marcus's directions. 

Some results were quite compelling, and sounded passable for simple four track demo tapes - although this technique was very limited and no remixing was possible.

They laid down a series of cover versions of some classic Jamaican tracks, and Marcus experimented with some newly written material - more than enough for the basis of a set list. 

Marcus compiled an album's worth of material from these four track recordings, and then made a home-produced CD album titled 'House of Joy' to sell at gigs to raise funds. Marcus designed a label called Agitator, and made it to look like a beaten up old Blue Beat label to go with the 'old record' sound of the recordings. 

Donut had the idea to make a Ska version of Ghost Riders In The Sky, Marcus played the rhythm instruments and used coconut shells to emulate percussive horse hoof noises. Donut played bass and lead guitar, and Stax overdubbed Saxophone. The results were crude, but great fun. 

Armed with these low-fi recordings, Marcus then set about recruiting a group of musicians to form a new band. 

To start the ball rolling he had the idea to re-form an 'Upsetters 85' line up for a one-off gig at Club Ska at the Rayners Hotel in Rayners Lane West London to play the Battle of Armagideon rhythm tracks as a tribute to Lee Perry. He approached veteran Jamaican drummer Jah Bunny to play with them, and asked his former Upsetters bandmates Spike, Tarlok and Russ to join them, with Stax on the sax. The gig went down well, and this would be the catalyst and foundation for his new band. 

Marcus then asked the musicians, along with Donut on the bass, to form a new outfit (Spike was already tied to other projects), and he recruited the veteran Jamaican Alpha Boys School legend Eddie 'Tan Tan' Thornton - who he knew from acquaintance with Rico and the Jazz Jamaica band - to play trumpet. 

The musicians learned the new set from the rough demo tapes, and the new band was formed. Initially they'd thought of calling the band The Crazy Baldheads, but Marcus didn't like that name. He remembered one of his favourite DJ tracks from his youth club days that had the opening phrase "This is your number one station" and combined with the idea that the name No.1 Station would fit with the logo of the Studio One label this would make the visual identity of the band's logo instantly recognisable as being associated with 'old skool Jamaican music.'

Marcus decided to name the band No.1 Station.

The first gig was booked for an outdoor summer afternoon event at The Black Horse pub in Greenford, West London on August 11th 2001, and Marcus invited his good friend, DJ, and vintage record specialist Phil Etgart - who would later become his Hot Bomb Hi-Fi partner - to play the vinyl selection. The gig went down a storm. 

The band was launched. 

The band was now on the road, and it was in no time at all that an amazing offer arrived. Marcus was offered the chance to go on a European tour as Laurel Aitken's backing band. Although Marcus jumped at the offer, it wasn't quite so easy for some members to make the commitment. Jah Bunny  had differences with Laurel which were a part of the reason Laurel needed a new band, Donut and Russ both had work commitments that they couldn't abandon, and Tan Tan was busy with other projects too.

Marcus had specifically formed the band with the intention of having a flexible line-up. He'd experienced so many let-downs and disappointments in the past that he had decided that this time round it would be run entirely on his own terms, and if a musician couldn't make a gig he would get someone else to replace them with no personal malice or resentment involved. So it was that Marcus found himself assembling a virtually brand new set of musicians - only himself, Stax and Tarlok were available to commit to the tour from his original line up and he only had a fortnight to organise it all.

To replace Jah Bunny, Marcus recruited another amazingly talented Caribbean drummer - Ruben 'Sleepy' White. He borrowed the trumpet player from the band Intensified - Spadge - to fill Tan Tan's slot, and he asked Tarlok to play the keyboard. He was stuck for a bass player until one evening he was drinking in a local pub in Harrow when in walked another old acquaintance - "Bones" he said; "you can play the bass, do you fancy coming on a European tour in two weeks time?" 

The die was cast, and the next fortnight involved an intensive period of rehearsals, assisted by some of the members of Laurel's previous backing band Freetown, Tony Gethen and Steve Harris, who kindly lent their time to help the band in learning Laurel's repertoire.

The band flew out to Germany and embarked on the 'Easter Ska Jam 2002' which would take in gigs in East and West Germany, Italy and Switzerland. On the first show Laurel called Marcus into his dressing room to discuss the set. As with Lee Perry and Rico, the band had never rehearsed with the singer before. Marcus asked Laurel to make a set list. Laurel agreed with Marcus a list of songs they would perform, however when the band began to play, Laurel didn't call out one single song on the list. He said that "I like to keep the musicians on their toes." He was a truly hilarious guy.

The band managed to cope with this anarchic approach by the skin of their teeth, and the tour was a great success. 

Back in London more gigs came rolling in backing Laurel and with the band playing gigs of their own. Russ could no longer commit to the band's increasingly busy schedule, and Marcus's son Lee was brought in to play keyboards. Lee had been raised listening  to Reggae music, and had learned keyboards at school, so he fitted into the group instantly. Tan Tan introduced Trombonist Pete Lamont to the group, and this formed a steady band that worked together for the next series of gigs. The band backed various Jamaican artists during this time, including Winston Francis, Dennis Alcapone, Winston Reedy, and to Marcus's great delight they even got to play as backing group for the vocalist on Marcus's first record purchase Double Barrel - Dave Barker. 

This would also be the line up that Marcus took into Dougie Waldrop's Conscious Sounds recording studio in Dalston to record their first full-band album. Nine tracks were recorded over a week in Dougie's studio on sixteen track analogue tape, and Sleepy's two daughters added some sweet backing harmonies, billed as 'The No.1 Sisters.' 

Marcus released the album on his own Agitator label, using the No.1 Station logo imitating a Studio One label, and with its mixture of cover versions and original compositions the album went down really well with everyone who heard it. 

At a Skatalites gig at Dingwalls in Camden one night, Marcus gave a copy of the album to radio DJ Mark Lamarr, who was Dj at the gig, and that led to the band being invited to play a live session on his radio show on BBC Radio 2 - A great achievement that brought the band's name to a far wider audience..

The new album also gave the band further credibility with promoters, and Marcus pushed the band out to get more festival gigs. He had known Chris Tofu since the nineties when The Agitators had played at several squat parties and at the Exodus and Eclipse Festivals, so Chris was very receptive to booking No.1 Station. They started getting regular gigs at Small World squat parties and in 2003 made their debut appearances at Glastonbury Festival, playing on fringe stages at Lost Vagueness - the most outlandish and anarchic event in the fields of Worthy Farm. 

No.1 Station were soon established as firm festival favourites, and they loved every minute of it.  

The Blue Beat Revival

Outside of the festival circuit, Marcus was still evolving his concept of how the band should represent itself, and a recurring thought was emerging. He noticed that when people asked him what sort of music his band played, when he replied "Ska" they would often say things like "what, like Madness?" to which Marcus would have to explain that they were not a Madness tribute act, but were playing "Traditional Jamaican Ska, Rocksteady and Reggae" and the whole conversation would become quite tedious in attempting to explain the difference in musical style.

He remembered that when he first started collecting Reggae records in the early seventies, the older 'Mod' generation always referred to the music he was playing as 'Bluebeat Music' and this sparked in him the idea to rebrand his and other bands playing those traditional styles of Jamaican rhythmic music as a 'Bluebeat Revival' and allow the Post 2-Tone 'Ska' scene to evolve along its own trajectory without association. Marcus had long been toying with the idea of rebranding this 'Trad' music as 'Bluebeat' - indeed he had designed his first 'Agitator' label design to look like a battered old Blue Beat label. 

He began doing some research and soon discovered that one of the original founders of The Blue Beat Label was still alive and releasing his back catalogue music. Marcus decided that he needed to contact Siggy Jackson immediately.

Marcus phoned a number he found on the internet, and Siggy Jackson responded immediately - "What makes you interested in Bluebeat?" he said, and Marcus sparked a whole new creative venture from that moment. 

Siggy arranged to meet Marcus at Victoria Station, and from there the pair made a plan to revive The Blue Beat Label. Siggy was happy to relate the entire story of the label's evolution, and how he'd been employed by Melodisc Records since 1953, working with many of the pioneering Calypsonians who had recently arrived from the Caribbean.

Emile Shalitt had started Melodisc after the war, and he had made many contacts in the music industry, specialising in imported American Jazz, and Caribbean Calypso amongst other various offshoots. It was not long before they started recording Calypso records in London. 

Siggy told Marcus that when Shalitt brought some tapes back from Jamaica, Siggy could see a new market opening for this new style of music. He said "It sounded like Blues, but with a catchy beat, so I called the new label 'Blue Beat' to release this new music in the UK, and that was the beginning." Marcus was thrilled to have discovered the root of the musical tree he was climbing.

So it was agreed that Siggy would revive The Blue Beat Label for a series of new recordings by Marcus's band, and hopefully others would follow. 

Marcus's plan was to have No.1 Station as the vanguard of a new wave Bluebeat revival, inviting other similar bands to contribute to the movement, playing 'old skool' music in the style of the label's 1960's to early 70's output. He envisioned releasing records from bands such as The Cosmics, The Top Cats, Intensified, Freetown, The Trojans, The Goldmaster Allstars - all contemporary groups who were working in a similar musical style and could release tracks on the label to really establish a new musical revival movement.  

Another innovation that Marcus insisted upon during this time, when CDs were the dominant physical trend and digital downloads and streaming were just taking off, was to make entirely certain that Siggy released his singles exclusively on the traditional 7" vinyl format, making him a leading pioneer of the "vinyl revival" movement that didn't really take hold until over a decade later, and has continued gaining popularity into the present day.

Apart from Prince Buster and Laurel Aitken, Marcus had already worked with several original artists from The Blue Beat Label, including Derrick Morgan who had recorded two songs on the old four track at Donut's studio, and there was a definite possibility of this new vibe taking off. 

Siggy booked a day in Gordon Thrussel's studio in Kent, and No.1 Station eagerly attended the session. Marcus had already rehearsed the tracks to be recorded with the band, so when they arrived the session ran like clockwork. Six tracks were laid down that day: 'Bush War' - an original instrumental Ska track written by Marcus. The flip side 'Laurel's Boogie' was Marcus's tribute song to Laurel Aitken.

When Laurel heard the record he said "That sounds like old time Bluebeat man!"

Siggy had come up with the idea of reviving Terry Nelson's 1963 R&B ballad Saturday Night that Siggy had produced back then, and Siggy also wanted to make a track about Mods V Rockers reflecting that youth culture conflict from the sixties, which the pair had fun writing together. Marcus had written  a 'Judge Dread' homage to the Prince Buster Rude Boy records of those days titled 'Hit and Run' which he credited to 'Judge Mental' to create the impression that there were more artists involved in the project, and Marcus and Tan Tan had worked out the vibe for the other recording of that day, Tan Tan Blue Beat. 

The tracks were released over the following year - all uniquely on 7" vinyl singles - and they received a great deal of critical acclaim, so-much-so that No.1 Station were invited back to the BBC for another session on the Mark Lamarr show, this time with trombonist Ras Burt in tow. The band made a great impression which prompted the DJ to proclaim them as "The UK's premiere Ska Band" - a quote that Marcus would use on many promotions from then onwards.

Marcus arranged for Kent Ska outfit 'Intensified' to record some of their own tracks, and he also arranged for a group he'd been working with called Symarip - released under their original name 'The Pyramids' - to supply two tracks for release as they had been originally on the label by that name back in the day. Over the following year Marcus supplied Siggy with some new productions he'd recorded in Stax's home studio - for convenience, Marcus played all the instruments and overdubbed Bones on live Bass and Stax blowing Sax and Flute, with one track from The Marvels - with whom Marcus was closely acquainted - a track that his great friend Dimples wanted to revive that The Marvels had originally released on The Blue Beat Label in the early sixties titled 'Saturday' but it was renamed for this release as 'We'll Have A Ball' as they'd already released another track with Saturday in the Title. Marcus also wrote an instrumental melody for the flip side which Stax delivered masterfully. 

Marcus also produced two tracks from a new young singer he'd met; Nancy Ginindza was an 18 year old music student from Swaziland who had deeply impressed Marcus with her incredibly beautiful voice. She was following her own career path and wasn't really interested in Bluebeat or Reggae, but she agreed to record two songs for Marcus using the pseudonym 'Persia' one of which - You Wanna Get Busy With Me - Marcus wrote especially for her to sing, and the other was a cover version of one of Marcus's old time Reggae favourites; Moonlight Lover, originally recorded by the enigmatic American singer Joya Landis for Jamaican producer Arthur 'Duke' Reid's Treasure Isle label and released in the UK on the Duke's Trojan imprint. 

Marcus supplied Siggy with two more No.1 Station tracks, 'Calm Them Down' - a comment on the terrorist attacks on London, and 'Play Soundman, Play' which Marcus had written as a tribute to Coxsone Dodd who'd recently passed away. 

A short time after that Siggy then made the decision that he was going to focus the rest of his time solely on releasing religious music - he was a devout Catholic - and that he had no more time for The blue Beat Label. 

A few months later Siggy then announced that he was retiring from the music business altogether.

Marcus didn't want his music to just disappear and fade away, so he asked Siggy if he could continue the label - especially for releasing new material as he'd started out to achieve in the first place. 

Siggy was happy for that to take place, and that Marcus was welcome to continue with the project he'd started.

In 2009 after more than fifty eventful and uniquely successful years Siggy Jackson retired from the music business, in the process allowing and enabling Marcus to carry on as successor and new owner of The Blue Beat Label that they had successfully breathed new life into together.

All well and good; Marcus had rescued his Bluebeat project, but he had no funds to continue pressing new material. The Bluebeat Revival project was put on hold.

There were plenty of other ongoing activities, and the band had not been resting on their laurels - in fact Laurel Aitken had taken ill during those years, and the band had joined a host of other bands and artists in staging a benefit gig for him at the Rayners, with a massive turnout of support from the musicians and fans organised by Club Ska promoter Mark Wyeth. 

Unfortunately Laurel sadly passed away a few months after the benefit gig. Marcus was asked to be a pall bearer at his funeral. It was a sad day. 

Rest in peace Laurel Aitken.

The band were also hired as backing band for a reunion of Symarip - the band who became famous for their chart hit 'Skinhead Moonstomp' - the group's first appearance together with Monty Montgomery, Roy Ellis and Johnny Orlando performing on the same stage in over thirty five years. 

Marcus made sure that No.1 Station replicated the old sounds as authentically as possible, and the night was a storming success, with the show being recorded and released on a CD/DVD double disc package titled 'Moonstomping at Club Ska' - the album sounded very authentic. 

Although he enjoyed backing all these great Jamaican legends from his youth, Marcus wasn't too keen on being labelled as a 'Skinhead Band' - not that he held anything against skinheads, but he felt that the skinhead cult was tainted. He explained it like this: "Skinheads were our youth subculture when I was at school, and it was very much a mixed culture - it was based on Jamaican fashion and music in the first place, but since the mid seventies youth fashions had moved on, and the skinhead scene became hijacked by National Front far-right politics and became identified with racism - that is a difficult stigma to shake off. I've seen skinheads all around Europe using the S.H.A.R.P (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) tag to separate themselves from the Nazi elements, and that's all fine, but ultimately Skinhead is a cultural cul-de-sac - once you affiliate yourself to that brand, it doesn't go anywhere else. Reggae music is far bigger than that, and there is a far bigger audience to reach." 

Marcus was proud of the work he did with Symarip, but he wanted the band to establish its own identity, independent from being just a backing band for visiting Jamaican veteran artists. 

Boss Beat

Marcus was now in discussion with an acquaintance he'd met called Guy Layton who was head of the music department at Harrow school. The school had just had a million pound recording studio built in its grounds, and Marcus was keen to take the band in to record a new album. 

So it was that the band recorded their next album in Music Hill Studio at Harrow school. By now Marcus had a different drummer on board - Sleepy had been offered regular work with Ska Cubano - and now his old colleague and co-producer from Music Tec - Gabbi D - was in the frame. Marcus had a series of new songs and rhythm ideas to work on, and he brought in a few guest artists to sing and toast on some of the tracks. The resulting album was titled 'Boss Beat' and Marcus gave it to a new label - 'Rockers Revolt' for release. The album was a triumph, and received lots of attention and airplay. They were invited to another BBC radio session with Mark Lamarr - this time at the BBC's legendary Maida Vale studios, where just about every big name in the business had performed at one time or another.

All was looking positive, but then the record label deleted the Boss Beat album after just six months, which Marcus could not understand at all - he knew that it would take at least a year to establish any album in the current climate, and he thought that the decision was very short-sighted. 

His good and trusted friend Mick Loftus introduced him to Donald Leahy, a London based music industry executive and producer/promoter originally from Ireland who also happened to live in Harrow who he highly recommended. 

Marcus had decided that he needed to have his music released in digital format to keep it relevant in this ever-evolving musical world, so Donald Leahy and Marcus reached agreement to work togethr and soon all his music was made available worldwide on all the digital platforms through Donald's digital imprint DLP Digital. Donald really knew his digital stuff even back then.

A year or so later Marcus arranged for more studio time at Music Hill Studio with Guy. The band once again laid down about fifteen rhythm tracks of new material. Marcus revived a few songs he'd written at Music Tec, and wrote some new songs. He was about to start on the horns and lead guitar overdubs when Guy delivered a bombshell - the studio was broken into overnight, and the thieves had stolen all the computers - even the backup file computers were taken. The album was lost. A year's worth of work down the drain - all that was left of the project were a few rough mixes of the tracks on CD. 

Marcus was understandably devastated by this loss of all their hard work, but the band was still gaining ground on the live circuit, and that at least softened the blow.  

By this time No.1 Station were gaining footholds in new directions, playing well received gigs at Kensington's prestigious venue The Troubadour where their gigs were even attended by royalty - Prince Harry and his group of friends enjoyed dancing at No.1 Station gigs on several occasions. 

The band were also invited to play at the Cobden Club in Notting Hill, where they were booked for a 'Help For Heroes' charity gig which was supposed to be covered by all the national newspapers, only when the charity's patron Prince William turned up unexpectedly, all press were forbidden from entering the club, so that potential slice of national publicity went unreported.

The band played to crowds of thousands when they headlined at several festivals, with Rico Rodriguez joining them for their headline slot at the Rhythms of the World festival.

Things were going really well for the band, and so the invitation to be the support act for Roxy Music on their forthcoming national arena tour just seemed to be the icing on the cake.  

Marcus went into overdrive organising the tour. By this time though, there were other line up changes. Stax had left the band to pursue other interests, Gabbi D was unavailable and couldn't make the commitment. Marcus called the band's original drummer Jah Bunny, and he agreed to come on tour, along with Geoff Bartholomew on Trumpet, and Joseph Stout on the Tenor Sax. The other members were Lee, Bones, Tarlok, and Zebby, who was their regular driver and percussionist.

The band toured all the major arena venues in the UK during January and February including the Metro Radio Arena in Newcastle,  two shows at the Clyde Arena, Glasgow,  the MEN Arena, Manchester, Birmingham's NEC Arena, the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham, and the 02 Arena in London. 

It was a major triumph for the band to play such a prestigious tour, and it seemed to be the pinnacle of their success. 

Such a great success that it was virtually impossible to follow up. 

Marcus used the money from the tour to invest in releasing a new single and registering Blue Beat Records Ltd as a new company. He took the band into Angel studios in North London and recorded three tracks, two of which were released on a 7" single. Both Economy Crisis and Bitter Fruit had originally been written as Agitators tracks, but Marcus felt it was the right time to record them with No.1 Station. They both had topical lyrics and reflected the current state of affairs perfectly. 

Economy Crisis addressed the current recession that was just starting to bite, and Bitter Fruit was a parable to the increasing destruction and pollution wreaked by the petrochemical industry on the planet. Both tracks meant a great deal to Marcus, and he felt their messages needed to be shared. 

 The third track they recorded at the session was a cover version of a Wailers Ska track by Peter Tosh titled Hootananny Hoot which Marcus gave as a special to the Hootananny venue in Brixton where the band played regular shows, but was never released to a wider audience.

The lead guitarist on these tracks was Carlton Brodin from The Cosmics, who Marcus had brought in to replace Tarlok.

Economy Crisis proved to be a prophetic statement, as it was the recession that led to a subsequent lack of gigs and a halt to the band's progress. Marcus found it increasingly difficult to keep an eight piece band on the road, and the shows virtually ground to a halt after that. 

It was time for a change of strategy.