Hollie Cook is British rock & roll royalty, a punk princess who’s Dad Paul is the drummer of the Sex Pistols. Her godfather is Boy George, Mum Jeni was a backing vocalist for the Cultured Clubber. Hollie tells stories of being baby-sat by David Bowie which are true & are better stories than mine…& yours. Blimey…she was in the Slits when they reformed in 2006 for an EP (ask your folks). In 2011 she released an eponymous LP which sounded absolutely fantastic.
| The record was made with Mike Pelanconi who, as Prince Fatty, is at the controls of a reggae revival here in the UK. When it comes to reggae, me, Althea & Donna a strictly roots. I think that Prince Fatty is too. Jamaican music of the 1970s has never gotten old for me. The logic & beauty of the rhythms continue to delight & enchant. from the reggaefication of pop hits to the brain-melting stoned dub of King Tubby (no relation to the Prince). “Gimme likkle bass, make me wine up me waist”, indeed. |
“Hollie Cook” & the subsequent “Prince Fatty Presents Hollie Cook In Dub” recalls some tasty Studio One distillation. Her sweet voice evokes the classic female vocalists of Lovers Rock but the tunes are no slavish facsimile of back in the day. The deal is that freshness & imagination is obligatory. There is big respect for the tradition so a cover of the Shangri-Las “Walking In The Sand” is not forced & fits right in. Studio toaster-in-residence Horseman does chat in the style of the Old Masters, Big Youth, Dillinger, the Princes, Allah & Mohammed because y’know, that is the way it’s done. I hope that there is more to come from the Hollie/Fatty partnership because this stuff is easy on the ear &, as you can see, Hollie is easy on the eye too.
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atty got some of the old Reggae gang back together. I’m sure that there are plenty of Jamaican veterans eager to step into a 21st century studio with a young producer who gets it & wants to do the right thing. Prince Fatty chose his team well for “Survival of the Fattest” (2007) & “Supersize” (2010). Little Roy, Winston Francis & Dennis Alcapone were all prolific in the early 70s. Roy’s “Bongo Nyah” was in the front line of Rasta lyrics while Alcapone is a big influence on those great DJs named above. Once again there is a fresh, jump-up feel to the whole thing whether standards are being revived & invigorated or hip-hop tunes are getting the fatty treatment. This new version of Little Roy’s “Christopher Columbus”, a single in 2010, just sparkles. Seriously a Top 10 tune of this century for me.
There are more LPs from the posse Prince Fatty has assembled & here is a 10 minute clip of a radio session which will raise the lowest of spirits…guaranteed. Reggae has been part of British music for over 40 years now. My favourite music from the trip-hoppers, the electro boppers, the trance dancers all had reggae elements. It is such a good thing to hear how Fatty ignoring the jiggery-pokery, the production tricks & playing this music straight.
So…purely in the interests of research you understand…I checked for Hollie Cook’s rather attractive keyboard player. Marcia Richards is part of the Skints, school friends from up Woodford Green way & a new favourite band. Their 2012 LP “Part & Parcel” was funded through Pledgemusic & produced by our soundboy Prince Fatty. It is a pretty irresistible collection which does throw a lot of their influences at you but, with the Prince’s trademark, it is all done properly. They just need to avoid that cheeky, cheery, modern Cockney, knees-up Lily Allen thing. The LP & the videos for the singles are worth checking. The band are gigging a lot in the near future &, I’m sure, will be tearing it up at a summer festival near you. This home made video of a 5 star version of Dennis Brown’s first hit “Lips of Wine” proves that they know what they are about. More of this please & big luck to the Skints.
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