Rude Boy

The name Rude boy has a number of possible origins:

a. In Jamaica, the word Rude was akin to the modern colloquial term- "wicked"

b. The term was also used in the conventional term for the anti-social conduct of the cadre who answered to the title.

In Jamaica in the 50's there were two main promoters of Sound systems- Clement "Coxsone" Dodd and Duke Reid, who routinely sent rough-necks known as Dancehall crashers to disrupt each others gigs, these roughnecks later became know as Rude Boys (pronounced Rood Bwais)

The music of the Rude Boy was initially the Big-Band Style and a hybrid form known as Mento, a fusion of African styles played in Jamaica in the early 20th century and the Big band style equally made popular by students of the famour Alpha Catholic school, the young players were known as the Alpha boys, some of whom later set up Big bands influenced by Duke Ellington and Count Basie. This probably being simultaneous with the growth of Calypso and Soca in Trinidad and Tobago and Gumbay in Barbados.

Mento then gave way to Ska as the music of the Rude Boy. The name Ska arose from a request of the Guitarist- Ernest Ranglin, whilst in Cluet Johnson's band for a steady sound from the Guitar, hence as the quote goes- "im make the guitars go Ska! Ska! Ska!" Hence Ska was born. The style engendered by Ska was a hybrid of Mento and Big Band Jazz, initially called "Shuffle" and which became the phenomenom known as Ska.

There has been controversy as to who was the original Rude Boy i/e the King of Ska- Jimmy Cliff or Desmond Dekker. An irrelevant consideration unless you were part of the scene then and this was important politically and commercially since the Rude Boys in the greater scheme became tools in the hands of the politicians and also as a result of Ska's growing commercial popularity in Jamaica after Independence in 1962.

Ska in its raw form was akin to todays Gangster Rap in that the music was played by and for the roughnecks who formed part of the street culture of the Rude Boy. Make no mistake Jimmy Cliff and Desmond Dekker may have had sweet voices but they were as streetwise and tough as they come, being products of Kingston's Shanty Town.

Also emerging at this time and supported by Coxsone Dodd were a group of three Rude Boys- Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley- The Wailers.

Other popular band of the time were the mighty Heptones, Soul Brothers, Derrick Morgan, the Ethiopians to name a few. The lyrics were socially conscious and reflected the lives of the unemployed, poor and angry youth with titles such as "Gunmen comin to town, "007 Shanty Town", Lawless street, Al Capone Guns don't bark etc This being in contrast to the softer sound of Delroy Wilson and Eric Morris, Prince Buster - (Oh Carolina)which were more religious or romantic in nature.

The dancehall was the arena where Ska showed its style, notable of course was the Ska dancestyle in which the Dancers punched their arms forward rhythmically to the beat, charming but the origin of this was the motion of Rudeboys punching or stabbing the living daylights out of someone.

Another style statement of the Rudeboy being the fashion, with the Trilby/Pork-pie hats and black suits and ties, which were copied from US gangster movies.

Ska inevitably came to the UK with Immigration and the first major hit was "My boy lollipop" in 1964 by Millie Small, which had a young Rod Stewart on Harmonica. Millie Small also had a sell-out concert in Lagos Nigeria in 1966- just by the way of course. Desmond Dekker's Israelites became the first Jamaican single to go to number one on the British charts, closely followed by a succession of other hits- "Monkey Man" by Toots and the Maytals, "Carry go bring come" by Justin Hinds and the Dominoes. I met Justin about 10 years ago through a close friend Ransford from Birmingham and he remains an Icon in his native Kingston Jamaica, where he lives- in Ocho Rios like a local Chieftain- a name dropping aside of course. These songs whilst now popular had been released several years before in Jamaica.

The Rudeboy culture of course found its way into the UK through Immigration and the music and strangely enough found kindred spirit within the Mod community in the UK who adopted the music and style. Rod Stewart was of course a Mod at the time.

Interestingly enough, a Rudeboy haunt and Ska club was the favourite haunt of Christine Keeler in the heat of the Profumo scandal.

Ska later morphed into Rocksteady and which in itself gave birth to Reggae as its known today. But Ska enjoyed a revival in the late 70's and early 80's through Jery Dammers' Two-Tone Label, giving birth to new Bands like the Specials, the Special AKA, The Undertones and which spawned hits for newer Mod Bands like- Madness, Bad Manners etc

One of the landmarks of the Rudeboy culture was the iconic movie- "The Harder they come" the first Jamaican feature film-starring Jimmy Cliff, which highlighted the Rude Boy culture in its raw form, the music the violence and the passion.
http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue10/reviews/hardertheycome/text.htm

The Rudeboy phenomenon in a more serious remains a symbol of rebellious youthful angst and the hard uncompromising face of street culture, long before the Hip-hop culture came to be the symbol of youthful counter-culture in Black communities across the world. Not necessarily a good thing on account of the reality of the violence and criminality that both glorified/glorify, but that is the sad reality. However the Rude Boy culture was a cultural milestone of black history which in itself contributed substantially to popular music culture.