Wedding Reggae
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The canon of reggae love songs that soundtrack Caribbean weddings, first dances and anniversaries: warm, uplifting mid-tempo romances and slow one-drop ballads with devoted, singalong lyrics of lasting love and commitment. Sweet melodies, tender harmonies and a comforting, celebratory groove define the mode, drawn from lovers rock, romantic reggae and smooth-reggae hits alike. The mood is joyous, sincere and communal. Reggae in its role as the music of union and celebration.
History
Wedding reggae is a curated tradition rather than a studio scene, assembled from the genre's most devoted love songs as they became fixtures at diaspora celebrations from the 1970s onward: Bob Marley's "Is This Love," UB40's "Red Red Wine," Ken Boothe's "Everything I Own," Maxi Priest's "Close to You" and Beres Hammond's romances recur at receptions across the Caribbean and its diaspora. Sound systems, wedding selectors and radio dedications kept the repertoire alive, and its songs cross lovers rock, roots and dancehall so long as the sentiment fits the occasion. It represents reggae's deep integration into Caribbean family and community life.
Defining artists
Essential listening
- Is This Love(1978) — Bob Marley and the WailersSpotifyYouTube
- Red Red Wine(1983) — UB40SpotifyYouTube
- Close to You(1990) — Maxi PriestSpotifyYouTube
- Everything I Own(1974) — Ken BootheSpotifyYouTube
- Tempted to Touch(1990) — Beres HammondSpotifyYouTube
- Here I Am (Come and Take Me)(1990) — UB40SpotifyYouTube
Sources
- Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton, The Rough Guide to Reggae (2004)
- Lloyd Bradley, Sounds Like London: 100 Years of Black Music in the Capital (2013)
- Dave Thompson, Reggae & Caribbean Music (2002)