Latest Release
- NOV 3, 2023
- 3 Songs
- VP's 20th Anniversary · 1985
- Buju & Friends · 2004
- What One Riddim Can Do · 1999
- George Phang: Power House Selector's Choice, Vol. 1 · 2008
- Fever · 1985
- Tenor Saw Meets Nitty Gritty · 2008
- Fever · 1985
- Reggae Gold 2000 · 2000
- Fever · 1985
- Fever · 1985
Essential Albums
- Possessed of a sinuous baritone voice guaranteed to set dancehalls alight, Tenor Saw is best remembered for 1985’s “Ring the Alarm,” a sound-system killer built on the insistent steady bass line of the inimitable “Stalag” rhythm. "Ring the Alarm" remains a standard among hardcore dancehall heads, but Fever, the album that Tenor Saw cut in the wake of “Ring the Alarm’s” blockbuster success, is every bit as compelling. Here he cuts loose in a wavering “sing-jay” style, invoking Barrington Levy’s dexterous vocal trickery over a series of spare Casio-powered rhythms. Though Wayne Smith’s “Under Me Sleng Teng” stands as the first fully digital dancehall recording, Tenor Saw may have been the most skilled of digital dancehall’s early practitioners. On the propulsive “Pumpkin Belly” he spits rugged verses, alternately lascivious and reverent, over the brooding “Sleng Teng” rhythm. Dancehall innovator Sugar Minott produced Fever’s lean and ferocious rhythms, and for a glimpse of the man’s soundboard wizardry, check out any of the eight dub mixes generously appended to this reissue.
Albums
Artist Playlists
- Ring the alarm!
Singles & EPs
- 2023
Compilations
Appears On
About Tenor Saw
One of the most important figures in early ragga and dancehall, Tenor Saw (born Clive Bright, 1966, Kingston, Jamaica) is best-known for his 1985 hit "Ring the Alarm," a song based on the then-ubiquitous "Stalag 17" rhythm which proved to be one of the biggest -- and catchiest -- hits to come out of reggae's transition into the electronic age. Tenor Saw followed it up with Fever, an LP that -- while it didn't contain his signature song -- proved to be a minor classic of early dancehall, full of simple, catchy melodies, synthesized rhythm-section parts, and Tenor Saw's floating vocals. (The CD reissue of Fever also appended dub versions of most of the original tracks.) With such a promising start to his career, it seemed Tenor Saw would be around for quite a long time; sadly, his life was cut short in August 1988, when he was hit by a car in Houston, TX, and killed. The album Wake the Town was released posthumously in 1992. ~ Steve Huey
- HOMETOWN
- Jamaica
- BORN
- 1966
- GENRE
- Reggae