Catalunya Calling

Sly & Robbie

Taxi, Kingston, Jamaica

Sly and Robbie: one of pop music's most prolific and long lasting production teams. The rhythm section of drummer Lowell Dunbar and bass guitarist Robert Shakespeare started working together in the mid 1970s, after having established themselves separately on the Jamaican music scene. In the early '90s they introduced a whole new sound in reggae music with the hits 'Bam Bam' and 'Murder She Wrote' by Chaka Demus & Pliers, linking Chaka Demus' rough deejay vocals with Pliers' sweet, melodic, soul-influenced singing. Sly and Robbie made a trademark out of this unusual vocal pairing, and the formula has since been used with great success by the likes of Shaggy, Shabba Ranks, Maxi Priest and others. The list of artists they've collaborated with and lent their unique swagger to, is truly vast, from the Rolling Stones to Talking Heads, Sugar Minott to Grace Jones, The Fugees to Sinead O'Connor. Whether they're producing their own tracks or working together with groups like The Compass Point Allstars - when it comes to magic, Sly and Robbie are conjurers par excellence.