Wednesday 8 April 2015

Shabba Ranks with Chevelle Franklin 'Mr Loverman'

Chart Peak: 3
YouTube
Perhaps surprisingly, 'Mr Loverman' was made in New York and was only a moderate hit when first released last year... the ragga explosion saw the track race to No. 3 in March 1993.
Such was the excitement about ragga - described at the time as a fusion of hip-hop and reggae - that the genre occupied the entire Top 3 for a week in the spring of 1993, and this reactivated single by the former Rexton Gordon brought up the rear. In fact it was even older than its original 1992 release date, as it was a reworking of the old track 'Champion Lover' by Deborahe Glasgow. She and Ranks had recorded a version in 1988, but due to ill-health she never got to have the crossover hit with it.

As a black Jamaican, Shabba Ranks was sometimes taken more seriously than Snow although in all honestly this is no less ridiculous a song, it's just that we all got so used to male sexual bragging that we sometimes forget how ludicrous (and yet sometimes disturbing) it is. In fact it's a bit boring and doesn't distract me from the rather unpleasant character he seems to be. My least favourite of the big hits in this style this year.

Shabba Ranks also appears on: Now 19 [with Scritti Politti]; 25 [with Maxi Priest]
Available on: Ultimate 90s

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