Tenor Saw

Tenor Saw, born Clive Bright in Kingston, Jamaica, during 1966, ranks among the pivotal voices who shaped the first wave of ragga and dancehall. He gained lasting recognition through the 1985 single “Ring the Alarm,” a track built on the then-omnipresent “Stalag 17” rhythm and widely regarded as one of the largest and most infectious successes marking reggae’s shift into electronically driven production. The follow-up album Fever, though it omitted that signature tune, emerged as a minor landmark of early dancehall; its appeal rested on straightforward, memorable melodies, electronically generated bass-and-drum patterns, and Tenor Saw’s airy vocal style. When Fever later appeared on compact disc, most of the original selections were supplemented with corresponding dub mixes. The strong start suggested a lengthy career ahead, yet August 1988 brought a fatal car accident in Houston, Texas. Three years afterward, the collection Wake the Town surfaced as a posthumous release.