Tenor Saw

by Steve HueyOne 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.