K Creation - Chariots of Fire/ Charmers Mood

 

Crude reggae veteran Charmers tackles Vangelis

Label: KR

Year of Release: 1982

On many occasions I've posited the theory that if a song is popular enough - whether as a hit single, part of a soundtrack or even a television theme - there's probably a reggae cover version of it somewhere out there. The list of examples is absurd and endless, from television soap themes (such as Coronation Street and Neighbours) to Elvis Costello tracks. The genre has a flexibility it's seldom given credit for and can absorb anything in its path, transforming any unlikely idea into a lush Jamaican soundscape. 

In this respect, Vangelis's theme to "Chariots of Fire" is perhaps not as ridiculous an example as it sounds. The track already dripped with honeyed sophistry so it's not as if any DJ or reggae artist stepping into its orbit really needed to do much beyond add some sweet skanking; and that's exactly what happens here. This isn't a radical reworking, just a reggae rhythm screwed on to the theme, with some lilting female vocalists (needlessly, in my opinion) singing the title being the only truly surprising addition.

What is alarming is the name of the artist behind the idea, the veteran (and oftentimes Lee "Scratch" Perry collaborator) Lloyd Charmers whose other reggae classics have included graphic titles such as "Yum Yum Pussy", "Bang Bang Lulu", "Red Bum  Ball", and plenty more besides. His output was mountainous, though, and included many numbers which didn't have adult themes, so it would be wrong to suggest that this record is exactly like Judge Dredd taking on Jean Michel Jarre - it's just slightly like that.

Charmers passed away in 2012 but left behind him a swathe of singles (some fantastic, some unremarkable) from the fifties to the mid-noughties, meaning attempting any kind of meaningful overview of his career in the space of a brief blog entry is going to be a thankless task. Hiding away on the flip-side here is a lovely mellow instrumental, though, and aficianados would probably point you straight in the direction of "Darker Than Blue" ahead of novelty off-cuts like this one. Meanwhile, "Psychedelic Reggae" might even manage to get some of the hairy's heads turning.

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