Cb 200 + Bionic Dread

Dillinger | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 26, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 1977
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hip-O Select
• ASIN: B000BQ4MRA
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #408,862 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

The man with the gangster name was born Lester Bullock in Kingston, Jamaica in 1953. The renowned deejay is best known for his "toasting," the reggae equivalent of stepping to the mic and rapping over a track, usually a dub track. Dennis Alcapone, the star toaster on the El Paso sound system, was one of the better-established artists to pass Dillinger the deejay torch in the early 1970s. As Alcapone recalls, "Dillinger was living just across the way, so whenever the sound is playing, he always come right beside the amplifier. One night him ask me fi give him a talk over the mike; he wasn't brilliant, but you could hear that there was something." Anxious to record, he began doing the rounds of Kingston studios, meeting with little interest until legendary producer Lee "Scratch" Perry cut his first sides at Dynamics in 1973. Dillinger was calling himself "Alcapone Junior" in homage to his mentor, and Perry is rather famously known for saying that he didn't sound like Alcapone: he sounded like Dillinger. The name stuck. CB 200, a tribute to Dillinger's motorcycle, featured his rocket to reggae fame, "Cokane In My Brain." It tells listeners "how we spell New York": "a knife, a fork, a bottle and a cork/I've cokane runnin' around my brain." It's a mesmerizing groove that set the bar for hip-hop artists that would follow in his wake. The follow-up album, Bionic Dread, didn't quite catch the commercial wave that propelled CB 200, though it is a worthy musical successor. The double album on one compact disc was remastered from the original master tapes in 2004 by the Grammy-winning engineer Gavin Lurssen

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dillinger's Major and Minor "Magnum Opi" on 1 CD, October 7, 2007

By 

Joseph E. Odonnell "Ras Jose" (Burlington, Vermont, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cb 200 + Bionic Dread (Audio CD)

CB200 was a seriously different lp (to these ears) when it first appeared on the scene in 1976. Reggae neophites like myself didn't realize we were listening to "versions" of some of the hottest tunes then tearing up the Ja. dancehalls being "ridden" by the hottest "Deejay" of the moment, Lester Bullocks(a.k.a "Dillinger" or "Rankin' Dillinger".)
Channel One studio, with house band The Revolutionaires-featuring the cream of the crop of Jamaican studio musicians, ruled the airwaves and dancehalls in Jamaica during that time, roughly 1975-77 and producer "Jo Jo" Hoo-kim gave Dillinger free range on his first major label release."CB200" versions a great Gregory Isaacs tune,and sings the praises of the most popular motorcycle on the island. "No Chuck It", with it's dramatic intro "Jamaica, land of wood and water, now becomes motor vehicule and manslaughter" while a mysterious,almost oriental voice in the background wails "Bad man, come, badman go..."(the singer was the uncredited-on the original release-Rod Taylor,) was and is my favorite tune on the lp.
The fantastic groove and playful interplay between Dillinger and another dj on "Cokane in my Brain" almost makes one forget the message of the rap, who can forget the terrible waves of destruction that cocaine and crack has inflicted on Jamaica (and America)from that time to this? I skip this one when I listen to the CD.
The rest of "CB200" versions tunes by the Mighty Diamonds, Leroy Sibbles (of Heptones fame),and other hit-makers of the era.
The second half of the disc presents his Island label follow-up, "Bionic Dread". Again versioning hits by the Diamonds, Bob Andy, the Wailing Souls and others, this lp at the time was disappointing in comparison to it's predecessor.The raps did not seem nearly as inventive or innovative. Time has mellowed my opinion, after hearing this pristine re-issue for the first time in over twenty years, I can appreciate things I didn't when the lp first was released.
In any case, the entire re-issue is a triumph, crisp digital sound, crackling tunes, and splendid packaging (the lp's cover art is reproduced inside the CD tri-fold.)
All-in-all, a very enjoyable limited edition from Hip-o Select/Island.
Snag it (if you can)-and, you kids out there, listen to where "rap" came from!