Shaggy
WESTERN BUREAU:
SHAGGY IS effectively the man who put New York-style reggae on the map, thanks to his worldwide hit, Oh Carolina, said Guinness Book of Who's Who Of Reggae.
It was this same record that started the British ragga craze of 1993, an move which carried the likes of Shabba Ranks, Mr. Loverman, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Tease Me, She Don't Love Nobody, Twist & Shout and Snow, Informer to the international pop charts.
On Monday, February 15, 1993, the Kingston-born, New York-based, former Lejeune, North Carolina (US) marine, Orville 'Shaggy' Burrell stormed the UK charts at No. 18 with Oh Carolina, a forceful cover of the Folks Brothers' song.
Shaggy was the first Jamaican artiste in three years, since Maxi Priest, with his Close To You, to make the UK Top 20. He had become the pioneer of ragga reggae.
Meanwhile, the sound took Britain by storm so much so that for two consecutive weeks in April 1993 the UK countdown paraded a Top 3 made up of Oh Carolina (Shaggy), Informer (Snow) and Mr. Loverman (Shabba Ranks) respectively. This was followed weeks later by the exit of Mr. Loverman and the entry of House Call (Shabba Ranks and Maxi Priest), Sweat (Inner Circle) and reggae tune All That She Wants (Ace of Base).
The UK No. 7 song of 1993, Oh Carolina, made a triumphant exit in early May after spending 11 weeks in the UK best-sellers chart. But the craze continued. For two weeks that month reggae/ragga had another triple storm on the UK charts with All That She Wants (Ace of Base), I Can't Help Falling In Love (UB 40) and Sweat (Inner Circle).
The record will show that Shaggy's next single, the slow and raunchy Soon Be Done failed. His third single Nice and Lovely, from the Virgin Record Pure Pleasure album, failed to garner the necessary airplay to become a hit.
And, even as Oh Carolina made the soundtrack of 'Sliver' starring Sharon Stone and the Pure Pleasure tour through Russia and South Africa was a major success, Shaggy seemed set to become a on-hit wonder.
It was not until the summer of 1995 that he answered the sceptics. Summertime, a single featuring Rayvon, took Shaggy back into the UK charts the week that Diana King's Shy Guy made its debut at No. 4. Two months later came Boombastic, a major hit and one of the few songs to debut at the No. 1 position in the UK.
Seven years after Oh Carolina Shaggy has scored his biggest hit yet with the RIAA certified double platinum single It Wasn't Me.
On the album side, The Beatles 1 has denied Shaggy's Hot Shot album at the top position on the Billboard 200 Album chart, so far.
"It'll hopefully take the top spot, if we get the Beatles out of there", said Shaggy.
