Rockers: A Dive into 1970s Jamaican Cinema & Reggae Culture

We take a deep dive into the 1978 film Rockers, exploring its cultural significance and impact on the Rastafarian movement through reggae music. The episode connects the dots between the film’s portrayal of community perseverance and the historical context of 1970s Jamaica.

• Exploration of the film's setting in 1970s Jamaica
• Discussion of the filmmakers and their approach
• Analysis of cultural significance and themes of resistance
• Insights into the real-life connections among characters
• Reflections on the integration of music and storytelling
• Examination of iconic scenes and their impact
• Ratings on storyline, character development, music, and visual authenticity

Check out "Rockers" on YouTube for a timeless journey into Jamaican culture.

Connect with us: 

• @reelsandriddims on Instagram
• Website  | YouTube 

A Breadfruit Media Production

Transcript

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Rockers - A Classic Film Review

Speaker 1 0:04

Big up everybody and welcome back to another episode of Reels and Rhythms , brought to you by Carry On Friends in partnership with Style , To the Vibes and Breadfruit Media . And you don't know what Reels and Rhythms is bringing you Commentary , reviews and perspectives to whatever they go on in the world of TV film . Concerts with Holipa vibes , as you know , is what we bring , and all of this through the lens of Caribbean culture , Caribbean American immigrant and first-generation experiences . I'm Kerri-Ann and my co-host with the mostest is Mikayla Wagwan . Peeps , If you are watching this for our listeners , we are always in the said lipstick shade and it is never planned , Never .

Speaker 2 0:52

Every time I log on , we always have on the same , exact or similar shade . I mean , we know it's either going to be like a plum or red , yeah yeah . But sometimes we get the tones the same too , which is crazy .

Speaker 1 1:06

I'm glad you picked up on my telepathy . No , okay , I see that . All right , this is not the souls documentary . Yes , but um , we are going into the archive back in time I .

Speaker 2 1:25

I feel like this is the first time we've done this .

Speaker 1 1:27

Yes , we've gone back in time into the archive , into the catalog , into the 70s , and today we are talking about none other than Rockers , rockers , rockers , the classic classic film straight out of Jamaica in 1978 . Not 78 , 78 . 78. , yes , 78 , you know , and I had a lot of fun watching this . At one point I called my mother . I said , mommy , are them them tion that go on with ? I saw , yes , yeah , I have so much I want to talk about , but , michaela , I'm gonna make you , you know so the movie .

Speaker 2 2:13

So honestly , carrie , I have to admit this is my first time actually watching it in full . I feel like I've seen parts here or there or clips here or there , but I've never actually sat to watch the entire movie and I'm so glad that I did so . Rockers again , as Carrie said , it was released in 1978 . It was a film by Theodorus Bafalukas it's a Greek name , so he's a Greek . I think he was a photographer director , so he was born in Greece , and then he did a greek .

Speaker 2 2:46

Um , I think he was a photographer director , so he was born in greece , and then he did a lot of creative work in jamaica and he saw the rasta movement and the music and the culture that went along with it and he really just pulled artists from the current reggae , rasta rockers scene and put them all together in this movie . So we have leroy hosmoth wallace uh , burning spear . Gregory isaacs , big youth yeah , um , robin shakespeare . Jacob miller so there's a bunch of not only producers but artists as well as , like legendary timestamped places like Randy's , randy's , harry's studio , channel One studio , like . It's just such a monumental view of of the seventies and what the Rastafarian movement was at that time .

Speaker 1 3:43

Rastafarian movement was at that time . Yeah , yeah , it was good seeing the producers that you know . For instance , joe Gibbs was in there and I love the Joe Gibbs Christmas album . So it was just like you know , for me it was a time capsule , like when it opened up with the rest of them in a day hill with the infamous sata masagana right , it's just and that was like a theme through the throughout the entire movie .

Speaker 1 4:12

Yeah , right and that song was by the abyssinians , abyssinians yeah , and that song is almost , um , it's like a hymn , it's not a religious song , but it's such a sacred , it's a very sacred you know song . Um , it opens up with that and then it then it switched and I think this is where it was , just like you know , when the sata masagana player , almost tempted for , said yeah , right , and you know , shake your locks everything , cause it's such a you know the drums . Your response to it , I think we've heard , we've heard conversations about the drum and the , the impact of the drum when we hear it and how we , you know , as African descendants , draw to the rhythm of the drum . So it starts out that way the , the rhythm of the drum .

Speaker 2 5:08

So it starts out that way , then my bond the chalice , steam it , steam it , steam it .

Speaker 1 5:13

And it was just go ahead , go ahead , go ahead . No , no , no , I think it was . Just it was part of like what's so ceremonial for them . It was just like a time capsule , you know the of all known shirt the man dreads so long and matted in at the back , like it was . It felt like I personally watching , I felt like I stepped into a time where I was just like I remember this , like I remember not that particular time in the seventies , but for long time , once it moves past the Rasta de Minari hill and it come to the Minari yard for a very long time through the 80s and 90s .

Speaker 1 5:52

That's how Jamaica kind of still looked in a lot of ways in terms of like the tenement yard type setup and all of that , and you know , just , it just felt like I was transformed back in time to Jamaica . So I really loved it . Like just the little things . You're walking out of the tenement yard , you see the stone in the middle of the yard , the stone where you would have used to mix concrete for build holes , like things that are typical back then and maybe still know in our yard at Jamaica . Like somebody would be like why are those random heaps of stones sitting here ? And we know it's because , oh , they might get ready for mixed cement and things .

Speaker 2 6:32

So yeah , and I think if you're of a certain age , if you're younger , you kind of forget that . That was the experience . So I think it's a good time stamp , as you said , to kind of like understand what was happening at that time . I think rasta , no , is definitely viewed in a very different light , but at that time there was a lot of struggles , um , in terms of acceptance into society , harassment , um , and yeah , exactly yeah , and we saw some of that um really play out in in the plot of the movie and it has the soundtrack of , you know , the . The themes of what was happening in the movie went exactly a lot like the song matched the scene perfectly , yeah , yeah . But I also feel like I really want to know and I couldn't find it did they even script this ?

Speaker 1 7:28

no , I , I , I heard , I read somewhere , I heard it initially started out as a documentary but they felt that it was going too long and so they converted it into a movie . But essentially , all these artists and producers are playing themselves . So you know , it's reflective of the time , time hard . He's a drummer , right , he naturally play a drum with a lot of bands who are up and coming . He's a . He is a studio musician .

Speaker 1 7:58

But he's a studio musician and him decides he's going to make a hustle . He says they're going to get him out of the thing , so he's going to come with a new hustle and he's going to buy everybody a bike so he can get into the record distribution business , right , and I don't think it was such a hard role to play because they were playing musicians but also roles that they sing about , right . So you know , it was just like oh , go up there and pretend to do a thing . There's so many things may not even know how we're going to do a review . First of all , marie said , when he got to maji and they asked maji for the money and they almost have bought up maji for the money , I learned that Maji , I really in baby mother in a real life , yes , and the tree picking them ? I really in tree picking them .

Speaker 2 8:50

Go on ahead man Go on ahead , man Like I was just like wow , okay , so that was his real family .

Speaker 1 8:59

Yes , His real family . And it even said that even the room , or the , the one room where them film in a was actually where he lived . So I was just like whoa , this is again . It was just so simple , it wasn't complicated , and then could I do ? You know , they could have done this in a way that felt authentic . It was around music . So , if you notice , a lot of it was around music , so I don't think there was a lot of acting . He went to the studio . The artists , they're my player , they're my rehearse , they're my boat for voice a tune . You see the process of them making the record , the Prince press , you know , you saw the process of how . So even if Haasman never really do this in a real life , the process is still the same are grown and they sell , they fortify them to different places , and then when them go dance and when me tell you said the dance scene , which one ?

Speaker 2 10:00

When they tip in bike .

Speaker 1 10:02

Oh , okay , okay when me say fashion galore Me , tell you Fashion and style , and then when they went into Randy's me say is this a fight or a break out , or is this a dance off ? Because me couldn't tell at one point when them under .

Speaker 2 10:18

They mash them up themselves Like a karate movie . It was so funny . It was so funny and to me .

Speaker 1 10:26

I saw some fashion that I'm like wait , this will go on . Today I saw some of the men . They look like they have a bag under their armpits , like shoulder bag or carry , and I was just like this is what's fashionable now .

Speaker 2 10:40

The darts are there , ma , you know the dance and , like I said , it was totally a time capsule and um , interesting , but probably now follow my notes , so me , make your go on yeah , and I think throughout the entire movie they kind of kept the talking and the sound of the music at the same levels , so you had to intentionally try to listen to what they were saying . But there were so many go ahead .

Exploring Cultural and Musical Timelessness

Speaker 1 11:17

What they were saying was a whole different rastalong with sight aight aiman , sight , sight , sight just mean like seen .

Speaker 2 11:25

No , I know this , but it was just like watching it in 2025 with lingo from 1978 .

Speaker 1 11:33

You're like this is why people was like , what are they talking about ?

Speaker 2 11:37

Like I know what they must say , but it's like it feels like an overuse of words versus how many times do you think them said the word , the two words I and I and rasta , because the amount of time , like every other word , was I and I or rasta . Rasta did me not deal with that . Rasta , even when um jacob miller eating food , oh my god .

Speaker 1 12:01

And then trace him off , he gonna stab him up .

Speaker 2 12:05

No play with man and I and I food but the brighter piece if we gonna show up with another man food while he might eat , and I thought about business , even for us . I think , like you said , carrie , like just listening to it back , like the slang is different , the tonalities are different , and because the music volume is almost equivalent to like the music was just as important as the scenes of what they were kind of playing out . And I think that that was definitely intentional , although it probably makes it a little harder if you're not of Caribbean descent and you can't understand it , but even if you are , it makes you intentionally want to listen . But then it also really really highlights the soundtrack . The music and I think that that was also the purpose is the music was just as important as displaying the scene of what was happening during that timeframe .

Speaker 1 13:06

Yeah , I was about to say anyone who comes to Rockers is coming from it , from a musical lens , so they're going to be drawn into it from the music . I remember , as I was watching it , I was like , look upon Gregory Isaacs . And my husband was like what are you watching ? And he's like I'm not dead . I say yes , I'm watching this . He's like , oh , I can't see . I was hearing , he wasn't able to see and I can't remember which song came out . And he said I saw that song at all . And I'm like , yes , the song is old . So it's interesting how , for me , as you know , know , for us , as music heads , you hear the songs , you , you hear them like wow , this is 1978 and I'm still a player . No , maybe them , you know , the rpm is a little faster , are you know something ? But it's like it's such timeless music , really , really timeless music . My favorite was the performance of jacob mill and the band , some of who were members of Inner Circle .

Speaker 2 14:05

That's what I read .

Speaker 1 14:07

Dreadlocks , not live in a tenement . And then the tourists were like what is this ? What are they singing ? He's like I don't know .

Speaker 2 14:17

No , my favorite scene was when them gone in a disco club and shoot about the man out of the disc jockey area , lock him out , lock out the owner and in one hour he won't play a theme record and the one man in there they had a dance . I hear him with the other swing , so so I'm like that was like one of my favorite scenes .

Speaker 1 14:41

I don't like the vibe in here , you know so like let me just go switch it .

Speaker 2 14:47

It also kind of even the scene with Jacob Miller like it's . It's almost like they became militant because of the respect that they were demanding as a movement and so it didn't really come out of nowhere . Now we see and view a lot of Rastas as very militant . But it's just like yo them used to deal with Rastas terrible , so them not thought something I can take , not again you ever gonna deal with a proper . And so it's just so funny how they dash out , they man , lock him out and then the police come and they say I'm not doing anything , I'm just a feeling .

Speaker 1 15:29

There was something else that I noticed . Right , it felt like there was a lot of aggression , and I'll give you the examples . Like when Emma buy the bike from Gregory Isaac and the wheel . They might talk and they might say , yo , I'm not , but if you're unfamiliar you're thinking , oh my God , a fight about , for broke out , right . So that's one .

Speaker 2 15:47

That's just how we talk Wait , wait , wait .

Speaker 1 15:49

Right , and then the other time when he ride the bike through the mud and feel for the ball growing .

Speaker 2 15:55

And now that one .

Speaker 1 15:56

I thought a legitimate fight was , but it didn't Right , so it was like there were these moments of like real , you know like ah , but it didn't end up in a level of violence , even the way they were talking , and so I don't really have like a summation of that point . It was just more of an observation , but if you notice is when they got quiet and very distinct .

Speaker 2 16:21

That's when them serious like yeah , yeah like the . The loud and boisterous tones are every day , but when them ? Calm when them calm down a second land metal business . You know my youth and I'm gonna not deal with them in a way that my figure it was just something that I observed .

Speaker 1 16:44

And even when Osman did see Sunshine , sunshine come up and look upon him , bike and say , yeah , is you name , osman ? And even Sunshine , the style . You see Sunshine , you know , wedge espadrilles with tie up , tie up on her dress . And then they hear , oh , it plop up our dress , I was like . And then they hear , oh , it plot up , plot up style and fashion style . May I tell you it was an amazing experience down memory lane and I feel like if we've gone here , we have to do the other classics absolutely .

Speaker 2 17:16

There's a good number of classics I think we definitely have to do , because I think these are culturally so important and they're , like you said , monuments and timestamps , um , that intertwine culture and music at the same time . So you know , we look real , that this I read was in rhythms , you know , yeah , it was . This is the epitome of of of the title of our , our podcast . But you know , we talk about all the things , but I think this one is one that really kind of go hand in hand . It doesn't always happen that way , but when it does , we always have a good time so the bottom line is it's filled with

Classic Jamaican Cinema Review

Speaker 2 17:56

a lot of people .

Speaker 1 17:56

Producer like jack ruby , joe gibbs , we see gregory isaacs , we see robbie you know him . He passed away like in what ? In during covid time , maybe 2021 or so . So we see landmarks like randy's records um the jolly bus them . So we used to call them the country bus , the jolly bus them . You just , you just saw so many things that you know what's how weird , the road did nice like Jamaica of yesteryear , like it was just like , even when you end up on him bike .

Speaker 2 18:33

I drive and I'm like oh , it's just like . This is like classic even like downtown Kingston Carnation Market , like all of those places , like they still exist and they just look different .

Speaker 1 18:46

So before we get to the ratings . The whole story was again , because we don't think we get to tell people that we kind of get to it . So Haasman is a musician and he must try to look for money and forget a bike so he can make some more money to distribute records . He was on his way to doing that successfully until somebody T-themed bike . Before then T-themed bike , he'd get one job at a resort to play a drum for some singers who end up being Jacob Miller and the other musicians would be in a circle . And then he went to a dance with Jack Ruby , akeep and Tiffin Bike and him , bix and him .

Speaker 1 19:33

Now I don't know violence right , because I and I is an upstanding peaceful man , so there's no violence , right . And then when he was at the resort he met sunshine , who we mentioned , and um , he and sunshine go off to talk . Sunshine family owned the resort and them kick him out , kick him off of the resort because you're not supposed to deal with sunshine . Sunshine are the boss daughter anyway . Anyway , while taking Sunshine home , sunshine go peep on the man and realize oh , a dem thief , arse man , bike . So she go tell arse man . And so from there , arse man get up all in music bedroom them , because according to them , are the mafia , the Jamaican mafia , taking bike . And so they set out on this um robin hood mission fatigue , everything from the boss man , uh , run it up and drop it off to people in at the tenement yard remember initially he went to go get his bike .

Speaker 2 20:35

He took , he took his bike he got back his bike and go riding bike . And so there's the boss , and then there's the manager . Is the one who dropped off . Uh , sunshine and sunshine saw where they were taking out items and she noticed horseman's bike because it had the lion on the side , so she knew it was his . And she goes back and tell him he gets back the bike , the the manager sees that the bike was taken back and knows that .

Speaker 2 21:10

Assuming that he knows that somebody took it and assuming that it's him , then them go beat him up as a guy in yard and them said no man , them can't deal with me . So so I'm getting all the embroidery and the plaid and go wool up all of the people there . Man plaid for going to take back everything and give it to everybody around the town . So it ends with you know it's almost like Christmas Day , because everybody walk outside and see something for them and them take something and the people them just gone . Uh , the people them things , they're just gone . So what wasn't clear is did they steal everything in that warehouse and they were just giving it ?

Speaker 1 21:55

back . Yeah , there's no continuity there , you know , because them take one truck . Yes , go on , go on . They take one truck , go at the o's , the boss house , the manager o's or whoever take out some things , and I'm like , wait , I'm gonna remember so much truck , or if the truck could have fit so much things . They did take some things off of using a forklift to put in the truck . Um , they take the forklift for our altar , the weirdos , yeah I put stuff on the truck .

Speaker 1 22:22

So , um , I don't know if you can make an assumption that if they didn't take everything , they took a good amount of stuff , a good amount yeah , and then take it from the people , them and then sell it back to them , because that bike was five hundred dollars .

Speaker 2 22:37

That bike was five hundred dollars , jamaican . I'm like then that even back then it's a lot of money no , back then that would have been a lot of money .

Speaker 1 22:51

How ?

Speaker 2 22:51

much . Five hundred dollars for a bike yeah , how much was bikes and cars back then ? And we're talking about a motorcycle .

Speaker 1 22:58

It's like it was like a honda motorcycle yeah , but you know , like the cost of living . I mean , this is the 70s , we know the film came out in 73 , 78 . We don't know the real timeframe of when this come out , so we don't know . Notice in an address , political issue . We just know it's a time hard . So there was a lot of things happening in the 70s , all sorts of stuff .

Speaker 1 23:24

But , it was clearly not easy , because he had to go around and beg money for the bike so it was expensive In baby mother game , the last money for the pit to them eat and go school . All of these things . You're going to drop off that bike . I know you're going to drop off that bike and dead .

Speaker 2 23:48

What am I going to do to you them , to you them , alright we're here just repeating things from the movie .

Speaker 1 23:59

I thoroughly laughed and enjoyed it . I think you should definitely check out Rockers . It is just one of those classics that you should watch , along with Harder they Come and Smile , orange , which we'll get to on Reels and Rhythm , so on to the ratings . All right , so with no accent , five , five , five Characters . I would say a four , yeah , maybe even like a three and a half Mm yeah , they were , you know . Maybe even like a three and a half yeah , they might get three and a half , yeah , it loose yeah yeah , there was no real depth or development there , but , like , what you saw is what you got Storyline .

Speaker 1 24:40

Three Yep Music Five .

Speaker 2 24:46

Four and a half For you , because it's . Music . Five , four and a half Because it's music and sound , because it was hard for me to hear what they were saying . That's why but I'm also listening from today's standards , so that's why I say four . Yeah , the music was good , like the soundtrack , the music was so good . Visual authenticity . Five Absolutely was good , like the soundtrack , the music was so good . Yeah , visual authenticity five , absolutely .

Speaker 1 25:16

So there you have it with the drum roll we get to the , it's a four , the four okay . Yeah , I think storyline the storyline was weak , so I mean I think we were generous in our grade on it but there was eventually a storyline , even though in the beginning it wasn't clear . But I I enjoyed it . We're , you know , overall we're not bad graders on this thing , you know . I think we've we've had a a solid tree movie by here , but it's fine .

Speaker 2 25:42

That means that you know the muse , the movie , the volume of of things that are coming out . We are also selective too . Yeah , that is true too .

Speaker 1 25:52

In terms of um , there's , there are certain shows that shall not be named , that we will not be reviewing on this podcast .

Speaker 2 26:01

I'm trying to use my crystal ball and understand which one you're talking about .

Speaker 1 26:07

That's why it's . It's why it's like Voldemort it shall not be named . It shall not be named , all right . So all right , that's it , everyone . This is a really short episode because Raqqa is a really short movie , but I hope you go out and watch it and you know it is classic Jamaican cinema and I think that everyone should just watch it , even if it's just for a time capsule , to see what Jamaica was like , looked like and what was going on in elements of the Rasta movement . I can't say completely all of it , but you'll enjoy it . If anything , you'll enjoy the music . So that's it for us . Until next time . Look more later , walk good , all these things .

Speaker 2 26:53

Bye-bye Later .