Entertainment

Spanner grips music again

LIKE THE FAME his brother Richie Spice enjoys now, Spanner Banner was on top of his game in the 1990s. The singer was the featured voice on several rhythms and the voice behind many of dancehall's earliest hits.

Think of the timeless track 'Life Goes On', and 'Ladies Man' with Sean Paul and you get the picture.

In the thick of things, however, Spanner vanished, leaving the business in, what many would consider, the height of his career. Similarly, just as suddenly, the singer has resurfaced, and has teamed with his blood brother Richie Spice, and his label brothers Chuck Fender and Anthony Cruz, he is steadily reclaiming the attention he once commanded.

"It was just another experience in my life," explained Spanner in a recent interview about his sabbatical in England.. "I was in this business from I was a teenager, and I tried a big Record label, my own label, and it nuh work, so I just felt for a change and ventured out into a different environment. Some producers were not voicing me, and when I recorded tunes it's like yu couldn't hear it anywhere, I had to leave this."

Mixed fortunes

The trip had mixed fortunes, however, because everything never worked out as he had planned it.

"It was OK but not great," he stated. "In terms of dancehall in the UK, things are much slower. When you record there for example, it will be on tape for a while before the producer release it. Here it happens a lot faster, and I missed my family too and the music industry as well."

Another reality which hastened Spanner's return to Jamaica was the storm Richie Spice had started kicking up after 2000. Although he had a rough start in the business, Richie Spice rose rapidly with his label mates to capture a great chunk of the listening public's attention.

"I felt great about Richie's success. When I was away and heard, I was glad he made it, and that influenced me to come back as well, cause one time nobody never used to pay attention to the one drop music until now," noted Spanner. "They used to separate the music between singer and deejay, and sometimes yu used to wonder if singer and deejay were two different species."

Settling in very fast

"I used to contact Richie often, and they always said I should come out. If I followed the daily news I would not come out, but I loved the music industry and the whole vibe about it forced me to come back."

Since the return, Spanner has graced several stage shows along with Richie Spice and Chuck Fender. He has re-done the track Life Goes On, and has been recording for different producers. The plan now, he told THE WEEKEND STAR, is to keep doing this.

"I am settling in very fast in the business. Richie and Fender call me on several shows and I travel with them a lot. It's been good coming back and fitting in the business."

Spanner had no harsh words for those who gave him a hard time in the past. In fact, he has brushed the former pressure aside as he looks to a promising future.

"They say a wise man use the stones you throw at him and build a house. I don't have no bitterness towards nobody. It's like a tree which blossom and bear fruit, the fruit ripe, we pick it off and the tree bears again...mi love everybody same way, cause mi caa dwell pon bitterness. Too much bitterness gives you sickness, so it's best to avoid these things."