R&B and Reggae legend Shaggy is gracing Manchester with his presence at Manchester Academy on Friday 16th June and you can still buy tickets! Which is a relief because I haven’t had time to buy my own yet.
Growing up, there always seemed to be a new Shaggy song that everyone at school was singing. It first started with ‘Oh Carolina‘ where we wouldn’t have a clue what the “Prowl off” bit said so we would just make random noises instead. The tune is brilliant – a cover of the Folkes Brothers tune of the same name – nobody gave a shite who Carolina actually was – but she was everywhere that year.
Next up was ‘Boombastic‘ which again was everywhere, mostly because of its inclusion in a brilliant Levis advert – which were all the rage back then. I also seem to remember that it was in the movie ‘George of the Jungle’ with absolute geezer Brendan Fraser – which I watched about 4 times a week because it was on repeat on the Disney Channel on Sky all the time.
The year 2000 rolled along and Shaggy released ‘It Wasn’t Me‘, featuring quite possibly the worst advice that you can give to someone who is cheating on their partner. Especially if your girlfriend catches you ‘banging on the bathroom floor’ – just saying “it wasn’t me” is not going to fool anyone. Who has sex on the bathroom floor anyway!? My bathroom floor is full of pubes and beard hairs – nobody wants to get down and dirty on that. It was a mint tune though.
There have obviously been many more Shaggy tunes – including that ‘Angel‘ one he did – and probably some newer ones that he’s promoting with this tour. If you want to get involved head on over to Manchester Academy on Friday 16th June and give him some banter.
Manchester Academy, Moss Ln E, Moss Side, Manchester M14 4PX
0161 232 1639
www.manchesteracademy.net/
