The magazine, like Dave wrote in his article, played a central role in my musical education too. For a guy living in Brazil in the '80s (a distant, far away place in terms of reggae culture), to have access to it was something special. In those times we didn't have legal means to send the money to pay for a subscription (!!) so we have to be very creative to get an issue (normally bothering friends or relatives abroad). After a while the magazine started being sold in some special places here, but it didn't last much. Later on I finally became a subscriber and that was enough to make me feel like a reggae expert!! :-)
Well, but like George Harrison once said, all things must pass. I think The Beat had its time but didn't have the same power anymore. The reasons? well, you guys could talk much better about it than me, but the single fact that it remained alive for 28 long years is remarkable in itself. A great contribution from a whole generation of reggae lovers (some of them I have the honor to know personally!!) that must be celebrated for ever and ever.
A toast to the great The Beat magazine!
or, better yet, a big spliff for it!! :-))
Thanks to Mike Turner for passing this comment on for the blog.
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