Dancehall's Gerald "Bogle" Levy Slain

Gerald "Bogle" Levy, the leading dancehall choreographer for more than a decade, was killed in a drive-by shooting in the early morning hours of January 20th in Kingston, Jamaica.

Levy and four others had pulled up in his car at a shopping-district gas station when two men on motorbike sped past, shooting into the vehicle. The passengers were rushed to Kingston Public Hospital, where the forty-year-old Levy was pronounced dead and three others -- including a sixteen-year-old boy -- are currently in serious condition. The home of John Hype, Levy's creative rival over the last year, was burned to the ground just hours later.

In the Nineties, Levy created the Bogle, the scene's first crossover dance move. He was also a major influence on breakout artists such as Elephant Man and Beenie Man, who gave shout-outs to Levy in songs like "Row Like a Boat": "Seh Mr. Bogle have di brand new style/Come get di style, come get di style."

Beenie Man has posted a $1 million reward for the capture of the shooters.

• 
  MUSIC 100 Greatest Debut Albums
• 
  MOVIES 'Great Gatsby' Is a Crushing Disappointment
• 
  TV Why You Should Watch 'Happy Endings'
• 
  POLITICS No Price Big Banks Can't Fix

Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

More Song Stories entries »

Twitter