A Guy Called Gerald

I was watching 'Ideal' on BBC3 earlier today and I heard them play 'Voodoo Ray' by A Guy Called Gerald in the background. I remember when that tune came out when I was a kid, I used to call it 'Voodoo Dad' cos people who couldn't say my Dad's name called him Ray instead. So I thought I'd give it a mention, it's still one of my favourite ever tunes.

Gerald later produced one of the most ground-breaking albums ever, 'Black Secret Technology'. It was probably the first ever drum and bass album to be released, but it was so much more melodic and - dare I say it - intelligent than the jungle and techno that was around at the time. This album was years ahead of it's time, it's re-release in 1997 sold much more than the original. I still listen to it now, it's definitely in my top 3 albums ever.


I heard Gerald was releasing a new album, so I checked his website. The album 'To All Things What They Need' came out Jan 31st. It was interesting (for me anyway) to see one of the tracks was called 'Call For Prayer', and was dedicated to Bilal. This relates to the African slave who converted to Islam after meeting the Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), and was freed from his slavery to be given the role of calling Muslims to prayer (Adhan). That was 1400 years ago, and to this day every time Muslims get together to pray they emulate the adhan performed by Bilal, regardless of race or status.