title: CONCACAF

text: In May 2012, Cayman Islands banker Jeffrey Webb was installed as president of CONCACAF. On 27 May 2015, Webb was arrested in Zurich, Switzerland on corruption charges in the U.S.


title: CONCACAF

text: Victor Montagliani, leader of the Canadian Soccer Association, was elected as president of CONCACAF in May 2016.


title: CONCACAF

text: The headquarters of the CONCACAF are located in Miami, United States. Previously it had been the Admiral Financial Center, George Town, Cayman Islands—the home city of former CONCACAF president Jeffrey Webb and prior to that, they were based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago under the presidency of Jack Warner. The administration office of CONCACAF was previously located in Trump Tower, New York when Chuck Blazer was the general secretary.


title: CONCACAF

text: In February 2017, a satellite office was opened in Kingston, Jamaica. In July 2017, a second satellite office was opened in Guatemala City, which is shared with UNCAF, and most recently another satellite office for the FIFA Caribbean Development Office was opened in Bridgetown, Barbados' suburb of Welches.


title: CONCACAF

text: Bonaire were promoted from an association member to a full member at the XXIX Ordinary CONCACAF Congress in São Paulo on 10 June 2014.


title: CONCACAF

text: Teams not affiliated to the IOC are not eligible to participate in the Summer Olympics football tournament, as a result, they do not participate in the CONCACAF Men's Pre-Olympic Tournament or the CONCACAF Women's Pre-Olympic Tournament.


title: CONCACAF

text: Some territories in the North, Central American and Caribbean region have national teams with no affiliation. All play infrequently and/or are in the early stages of being founded.


title: CONCACAF

text: Elections at the CONCACAF Congress are mandated with a one-member, one-vote rule. The North American Football Union is the smallest association union in the region with only three members, but its nations have strong commercial and marketing support from sponsors and they are the most populous nations in the region.


title: CONCACAF

text: The Caribbean Football Union has the ability to outvote NAFU and UNCAF with less than half of its membership. Consequently, there is a fractious relationship between members of CFU, UNCAF and NAFU. This provoked former Acting-President Alfredo Hawit to lobby for the CONCACAF Presidency to be rotated between the three unions in CONCACAF in 2011.


title: CONCACAF

text: Trinidad's Jack Warner presided over CONCACAF for 21 years, and there was little that non-Caribbean nations could do to elect an alternative. Under Warner, the CFU members voted together as a unit with Warner acting as a party whip. It happened with such regularity that sports political commentators referred to the CFU votes as the "Caribbean bloc" vote. Warner rejected the idea in 1993 of merging several smaller nations' national teams into a Pan-Caribbean team. His reasoning was that the nations were more powerful politically when separate than when together. He commented that "being small is never a liability in this sport".


title: CONCACAF

text: The CONCACAF Gold Cup, held since 1991, is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF. The Gold Cup is CONCACAF's flagship competition, and generates a significant part of CONCACAF's revenue.


title: CONCACAF

text: The Gold Cup determines the regional champion of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, and is held every two years. Starting with the 2019 edition, 16 teams compete for the Gold Cup (up from 12).


title: CONCACAF

text: All men's national teams of member associations take part in the CONCACAF Nations League, a competition created in 2017. National teams are placed into tiers and play matches against teams in the same tier. At the end of each season, teams can be promoted to the tier above or relegated to the tier below depending upon their results.


title: CONCACAF

text: The CONCACAF Champions League, originally known as the CONCACAF Champions' Cup, is an annual continental club association football competition organized by CONCACAF since 1962 for the top football clubs in the region. It is the most prestigious international club competition in North American football. The winner of the Champions League qualifies for the FIFA Club World Cup. The knockout tournament spans February through April.


title: CONCACAF

text: Since 2018, 16 teams compete in each Champions League; at least 9 from North America, at least 1 from the Caribbean and the remaining 6 from varying CONCACAF countries. The North American teams from Major League Soccer and Liga MX qualify through their national leagues or other national tournaments, while the Caribbean team qualifies through the Caribbean Club Championship; the remaining six teams qualify through the CONCACAF League.


title: CONCACAF

text: The title has been won by 28 clubs, 13 of which have won the title more than once. Mexican clubs have accumulated the highest number of victories, with 36 titles. The second most successful league has been Costa Rica's Primera División with six titles in total. The most successful club is Club América from Mexico, with seven titles; fellow Mexico side Cruz Azul is just behind with six.


title: CONCACAF

text: Club América is the most titled club in the continent with a record of 7 CONCACAF Champions League titles, a continental record of 2 Copa Interamericana titles and a record of 1 CONCACAF Giants Cup title, 10 titles overall.


title: CONCACAF

text: The following table lists all the countries whose clubs have won at least one CONCACAF competition. Mexican clubs are the most successful, with a total of 44 titles. Mexican clubs hold a record number of wins in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup/CONCACAF Champions League (37), the CONCACAF Cup Winners' Cup/CONCACAF Giants Cup (4) and Copa Interamericana (3). In second place Costa Rican clubs have 9 titles and they have the most victories in the CONCACAF League (3). In third place overall, Selvadoradian and American clubs have secured 4 titles each.


title: CONCACAF

text: At the CONCACAF Congress in May 2012 in Budapest, Hungary, legal counsel John P. Collins informed the members of CONCACAF of several financial irregularities. Collins revealed that Jack Warner, the former CONCACAF President, had registered the $22 million 'Dr. João Havelange Centre of Excellence' development in Port-of-Spain under the name of two companies that Warner owned.


title: CONCACAF

text: In addition, Warner had secured a mortgage against the asset in 2007 which the CONCACAF members were also unaware of; the mortgage was co-signed by Lisle Austin, a former vice-president of CONCACAF. The loan defaulted.


title: CONCACAF

text: Collins also revealed that CONCACAF, despite most of its income coming from the United States, had not paid any tax to the Internal Revenue Service since at least 2007 and had never filed a return in the United States. Although CONCACAF is a registered non-profit organization in the Bahamas and headquartered in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, they have an administration office in New York, and BDO and CONCACAF invited the IRS to investigate potential liabilities. It is thought that CONCACAF may have to pay up to $2 million plus penalties.


title: CONCACAF

text: Chuck Blazer stated that a full financial audit into CONCACAF by New-York based consultancy BDO was delayed due to the actions of Jack Warner and his personal accountant, and the accounts could not be "signed off" as a consequence.


title: CONCACAF

text: In addition, Blazer is to sue CONCACAF for unpaid commission of sponsorship and marketing deals which he had made in 2010 during his time as general secretary. Blazer received a 10% commission on any deal that he made on behalf of CONCACAF.


title: CONCACAF

text: The Bermuda FA asked members of CONCACAF to lobby FIFA to remove Blazer from his position on the FIFA Executive Committee. Blazer suggested that it was less to do with financial irregularities and more for his role in the removal of Jack Warner in the Caribbean Football Union corruption scandal: "I spent 21 years building the confederation and its competitions and its revenues and I'm the one responsible for its good levels of income . . . I think this is a reflection of those who were angry at me having caused the action against Warner. This is also a reaction by people who have their own agenda."


title: CONCACAF

text: Jack Warner presided over CONCACAF for 21 years. Warner was one of the most controversial figures in world football. Warner was suspended as president on 30 May 2011 due to his temporary suspension from football-related activity by FIFA following corruption allegations. A power struggle developed at CONCACAF following the allegations against Warner. The allegations against Warner were reported to the FIFA Ethics Committee by Chuck Blazer, the secretary general of CONCACAF. The acting president of CONCACAF, Lisle Austin, sent Blazer a letter saying he was "terminated as general secretary with immediate effect". Austin described Blazer's actions as "inexcusable and a gross misconduct of duty and judgement" and said the American was no longer fit to hold the post. The executive committee of CONCACAF later issued a statement saying that Austin did not have the authority to fire Blazer, and the decision was unauthorized. On 20 June 2011, Jack Warner resigned from the presidency of CONCACAF, all posts with FIFA, and removed himself from all participation in football, in the wake of the corruption investigation resulting from 10 May 2011 meeting of the Caribbean Football Union. The vice-president of CONCACAF, Alfredo Hawit, acted as president until May 2012.


title: CONCACAF

text: The CONCACAF Team of the Century was announced as part of the festivities associated with the 1998 FIFA World Cup in France.


title: CONCACAF

text: For each tournament, the flag of the host country and the number of teams in each finals tournament (in brackets) are shown.


title: CONCACAF

text: Only eleven CONCACAF members have ever reached the FIFA World Cup since its inception in 1930, six of them accomplishing the feat only once. No team from the region has ever reached the final at the World Cup, but the United States reached the semi-finals in the inaugural edition, for which they were awarded third place. CONCACAF members have reached the quarter-finals five times: Cuba in 1938, Mexico as hosts in 1970 and 1986, the United States in 2002, and most recently, Costa Rica in 2014. Jamaica is the smallest country to ever win a World Cup match, by virtue of their 2–1 victory over Japan in 1998.


title: CONCACAF

text: The following table shows the CONCACAF representatives at each edition of the World Cup, sorted by number of appearances:


title: CONCACAF

text: The 1970 FIFA World Cup took place in Mexico, the first World Cup tournament to be staged in North America, and the first held outside Europe and South America.


title: CONCACAF

text: Mexico was chosen as the host nation in 1964 by FIFA's congress ahead of the only other submitted bid from Argentina. The tournament was won by Brazil. The victorious team led by Carlos Alberto, and featuring players such as Pelé, Gérson, Jairzinho, Rivelino, and Tostão, is often cited as the greatest-ever World Cup team. They achieved a perfect record of wins in all six games in the finals. Despite the issues of altitude and high temperature, the finals produced attacking football which created an average goals per game record not since bettered by any subsequent World Cup Finals. The 1970 Finals attracted a new record television audience for the FIFA World Cup and, for the first time, in color.


title: CONCACAF

text: In 1986, Mexico became the first country to host the FIFA World Cup twice when it stepped in to stage the 1986 FIFA World Cup after the original host selection, Colombia, suffered financial problems.


title: CONCACAF

text: Colombia was originally chosen as hosts by FIFA in June 1974. However, the Colombian authorities eventually declared in November 1982 that they could not afford to host the World Cup because of economic concerns. Mexico was selected on 20 May 1983 as the replacement hosts, beating the bids of Canada and the United States, and thereby became the first nation to host two World Cups. This second World Cup in Mexico came 16 years after the first one in 1970.


title: CONCACAF

text: The United States won the right to host the 1994 FIFA World Cup, defeating bids from Brazil and Morocco. The vote was held in Zurich on 4 July 1988, and only took one round with the United States bid receiving a little over half of the votes by the Exco members. FIFA hoped that by staging the world's most prestigious football tournament there, it would lead to a growth of interest in the sport; one condition FIFA imposed was the creation of a professional football league, Major League Soccer, starting in 1996. The U.S. staged a hugely successful tournament, with average attendance of nearly 69,000 breaking a record that surpassed the 1966 FIFA World Cup average attendance of 51,000 thanks to the large seating capacities the American stadiums provided for the spectators in comparison to the smaller venues of Europe and Latin America. To this day, the total attendance for the final tournament of nearly 3.6 million remains the highest in World Cup history, despite the expansion of the competition to 32 teams at the 1998 World Cup.


title: CONCACAF

text: Canada, Mexico, and the United States have won the bidding to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, competing against a Moroccan bid.


title: CONCACAF

text: Mexico has finished runners up twice and 3rd place three times at the Copa América making El Tri the most successful non-CONMEBOL nation. The US national team have reached the semifinal stage in the South American tournament twice, followed by Honduras who have reached it once. Costa Rica has reached the quarter finals twice.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Spirulina is a biomass of cyanobacteria (blue-green algae) that can be consumed by humans and animals. The three species are "Arthrospira platensis", "A. fusiformis", and "A. maxima".


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Cultivated worldwide, "Arthrospira" is used as a dietary supplement or whole food. It is also used as a feed supplement in the aquaculture, aquarium, and poultry industries.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: The species "A. maxima" and "A. platensis" were once classified in the genus "Spirulina". The common name, spirulina, refers to the dried biomass of "A. platensis", which belongs to photosynthetic bacteria that cover the groups Cyanobacteria and Prochlorophyta. Scientifically, a distinction exists between spirulina and the genus "Arthrospira". Species of "Arthrospira" have been isolated from alkaline brackish and saline waters in tropical and subtropical regions. Among the various species included in the genus "Arthrospira", "A. platensis" is the most widely distributed and is mainly found in Africa, but also in Asia. "A. maxima" is believed to be found in California and Mexico. The term "spirulina" remains in use for historical reasons.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: "Arthrospira" species are free-floating, filamentous cyanobacteria characterized by cylindrical, multicellular trichomes in an open left-handed helix. They occur naturally in tropical and subtropical lakes with high pH and high concentrations of carbonate and bicarbonate. "A. platensis" occurs in Africa, Asia, and South America, whereas "A. maxima" is confined to Central America. Most cultivated spirulina is produced in open-channel raceway ponds, with paddle wheels used to agitate the water.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Spirulina thrives at a pH around 8.5 and above and a temperature around . They are autotrophic, meaning that they are able to make their own food, and do not need a living energy or organic carbon source. A nutrient feed for growing it is:


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Spirulina was a food source for the Aztecs and other Mesoamericans until the 16th century; the harvest from Lake Texcoco in Mexico and subsequent sale as cakes were described by one of Cortés' soldiers. The Aztecs called it "tecuitlatl".


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Spirulina was found in abundance at Lake Texcoco by French researchers in the 1960s, but no reference to its use by the Aztecs as a daily food source was made after the 16th century, probably because of the draining of the surrounding lakes for agriculture and urban development. The topic of "tecuitlatl", which was discovered in 1520, was not mentioned again until 1940, when the Belgian phycologist Pierre Dangeard mentioned a cake called "dihe" consumed by the Kanembu tribe, who harvest it from Lake Chad in the African nation of Chad. Dangeard studied the "dihe" samples and found it to be a dried puree of the spring form of the blue-green algae from the lake. The "dihe" is used to make broths for meals, and also sold in markets. The spirulina is harvested from small lakes and ponds around Lake Chad.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: During 1964 and 1965, the botanist Jean Leonard confirmed that "dihe" is made up of spirulina, and later studied a bloom of algae in a sodium hydroxide production facility. As a result, the first systematic and detailed study of the growth requirements and physiology of spirulina was performed as a basis for establishing large-scale production in the 1970s.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Spirulina is being investigated to address food security and malnutrition, and as dietary support in long-term space flight or Mars missions. Its advantage for food security is that it needs less land and water than livestock to produce protein and energy.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: As seen in the table of nutritional value, provided in its typical supplement form as a dried powder, a 100-g amount of spirulina supplies and is a rich source (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of numerous essential nutrients, particularly protein, B vitamins (thiamin, riboflavin, and niacin, providing 207%, 306%, and 85% DV, respectively), and dietary minerals, such as iron (219% DV) and manganese (90% DV). The lipid content of spirulina is 8% by weight providing the fatty acids, gamma-linolenic acid, linoleic acid, stearidonic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), and arachidonic acid. In contrast to those 2003 estimates (of DHA and EPA each at 2 to 3% of total fatty acids), 2015 research indicated that spirulina products "contained no detectable omega-3 fatty acids" (less than 0.1%, including DHA and EPA).


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Spirulina contains no vitamin B naturally, and spirulina supplements are not considered to be a reliable source of vitamin B, as they contain predominantly pseudovitamin B (Coα-[α-(7-adenyl)]-Coβ-cyanocobamide), which is biologically inactive in humans. In a 2009 position paper on vegetarian diets, the American Dietetic Association stated that spirulina is not a reliable source of active vitamin B. The medical literature similarly advises that spirulina is unsuitable as a source of B.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Various studies on spirulina as an alternative feed for animal and aquaculture have been done. Spirulina can be fed up to 10% for poultry and less than 4% for quail. An increase in spirulina content up to for 16 days in 21-day-old broiler male chicks resulted in yellow and red coloration of flesh, possibly due to the accumulation of the yellow pigment zeaxanthin. Pigs and rabbits can receive up to 10% of the feed and increase in the spirulina content in cattle resulted in increase in milk yield and weight. Spirulina has been established as an alternative feedstock and immune booster for bigmouth buffalo, milk fish, cultured striped jack, carp, red sea bream, tilapia, catfish, yellow tail, zebrafish, shrimp, and abalone, and up to 2% spirulina per day in aquaculture feed can be safely recommended.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: According to the U.S. National Institutes of Health, scientific evidence is insufficient to recommend spirulina supplementation for any human condition, and more research is needed to clarify whether consumption yields any benefits. Administration of spirulina has been investigated as a way to control glucose in people with diabetes, but the European Food Safety Authority rejected those claims in 2013. Spirulina has been studied as a potential nutritional supplement for adults and children affected by HIV, but there was no conclusive effect on risk of death, body weight, or immune response.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Spirulina may have adverse interactions when taken with prescription drugs, particularly those affecting the immune system and blood clotting.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Spirulina is a cyanobacterium, others of which produce toxins such as microcystins. Some spirulina supplements have been found to be contaminated with microcystins, albeit at levels below the limit set by the Oregon Health Department. Microcystins can cause gastrointestinal upset, such as diarrhea, flatulence, headache, muscle pain, facial flushing, and sweating. If used chronically, liver damage may occur. The effects of chronic exposure to even low levels of microcystins are a concern due to the risk of toxicity to several organ systems.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: These toxic compounds are not produced by spirulina itself, but can occur if spirulina batches are contaminated with other, toxin-producing, blue-green algae. Because the U.S. considers spirulina a dietary supplement, its government does not regulate its production and enforces no safety standards for its production or purity. The U.S. National Institutes of Health describes spirulina supplements as "possibly safe", provided they are free of microcystin contamination, but "likely unsafe" (especially for children) if contaminated. Given the lack of regulatory standards in the U.S., some public-health researchers have raised the concern that consumers cannot be certain that spirulina and other blue-green algae supplements are free of contamination. In 1999, Health Canada found that one sample of spirulina was microcystin-free. ("...0/10 samples of "Spirulina" contained microcystins.")


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Heavy-metal contamination of spirulina supplements has also raised concern. The Chinese State Food and Drug Administration reported that lead, mercury, and arsenic contamination was widespread in spirulina supplements marketed in China. One study reported the presence of lead up to 5.1 ppm in a sample from a commercial supplement. Spirulina doses of 10 to 19 grams per day over several months have been used safely.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Like all protein-rich foods, spirulina contains the essential amino acid phenylalanine (2.6–4.1 g/100 g), which should be avoided by people who have phenylketonuria, a rare genetic disorder that prevents the body from metabolizing phenylalanine, which then builds up in the brain, causing damage.


title: Spirulina (dietary supplement)

text: Spirulina contaminated with microcystins has various potential toxicity, especially to children and pregnant women, including liver damage, shock, and death.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae", effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term "reggae" more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political commentary. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae is deeply linked to Rastafari, an Afrocentric religion which developed in Jamaica in the 1930s, aiming at promoting pan-Africanism. Soon after the Rastafarian movement appeared, the international popularity of reggae music became associated with and increased the visibility of Rastafari and spread its gospel throughout the world. Reggae music is an important means of transporting vital messages of Rastafari. The musician becomes the messenger, and as Rastafari see it, "the soldier and the musician are tools for change."


title: Reggae

text: Stylistically, reggae incorporates some of the musical elements of rhythm and blues, jazz, mento (a celebratory, rural folk form that served its largely rural audience as dance music and an alternative to the hymns and adapted chanteys of local church singing), calypso, and also draws influence from traditional African folk rhythms. One of the most easily recognizable elements is offbeat rhythms; staccato chords played by a guitar or piano (or both) on the offbeats of the measure. The tempo of reggae is usually slower paced than both ska and rocksteady. The concept of call and response can be found throughout reggae music. The genre of reggae music is led by the drum and bass. Some key players in this sound are Jackie Jackson from Toots and the Maytals, Carlton Barrett from Bob Marley and the Wailers, Lloyd Brevett from the Skatalites, Paul Douglas from Toots and the Maytals, Lloyd Knibb from the Skatalites, Winston Grennan, Sly Dunbar, and Anthony "Benbow" Creary from the Upsetters. The bass guitar often plays the dominant role in reggae. The bass sound in reggae is thick and heavy, and equalized so the upper frequencies are removed and the lower frequencies emphasized. The guitar in reggae usually plays on the offbeat of the rhythm. It is common for reggae to be sung in Jamaican Patois, Jamaican English, and Iyaric dialects. Reggae is noted for its tradition of social criticism and religion in its lyrics, although many reggae songs discuss lighter, more personal subjects, such as love and socializing.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae has spread to many countries around the world, often incorporating local instruments and fusing with other genres. Reggae en Español spread from the Spanish-speaking Central American country of Panama to the mainland South American countries of Venezuela and Guyana then to the rest of South America. Caribbean music in the United Kingdom, including reggae, has been popular since the late 1960s, and has evolved into several subgenres and fusions. Many reggae artists began their careers in the UK, and there have been a number of European artists and bands drawing their inspiration directly from Jamaica and the Caribbean community in Europe. Reggae in Africa was boosted by the visit of Bob Marley to Zimbabwe in 1980. In Jamaica, authentic reggae is one of the biggest sources of income.


title: Reggae

text: The 1967 edition of the "Dictionary of Jamaican English" lists "reggae" as "a recently estab. sp. for "rege"", as in "rege-rege", a word that can mean either "rags, ragged clothing" or "a quarrel, a row". "Reggae" as a musical term first appeared in print with the 1968 rocksteady hit "Do the Reggay" by the Maytals which named the genre.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae historian Steve Barrow credits Clancy Eccles with altering the Jamaican patois word "streggae" (loose woman) into "reggae". However, Toots Hibbert said:


title: Reggae

text: There's a word we used to use in Jamaica called 'streggae'. If a girl is walking and the guys look at her and say 'Man, she's streggae' it means she don't dress well, she look raggedy. The girls would say that about the men too. This one morning me and my two friends were playing and I said, 'OK man, let's do the reggay.' It was just something that came out of my mouth. So we just start singing 'Do the reggay, do the reggay' and created a beat. People tell me later that we had given the sound its name. Before that people had called it blue-beat and all kind of other things. Now it's in the Guinness World of Records.


title: Reggae

text: Bob Marley claimed that the word "reggae" came from a Spanish term for "the king's music". The liner notes of "To the King", a compilation of Christian gospel reggae, suggest that the word "reggae" was derived from the Latin "regi" meaning "to the king".


title: Reggae

text: Reggae's direct origins are in the ska and rocksteady of 1960s Jamaica, strongly influenced by traditional Caribbean mento and calypso music, as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues. Ska was originally a generic title for Jamaican music recorded between 1961 and 1967 and emerged from Jamaican R&B, which was based largely on American R&B and doo-wop. Rastafari entered some countries primarily through reggae music; thus, the movement in these places is more stamped by its origins in reggae music and social milieu. The Rastafari movement was a significant influence on reggae, with Rasta drummers like Count Ossie taking part in seminal recordings. One of the predecessors of reggae drumming is the Nyabinghi rhythm, a style of ritual drumming performed as a communal meditative practice in the Rastafarian life.


title: Reggae

text: In the latter half of the 20th century, phonograph records became of central importance to the Jamaican music industry, playing a significant cultural and economic role in the development of reggae music. "In the early 1950s, Jamaican entrepreneurs began issuing 78s" but this format would soon be superseded by the 7" single, first released in 1949. In 1951 the first recordings of mento music were released as singles and showcased two styles of mento: an acoustic rural style, and a jazzy pop style. Other 7" singles to appear in Jamaica around this time were covers of popular American R&B hits, made by Kingston sound system operators to be played at public dances. Meanwhile, Jamaican expatriates started issuing 45s on small independent labels in the United Kingdom, many mastered directly from Jamaican 45s.


title: Reggae

text: Ska arose in Jamaican studios in the late 1950s, developing from this mix of American R&B, mento and calypso music. Notable for its jazz-influenced horn riffs, ska is characterized by a quarter note walking bass line, guitar and piano offbeats, and a drum pattern with cross-stick snare and bass drum on the backbeat and open hi-hat on the offbeats. When Jamaica gained independence in 1962, ska became the music of choice for young Jamaicans seeking music that was their own. Ska also became popular among mods in Britain.


title: Reggae

text: In the mid-1960s, ska gave rise to rocksteady, a genre slower than ska featuring more romantic lyrics and less prominent horns. Theories abound as to why Jamaican musicians slowed the ska tempo to create rocksteady; one is that the singer Hopeton Lewis was unable to sing his hit song "Take It Easy" at a ska tempo. The name "rocksteady" was codified after the release of a single by Alton Ellis. Many rocksteady rhythms later were used as the basis of reggae recordings, whose slower tempos allowed for the "double skank" guitar strokes on the offbeat.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae developed from ska and rocksteady in the late 1960s. Larry And Alvin's "Nanny Goat" and the Beltones’ "No More Heartaches" were among the songs in the genre. The beat was distinctive from rocksteady in that it dropped any of the pretensions to the smooth, soulful sound that characterized slick American R&B, and instead was closer in kinship to US southern funk, being heavily dependent on the rhythm section to drive it along. Reggae's great advantage was its almost limitless flexibility: from the early, jerky sound of Lee Perry's "People Funny Boy", to the uptown sounds of Third World's "Now That We’ve Found Love", it was an enormous leap through the years and styles, yet both are instantly recognizable as reggae. The shift from rocksteady to reggae was illustrated by the organ shuffle pioneered by Jamaican musicians like Jackie Mittoo and Winston Wright and featured in transitional singles "Say What You're Saying" (1968) by Eric "Monty" Morris and "People Funny Boy" (1968) by Lee "Scratch" Perry.


title: Reggae

text: Early 1968 was when the first "bona fide" reggae records were released: "Nanny Goat" by Larry Marshall and "No More Heartaches" by the Beltones. That same year, the newest Jamaican sound began to spawn big-name imitators in other countries. American artist Johnny Nash's 1968 hit "Hold Me Tight" has been credited with first putting reggae in the American listener charts. Around the same time, reggae influences were starting to surface in rock and pop music, one example being 1968's "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" by the Beatles.


title: Reggae

text: The Wailers, a band started by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer in 1963, is perhaps the most recognized band that made the transition through all three stages of early Jamaican popular music: ska, rocksteady and reggae. Over a dozen Wailers songs are based on or use a line from Jamaican mento songs. Other significant ska artists who made the leap to reggae include Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker, Ken Boothe, and Millie Small, best known for her 1964 blue-beat/ska cover version of "My Boy Lollipop" which was a smash hit internationally.


title: Reggae

text: Notable Jamaican producers influential in the development of ska into rocksteady and reggae include: Coxsone Dodd, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Leslie Kong, Duke Reid, Joe Gibbs and King Tubby. Chris Blackwell, who founded Island Records in Jamaica in 1960, relocated to England in 1962, where he continued to promote Jamaican music. He formed a partnership with Lee Gopthal's Trojan Records in 1968, which released reggae in the UK until bought by Saga records in 1974.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae's influence bubbled to the top of the U.S. "Billboard" Hot 100 charts in late 1972. First Three Dog Night hit No. 1 in September with a cover of the Maytones' version of "Black and White". Then Johnny Nash was at No. 1 for four weeks in November with "I Can See Clearly Now". Paul Simon's single "Mother And Child Reunion" – a track which he recorded in Kingston, Jamaica with Jimmy Cliff's backing group – was ranked by Billboard as the No. 57 song of 1972.


title: Reggae

text: In 1973, the film "The Harder They Come" starring Jimmy Cliff was released and introduced Jamaican music to cinema audiences outside Jamaica. Though the film achieved cult status its limited appeal meant that it had a smaller impact than Eric Clapton's 1974 cover of Bob Marley's "I Shot the Sheriff" which made it onto the playlists of mainstream rock and pop radio stations worldwide. Clapton's "I Shot the Sheriff" used modern rock production and recording techniques and faithfully retained most of the original reggae elements; it was a breakthrough pastiche devoid of any parody and played an important part in bringing the music of Bob Marley to a wider rock audience. By the mid-1970s, authentic reggae dub plates and specials were getting some exposure in the UK on John Peel's radio show, who promoted the genre for the rest of his career. Around the same time, British filmmaker Jeremy Marre documented the Jamaican music scene in "Roots Rock Reggae", capturing the heyday of Roots reggae.


title: Reggae

text: While the quality of Reggae records produced in Jamaica took a turn for the worse following the oil crisis of the 1970s, reggae produced elsewhere began to flourish. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the UK punk rock scene flourished, and reggae was a notable influence. The DJ Don Letts would play reggae and punk tracks at clubs such as The Roxy. Punk bands such as the Clash, the Ruts, the Members and the Slits played many reggae-influenced songs. Around the same time, reggae music took a new path in the UK; one that was created by the multiracial makeup of England's inner cities and exemplified by groups like Steel Pulse, Aswad and UB40, as well as artists such as Smiley Culture and Carroll Thompson. The Jamaican ghetto themes in the lyrics were replaced with UK inner city themes, and Jamaican patois became intermingled with Cockney slang. In South London around this time, a new subgenre of lovers rock, was being created. Unlike the Jamaican music of the same name which was mainly dominated by male artists such as Gregory Isaacs, the South London genre was led by female singers like Thompson and Janet Kay. The UK Lovers Rock had a softer and more commercial sound.Other reggae artists who enjoyed international appeal in the early 1980s include Third World, Black Uhuru and Sugar Minott. The Grammy Awards introduced the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album category in 1985.


title: Reggae

text: Women also play a role in the reggae music industry personnel such as Olivia Grange, president of Specs-Shang Musik; Trish Farrell, president of Island/Jamaica; Lisa Cortes, president of Loose Cannon; Jamaican-American Sharon Gordon, who has worked in the independent reggae music industry.


title: Reggae

text: Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding made February 2008 the first annual Reggae Month in Jamaica. To celebrate, the Recording Industry Association of Jamaica (RIAJam) held its first Reggae Academy Awards on 24 February 2008. In addition, Reggae Month included a six-day Global Reggae conference, a reggae film festival, two radio station award functions, and a concert tribute to the late Dennis Brown, who Bob Marley cited as his favorite singer. On the business side, RIAJam held events focused on reggae's employment opportunities and potential international revenue. . Reggae Month 2019 in Jamaica was welcomed with multiple events ranging from corporate reggae functions to major celebrations in honour of Bob Marley's Birthday on 6 February to a tribute concert in honour of Dennis Brown on 24 February along with a sold-out concert by 2019 Reggae Grammy nominated artiste Protoje for his A Matter of Time Live held at Hope Gardens in Kingston on 23 February.


title: Reggae

text: In November 2018 "reggae music of Jamaica" was added to the UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity the decision recognised reggae's "contribution to international discourse on issues of injustice, resistance, love and humanity underscores the dynamics of the element as being at once cerebral, socio-political, sensual and spiritual."


title: Reggae

text: Stylistically, reggae incorporates some of the musical elements of rhythm and blues (R&B), jazz, mento, calypso, African, and Latin American music, as well as other genres. Reggae scenes consist of two guitars, one for rhythm and one for lead—drums, congas, and keyboards, with a couple of vocalists.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae is played in time because the symmetrical rhythmic pattern does not lend itself to other time signatures such as . One of the most easily recognizable elements is offbeat rhythms; staccato chords played by a guitar or piano (or both) on the offbeats of the measure, often referred to as the skank.


title: Reggae

text: This rhythmic pattern accents the second and fourth beats in each bar and combines with the drum's emphasis on beat three to create a unique sense of phrasing. The reggae offbeat can be counted so that it falls between each count as an "and" (example: 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and, etc.) or counted as a half-time feel at twice the tempo so it falls on beats 2 and 4. This is in contrast to the way most other popular genres focus on beat one, the "downbeat".


title: Reggae

text: The tempo of reggae is usually slower than both ska and rocksteady. It is this slower tempo, the guitar/piano offbeats, the emphasis on the third beat, and the use of syncopated, melodic bass lines that differentiate reggae from other music, although other musical styles have incorporated some of these innovations.


title: Reggae

text: A standard drum kit is generally used in reggae, but the snare drum is often tuned very high to give it a timbales-type sound. Some reggae drummers use an additional timbale or high-tuned snare to get this sound. Cross-stick technique on the snare drum is commonly used, and tom-tom drums are often incorporated into the drumbeat itself.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae drumbeats fall into three main categories: "One drop", "Rockers", and "Steppers". With the "One drop", the emphasis is entirely on the backbeat (usually on the snare, or as a side-stick combined with bass drum). Beat one is empty except for a closed high hat commonly used, which is unusual in popular music. There is some controversy about whether reggae should be counted so that this beat falls on two and four, or whether it should be counted twice as fast, so it falls on three. An example played by Barrett can be heard in the Bob Marley and the Wailers song "One Drop". Barrett often used an unusual triplet cross-rhythm on the hi-hat, which can be heard on many recordings by Bob Marley and the Wailers, such as "Running Away" on the "Kaya" album.


title: Reggae

text: An emphasis on the backbeat is found in all reggae drumbeats, but with the "Rockers" beat, the emphasis is on all four beats of the bar (usually on bass drum). This beat was pioneered by Sly and Robbie, who later helped create the "Rub-a-Dub" sound that greatly influenced dancehall. Sly has stated he was influenced to create this style by listening to American drummer Earl Young as well as other disco and R&B drummers in the early to mid-1970s, as stated in the book "Wailing Blues". The prototypical example of the style is found in Sly Dunbar's drumming on "Right Time" by the Mighty Diamonds. The "Rockers" beat is not always straightforward, and various syncopations are often included. An example of this is the Black Uhuru song "Sponji Reggae".


title: Reggae

text: In "Steppers", the bass drum plays every quarter beat of the bar, giving the beat an insistent drive. An example is "Exodus" by Bob Marley and the Wailers. Another common name for the "Steppers" beat is the "four on the floor". Burning Spear's 1975 song "Red, Gold, and Green" (with Leroy Wallace on drums) is one of the earliest examples. The "Steppers" beat was adopted (at a much higher tempo) by some two-tone ska revival bands of the late 1970s and early 1980s.


title: Reggae

text: An unusual characteristic of reggae drumming is that the drum fills often do not end with a climactic cymbal. A wide range of other percussion instrumentation are used in reggae. Bongos are often used to play free, improvised patterns, with heavy use of African-style cross-rhythms. Cowbells, claves and shakers tend to have more defined roles and a set pattern.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae drummers often involved these three tips for other reggae performers: (1) go for open, ringing tones when playing ska and rocksteady, (2) use any available material to stuff the bass drum so that it tightens up the kick to a deep, punchy thud, and (3) go without a ride cymbal, focusing on the hi-hat for timekeeping and thin crashes with fast decay for accents.


title: Reggae

text: The bass guitar often plays the dominant role in reggae, and the drum and bass is often the most important part of what is called, in Jamaican music, a "riddim" (rhythm), a (usually simple) piece of music that is used repeatedly by different artists to write and record songs with. Hundreds of reggae singers have released different songs recorded over the same rhythm. The central role of the bass can be particularly heard in dub music – which gives an even bigger role to the drum and bass line, reducing the vocals and other instruments to peripheral roles.


title: Reggae

text: The bass sound in reggae is thick and heavy, and equalized so the upper frequencies are removed and the lower frequencies emphasized. The bass line is often a repeated two or four bar riff when simple chord progressions are used. The simplest example of this might be Robbie Shakespeare's bass line for the Black Uhuru hit "Shine Eye Gal". In the case of more complex harmonic structures, such as John Holt's version of "Stranger in Love", these simpler patterns are altered to follow the chord progression either by directly moving the pattern around or by changing some of the interior notes in the phrase to better support the chords.


title: Reggae

text: The guitar in reggae usually plays on the off beat of the rhythm. So if one is counting in time and counting "1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and ...", one would play a downstroke on the "and" part of the beat. A musical figure known as skank or the 'bang" has a very dampened, short and scratchy chop sound, almost like a percussion instrument. Sometimes a double chop is used when the guitar still plays the off beats, but also plays the following eighth-note beats on the up-stroke. An example is the intro to "Stir It Up" by the Wailers. Artist and producer Derrick Harriott says, "What happened was the musical thing was real widespread, but only among a certain sort of people. It was always a down-town thing, but more than just hearing the music. The equipment was so powerful and the vibe so strong that we feel it."


title: Reggae

text: From the earliest days of Ska recordings, a piano was used to double the rhythm guitar's skank, playing the chords in a "staccato" style to add body, and playing occasional extra beats, runs and riffs. The piano part was widely taken over by synthesizers during the 1980s, although synthesizers have been used in a peripheral role since the 1970s to play incidental melodies and countermelodies. Larger bands may include either an additional keyboardist, to cover or replace horn and melody lines, or the main keyboardist filling these roles on two or more keyboards.


title: Reggae

text: The reggae organ-shuffle is unique to reggae. In the original version of reggae, the drummer played a reggae groove that was used in the four bar introduction, allowing the piano to serve as a percussion instrument. Typically, a Hammond organ-style sound is used to play chords with a choppy feel. This is known as the "bubble". This may be the most difficult reggae keyboard rhythm. The organ bubble can be broken down into 2 basic patterns. In the first, the 8th beats are played with a space-left-right-left-space-left-right-left pattern, where the spaces represent downbeats not played—that and the left-right-left falls on the ee-and-a, or and-2-and if counted at double time. In the second basic pattern, the left hand plays a double chop as described in the guitar section while the right hand plays longer notes on beat 2 (or beat 3 if counted at double time) or a syncopated pattern between the double chops. Both these patterns can be expanded on and improvised embellishments are sometimes used.


title: Reggae

text: Horn sections are frequently used in reggae, often playing introductions and countermelodies. Instruments included in a typical reggae horn section include saxophone, trumpet or trombone. In more recent times, real horns are sometimes replaced in reggae by synthesizers or recorded samples. The horn section is often arranged around the first horn, playing a simple melody or counter melody. The first horn is usually accompanied by the second horn playing the same melodic phrase in unison, one octave higher. The third horn usually plays the melody an octave and a fifth higher than the first horn. The horns are generally played fairly softly, usually resulting in a soothing sound. However, sometimes punchier, louder phrases are played for a more up-tempo and aggressive sound.


title: Reggae

text: The vocals in reggae are less of a defining characteristic of the genre than the instrumentation and rhythm, as almost any song can be performed in a reggae style. However, it is very common for reggae to be sung in Jamaican Patois, Jamaican English, and Iyaric dialects. Vocal harmony parts are often used, either throughout the melody (as with vocal groups such as the Mighty Diamonds), or as a counterpoint to the main vocal line (as with the backing vocalists, the I-Threes). More complex vocal arrangements can be found in the works of groups like the Abyssinians and British reggae band Steel Pulse.


title: Reggae

text: An unusual aspect of reggae singing is that many singers use "tremolo" (volume oscillation) rather than "vibrato" (pitch oscillation). Notable exponents of this technique include Horace Andy and vocal group Israel Vibration. The toasting vocal style is unique to reggae, originating when DJs improvised spoken introductions to songs (or "toasts") to the point where it became a distinct rhythmic vocal style, and is generally considered to be a precursor to rap. It differs from rap mainly in that it is generally melodic, while rap is generally more a spoken form without melodic content.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae is noted for its tradition of social criticism in its lyrics, although many reggae songs discuss lighter, more personal subjects, such as love and socializing. Many early reggae bands covered Motown or Atlantic soul and funk songs. Some reggae lyrics attempt to raise the political consciousness of the audience, such as by criticizing materialism, or by informing the listener about controversial subjects such as apartheid. Many reggae songs promote the use of cannabis (also known as "herb", "ganja", or "sinsemilla"), considered a sacrament in the Rastafari movement. There are many artists who utilize religious themes in their music – whether it be discussing a specific religious topic, or simply giving praise to God (Jah). Other common socio-political topics in reggae songs include black nationalism, anti-racism, anti-colonialism, anti-capitalism and criticism of political systems and "Babylon".


title: Reggae

text: In recent years, Jamaican (and non-Jamaican) reggae musicians have used more positive themes in reggae music. The music is widely considered a treasured cultural export for Jamaica, so musicians who still desire progress for their island nation have begun focusing on themes of hopefulness, faith, and love. For elementary children, reggae songs such as "Give a Little Love", "One Love", or "Three Little Birds", all written by Bob Marley, can be sung and enjoyed for their optimism and cheerful lyrics.


title: Reggae

text: Some dancehall and ragga artists have been criticised for homophobia, including threats of violence. Buju Banton's song "Boom Bye-Bye" states that gays "haffi dead". Other notable dancehall artists who have been accused of homophobia include Elephant Man, Bounty Killer and Beenie Man. The controversy surrounding anti-gay lyrics has led to the cancellation of UK tours by Beenie Man and Sizzla. Toronto, Canada has also seen the cancellation of concerts due to artists such as Elephant Man and Sizzla refusing to conform to similar censorship pressures.


title: Reggae

text: After lobbying from the Stop Murder Music coalition, the dancehall music industry agreed in 2005 to stop releasing songs that promote hatred and violence against gay people. In June 2007, Beenie Man, Sizzla and Capleton signed up to the Reggae Compassionate Act, in a deal brokered with top dancehall promoters and Stop Murder Music activists. They renounced homophobia and agreed to "not make statements or perform songs that incite hatred or violence against anyone from any community". Five artists targeted by the anti-homophobia campaign did not sign up to the act, including Elephant Man, TOK, Bounty Killa and Vybz Kartel. Buju Banton and Beenie Man both gained positive press coverage around the world for publicly renouncing homophobia by signing the Reggae Compassion Act. However, both of these artists have since denied any involvement in anti-homophobia work and both deny having signed any such act.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae has spread to many countries around the world, often incorporating local instruments and fusing with other genres. In November 2018 UNESCO added the "reggae music of Jamaica" to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae en Español spread from mainland South American Caribbean from Venezuela and Guyana to the rest of South America. It does not have any specific characteristics other than being sung in Spanish, usually by artists of Latin American origin. Samba reggae originated in Brazil as a blend of samba with Jamaican reggae. Reggae also has a presence in Veracruz, Mexico. The most notable Jarocho reggae group being Los Aguas Aguas from Xalapa. Some of the most popular reggae groups across Latin America come from the Southern Cone, such as the Chilean band Gondwana, and the Argentinian band Los Cafres. The Puerto Rican band Cultura Profética is also widely recognized in the region. Hispanic reggae includes three elements: the incorporation of the Spanish language; the use of translations and versions based on known riddims and background music; and regional consciousness. It is a medium of rebellious contestation rising from the underground. Hispanic reggae is related to rap, sharing characteristics that can be found not only in the social conditions in which they developed in the region but also in the characteristics of social sectors and classes that welcome them.


title: Reggae

text: Brazilian samba-reggae utilized themes such as the civil rights movement and the Black Soul movement, and especially the Jamaican independence movement since the 1960s and its messages in reggae and Rastafari. Thus, the sudden popularity of reggae music and musicians in Bahia, Brazil, was not the result of the effects of the transnational music industry, but of the need to establish cultural and political links with black communities across the Americas that had faced and were facing similar sociopolitical situations.


title: Reggae

text: Musically, it was the bloco afro Olodum and its lead percussionist, Neguinho do Samba, that began to combine the basic samba beat of the blocos with merengue, salsa, and reggae rhythms and debuted their experimentations in the carnival of 1986. The new toques (drumming patterns) were labeled "samba-reggae" and consisted basically of a pattern in which the surdo bass drums (four of them at the minimum) divided themselves into four or five interlocking parts.


title: Reggae

text: In the state of Maranhão, in northeastern Brazil, reggae is a very popular rhythm. São Luis, the state capital, is known as the Brazilian Jamaica. The city has more than 200 "radiolas", name given to sound teams formed by DJs and sound systems with dozens of powerful amplifiers boxes stacked. Reggae in Maranhão has its own characteristics, such as melody and the way of dancing, as well as having its own radio and television programs. In 2018, the Reggae Museum of Maranhão was inaugurated, the second reggae museum in the world (after Jamaica), with the objective of preserving the reggae culture history in the state.


title: Reggae

text: In the United States, bands like Rebelution, Slightly Stoopid, Stick Figure, and SOJA are considered progressive reggae bands sometimes referred to as Cali Reggae or Pacific Dub. The American reggae scene is heavily centred in Southern California, with large scenes also in New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Miami, and Honolulu. For decades, Hawaiian reggae has had a big following on the Hawaiian islands and the West coast of the US. On the east coast upstate NY has seen a rise in original roots reggae bands such as Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad and John Brown's Body who were inspired by Jamaican reggae bands that performed in the area back in the 80s and 90s. Matisyahu gained prominence by blending traditional Jewish themes with reggae. Compounding his use of the hazzan style, Matisyahu's lyrics are mostly English with more than occasional use of Hebrew and Yiddish. There is a large Caribbean presence in Toronto and Montreal, Canada, with English and French influences on the reggae genre. Canadian band Magic!'s 2013 single "Rude" was an international hit.


title: Reggae

text: In 2017, Toots and the Maytals became the second reggae-based group to ever perform at the Coachella festival, after Chronixx in 2016.


title: Reggae

text: The UK was a primary destination for Caribbean people looking to emigrate as early as the 1950s. Because of this, Caribbean music in the United Kingdom, including reggae, has been popular since the late 1960s, and has evolved into several subgenres and fusions. Most notable of these is lovers rock, but this fusion of Jamaican music into English culture was seminal in the formation of other musical forms like drum and bass and dubstep. The UK became the base from which many Jamaican artists toured Europe and due to the large number of Jamaican musicians emigrating there, the UK is the root of the larger European scene that exists today. Many of the world's most famous reggae artists began their careers in UK. Singer and Grammy Award-winning reggae artist Maxi Priest began his career with seminal British sound system Saxon Studio International.


title: Reggae

text: Three reggae-tinged singles from the Police's 1978 debut album, "Outlandos d'Amour", laid down the template for the basic structure of a lot of rock/reggae songwriting: a reggae-infused verse containing upstrokes on guitar or keyboards and a more aggressive, on-the-beat punk/rock attack during the chorus. The end of the 1970s featured a ska revival in the UK. By the end of the '70s, a revival movement had begun in England, with such bands as the Specials, Madness, the (English) Beat, and the Selecter. The Specials' leader and keyboardist, Jerry Dammers, founded the 2 Tone record label, which released albums from the aforementioned racially integrated groups and was instrumental in creating a new social and cultural awareness. The 2 Tone movement referenced reggae's godfathers, popular styles (including the genre's faster and more dance-oriented precursors, ska and rocksteady), and previous modes of dress (such as black suits and porkpie hats) but updated the sound with a faster tempo, more guitar, and more attitude.


title: Reggae

text: Birmingham based reggae/pop music band UB40 were main contributors to the British reggae scene throughout the 1980s and 1990s. The achieved international success with hits such as "Red Red Wine", "Kingston Town" and "(I Can't Help) Falling in Love with You."


title: Reggae

text: Other UK based artists that had international impact include Aswad, Misty in Roots, Steel Pulse, Janet Kay, Tippa Irie, Smiley Culture and more recently Bitty McLean. There have been a number of European artists and bands drawing their inspiration directly from Jamaica and the Caribbean community in Europe, whose music and vocal styles are almost identical to contemporary Jamaican music. The best examples might be Alborosie (Italy) and Gentleman (Germany). Both Gentleman and Alborosie have had a significant chart impact in Jamaica, unlike many European artists. They have both recorded and released music in Jamaica for Jamaican labels and producers and are popular artists, likely to appear on many riddims. Alborosie has lived in Jamaica since the late 1990s and has recorded at Bob Marley's famous Tuff Gong Studios. Since the early 1990s, several Italian reggae bands have emerged, including Africa Unite, Gaudi, Reggae National Tickets, Sud Sound System, Pitura Freska and B.R. Stylers.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae appeared on the Yugoslav popular music scene in the late 1970s, through sporadic songs by various rock acts, most prominently by new wave bands Haustor, Šarlo Akrobata, Aerodrom, Laboratorija Zvuka, Piloti, Zana and Du Du A. In the mid-1980s appeared Del Arno Band, often considered the first Yugoslav band whose sound was primarily reggae-oriented, remaining one of the most notable reggae acts on the post-Yugoslav music scene.


title: Reggae

text: The first homegrown Polish reggae bands started in the 1980s with groups like Izrael. Singer and songwriter Alexander Barykin was considered as the father of Russian reggae. In Sweden, Uppsala Reggae Festival attracts attendees from across Northern Europe, and features Swedish reggae bands such as Rootvälta and Svenska Akademien as well as many popular Jamaican artists. Summerjam, Europe's biggest reggae festival, takes place in Cologne, Germany and sees crowds of 25,000 or more. Rototom Sunsplash, a week-long festival which used to take place in Osoppo, Italy, until 2009, is now held in Benicassim, Spain and gathers up to 150,000 visitors every year.


title: Reggae

text: In Iceland reggae band Hjálmar is well established having released six CDs in Iceland. They were the first reggae band in Iceland, but few Icelandic artists had written songs in the reggae style before their showing up at the Icelandic music scene. The Icelandic reggae scene is expanding and growing at a fast rate. RVK Soundsystem is the first Icelandic sound system, counting 5 DJ's. They hold reggae nights in Reykjavík every month at clubs Hemmi og Valdi and more recently in Faktorý as the crowd has grown so much.


title: Reggae

text: In Germany, the three successful Reggae JSnrfti mer Jam open-air festivals were crucial parts of the renaissance of Caribbean music in Germany but at that year (1990) war broke out between the two main German promoters who had cooperated so well during the previous seasons. With a lot of infighting and personal quarrels, each of them pursued his own preparations for a big summer festival. The result was that two open-air events look place on the same day.


title: Reggae

text: The Reggae Sammer Jam '90 was staged as usual, but this year for only one day. The event took place at the Lorelei Rock amphitheater with artists like Mad Professor's Ariwa Posse with Macka B and Kofi, Mutabaruka, the Mighty Diamonds, the Twinkle Brothers, Manu Dibango and Fela Kuti.


title: Reggae

text: The other, ex-partner of the onceunited promoters succeeded in bringing the original Sunsplash package to Germany for the first time. Close to the Main River in the little village of Gemaunden deep down in rural south-central Germany, they staged a two-day festival that drew the bigger crowd. About 10,000 people came from all over the country as well as from neighboring states like trance and, for the first time, East Germany to see the lineup of top reggae artists.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae in Africa was much boosted by the visit of Bob Marley to Zimbabwe on Independence Day 18 April 1980. Nigerian reggae had developed in the 1970s with artists such as Majek Fashek proving popular. In South Africa, reggae music has played a unifying role amongst cultural groups in Cape Town. During the years of Apartheid, the music bonded people from all demographic groups. Lucky Dube recorded 25 albums, fusing reggae with Mbaqanga. The Marcus Garvey Rasta camp in Phillipi is regarded by many to be the reggae and Rastafari center of Cape Town. Reggae bands play regularly at community centres such as the Zolani center in Nyanga.


title: Reggae

text: In Uganda musician Papa Cidy is very popular. Arthur Lutta is also a Ugandan gospel reggae drummer known for his reggae style drumming. In Ethiopia, Dub Colossus and Invisible System emerged in 2008 sharing core members, and have received wide acclaim. In Mali, Askia Modibo fuses reggae with Malian music. In Malawi, Black Missionaries produced nine albums. In Ivory Coast a country where reggae music is extremely popular, Tiken Jah Fakoly fuses reggae with traditional music. Alpha Blondy from Ivory Coast sings reggae with religious lyrics. In Sudan, beats, drums and bass guitar from reggae music has been adopted into their music as reggae is a very popular among the generations from young to old, some spiritual (religious) groups grow their dreadlocks and have some reggae beats in their chants.


title: Reggae

text: In the Philippines, several bands and sound systems play reggae and dancehall music. Their music is called Pinoy reggae. Japanese reggae emerged in the early 1980s. Reggae is becoming more prevalent in Thailand as well. Reggae music is quite popular in Sri Lanka. Aside from the reggae music and Rastafari influences seen ever more on Thailand's islands and beaches, a true reggae sub-culture is taking root in Thailand's cities and towns. Many Thai artists, such as Job 2 Do, keep the tradition of reggae music and ideals alive in Thailand. By the end of the 1980s, the local music scene in Hawaii was dominated by Jawaiian music, a local form of reggae.


title: Reggae

text: Famous Indian singer Kailash Kher and music producer Clinton Cerejo created "Kalapi", a rare fusion piece of Reggae and Indian music for Coke Studio India. Other than this high-profile piece, Reggae is confined to a small, emerging scene in India. Thaikkudam Bridge, a neo-Indian band based in Kerala, India is known for inducing Reggae into Indian regional blues.


title: Reggae

text: Reggae in Australia originated in the 1980s. Australian reggae groups include Sticky Fingers, Blue King Brown and Astronomy Class.


title: Reggae

text: New Zealand reggae was heavily inspired by Bob Marley's 1979 tour of the country, and early reggae groups such as Herbs. The genre has seen many bands like Fat Freddy's Drop, Salmonella Dub, the Black Seeds and Katchafire emerging in more recent times, often involving fusion with electronica.


title: Reggae

text: In 2017 The first-ever chart dedicated to reggae and dancehall music established in Australia by radio presenter DJ Ragz, music producer DJ Wade and Dancehall Reggae Australia.


title: Reggae

text: The term cod reggae is popularly used to describe reggae done by non-Caribbean people, often in a disparaging manner because of perceived inauthenticity. Boy George has been described as one of the "greats" in cod reggae.


title: Doner kebab

text: Doner kebab (, ; or , ), also spelled döner kebab, is a type of kebab, made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie. Seasoned meat stacked in the shape of an inverted cone is turned slowly on the rotisserie, next to a vertical cooking element. The operator uses a knife to slice thin shavings from the outer layer of the meat as it cooks. The vertical rotisserie was invented in the 19th-century Ottoman Empire, and dishes such as the Arab shawarma, Greek gyros, Canadian donair, and Mexican al pastor are derived from this.


title: Doner kebab

text: The modern sandwich variant of döner kebab originated and was popularized in 1970s West Berlin by Turkish immigrants. This was recognized by the Berlin-based Association of Turkish Doner Manufacturers in Europe, in 2011. Nowadays there are more döner kebab stores in Berlin than in Istanbul.


title: Doner kebab

text: The sliced meat of a doner kebab may be served on a plate with various accompaniments, stuffed into a pita or other type of bread as a sandwich, or wrapped in a thin flatbread such as lavash or yufka, known as a "dürüm" (literally meaning "roll" or "wrap" in Turkish). Kadir Nurman in the early 1970s introduced the sandwich or wrap form, which has become popular around the world as a fast food dish sold by kebab shops, and is often called simply a "kebab". The sandwich generally contains salad or vegetables, which may include tomato, lettuce, cabbage, onion with sumac, fresh or pickled cucumber, or chili, and various types of sauces.


title: Doner kebab

text: In the Ottoman Empire, at least as far back as the 17th century, stacks of seasoned sliced meat were cooked on a horizontal rotisserie, similar to the cağ kebab. The vertical rotisserie was introduced no later than the mid-19th century. The town of Bursa, in modern-day Turkey, is often considered the birthplace of the vertically roasted döner kebab. According to Yavuz İskenderoğlu, his grandfather İskender Efendi as a child in 1850s Bursa had the idea of roasting the lamb at his father's restaurant vertically rather than horizontally; it was a success, and some years later became known as "döner kebap". However, he may have been preceded by Hamdi Usta from Kastamonu around 1830.


title: Doner kebab

text: An Arab version became known as "shawarma". By at least the 1930s it had been brought overseas, and was sold in restaurants in Mexico by Lebanese immigrants. Doner kebab likely arrived in Greece in the 1920s with the population exchange between Greece and Turkey, later transforming into "gyros".


title: Doner kebab

text: It was not until a century after its invention that döner kebab was introduced and popularized in Istanbul, most famously by Beyti Güler. His restaurant, first opened in 1945, was soon discovered by journalists and began serving döner and other kebab dishes to kings, prime ministers, film stars and celebrities. It has been sold in sandwich form in Istanbul since at least the mid-1960s.


title: Doner kebab

text: The döner kebab and its derivatives served in a sandwich form as "fast food" came to worldwide prominence in the mid to late 20th century. The first doner kebab shop in London opened in 1966 and they were a familiar sight in provincial cities by the late 1970s, while gyros was already popular in Greece and New York City in 1971. A Greek-Canadian variation, the donair, was introduced in 1972, eventually becoming the official food of Halifax, and spreading across the country. By the 1960s, the "taco al pastor" in Mexico had evolved from the shawarma.


title: Doner kebab

text: In Germany, the döner kebab was popularized by Turkish guest workers in Berlin in the early 1970s. The dish developed there from its original form into a distinctive style of sandwich with abundant salad, vegetables, and sauces, sold in large portions at affordable prices, that would soon become one of the top-selling fast food and street food dishes in Germany and much of Europe, and popular around the world.


title: Doner kebab

text: In the English name "", the word "doner" is borrowed from the Turkish , with the Turkish letter "ö" usually anglicized as "o", though "döner kebab" is an alternative spelling in English. The word "" is used, which comes to English from the ("kabāb"), partly through Urdu, Persian and Turkish; it may refer to a number of different kebab dishes made with roasted or grilled meat. While "kebab" has been used in English since the late 17th century, "doner/döner kebab" is known only from the mid-20th or later. The Turkish word ' comes from "dönmek" ("to turn" or "to rotate"), so the Turkish name literally means "rotating roast". In German, it is spelled "Döner Kebab"; the sandwich is often called "ein Döner". Particularly in British English, a döner kebab sandwich may be referred to simply as "a kebab". A Canadian variation is "donair". In Greek, it was originally called "döner" () but later came to be known as "gyros", from ("turn"), a calque of the Turkish name. The Arabic name ("shāwarmā") derives from another Turkish word, ', also meaning "turning". Persians refer to it as "kebab torki".


title: Doner kebab

text: In Azerbaijan, döner kebab (), served similarly to the European style of sandwich wrapped in ' (flatbread) or in ' (bread, including tandoor bread), is one of the most widespread fast foods. It is usually made with ' (meat, essentially lamb or mutton), but sometimes ' (chicken).


title: Doner kebab

text: In Japan, döner kebabs are now common, especially in Tokyo. They are predominantly made of chicken but occasionally beef, and called simply "kebab". The toppings include shredded lettuce or cabbage, sliced tomato, and usually a choice of sauces such as Thousand Islands, spicy, and garlic.


title: Doner kebab

text: Döner kebab is increasingly becoming popular in Vietnam, mostly because of Vietnamese who used to live in Germany and introduced it to their homeland. Throughout Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City many döner kebab stalls can be found. Bánh mỳ Döner Kebab, the Vietnamese version of the döner kebab, has some fundamental differences with the original döner kebab. First of all, pork is used instead of beef and lamb. Second, the meat is topped with sour vegetables and chili sauce.


title: Doner kebab

text: Döner kebab shops can be found in all cities across Austria. Kebabs (often referred to as "Döner") outsell burgers or the traditional Würstel (sausage).


title: Doner kebab

text: In Finland, döner kebabs gained popularity after the 90s, when Turkish and other Near Eastern immigrants started to arrive in the country in considerable numbers, opening restaurants and importing their traditional dishes. Kebabs are generally seen as fast food, often served by late-night pizzerias.


title: Doner kebab

text: Turkish immigrants also brought doner kebab to France, where it became especially popular with the country's large North African population, in the 1980s. A typical "kebab" consists of bread stuffed with döner meat shavings, lettuce, sliced tomato and onions, with a choice of sauce including sauce blanche, a mayo-yogurt sauce. Kebabs are usually served with french fries, often stuffed into the bread itself. In Paris, this variation is called "Sandwich grec" ("Greek sandwich"). Doner kebab is the third most popular fast food in France, next to hamburgers and pizza, with more than 10,000 kebab shops selling about 300 million a year.


title: Doner kebab

text: In Germany, the earliest claim to the introduction of Turkish döner kebab dates to 1969, when Bursa native Nevzat Salim and his father started to sell the Iskender Kebap in Reutlingen. However, the Association of Turkish Döner Producers in Europe (ATDID) connects the wide popularization of the dish to the stand of Turkish guest worker Kadir Nurman at West Berlin's Zoo Station in 1972, which helped establish the döner kebab sandwich as a fast food option. While the claims of multiple persons to have "invented" the döner may be hard to prove, the further development of modern döner sandwich is connected to the city of Berlin.


title: Doner kebab

text: The döner kebap as it was first served in Berlin contained only meat, onions and a bit of salad. Over time, it developed into a dish with abundant salad, vegetables, and a selection of sauces to choose from. Even orders placed in the Turkish language in Berlin will ask for the hot sauce using the German word "scharf", flagging the hybrid nature of the Berlin style of döner kebap. This variation served with pita bread has influenced the style of döner kebap in Germany and in other nations. A 2007 survey showed that many people consider the döner kebab to be the most characteristic food of Berlin.


title: Doner kebab

text: Annual sales of döner kebabs in Germany amounted to €2.5 billion in 2010. Beef or veal, and chicken, are widely used instead of the more expensive lamb. Turkey ("Truthahn") and vegetarian versions are becoming increasingly popular.


title: Doner kebab

text: Tarkan Taşyumruk, president of the Association of Turkish Döner Producers in Europe (ATDID), provided information in 2010 that, every day, more than 400 tonnes of döner kebab meat is produced in Germany by around 350 firms. At the same ATDID fair, Taşyumruk stated that, "Annual sales in Germany amount to €2.5 billion. That shows we are one of the biggest fast-foods in Germany." In many cities throughout Germany, döner kebabs are at least as popular as hamburgers or sausages, especially with young people.


title: Doner kebab

text: In 2011 there were over 16,000 establishments selling döner kebabs in Germany, with yearly sales of €3.5 billion.


title: Doner kebab

text: "Kapsalon" is a Dutch food item consisting of French fries topped with döner or shawarma meat, garlic sauce, and a layer of Gouda cheese, baked or broiled until melted, and then subsequently covered with a layer of dressed salad greens and more sauce. The dish is usually served as fast food in a disposable metal tray. The term "kapsalon" means "hairdressing salon" or "barbershop" in Dutch, alluding to hairdresser Nathaniel Gomes who originated the dish when he requested his local kebab shop in Rotterdam to prepare it for him.


title: Doner kebab

text: Introduced by Turkish immigrants, the döner kebab with salad and sauce is a very popular dish in the United Kingdom, especially after a night out. The meat is sometimes sold on its own, but more commonly with chips (fries), in naan bread or in pitta bread. German Doner Kebab is a Glasgow-based chain operating 100 restaurants in the UK, which specialises in the dish.


title: Doner kebab

text: A variation known as "donair" was introduced in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the early 1970s. There are competing claims about the origin, but according to Halifax resident Leo Gamoulakos, his father, Greek immigrant Peter Gamoulakos, started selling Greek-style gyros at Velos Pizza in the Halifax suburb of Bedford. It did not catch on with the public, so in 1972 he modified the customary pork and lamb recipe by using spiced ground beef, Lebanese flatbread, and inventing the distinctive sweet "donair sauce" made with condensed milk, vinegar, sugar, and garlic. He called it by the "doner" name rather than "gyros", but it came to be pronounced, and spelled, as "donair". In 1973 Gamoulakos opened the first King of Donair restaurant on Quinpool Road in Halifax. In 2015, Halifax named donair the city's official food. Historically found only in Atlantic Canada, the dish's popularity has expanded to other parts of Canada.


title: Doner kebab

text: Al pastor is a variation of döner kebab via Lebanese shawarma. Literally ""in the style of the shepherd"", it references the lamb often used in shawarma, though it is normally made with pork.


title: Doner kebab

text: Doner kebab is best known in the United States in its Greek variation, now known as "gyros". Numerous people have made competing claims to have introduced the dish sometime in the 1960s, and its mass-production in the 1970s. Originally known in Greece as (doner), by 1970 in the United States the newly coined name "gyros" was commonly in use, though it was still known in some Greek restaurants by both names into the 1970s. It was also available, possibly later, in some Turkish restaurants. In recent years a number of restaurants and food trucks specializing in döner kebab have opened in various parts of the country; a substantial percentage are owned by German immigrants.


title: Doner kebab

text: With a multicultural population, the doner kebab in Australia competes with the Greek gyros and the Lebanese shawarma. Kebab sellers are subject to strict government food safety regulations.


title: Doner kebab

text: A halal snack pack is a dish that originated in Australia. It consists of halal-certified doner kebab meat, chips (french fries), and sauces such as chili, garlic and barbecue. It is traditionally served in a styrofoam container, and has been described as a staple dish of takeaway kebab shops in Australia. The name of the dish was selected by the Macquarie Dictionary as the "People's choice Word of the Year" for 2016.


title: Doner kebab

text: Health concerns regarding döner kebab, including the hygiene involved in overnight storage and re-heating of partially cooked meat, its quality, as well as high salt, fat, and calorie levels, have been reported in the media. Some investigations have found poor-quality ingredients in döner kebab meat, or meat types other than what was advertised. Food safety regulations in most developed countries address the dangers of bacteria in undercooked meat of all kinds sold to the public. Some have guidelines specific to döner kebab handling and preparation. Following several outbreaks of "E. coli" food poisoning, the Canadian government in 2008 introduced a number of recommendations, including that the meat should be cooked a second time after being sliced from the rotisserie. In Germany, any döner kebab meat placed onto the rotisserie must be sold the same day. It is a violation of health regulations to freeze partially cooked meat for sale at a later date.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The Mercedes-Benz S-Class, formerly known as Sonderklasse (German for "special class", abbreviated as "S-Klasse"), is a series of full-sized luxury sedans, limousines and armored sedans produced by the German automaker Mercedes-Benz, a division of the German company Mercedes-Benz. The S-Class is the designation for top-of-the-line Mercedes-Benz models and was officially introduced in 1972 with the W116, and has remained in use ever since. The S-Class is the flagship vehicle for Mercedes-Benz.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The S-Class has debuted many of the company's latest innovations, including drivetrain technologies, interior features, and safety systems (such as the first seatbelt pretensioners). The S-Class has ranked as the world's best-selling luxury sedan.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In automotive terms, "Sonderklasse" refers to "a specially outfitted car." Although used colloquially for decades, following its official application in 1972, six generations of officially named "S-Klasse" sedans have been produced.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In 1981, the two-door, four-seat S-Class, designated as SEC, was introduced, sharing the petrol V8 engines with its four-door version, W126. After the introduction of a new nomenclature scheme, SEC was simply renamed as S-Class Coupé. For the 1996 model year, the coupé was separated from the S-Class line and named as new CL-Class (in line with other two-door models: CLK, SL, and SLK); however, the CL-Class was reintegrated into the S-Class model line (same with CLK becoming E-Class Coupé and Cabriolet). The first-ever S-Class convertible since 1972, internally named A217, was introduced and became a one-generation model only. After the end of W222 production in 2020, the successors to the C217 coupé and A217 convertible are not planned, citing the low demand for those models and stronger demand for SUV models.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The major revision to the nomenclature scheme in 1991 renamed the S-Class with the "S" prefix that has three numbers for engine displacement in "centilitre" with no suffix for fuel type or wheelbase length. The extra information was sometimes affixed to the right-hand side of boot/trunk, denoting the diesel version (TURBODIESEL or later CDI), hybrid version (HYBRID), all-wheel-drive version (4MATIC), AMG, and MAYBACH. The second revision in 2015 allows the suffixes such as d (diesel), e (plug-in hybrid), and the h (mild hybrid) for several years before h was dropped. For 2018 model year, the model designation and AMG and MAYBACH labels switched their position to the left.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W180 line debuted in 1954, and is the first lineup of "Ponton" models retroactively associated with the Mercedes-Benz S-Class. The W180 featured six-cylinder sedan, coupé, and convertible models, and was produced until 1959. It featured the 220S models (sedan, coupé, and cabriolet) powered by a 2.2L straight-6, and came to ten. The "Ponton" designation referred to its unibody construction, with the era's rounded fenders a stylistic feature on the W180 model.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The "Ponton" lineup included four- and six-cylinder models, but only the six-cylinder W180 line is considered part of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class chronology, as they were the most powerful "Ponton" versions available. The Big "Ponton" model was Mercedes' first without a conventional frame, using a unitized body/frame construction.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Mercedes-Benz Fintail () is an informal nickname given to Mercedes-Benz vehicles notable for the presence of tailfins. Though never officially designated as such — Mercedes-Benz claimed they were functional and designated them , assisting to mark the end of the car in the rear-view mirror. The Fintail series replaced the Ponton series.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The exterior was designed for the European and North American markets. The W111 was a chassis code given to its top-range vehicles, including four-door sedans, produced from 1959 to 1968, and two-door coupes and cabriolets from 1961 to 1971. The W111, was initially attributed only to six-cylinder cars with 2.2-litre engines. The luxury version with big-block 3-litre engines were given the chassis code W112. The entry-level vehicles with four-cylinder engines were called W110. All three versions W110, W111, and W112, in both two- and four-door bodies, were based on the same unibody structure.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The updated and larger W108/W109 model lines were introduced in 1965. The squarish W108 line included the straight-six M129 engine powered 250S, 250SE, 280S 280SE and 280SEL. In 1968 the 300 SEL 6.3 borrowed the 6-litre V8 from the W100 600 Pullman to offer a truly high-performance luxury sedan.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: During this period, the designation S (for "Sedan") was used for standard carbureted short-wheelbase models; an E (for "Einspritzung", German for fuel-injection) was added to the 250SE, 280SE and 300SE. Long-wheelbase models gained an L (for "Lang", German for "long"), reflecting an extra added in the rear passenger compartment. Since the advent of the W108 series, the Mercedes-Benz S-Class has always included two wheelbase lengths, although not all wheelbases are sold in every country.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The more powerful 300SE and 300SEL models were classified as the W109 chassis, with front and rear air suspension (rather than the coil spring based W108 rear suspension), and available burl walnut interior trim, automatic transmission, and power windows.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In 1968, the W108 line dropped the 250SE in favor of the larger-engined 280S and 280SEL; the 250S remained as an entry model until 1969; the 300SE/SEL yielded their 3.0 litre inline-6 for the intermediate SL type (W113) 2.8 litre engine, and were later offered with a 3.5-litre V8 engine (in both the SE and SEL form, not in the U.S.) and 4.5-litre (U.S. only) and 6.3-litre V8 engines (in the SEL model only). The W108/109 lines, which eventually supplanted the W111 lines, were never available with four-cylinder engines.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In 1972, Mercedes-Benz introduced the W116 line, the first to be officially called the S-Class. Produced from 1972 through 1980, the W116 series featured a four-wheel independent suspension and disc brakes. The 280, 350, and 450 (4.5L version) models featured SE and SEL versions. Production of the W116 totaled 473,035 units. This was a groundbreaking sedan for Mercedes-Benz, and for the first time in the company history, the car had an obvious, blatant and outward emphasis on safety placed above a pure styling viewpoint. The overall design incorporated numerous safety features developed from the "safety research vehicles" in the mid-to-late 1960s to the very early 1970s.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: These safety features were all newly introduced passenger-car "firsts" on a production vehicle: padded door trim around the windows, heavily padded steering wheel (later to be replaced by an airbag with the Mercedes-Benz abbreviation of SRS standing for the English-language term Supplemental Restraint System), more comprehensive safety padding on the dashboard and around the interior, dual asymmetric windshield wipers, headrests with a center depression to locate the occupant's head in a more central position during a rear impact, a rain-water management system to improve visibility consisting of deep channels on both sides of the windshield and flowing into deeply channeled rain gutters, including similar designs on the side mirrors, rounded body shapes along the edges, such as the tops of the front fenders, etc., designed to ameliorate pedestrian injuries, ribbed rear taillamp lenses which would remain clearer of dirt on the recessed areas, an easy-to-access first aid kit stowed in a recessed compartment on the rear parcel shelf prominently labeled with the universally recognized "cross" symbol which represents "first aid", and several other subtle safety features related to both active and passive safety. The Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a classic chauffeur driven car, and has frequently been used as standard by car hire companies. It is comfortable and safe as well as elegant looking; ideal for drives across the countryside or high class transport on a night out.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W116 models were large luxury sedans. The W116 was larger on the outside than the W108/W109 series it replaced, but had similar interior capacity, as the additional bulk was driven by several new and aforementioned engineering developments on car safety and occupant protection in a crash. The W116 introduced other improved passive safety features into the vehicle design, including a strengthened vehicle occupant shell. It was one of the first cars to be available with ABS, a driver's airbag supplemental restraint system (but not available at the vehicle's initial launch). Also, the W116 was the first mass production passenger vehicle offered with a turbocharged diesel engine.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The 450SE, then the most powerful model in the W116 lineup, was awarded European Car of the Year in 1974. At the New England Auto Show in 1972 held in the fall season in Boston, the Monroney Label of a 1973 450SE was right at $13,000. 1973 was the first model year of the W116 for the US market. Starting in 1975, the W116 was upgraded with a new fuel injection system to comply with revised exhaust emission standards in European markets. A slight power reduction was a result of this update, but in 1978, a series of further engine upgrades restored original performance levels under the new fuel injection systems.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Between 1973 and 1977, 997 Special Edition W116 models were made on order by Mercedes. These cars incorporated stronger body paneling and suspension and was 50 kg heavier than its normal counterpart.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: With the W116 models, the V8-engines of the 350/450 SE/SEL models were now regular options. Due to the oil crisis, fuel efficiency was the major concern for the engineers, yet they still added also the high-performance, limited-production 450 SEL 6.9. This 8-cylinder model, affectionately referred to as simply "the 6.9", boasted the largest engine installed in a postwar Mercedes-Benz up to that time. Every 450 SEL 6.9 featured a self-leveling hydropneumatic suspension, and offered the ABS anti-lock braking system as an option from 1978 onwards. Also, in the United States and Canada only, Mercedes-Benz introduced the economical but powerful 3.0-liter 5-cylinder turbo-diesel OM 617 A producing in 1978, sold as the 300SD.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W126 series premiered in September 1979, launching in March 1980 as a 1980 model and late 1980 as a 1981 model in the US and Australia replacing the W116 line. The W126 line featured improved aerodynamics and enlarged aluminum engine blocks. In Australia in 1981, the W126 S-Class won "Wheels" magazine's Car of the Year award. The W126 was manufactured from 1979 through 1991 with a mid-cycle update. Coupé models based on the S-Class were reintroduced with the W126 (380/500 SEC). Total sales of the W126 S-Class sedans reached 818,036 units, with an additional 74,060 coupes sold.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In December 1980, the W126 introduced a driver side airbag, as patented by Mercedes-Benz in 1971, as well as passenger side airbags (in 1988), seat-belt pretensioners, and traction control. It was the first production car to feature an airbag standard, and as late as 1991 there were only a few other manufacturers in Europe who offered an airbag. The interior featured additional courtesy and reading lamps, along with heated seats and a more advanced climate control system. A four-speed automatic transmission was standard.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Although the top of range Mercedes-Benz 450SEL 6.9 of the previous generation was not directly replaced, the W126 carried forward the hydropneumatic suspension of the 6.9 as an option on the 500SEL. A new cruise control system was offered as well. Succeeding the roadster based coupes, the W126 introduced a two-door variant, the SEC coupé.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W126 S-Class received a mid-cycle update in 1985 that included both exterior modifications and engine upgrades.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The power plants on the W126 S-Class included straight-6 and V8 engines. Most sales came from the diesel model in Europe and straight-six models in the United States, although the V8 models were praised by contemporary journalists. The US initially received only the smaller of the two V8 engines, the 3.8 liter, which turned out to be a disaster, both due to timing chain repair issues, and to being severely underpowered, with 0- acceleration in a leisurely 11 seconds and a modest top speed of . The 5.0 liter engine was far more capable, with 0- acceleration in 7.3 seconds and a top speed of .


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: During the W126 mid-cycle update in 1986, both the straight-6 and V8 engines were upgraded in several models to different displacement levels (six-cylinder upgraded from 2.8 L to 3.0 L, eight-cylinder upgraded from 3.8 L to 4.2 L, and 5.0 L to 5.6 L).


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In 1991, the W140 series replaced the W126 line with the first production model assembled in April of that year. The W140 grew in proportions and featured two wheelbase lengths and a shorter-wheelbase W140 coupé. Production totalled 432,732 units.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W140 cost 25% more than the W126 that it replaced and featured double-pane window glazing, self-closing boot lid and doors, electric windows with a jam-protection feature (lowering when encountering an obstruction), rear-parking markers in the US (which appeared on the rear wings when in reverse), and a heating system which emitted warm air while residual energy was available after the engine was turned off.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In 1993, Mercedes-Benz model nomenclature was rationalized, with the SE/SEL/SEC cars becoming the S-Class and alphanumerical designations inverted (e.g. both the 500SE and 500SEL became S500 regardless of wheelbase length). In 1995, the W140 received a minor face lift featuring clear turn signal indicator lenses on the front and rear as well as headlamps fitted with separate low- and high-beam reflectors for the US market. Following the mid-year face lift, the W140 coupe and sedan (Saloon) featured Electronic Stability Control. This particular generation of S-class is heavily referred to or nicknamed as the Mercedes "Shabah/شبح" (Meaning ghost when translated) in many Middle Eastern countries.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Mercedes-Benz presented the W220 in July 1998, marketed as a sedan, only. Despite being smaller than the previous generation, the W220 offered more interior space. Production of the W220 totaled 485,000 units.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W220 introduced air suspension, marketed as Airmatic, as well as a navigation system with center console-mounted screen display, along with its input control system, marketed as COMAND. Other options included keyless entry and ignition, a radar-controlled cruise control system marketed as Distronic and a cylinder shut-off system marketed as Active Cylinder Control. The all-wheel drive system was introduced to the North America market S-Class for 2003, and marketed as 4MATIC.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: "Consumer Reports" classified the W220 model's reliability as "poor," its lowest rating, and called it one of the "least reliable luxury cars;" Edmunds gave the S-Class a 5 out of 5 reliability rating; and MSN Autos gave a rating of 9.0 out of 10. By March 2011, Consumer Reports revised its reliability ratings for the 2001 and 2002 S-Class to "average". "Forbes" described the W220 S500 as "built remarkably well." Early W220s in 1999 were recalled for issues with the trunk spring and the hydraulic fuel line; there were no recalls for the 2005 or 2006 model years.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In 2002, Mercedes-Benz introduced the world's first preemptive safety system on the W220 with a system marketed as Pre-Safe. The W220 received an exterior refresh with updates to the front fascia. The grille angle was adjusted to a slightly more upright position, and the xenon-discharge headlamps were given a new transparent housing, replacing the earlier opaque versions. The front bumper's lower air intakes were also restyled. In 2005, the S-Class was the first vehicle to receive a TÜV Institute environmental certificate from the German Commission on Technical Compliance for environmentally friendly components.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W220 was available with more engine options than the W126 or W140. The range started with smaller 2.8 (Singapore) then 3.2L V6 motor, which was superseded by an enlarged 3.7 L V6 in the S350. The S430 was powered by a 4.3 L V8 and the S500 was powered by a 5.0 L V8. The S55 AMG was outfitted with a supercharged 5.4 L V8 motor, the S55 AMG 2000/2001 was outfitted with the naturally aspirated 5.4 L V8 motor. The S600 was outfitted with a 5.5 L M275 V12 biturbo engine, the S600 2000/2001 was outfitted with the naturally aspirated M137 5.8 L V12 engine.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In 2001, Mercedes produced a very rare S 63 AMG with a 5 speed automatic transmission and a modified version of the M137 V12 engine (displacement went up from 5.8 to 6.3 liters, 6258 cc) making at 5,500 RPM, and of torque at 4000 RPM. 70 examples were manufactured and marketed in Europe and Asia.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In 2003, Mercedes debuted the S 65 AMG, powered by a biturbocharged M275 AMG V12 engine and a 5 speed automatic transmission, it produced at 5100 RPM, and of torque at 4000 RPM. Acceleration from 0 to was officially rated at 4.4 seconds (0 to in 4.2 seconds), and the car was limited to .