Israel Vibration are a

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

harmony group, originating from

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

. Lascelle "Wiss" Bulgin, Albert "Apple Gabriel" Craig, and Cecil "Skelly" Spence all contracted childhood

polio Poliomyelitis ( ), commonly shortened to polio, is an infectious disease caused by the poliovirus. Approximately 75% of cases are asymptomatic; mild symptoms which can occur include sore throat and fever; in a proportion of cases more severe ...

, and went on to be a

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

roots reggae Roots reggae is a subgenre of reggae that deals with the everyday lives and aspirations of Ethnic groups of Africa, Africans and those in the African Diaspora, including the spiritual side of Rastafari, black liberation, revolution and the ho ...

group in the 1970s. The trio initially met as children at a rehabilitation center.

History

Bulgin (born 1955), Craig (1955–2020), and Spence (1952–2022) first met as children at the Mona Rehabilitation Clinic, all polio patients in the epidemic that spread through Jamaica in the 1950s. Several years later they formed Israel Vibration.Thompson, Dave (2002) ''Reggae & Caribbean Music'', Backbeat Books, , p. 133-135Brown, Joe (1991)
Reggae Culture Has Vibrations
, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

'', 8 February 1991Block, Melissa & Siegel, Robert (2004)
Interview: Gary Himmelfarb discusses a reggae adaptation of some of Bob Dylan's songs
,

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

, 27 August 2004, Craig attended the

Alpha Boys School Alpha Cottage School (often referred to as Alpha Boys' School, Convent of Mercy "Alpha" Academy and now called Alpha Institute) was the name of the vocational residential school on South Camp Road in Kingston, Jamaica, Kingston, Jamaica, still ru ...

but ran away at the age of fourteen, living on the streets. Spence was a member of the band Hot Lickers, appearing on Jamaican television with the group at the age of twelve. He also played in the Jamaican

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is a style of basketball played using a sports wheelchair. The International Wheelchair Basketball Federation (IWBF) is the governing body for this sport. It is recognized by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) as ...

team but was forced out in 1969 after adopting the

Rastafarian Rastafari is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much ...

faith, something which the three had in common when they were later reunited. Spence and Craig got together in Kingston and sought out Bulgin, who at the time was working as a tailor. They formed a vocal group, initially adopting the name Israel Vibration Israel Vibrates, soon becoming simply Israel Vibration. They survived on money earned singing in the streets for several years, and in 1975 attempted to launch a recording career at Channel One Studios, but the track they recorded there ("Bad Intention") was not released. Funding for their first album came in the form of a grant from the

Twelve Tribes of Israel The Twelve Tribes of Israel ( , ) are described in the Hebrew Bible as being the descendants of Jacob, a Patriarchs (Bible), Hebrew patriarch who was a son of Isaac and thereby a grandson of Abraham. Jacob, later known as Israel (name), Israel, ...

branch of Rastafarai after Hugh Booth, a member of the Twelve Tribes, had overheard the three men singing in a wooded area outside Kingston. Apple and Wiss were living in the area, which they had converted into a home. Recorded at the

Treasure Isle Arthur "Duke" Reid CD (21 July 1915 – 1 January 1975) was a Jamaican record producer, DJ and record label owner. He ran one of the most popular sound systems of the 1950s called Reid's Sound System, whilst Duke himself was known as The Tr ...

studio in 1976, their debut release was the single "Why Worry", released on the Twelve Tribes label late that year.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2004) ''The Rough Guide to Reggae, 3rd edn.'', Rough Guides, , p. 204 The single was successful enough for the group to be offered support slots at shows by artists such as

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...

, Inner Circle, and

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...

. They then began working with producer Tommy Cowan, releasing "The Same Song" (on which they were backed by members of Inner Circle) on his Top Ranking label in 1977, and an album of the same name followed in 1978.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (1999) ''Reggae – 100 Essential CDs: The Rough Guide'', Rough Guides, , p. 83-4 The album, and its dub counterpart, ''Israel Tafari'' (aka ''Same Song Dub'') were a success internationally, leading to a deal with

EMI EMI Group Limited (formerly EMI Group plc until 2007; originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At t ...

label

Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...

to reissue the album in the UK, the label also releasing a second album, ''Unconquered People'' in 1980. For their third album, ''Why You So Craven'' (the title track aimed at their former producer Cowan), they worked with Henry "Junjo" Lawes but disagreements meant that they left the album unfinished, with Lawes getting The Tamlins to complete it. The group relocated to New York in 1982 to seek professional health care, and escape the growing

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

movement in Jamaica, but struggled to break through there and they split up.Miller, Mark R. (1999) "ISRAEL VIBRATION "Pay the Piper" RAS Records", ''

'', 19 March 1999, p. N7 They each attempted to launch solo careers, with Bulgin releasing the ''Mr Sunshine'' album in 1985, but by 1987 they decided to relaunch Israel Vibration. Having all been turned down when they approached Gary "Dr. Dread" Himmelfarb, founder of RAS Records, during their solo period, they received a positive response when they approached him as a group. They were flown to Washington, D.C., to record a new album at the Lion and Fox Recording Studios in

College Park, Maryland College Park is a city in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located approximately from the northeast border of Washington, D.C. Its population was 34,740 at the 2020 United States census. It is the home of the University of Mary ...

, backed by the Roots Radics. ''Strength of my Life'' was the group's fourth album. The band stayed with RAS into the 21st century, releasing more than a dozen albums for the label. In 1997, Apple Gabriel left the group to pursue a solo career, releasing the album ''Another Moses'' in 1999.Lien, James (1999)
Apple Gabriel ''Another Moses''
, ''CMJ New Music Report'', 3 May 1999, p. 35, retrieved 16 September 2012 Skelly and Wiss continue to record albums and tour the world as Israel Vibration, backed by longtime associates Roots Radics.Joyce, Mike (2003)

, ''

'', 23 May 2003,Brinn, David (2008)
Reggae legends make Israel a Pessah destination
, ''

Jerusalem Post ''The Jerusalem Post'' is an English-language Israeli broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, Israel, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Je ...

'', 14 April 2008 In December 2014 they were reportedly recording a new album set for release in early 2015. The new album, entitled "Play It Real" was released on 31 March 2015 via Utopia. On March 23, 2020, Albert "Apple Gabriel" co-founder and former member of the group died due to 'compilation sickness', earlier reports indicated that Albert was not well for quite some time, this was supposedly due to some of the polio infections left in his body. On a

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

post on March 7, 2020, he had indicated that he had had a stroke. He died on March 23, 2020. On August 26, 2022, Cecil "Skelly" Spence died of lung cancer.Vibration's 'Skelly' Spence dies at 69 years old
Published by Jamaica Observer on 28 August 2020

Discography

Studio albums

* ''The Same Song'' (1978), Top Ranking * ''Unconquered People'' (1979), Harvest * ''Why You So Craven'' (1981), Volcano * ''Strength of My Life'' (1988), RAS * ''Praises'' (1990), RAS * ''Dub Vibration: Israel Vibration in Dub'' (1990), RAS * ''Forever'' (1991), RAS * ''IV'' (1993), RAS * ''I.V.D.U.B.'' (1994), RAS * '' On the Rock'' (1995), RAS * ''Dub the Rock'' (1995), RAS * ''Israel Dub'' (1996), RAS * '' Free to Move'' (1996), RAS * ''Ras Portraits'' (1997), RAS * ''Pay the Piper'' (1999), RAS * ''Jericho'' (2000), RAS * ''Power of the Trinity'' (2002) * ''Dub Combo'' (2001), RAS * ''Fighting Soldiers'' (2003) * ''Cool and Calm'' (2005) * ''Stamina'' (2007), Mediacom * '' Reggae Knights'' (2010), Mediacom * ''Play It Real'' (2015), Utopia

Live albums

* ''Israel Vibration & The Gladiators Live at Reggae Sunsplash'' (1982) * ''Vibes Alive'' (1992), RAS Living truth (1999) * ''Live Again!'' (1997), RAS * ''Live & Jammin'' (2003), Nocturne

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Israel Vibration Jamaican reggae musical groups Jamaican dub musical groups Jamaican musical duos Reggae duos Roots Reggae Library Jamaican people with disabilities Musicians with disabilities Polio survivors