Roger Steffens
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Roger Steffens (born June 17, 1942) is an American actor, author, lecturer, editor,
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 ...
archivist, photographer, and producer. Six rooms of his home in Los Angeles house reggae archives, which include the world's largest collection of
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 ...
material. Based on these archives Steffens lectures internationally with a multi-media presentation called ''The Life of Bob Marley''. His radio career began in New York City in 1961, and he co-hosted ''Reggae Beat'' on
KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...
in Los Angeles and was syndicated on 130 stations worldwide in the 1980s.Campbell, Howard (2014
"Roger Steffens: Over 30 years documenting Reggae and Marley"
''
Jamaica Observer The ''Jamaica Observer'' is a daily newspaper published in 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 ...
''; accessed November 4, 2016.


Early life and education

Steffens was born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Westwood, New Jersey. He graduated in 1960 from Bergen Catholic High School, where he had competed in public speaking competitions.


Music industry employment

Steffens was National Promotions Director at
Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in Jamaica by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in 1959, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, another ...
in 1982/83, in charge of all reggae and African music promotions including Bob Marley ''
Confrontation Confrontation is an element of conflict wherein parties confront one another, directly engaging one another in the course of a dispute between them. A confrontation can be at any scale, between any number of people, between entire nations or cu ...
'', King Sunny Ade '' Juju Music'' and '' Synchro System'', Gregory Isaacs '' Night Nurse'', Black Uhuru, and Michael Smith. He worked in National Reggae Promotions at Elektra Records in 1982, for
Steel Pulse Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals), and Ro ...
's '' True Democracy'' and ''Sunsplash '81: Tribute to Bob Marley''. He worked in National Reggae Promotions at EMI-America in 1985/86, for the first two
Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers Ziggy Marley and the Melody Makers were a Jamaican-American reggae family group whose line-up consisted of the children of musicians, Bob Marley and Rita Marley, which includes lead singer Ziggy Marley with Sharon Marley, Cedella Marley, and S ...
albums. He worked in National Reggae Promotions at Slash Records in 1986, for
Burning Spear Winston Rodney Order of Distinction, OD (born 1 March 1945), better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist, and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian movement, Rastafarian and one of the ...
's '' People of the World''.


Photography

Steffens served in Vietnam and spent a year in Morocco before visiting Jamaica for the first time in 1976. He has a large collection of photographs covering his Vietnam service and Jamaican musicians, including many slides which were digitized and released via
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
in 2013. In early 2015 he published his first collection of photographs, ''The Family Acid''. "The Family Acid presents his often transcendent vision and life as a psychedelic pioneer on the order of Timothy Leary and Hunter S. Thompson beginning with his work in Vietnam and moving through his ever revolving circle of friends and characters made up of Rastas, beatniks, musicians, artists, gonzo journalists, his family, and himself. The portraits, scenes, and freewheeling experimentation with the medium of photography coalesce into a body of work that both parallels and defines the countercultural ethos of Steffens' generation."


Acting and narrating

Steffens has been involved with a large amount of acting and narration work, both credited and uncredited. He provided narration in '' The Flight of the Gossamer Condor'' and the television documentary '' Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam'', and he portrayed Ben Veelchez in '' Dean Quixote'', Daniel Golan in the 1999 film '' Deterrence'', and a radio technician in '' Rollercoaster''. In addition, Steffens has been involved with many other films and television shows in an uncredited role, including ''
Forrest Gump ''Forrest Gump'' is a 1994 American comedy-drama film directed by Robert Zemeckis. An adaptation of the Forrest Gump (novel), 1986 novel by Winston Groom, the screenplay of the film is written by Eric Roth. It stars Tom Hanks in the title rol ...
'', '' Ghosts of Mississippi'', '' CHiPS'', and '' Empty Nest''.


Radio

Steffens co-hosted ''Reggae Beat'' on
KCRW KCRW (89.9 FM broadcasting, FM) is an NPR member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California, where the station is licensed. KCRW airs original news and music programming in addition to programming ...
from 1979 to 1987, and ''Reggae Beat International'' from 1983 to 1987, which was syndicated internationally to 130 stations. He served as a syndicated weekly contributor from 1993 to 1997 for ''Planet Reggae'' on the radio station Groove Radio 103 in Los Angeles. Steffens also worked on several other radio shows, including ''Offbeat: The Roger Steffens Show'' (Host, 1987–89), ''Sound of the Sixties'' (Host, 1984–1986), ''Morning Goes Makossa'' (co-host, 1980–84), ''Future Forward'' (ethnic music commentator, 1985–86), and ''Poetry For People Who Hate Poetry'' (1983, 1987). Steffens was named "Most Popular Reggae DJ in the World" by Martin's International Awards in Chicago, 1985, and "One of the Forty Who Matter in L.A." by the '' Los Angeles Reader''.


Music anthologies

Steffens has contributed to many music anthologies as a writer and photographer. With his French partner Bruno Blum he contributed to the ten-CD series ''The Complete Bob Marley & the Wailers 1967 to 1972''. Released between 1998 and 2003, this 220-track series included over a hundred rare Bob Marley & the Wailers recordings, including ''Selassie Is the Chapel'', and many of them previously unreleased, such as ''Rock to the Rock''. He also produced several reissues of
Coxsone Dodd Clement Seymour "Coxsone" Dodd (26 January 1932 – 4 May 2004) was a Jamaican record producer who was influential in the development of ska and reggae in the 1950s, 1960s and beyond. He was nicknamed "Coxsone" at school due to his talent ...
-produced early Bob Marley recordings for Heartbeat Records.


Audio books

Steffens was a reader for the audiobooks ''
Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American businessman and philanthropist. A pioneer of the microcomputer revolution of the 1970s and 1980s, he co-founded the software company Microsoft in 1975 with his childhood friend ...
' Business @ the Speed of Thought'' (
Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( doing business as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate owned by AT&T. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City. It was established as Time Warne ...
), ''The Man From St. Petersburg'' (Warner Audio), ''Big Two Hearted River: The Short Stories of
Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...
'' (North Star), and '' Mother Earth Father Sky'' (North Star). He also provided the corporate voice (all wrap-arounds) for Time Warner Audio Books from 1996 until 2003.


Stage

Steffens' stage experience includes work with the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Milwaukee Repertory Theater,
Berkeley Repertory Theatre Berkeley Repertory Theatre is a Regional theater in the United States, regional theater company located in Berkeley, California. It runs seven productions each season from its two stages in Downtown Berkeley, California, Downtown Berkeley. Histor ...
, and his one-man show, ''Poetry for People Who Hate Poetry'', which was performed to more than two million people from 1966 to 1976, and was used as the basis of the 1968/69 TV series ''Armed Forces Vietnam Network''.


Interviewee, advisor or content provider

Steffens has been interviewed and served as an advisor on many television programs, including '' American Masters'' three times (on the subjects of Rebel Music,
James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...
, and
Waldo Salt Waldo Miller Salt (October 18, 1914 – March 7, 1987) was an American screenwriter. He wrote the Academy Award-winning screenplays for ''Midnight Cowboy'' (1969) and ''Coming Home (1978 film), Coming Home'' (1978). Early life and career S ...
),
VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...
's '' Behind the Music'' four times (for the subjects
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 ...
,
Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band Bob Marley and the Wa ...
,
Alan Freed Albert James "Alan" Freed (December 15, 1921 – January 20, 1965) was an American disc jockey. He also produced and promoted large traveling concerts with various acts, helping to spread the importance of rock and roll music throughout Nor ...
, and 1970), ''VH1 Confidential: Tosh & Marley'', ''VH1 Ultimate Albums: Bob Marely's Legend'', ''Stand And Be Counted'', '' The Voice'' on Channel Four, and ''Soul Britainia'' on the
BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
.


Publications


Author or coauthor

* ''Bob Marley: Spirit Dancer'' * ''Bob Marley and The Wailers: The Definitive Discography'' (first place award for Best Research in Folk, Ethnic or World Music from the Association of Recorded Sound Collections, 2006) * ''The World of Reggae featuring Bob Marley: Treasures from Roger Steffens' Reggae Archives'' * ''One Love: Life with Bob Marley and the Wailers'' * ''Roger Steffens and Peter Simon's Reggae Scrapbook'' (winner, ForeWord Magazine Silver Medal for Best Music Book of 2007) * ''So Much Things to Say: The Oral History of Bob Marley'' (2017)


Contributing writer

*''A Magio do Reggae'', São Paulo: Martin Claret, 1997 *"Bob Marley: Rasta Warrior" in ''Chanting Down Babylon: The Rastafari Reader'', Temple University Press, 1998 *''Dictionnaire des chansons de Bob Marley'', Paris: Tournon, 2005 *"Reggae in the Seventies" in ''Rolling Stone''s The Seventies *Introduction to ''Bob Marley Reader'' (DaCapo, 2004); *"Nine Meditations on Jimi and Nam" in ''The Ultimate Hendrix'', NYC: Macmillan *''Bob Marley: The Complete Annotated Bibliography'' with Joe Jurgensen, Haras, Prospect, 2009


Photography

* ''The Family Acid''. 2015. .


Contributing photographer

* ''Jamaica, Lonely Planet Guide Book'', 2000 * ''Couleur Reggae'', Paris: Tana, 2001 * ''Sur la Route avec Bob Marley'', Mark Miller, Scali, France, 2007


Recordings

*'' Miriam Makeba: The Sangoma Interview'' with Roger Steffens, Warner *World Music Sampler writer/narrator, Warner/Reprise/Sire *''
David Byrne David Byrne (; born May 14, 1952) is an American musician, writer, visual artist, and filmmaker. He was a founding member, principal songwriter, lead singer, and guitarist of the American New wave music, new wave band Talking Heads. Byrne has ...
: Rei Momo: Words and Music'', interviewer, Sire *'' Occupy Los Angeles'': Narration & Continuity, Reel Intellect/Good Feel


References


External links


The Roger Steffens Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Steffens, Roger 1942 births Living people American radio personalities American archivists Bergen Catholic High School alumni Reggae culture Male actors from New York City Male actors from Los Angeles Actors from Westwood, New Jersey Male actors from New Jersey