Radio Riddler Productions

Radio Riddler is Brian Fast Leiser and Frank Benbini from Fun Lovin' Criminals. They are lovers of Reggae/Dub music. They began their musical journey by remixing many artists in a unique Reggae/Dub style. Check out their remixes here - www.vimeo.com/RADIORIDDLER Radio Riddler's first release, 'Marvin Reggae', was an EP of Reggae cover versions of 5 of Marvin Gaye's most beloved songs. What made this EP special was they produced the music with acapella's of Marvin's voice. Their second release was a compilation of many of their favourite remixes entitled 'Dubplates Volume 1'. Purple Reggae is their debut full length album and is 5 years in the making. Purple Reggae is a Reggae/Dub cover album of Prince's Purple Rain soundtrack in its entirety. Guest vocalists on the songs include Suggs (Madness), Ali Campbell (UB40), Sinead O'Connor, Citizen Cope, Beverley Knight and Deborah Bonham (sister of legendary drummer John Bonham). The release is scheduled for last week of June, 2014 to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the release of Purple Rain. Frank explains how the album came to light… It was one of those things where we love reggae, and we have a reggae remix outfit called Radio Riddler. We’ve remixed a lot of people…Lily Allen, Coldplay…you know, we’ve done a lot of remixes for a lot of people. So we thought, what can we do? He went – “Why don’t we do the soundtrack to ‘Purple Rain’?” I was like – “That won’t work, that won’t happen, it just won’t work”. He was like – “Well, let’s give it a go”, and he did the first one, ‘Purple Rain’, he got the beats ready and sent it to me, and I was like – “Fuck! It sounds great!” Then I got a lot of my hometown players, brass sections, people from The Specials playing on there. I sang all the songs but then it was like – “Let’s get some guest artists singing on it”. Quotes from the recording sessions - Prince is the reason I started playing music. I grew up with Purple Rain, its the soundtrack to my life. This is a tribute to him and these great songs… Frank Benbini (Darling Nikki) When Frank and I spoke about how to approach the production of Purple Reggae we both thought, “If Prince produced Purple Rain as a reggae album, what instruments would he have used?” This process is what drove us through the recording sessions… Brian Fast Leiser Purple Reggae is off the charts awesome! Tim Latham I.S.P. (Album Mixer) I loved it from the first time I heard it! It just works with the reggae vibes. Radio Riddler are rude boys coming up with such a great idea… Ali Campbell (Purple Rain) A piece of genius, who would have thought? Suggs (Let’s Go Crazy) Prince songs in a reggae style on paper you would think “nah’…”, but it just blows you away... Citizen Cope (When Doves Cry) Incredible songs and to treat them with such beautiful respect! Radio Riddler…Great people, great vibes... Hollie Cook (The Beautiful Ones) It's so out of my comfort zone it's a style I've never touched upon but it’s so good, love it... Deborah Bonham (Take Me With U) It's just an honour to be asked to be a part of this project. The attention to detail and Frank being one of the biggest Prince admirers, its just class to watch his labour of love take flight... Naim Cortazzi (Computer Blue) Interview from Sabotage Times (August 2013) by George Nott Radio Riddler, the reggae production outfit formed by Brian Fast Leiser and Frank Benbini of the Fun Lovin’ Criminals, are in London adding the final parts to their debut album ahead of its release next year. Purple Reggae, as it’s been tentatively titled, is a reworking of Prince’s seminal soundtrack Purple Rain and features a string of guest vocalists. For the duo it’s been a labour of two loves some five years in the making. Getting it right is important when you’re dealing with royalty. “We’ve shown him ultimate respect,” says Frank when we meet for burgers in a Wardour Street diner, “there has to be that because you’re dealing with the guy that made me want to play music” ”You’re not going to do something better than him,” adds Frank, “but you can do something that maybe he didn’t think of. We said let’s use all his production techniques from the period, but instead of it being all eighties let’s make it reggae. But we still want something that sounds like us. We’ve put our own slant on it.” “We’ve shown him ultimate respect – there has to be that because you’re dealing with the guy that made me want to play music” “It’s something that’s gone on forever,” says Frank. “You go to a Jamaican sound-system and there’ll be a guy there singing over a dubplate – singing an Elvis song or something from the ’50s. It’s a very traditional thing, to do a version of something in a reggae style. The history of Jamaican roots has been covering records.” Picking which record came to the pair in Prague, while stuck in an airport having missed the plane to their next FLC gig. Frank: “We thought we had time! We were thinking and Fast mentioned Purple Rain – I bugged the hell out and said: ‘Yes, it has to be’!” Fast: “I’m a Prince fan, anyone who says they aren’t a Prince fan doesn’t like music that much, but I’m not like Frank is – he’s a fanatic you know?!” Frank: “I won’t go into too much detail because it might come off as though I’m a bit nuts or something! I was turned onto him from an early age, from my parents, I’d sit down every day, watching video footage and trying to play drums like Sheila E and learning them songs.” “I’ve been all over the world to see him; I’ve been in studios just because I know he’s used them, trying to get the different sounds that he’s got.” I’m not left to take his word for it. A quick roll of his sleeve reveals lyrics from the Beautiful Ones tattooed on his right hand. On his shoulder a full colour portrait of a mid-eighties era Mr Nelson. And he always wears something purple – today a Yankees cap, a gift from his fellow Riddler. ”It’s full on respect,” adds Frank. We walk through the afternoon sun to Dean Street Studios for a playback. The album is packed with guest artists and sweeps the subgenres; dipping into dancehall, Lover’s Rock and deep dub. While melodically faithful, songs from Prince’s 1984 masterpiece are given a style transformation their author would surely admire. Fast imagines Prince’s reaction: “’Hey they’re my kids – you’ve taken my kids and now they’re potheads!’” “I’ve been all over the world to see him; I’ve been in studios just because I know he’s used them, trying to get the different sounds that he’s got.” Approaching artists to guest on the record, the pair found they were not alone in their admiration for the eccentric star. Frank: “The first thing I said to singers was “are you a Prince fan, because if you’re not don’t bother replying!” That’s pretty much standard. If you’re not into Prince, don’t bother doing it.”We’ve got some legendary people so far; Ali Campbell, Sinead O’Connor, Beverley Knight, this country’s greatest soul singer. Beverley is a super super Prince fan – on my level. You can tell – her version of Baby I’m A Star will knock your socks off because she knows every little detail, every word is perfect. We gave her a lyric sheet in the studio – she was insulted!” Fast: “It’s taken a long time to find the right people. It’s really important. Prince, he can hate it, and he will hate it probably, but he can’t fault the effort that’s been put into it.” Other vocalists include Naim Cortazzi and Frank himself. With a couple of guest spots still to be filled, the album’s release is expected early next year. The Radio Riddler live band consists of 6 performers - Frank Benbini - Vocals, Guitar Brian Fast Leiser - Keyboards, Trumpet, FX, Vocals Naim Cortazzi - Guitar, Vocals Darryl Reid - Drums, FX Adrian Blisset - Bass Guitar Jay Lindsey - Trombone Management - RADIORIDDLERPRODUCTIONS@gmail.com www.twitter.com/RADIORIDDLER www.facebook.com/RADIORIDDLER www.vimeo.com/RADIORIDDLER www.youtube.com/user/RADIO RIDDLERPRESENTS Free Download links - Marvin Reggae - http://www.mediafire.com/download/ct2o7552m5j19yg/Radio+Riddler+Productions_Marvin+Reggae.zip Dubplates Volume 1 - http://www.mediafire.com/download/nulooly9mbp1w8t/Radio+Riddler+Productions_Dubplates+Volume+1.zip Dubplates Volume 2 - http://www.mediafire.com/download/466tmhglu9ea251/RADIO+RIDDLER_DUBPLATES+VOLUME+2.zip vimeo.com/RadioRiddler instagram.com/RadioRiddler youtube.com/user/RadioRiddlerPresents