Looking for Reggae-influenced music, but don't send Reggae!

[PeterD]

New Listing DUB INFLUENCED ROCK INSTRUMENTALS in the style of "Message In a Bottle" by The Police, "Red Red Wine" by UB40, "Mirror in the Bathroom" by The English Beat, etc., are needed by the owner of an Independent Music Publishing Company that specializes in Film/TV placements. He's looking for instrumentals that have an apparent Dub influenced Rock sound similar in style of the songs referenced. Instrumentals do NOT have to be contemporary, but should be recorded well enough to work for various placements. Instrumentals MUST be fully developed and provide movement. He's NOT looking for Reggae, Ska, or traditional Dub music for this listing. Instrumental performance MUST be top-notch. Broadcast quality is necessary (excellent sounding home recordings are fine). Please submit one to three instrumentals online or per CD. All submissions will be screened on a YES/NO BASIS - NO FULL CRITIQUES FROM TAXI - and must be received no later than Tuesday, May 7, 2013. TAXI #Y130507RI

The reference songs are very Ska/reggae influenced, yet the owner doesn't want Ska/Reggae??
Is it me, or would submitting to this be a waste of time and $5??
Someone please help me make sense of this ...

Thanks,

[Russell Landwehr]

Heya Peter.

It makes sense to me. Those a-la's aren't true Dub or Ska or Reggae, but you can really hear the influence in there. I mean The Police were considered rock (or maybe punk-jazz ? ) but their stuff was very heavy with Reggae feel. The UB40 version of Red Red Wine leans more toward the Reggae sound, but it's kinda like Reggae "Lite." The other tune (Bathroom) really stands out from the other two a-la's and confuses me a bit. It is MUCH more high-energy but I can still hear the influences.

So, yes, it makes sense. They don't want authentic hard-core Jamaican stuff. They want rock songs with the Dub feel and white-boy vocals.

Russell

[PeterD]

I figured as much Russell,

Thanks for commenting. The part that was confusing was I hear so much of the Reggae influence in those songs, forgetting it's not technically Reggae in the raw form. I like that - "White Boy vocals" haha Ya mon!

If I take a stab at this I'll definitely lean in the Police/English Beat direction.