HOWARD BELAFONTE AKA DADDY LEE – ARMAGIDEON SOUND SYSTEM 

00:00 The Background – Before the Sound
Howard Belafonte was born in 1963 in Fartown, Huddersfield, and now lives in Deighton. His parents came from Jamaica around 1958 from the Parish of St Elizabeth – like a lot of Jamaican families in Huddersfield. Howard’s dad was an iron welder, and his mum a nurse. They told him how in those days you could leave a job one morning and get another one the same afternoon – a strong contrast to the 80s when Howard was growing up where jobs were harder to get. 

05:27 The Gram
“Mum used to have a big collection of vinyl, you know of reggae records and we used to play, you know, on us ‘gram, just a one turntable gram.” Howard heard a lot of music at weddings and parties when growing up which massively influenced him. Howard started to build up his own collection of reggae, buying records from Cave Studios in Fartown. 

07:29 The Thing To Do
“Back in them days everybody wanted a sound system, everybody wanted to be involved in a sound system... So we’d have cousins in Birmingham, they was in sounds, we’d have cousins in London, they was in sounds, and that was the thing to do, you know, black youths of our age, that was the thing to do, build a sound system.” 

09:01 Play the Sound
“Them days, we played in the Hudawi Centre, the old Hudawi used to be called Birkby Civic Youth club, so we used to play in there, we used to play at Teapot Chapel, it’s a Mosque now on Halifax Old Road, we used to play there, we used to play at Deighton Youth club, which is the Deighton Sports Arena now, and we used to play at Lockwood Youth club.”

11:30 The Huddersfield Scene
Howard’s sound started off as Youthman in 1978. The name was changed to Armagideon in 1983. Other sound systems around this time included Earth Rocker, based in Fartown and Shakatone Esquire, based in Deighton. These sounds acted as an inspiration for Howard. There was also Kingston Rock, Ital Warrior, Federal, Mister Tremble, King Maestro and Wadada. There was a lot of rivalry between the sounds: soundclash nights were popular.

14:03 Getting Tune
 “Them days, there wasn’t dubplates as such, there were pre-releases... you could get tune before it goes on sale to the general public, you know, if you had certain contacts.” Howard started off by buying tunes from Cave Studios in Fartown, then later on ordering them from Dub Vendor in London. Dub Vendor is still around – check out http://www.dubvendor.co.uk/ 

The Roots and Steppas sound was big – Popular acts were the Mighty Diamonds, Black Uhuru, Bob Marley, and the Twinkle Brothers.

16:46 Who’s who in the Sound
Howard breaks down the roles of Selector, Operator/Technician, Mic Man and Box Boy.

21:20 Venn Street
“Huddersfield was on the map because of Venn Street.” All the big sounds and reggae artists came to Venn Street which meant that it could attract a crowd from different towns and cities.

22:28 The Blues
Clubs used to shut at 2am so Blues parties which ran after-hours were popular. “A Blues party would run from when the club finished till six, seven, eight o’clock in the morning.” Blues parties would have their own sound systems: “Sometimes you’d have two sounds strung up in the Blues.” 

24:04 The Rasta and The Sound
“We was Twelve Tribes, that was a Rasta organisation that was founded in Jamaica and came over to England.” Howard kept dreadlocks and read the Bible. Repatriation back to Africa and self-sufficiency were important aspects of Rastafarianism. The focus on Rasta meant that people involved in the sound kept out of trouble: “The Rasta and the sound, it kept us focussed.”

27:27 Kit List
Howard talks equipment: turntables, amplifiers, mixers, speakers, bass, mid-range and top section, leads, echo chambers, reverb units, bass boxes and synthesisers.

30:15 Howard’s Favourite Sounds
“Apart from my system Armagideon, I’d say Jah Shaka and Jah Tubbys.” These sounds were a big inspiration for Howard: “Any time those sounds came to Huddersfield it was an occasion.”

32:02 Armagideon Now 
“We’ve still got the equipment but the guys are into other things... some of the mic men are cutting tune, but not Roots and Steppas, more Bashment and Dancehall, some of them have got into the funky house and bassline sounds... I’m still doing promotions.” Howard works for a company in Deighton called Fresh Horizons and is also involved with the Deighton Carnival.

Howard also says that young people are no longer building sounds and few systems still play Roots and Steppas: “That era’s gone, it’s consigned to history and it’s gone, it’s a shame.”

35:54 Sounds big in Europe
Sounds are big in Europe now: “Back in them days, we didn’t hear of sounds from Europe, the only ones we heard of were in England, America or Jamaica.”

38:48 Story of a good night – Siffa and Armagideon in Bradford
Playing with Siffa helped Armagideon get a wider exposure. Howard talks about one of his all-time favourite nights from preparation through to the dance itself. Check out the flyer for this night: 

46:38 Two for Two or Three for Three
“Back in them days it was either two for two or three for three, meaning they play three tune, we play three tune, some dances its one for one... now with the Bashment and Dancehall it's like twenty minutes.”

48:12 What Tune and When
“You play your dub late in the night, you wouldn’t play your dub early, you play it late... you want an idea of what tune to play and when to play it...”

Check out a tune that Howard played that night: Sincimania / Tired Fi Lick Weed Ina Bush by Patrick Andy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uydNGbuauTA

50:18 Howard’s Vinyl Collection
Howard has a huge vinyl collection: “Tunes that you can’t even get again, can’t get on CD, can’t download, can’t get nowhere, and there’s a lot of tune from artists who’ve passed away that you can’t get again...”

53:45 Documentation 
“I won’t say it’s dying out, coz there’s people who are keeping it alive and whatever, but the exposure’s not as much as what it used to be, and it’s just a shame that the history has not been documented.”

Howard Belafonte AKA Daddy Lee - Aramgideon Sound System

Earth Rocker Sound System was one of the biggest and most respected sound systems from Huddersfield. They used a special custom-built pre-amp which meant they could play 3-way (tweeters, mids and bass) which gave a fuller sound. Most other sound systems at the time only played 2-way (bass and mids).

Photo clockwise from top: Stephen Burke, Ducky Ranks, Robert Daley, Brian Chester, Pumpkin and Andy Greaves, Venn Street club, Huddersfield, late 1970s. Photo courtesy of Stephen Burke

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