State Radio - Right Me Up

Uh oh, I hear you cry. The white guy reggae alert has been sounded, the beacons lit, and the lifesize effigy of Sting pulled from the cupboard of shame and dragged around the market square for his cod reggae crimes. Regardless of your stance on how white is too white when it comes to these sorts of beats, there’s plenty of wiggle room for a man like Chadwick Stokes. The lead vocalist and guitarist has been a busy boy; between him and his bandmates from Dispatch and State Radio, they’ve done incredible work for multiple charities at home and abroad. This includes, but is incredibly not limited to, Calling All Crows’ amazing work for Sudanese women, an educational non-profit that provides books and volunteer work for thousands of schools across the world, and more besides. You only get one life, folks, so make sure it’s spent doing good. And if you can’t be good, be careful.

So, while it isn’t to everyone’s tastes, I know for a fact that this one is going to elicit an “Oh, I remember this!” from a good chunk of you at the very least. Plus, here at Rock Song of the Week, we are suckers for a good story, and Right Me Up is nothing short of an anthem for a dear friend. Manny, the focus of both the song and the video for it, has been gone for twelve years now, but this track will keep on spinning in his honour. Keep those good vibes flowing, all.