Old Dog Like We: Mick Jagger and Damian Marley’s Jamaica-inspired Supergroup

Words by Jesse Serwer, via Rolling Stone

We woke up this morning–or went to bed last night, can’t remember which–to news that made us reconsider if we were actually awake: Mick Jagger and Damian Marley have apparently joined forces in a group called Super Heavy that also includes celebrated Indian composer A.R. Rahman (of Slumdog Millionaire fame, if you’re American), and Joss Stone (who, you will recall, worked with Jr. Gong on the Distant Relatives project with Nas). The group was conceived by Dave Stewart, who those of us who remember the ’80s will recognize as the dude in the Eurythmics with Annie Lennox. According to Rolling Stone, the band has apparently been quietly recording for 18 months in a Los Angeles studio.

The article also reports that Stewart, a longtime friend of Jagger’s (that’s him at right in the pic above) who lives in Jamaica, drew his inspiration for the group from the sounds of his adopted home. “I live in Lime Hall right above St. Ann’s Bay,” Stewart said. “It’s kind of the jungle, and sometimes I’d hear three soundsystems all playing different things. I always love that, along with Indian orchestras. I said to Mick, ‘How could we make a fusion?'” Quoth the Jagger, “It is a different kind of record than what people would expect. It’s not all weird and strange though.”

While we’re of the opinion that supergroups with old rockstars in them have been played out since Traveling Wilburys, we must admit to being intrigued by the musical possibilities here. What’s problematic off the bat, though, is the bland name. To this, our own Eddie STATS has devised a much more suitable and just as self-explanatory moniker: Rolling Slumdog Marl-ionnaires. Gone!