{{short description|Canadian hip hop/rock group}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians --> | name = Raggadeath | image = | caption = | image_size = | alias = | origin = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | genre = {{hlist|Reggae rock|rap metal|Ragga hip hop}} | years_active = 1995–1997 | label = {{hlist|Virgin|EMI|Attic|MCA}} | website = | past_members = Walter Sobczak<br />Stephen Kendall<br />Koze Kozma<br />Steve Major<br />Darren Quinn<br />Michie Mee<br />Paul Raven }}
'''Raggadeath''' was a Canadian rock band that enjoyed moderate success in the mid-1990s.<ref name=grid>[http://www.thegridto.com/blog-post/wha-happen-raggadeath/ "Wha’ Happen?: Raggadeath"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203131304/http://www.thegridto.com/blog-post/wha-happen-raggadeath/ |date=2013-12-03 }}. ''The Grid'', March 11, 2013.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/a-completely-biased-ranking-of-the-60-best-canrock-songs-ever-part-2/|title=A Completely Biased Ranking of the 60 Best CanRock Songs Ever, Part 2|first=Cam|last=Lindsay|date=26 September 2016|website=Noisey.vice.com|access-date=14 January 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kXyFAwAAQBAJ&q=raggadeath+rock&pg=PT3081|title=The Music Sound|first=Nicolae|last=Sfetcu|date=7 May 2014|publisher=Nicolae Sfetcu|accessdate=14 January 2019|via=Google Books}}</ref> The band fused heavy metal with dancehall reggae-style rhythms and vocals.<ref>{{cite web | title = Raggadeath funk with the genres | publisher = UWO Gazette | date = October 24, 1997 | url = http://www.usc.uwo.ca/gazette/1997/october/24/Entertainment1.htm | accessdate = 2008-12-09}}</ref>
The band's core members and founders were producer/dj/drummer Stephen Kendall and producer/engineer/bassist/keyboardist Walter Sobczak.<ref name=leblanc>{{cite magazine |last=LeBlanc |first=Larry |date=19 April 1997 |title=Canada's Raggadeath on the Rise |magazine=Billboard |volume=109 |publisher=Nielsen Business Media Inc. |issue=16 |issn=0006-2510 |page=64 |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9w4EAAAAMBAJ&q=billboard+raggadeath&pg=PA64}}</ref>
Steve Major played all the guitars on the records.<ref name=leblanc/> Dean Bentley on drums and Darren Quinn on guitar of Monster Voodoo Machine<ref name=grid /> were added for the live shows. The band utilized a variety of vocalists, most notably rapper Michie Mee.<ref name=grid /> Rapper Koze Kozma was also an early band member, but was deported to the United Kingdom after disappearing for six weeks and then turning up weeks later as a Hare Krishna.<ref>"Raggadeath loses member; Koze deported to Britain, band's label says". ''Montreal Gazette'', September 1, 1995.</ref> All of the band's recordings were produced by Walter Sobczak and Stephen Kendall, and engineered by Walter Sobczak.<ref name=leblanc/>
The band's biggest Canadian hit was "One Life" in 1995, achieving high rotation on MuchMusic,<ref name=leblanc/> and being voted Favourite Song in ''Chart'' magazine's year-end reader's poll. "One Life" was nominated for Best Alternative Video at the 1995 MuchMusic Video Awards.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rpmimages.3345.ca/pdfs/Volume+62-No.+6-September+11%2C+1995.pdf|title=RPM magazine cover|date=September 1995|website=Rpmimages.3345.ca|accessdate=14 January 2019}}</ref> The 1995 album ''Why Ask Why'', containing the singles "One Life" and "Why Ask Why", was also released by Virgin in several European markets.<ref name=leblanc/> Due to the band members' other commitments and Kozma's disappearance the album was not supported by a concert tour, with an appearance on the MuchMusic Video Awards in 1995 being the band's only major live performance to support the album.<ref>"MuchMusic awards honor best of Canadian music video". ''Ottawa Citizen'', September 28, 1995.</ref>
Raggadeath also achieved moderate international success with its self-titled 1997 album, which featured "Dance with the Devil" and a cover of Eddy Grant's "Electric Avenue".<ref>"Throbbing beat deserves hearing". ''Ottawa Citizen'', May 24, 1997.</ref> At this time the band undertook its first significant tour.<ref>"Band's `wicked fusion' defies definition: Raggadeath runs gamut from industrial to reggae and techno". ''Ottawa Citizen'', April 24, 1997.</ref> The self-titled 1997 album was licensed by Attic Records to Edel AG in Germany,<ref name=leblanc/> Roadrunner Records in the Netherlands, and TWA in Australia. None of the band's work was released in the USA.
With their popularity faltering due to popular culture's shift from alternative rock toward electronica in the late 1990s, the band broke up following the 1997 album.<ref name=grid /> Sobczak continued with record engineering/production, later becoming chief engineer at The Studio at Puck's Farm,<ref>[http://exclaim.ca/music/article/studio_at_puck "The Studio At Pucks Farm"]. ''Exclaim!'', April 3, 2008.</ref> and Kendall returned to his career as a DJ later DJing at the Swan in England. Major returned to studio work with Toronto's Wellesley Sound studio, while Quinn and Mee continued to collaborate under the band name The Day After.<ref name=grid />
==Discography== * ''One Life'' (Maxi-Single, 1995) * ''The Family Worship EP'' (EP, 1995) * ''Why Ask Why'' (Maxi-Single, 1995) * ''Why Ask Why'' (Album, 1995) * ''Dance With The Devil (Remixes)'' (Maxi-Single, 1997) * ''Electric Avenue'' (Maxi-Single, 1997) * ''Electric Avenue'' (Remixes) (Maxi-Single, 1997) * ''Raggadeath'' (Album, 1997)
===Music videos=== {| class="wikitable" |- ! Year !! Song !! Album |- | 1995 || One Life<ref name="Raggadeath - One Life">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eD593neeDVs|title=Raggadeath - One Life|work=YouTube|access-date=April 16, 2023}}</ref> || Why Ask Why |- | 1995 || Why Ask Why<ref name="Raggadeath - Why Ask Why">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKZWUUhQw5E|title=Raggadeath - Why Ask Why|work=YouTube|access-date=April 16, 2023}}</ref> || Why Ask Why |- | 1997 || Dance With The Devil<ref name="RAGGADEATH: 'Dance With The Devil' (feat Michie Mee)">{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIlVpZ4afSA|title=RAGGADEATH: 'Dance With The Devil' (feat Michie Mee)|work=YouTube|access-date=April 16, 2023}}</ref> || Raggadeath |}
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raggadeath}} Category:Reggae metal musical groups Category:Canadian rap metal musical groups Category:Rock music groups from Toronto Category:Canadian reggae rock groups Category:Virgin Records artists Category:Musical groups established in 1995 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1997 Category:1995 establishments in Ontario Category:1997 disestablishments in Ontario Category:Canadian reggae musical groups