THE estate of reggae icon Peter Tosh regrets losing the US vote to legalise ganja amidst plans for new album and merchandise.
"We had high hopes," Cory Lashever, manager at Jampol Artiste Management which administers the estate told the Observer in an interview last week. "It was something that the Tosh family supported and we got them hooked up with the Just Say Now Campaign."
The estate wanted Californians to vote to legalise ganja in last week's mid-term election having already decriminalised it. The vote was flatly rejected by voters, but earlier this year supporters received more than the 433,971 signatures needed to put it on the ballot.
The estate banded with key institutions and activists to influence voters including the Just Say Now Campaign, FireDogLake, -- a popular website, Students for Sensible Drug Policy and former police chiefs, judges, prosecutors and a former deputy attorney general.
Jam, the North American- based company develops and extends artiste brands via releasing documentaries, CD, remixes, websites and visuals. During the year, the estate improved Tosh's Internet presence via the ganja campaign, a new site and social media fanpages. Jam also manages the estates of The Doors, Janis Joplin and Rick James.
For 2011 the estate plans to release a Tosh album on vinyl and also online. It also plans to start selling new merchandise including T-shirts and books in order to broaden awareness in the US -- the world's largest consumer market.
"We definitely have a project in the works for vinyl," stated Lashever, who declined to disclose details. "We are also looking for live performances and concert that he played at in order to release."
Jam still sees potential in Jamaican music despite the drop in reggae sales since 2008.
"Is the problem reggae or music sales in general? I don't think it is reggae alone. The sales of recorded music are going down overall," he said.
The estate originally planned an album for 2010 according to a 2009 interview however those plans got postponed. Tosh who had a successful solo career once formed part of The Wailers with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer. Marley currently has the second- longest ever charting catalogue album in the US with Legend according to Billboard data. Tosh comparatively has never had a number one charting Billboard reggae album. Bunny Wailer is the only surviving member.
