SHAGGY'S DOGGED STORY REGGAE SINGER HAS WORKED HARD TO BRING HIS SOUND TO FANS.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

Shaggy's story is more than a dog-and-pony show. It may point to a new acceptance for reggae.

During his career, the growly-throated reggae-pop crooner who was born Orville Richard Burrell fought in the Gulf War, won a Grammy Award and trotted straight to the top of the charts numerous times.

So, why does every Shaggy single seem like a comeback?

``If you don't keep putting out records, getting radio airplay and working hard to keep your face in the media, people forget who you are,'' said the Shagster, a bit giddy now that his latest album, ``Hotshot,'' has remained at No. 1 for the past month along with two tracks glued to the singles Top 10.

Those are rare accomplishments for a reggae artist 20 years after the death of Bob Marley (who never landed a Top 40 hit). Shaggy, though, drenches the traditional chunka-chunka Jamaican rhythm in contemporary hip- hop and r&b seasoning. As a result, he's the most successful reggae artist in the world.

At the Bob Marley Day festival in Long Beach last month, Shaggy, sharing the bill with such big names as Toots & the Maytals and Bunny Wailer, drew the strongest response of the afternoon, says CC Smith, editor of the Beat, a monthly mag that covers reggae, African, Caribbean and other types of international music.

``After he played, people were leaving before Bunny Wailer (a co-founder with Marley of pioneering reggae group the Wailers), which shows where Shaggy's at with the modern-day audience,'' Smith said. ``If his music serves to bring more people into reggae and leads them to discover the depth and breadth of this music, I'm all for it. And if reggae can influence rap in a reggae direction, that's fine with me.''

Born and raised in Kingston, Jamaica, before moving to New York at age 18, El Shaggo has legitimate reggae credentials, particularly in the sub-genre known as dancehall, which incorporates singing and rapid-fire rapping over machine-generated beats.

But after landing a couple of hits in the Big Apple's dancehall charts, work started to dry up for the Shagmeister. So, as anyone would in the same situation, he signed up for the U.S. Marines. Next stop: the Persian Gulf.

``I was never the model Marine,'' said the man nicknamed after the omnivorous character in Hanna-Barbera's ``Scooby Doo'' cartoon series. ``Basically, I counted shells and dug holes. I wasn't Chuck Norris. But I saw that war is ugly. It had a big impact on me, in terms of appreciating life. When I got out, I decided, 'This is it. I'm taking my music to the heights.' ''

Today, Shagman is a one-man Delta Force, singlehandedly storming the charts, where, along with the platinum-selling ``Hotshot'' (MCA), two cuts, ``It Wasn't Me'' and ``Angel'' (which somehow manages to sample both Juice Newton and the Steve Miller Band), remain firm in the Top 10.

``There's nothing else that sounds like him on the radio right now,'' said Michael Steele, music director at popular Top 40 radio KIIS-FM (102.7). ``Everyone loves him. And of all the celebrities I've met, this guy couldn't be any nicer. I call him the nicest guy in the music industry. I mean, any artist that gives you his cell-phone number and lets you hassle him on the air is priceless in my book.''

Dr. Shaggington's international success came with the 1993 release of ``Pure Pleasure,'' his debut album that contains ``Oh Carolina,'' one of the biggest hit singles in British pop history and which went on to top the charts in nine other countries. Three years later, the album ``Boombastic'' connected with U.S. audiences, winning a best reggae album Grammy and spawning a No. 3 hit in the title track.

A globe-trotting mid-'90s world tour won the Shagosaurus Rex more fans, including folks in the movie industry, who put Shagsongs on the soundtracks to ``Speed 2: Cruise Control,'' ``Jungle 2 Jungle'' and ``How Stella Got Her Groove Back.''

How does he do it? Well, ``Hotshot'' is a diverse melting pot of sly party-vibes and polished love-man ruminations, smartly put together by multiplatinum producers like Jimmy ``Jam'' Harris and Terry Lewis.

It's silky dancehall for the masses, far more accessible than others in the genre, like Beenie Man.

``From Marley and Jimmy Cliff in the '70s to Morgan Heritage and Buju Banton today, reggae artists have struggled to break into the American charts,'' observes Chuck Foster, host of ``Reggae Central'' at 3 p.m. Sundays on KPFK-FM (90.7) and whose book, ``Roots, Rock, Reggae,'' contains a chapter on Shaggy.

``Shaggy has a Jamaican heritage and an American experience and heard the music of both cultures equally,'' Foster said. ``He understands reggae's rich history while mixing a contemporary r&b and hip-hop style with dancehall. Plus, he's one of the nicest guys you could meet, perfectly deserving of his success in helping to break down the final barriers to reggae in the U.S.''

As reggae incorporates more of today's influences, what of the golden- age roots-rock riddim that initially made the music so jarring - and appealing - to listeners?

For that, we'll leave the last word to the Shagmonster.

``You've got people like Burning Spear and Steel Pulse still doing it roots style,'' he says. ``But music evolves, and it's a cycle. I'm sure one day we'll come back to that. But not in the same form.''

CAPTION(S):

3 photos

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) Shaggy -delic

With a string of hits, Jamaican star leading the way to reggae's revival

(2) ``If you don't keep putting out records, getting radio airplay and working hard to keep your face in the media, people forget who you are.'

- Reggae star Shaggy

(3) ``Music evolves ... it's a cycle,'' says reggae artist Shaggy.