Music Genre
Delroy Wilson was the Cool Operator immortalised by The Clash. Here’s the song that earned him the nickname. (more…)
This sultry steamy concoction, with its spooky intro, voodoo chants and twangy guitars, gave Redbone their one and only UK hit when it reached No.2 in 1971.
(more…)
This is the first reggae tune I ever heard and probably the song that instilled a lifelong love of dub production. (more…)
U-Roy is one of the great toasters of Jamaican music, prefiguring the rappers who came along more than 20 years later. Here’s The Originator teaming up with John Holt. (more…)
Bob and Marcia took Nina Simone’s prototype Black Lives Matter anthem to the top five of the UK charts in April 1970. It’s just as relevant 50 years later. (more…)
Glam didn’t *quite* begin with Ride A White Swan but Marc Bolan was the first to lay down a marker with Ride A White Swan. (more…)
Skinhead favourite Liquidator, now synonymous with football, started life as a reggae instrumental by Harry J Allstars, becoming a top ten hit in 1969.
(more…)
Count Matchuki was the original deejay. The founding father of toasting – and, by extension, the forefather of rap. (more…)