Is there a genre called jazz-dub? If there isn’t – or wasn’t – then I think it’s been invented on this tune. I can’t stop playing it.

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Black Uhuru were everywhere in the late ’70s. It seemed they would step into Bob Marley’s shoes after his death in 1981 – only for their lead singer, Michael Rose, to leave the group.

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The summer of ’79 witnessed one of those rare occasions when a reggae song struck a chord with the entire nation – and was the first lover’s rock tune to be sung on Top of the Pops. Dennis Bovell wrote, produced and played the music on Janet Kay’s lover’s rock classic Silly Games – then stripped it back to this killer dub. (more…)

There’s a film in cinemas right now about a long-forgotten British funk band called Cymande, who disappeared 50 years ago and have decided to reform. Change one or two details – replace 50 with 40 and change funk to dub reggae – and you could be talking about Creation Rebel.

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I’ve only just found out that Ply Styrene – back when she was Marianne Elliott-Said – was making music before X-Ray Spex. Music like this.

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This one is properly obscure, though you may well recognise the tune as Dawn Penn’s vintage reggae classic No No No.

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Let’s travel back to Jamaica in 1983 for Sister Nancy’s irrepressible dancehall reggae anthem Bam Bam, bringing a ray of sunshine to a cold winter’s day.

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Jamaican dancehall star Ini Kamoze started out singing roots reggae long before he topped the charts with his signature song Here Come The Hotstepper.

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One of my favourite singers; one of my favourite songs. What more could you want – a killer dub by The Revolutionaries? It ticks that box too.

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I’m not the only one who loves this slice of vintage reggae by Pablo Gad. This song, Hard Time (sic), might be better known for being sampled by The Prodigy in their take on Arthur Brown’s classic Fire.

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