Back when punk and reggae were rebel bedfellows, I discovered this deep cut – thanks to Johnny Rotten. I still can’t find out much about it.

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Culture’s debut album Two Sevens Clash was a landmark release back in 1977. Joe Gibbs and I-Roy teamed up on the 12-inch version.

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Here is my ultimate reggae playlist – drawn mostly from that golden period for classic roots reggae in the mid-Seventies but stretching back to the earlier eras of rocksteady and ska in the mid-Sixties, and edging into the dancehall era of the early Eighties.

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Hugh Mundell could have been a contender. He was once heralded as the rising star of roots reggae – as a singer and DJ (Jah Levi) – before he was shot dead at the age of 21 – after an argument over a fridge.

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Phyllis Dillon’s rocksteady classic is a gem from Duke Reid’s legendary Treasure Isle studio. It’s been widely described as the greatest performance by a female singer in Jamaican music.

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Linval Thompson is a seminal figure in the creation, spread and influence of dancehall reggae. He’s also a sweet singer and a prominent producer with a string of roots albums and dub versions.

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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…)