Reggae
Max Romeo’s career spanned the early days of ska through rocksteady to fiery roots reggae with a political conscience, peaking in the mid-’70s.
Protoje is flying the flag for old-skool reggae music from Jamaica, with tunes like this tribute to sound system culture, Big 45.
The Melodians sealed their place in music history with their biblical anthem Rivers Of Babylon – even though most people know it best by Boney M. I’d rather listen to this song, Sweet Sensation, than either version.
Like everyone else I know* I discovered Bob Marley when the live version of No Woman, No Cry became a huge hit in the summer of 1975. Then I dug deeper and discovered this tune from five years earlier.
Dub maestro Elijah Minelli takes an ancient English folk song, A’Soalin’, and rearranges it as a 21st century reggae tune.
Here’s a tune from the early days of reggae by Nora Dean, who earned herself a place in the niche genre of “naughty” reggae, best known for her saucy hit Barbwire (In His Underpants).
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.
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.
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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