Here’s how reggae riddims evolve: nine versions of the same rocksteady riddim, from Roy Shirley to Ken Boothe via Big Youth and I-Roy. (more…)

This was probably the first Jamaican tune I ever heard – I was nine when it came out – and this amazing film, apparently, is the first music video to appear on Top of the Pops.
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Alton Ellis sings the original rocksteady version of the song that grew into multiple hits for artists from Althea & Donna to Sean Paul, way back in 1967. (more…)

This is one of the signature songs of the Rocksteady era – the brief bridging period in the mid-Sixties between the bouncy urgency of Ska and the laid-back drum’n’bass grooves and conscious lyrics of Reggae. (more…)