one of the very first artists to begin recording in jamaica, derrick morgan is beloved as a ska icon and a pioneer of the ‘skinhead reggae’ style. blessed with a rich, deep tenor, which with he belts out his clever and often humorous lyrics, morgan became known on the kingston music scene through vere johns’ regular talent contests, and enjoyed a lengthy run of hits during the 1960s for producers such as simeon smith, duke reid and clement ‘sir coxsone’ dodd (among others), cultivating a popular vinyl feud with prince buster after being brought into leslie kong’s camp by the young jimmy cliff. morgan moved to england during the late 1960s to capitalise on the skinhead reggae craze, but was back in jamaica from the early 1970s, and since bunny lee was his brother-in-law, the two have always maintained a close working relationship. people decision, voiced at king tubby’s studio for lee and released by third world in 1977, sees morgan in politicised roots reggae mode on songs like ‘let’s build a better jamaica,’ the symbolic racetrack drama ‘racing at ballistic park,’ and the title track, which all boosted the socialist policies of the ruling people’s national party, ‘natty dread forward out of babylon’ updates the ‘tougher than tough’ saga, and there’s a slew of rude tunes when you flip the disc, including ‘my dickie,’ ‘rough grinder’ and ‘ride manny fanny.’

tenor singer johnny clarke had many false starts in his youthful days. hanging around studio one as a schoolboy with jacob miller, clarke was supposed to record material written for him by bob andy, but somehow never made the grade. his 1973 debut recording for lesser-known producer glen stair was not released, and early work for clancy eccles failed to hit, though ‘everyday wondering’ for rupie edwards made an underground impact in britain and new york. subsequent singles for keith hudson and glen brown also did not get very far, but the breakthrough finally came when bunny lee asked him to sing ‘none shall escape the judgement,’ which was written by the singer earl zero, it became a massive hit that launched the ‘flying cymbal’ craze (based on an open-and-closed high-hat cymbal pattern, adapted from the soul train theme), and clarke became one of lee’s most reliable hit-makers, partly because lee stoked a rivalry between him and cornell campbell, whom lee had previously asked to voice ‘none shall escape.’ clarke’s satisfaction lp was recorded at harry j for lee, voiced at king tubby’s studio, and issued by third world in 1979. it is a set largely comprised of cover tunes, such as the strong opening update of the paragons’ ‘riding for a fall,’ the title track adapting their rock steady hit ‘my satisfaction’ in a post-rockers style. better still is the hard-hitting ‘reality’ tune, ‘play fool, get wise,’ which uses a proverb to relate a means of avoiding trouble on the dog-eat-dog mean streets of kingston.

trained in the art of deejay toasting by the legendary dennis alcapone, lester bulllock initially called himself alcapone junior, until maverick record producer lee scratch perry renamed him dillinger in the early 1970s, following his success on a west kingston sound system called smith the weapon, based in the ghetto of payne avenue. perry cut dillingers first dozen tracks, and there was early work for other producers such as prince tony, augustus pablo, enos mcleod and phil pratt, then, dillingers debut album, ready natty dreadie, was a local hit for studio one, but the cb200 set for island catapulted him to international prominence. yet, the dillinger material with the roughest edge was always produced by bunny striker lee, as this lp, answer my question, so amply demonstrates. first issued in the netherlands on the scramble label in 1977, it shows dillinger on fearsome form, his relaxed rhyming toasts tackling sound system matters, the rastafari lifestyle, action movie subplots, the highs and lows of romantic relationships, the need to help the less fortunate, and other burning issues of the day with biting wit and verbal dexterity, all delivered over tough aggrovators rhythms—including an unusual cut of the three piece suit rhythm. go deh! reissued on lp and cd, on cd for the first time ever!

the house band of bunny ‘striker’ lee was formed in the mid-1970s by some of jamaica’s most prominent and musically expressive session players. the shifting core line-up spun off from the soul syndicate and thus typically featured earl ‘chinna’ smith and tony chin on guitar and bernard ‘touter’ harvey on organ. carlton ‘santa’ was the main drummer, but carlton barrett of the wailers band and ‘benbow’ creary were sometimes featured. most crucially, on bass, aston ‘family man’ barrett shifted to fully fullwood (and occasionally, earl ‘bagga’ walker), until robbie shakespeare took over, becoming the bandleader. the band was responsible for the popular ‘flying cymbal’ style that took jamaica by storm, and you can hear it in abundance on this killer dub set from 1975, its excellent cuts of cornell campbell and johnnie clarke material mixed at king tubby’s studio - a must for all serious fans of dub.

as noted on another release (see ropin), cornell campbell has enjoyed one of the longest-running careers of any jamaican singer, and he is blessed with a readily identifiable style too. he began his career for clement ‘sir coxsone’ dodd in 1956, when rhythm and blues held sway in jamaica, and later cut some ska songs for king edwards. he then passed through the sensations in the rock steady phase and worked as a solo singer at treasure isle, before returning to studio one with the eternals, scoring huge hits such as ‘stars’ and ‘queen of the minstrel’ as the 60s gave way to the 70s. his greatest phase of popularity was them brokered by hit-making producer bunny lee, who kept him on top right through the 1970s and into the 80s. the 1975 album dance in a greenwich farm was first issued on the grounation label in the uk. along with a re-working of ‘stars’ re-titled ‘the sun,’ a re-working of ‘queen of the minstrel’ as ‘girl of my dreams’ and the sound system opus that is the title track, the album has the boastful ‘conquering gorgon’ and a number of keenly-observed cover tunes, including a cut of the gaylads’ ‘no good girl,’ a version of the heptones’ ‘why did you leave me’ and a killer cut of the uniques’ ‘watch this sound’ (based on ‘for what it’s worth’ by buffalo springfield).

one of the most important harmony groups in the entirety of jamaican music, the paragons have a long and complicated history. first formed in the ska years by bob andy and tyrone evans as the duo of andy and ronnie, the group soon expanded to a quartet through the addition of howard barrett and john holt, the latter naturally assuming lead duties, following the subsequent departure of andy, holt, evans and barrett made the paragons the quintessential rock steady trio. they had an incredible run of hits for duke reid and coxsone during the mid-to-late ‘60s, and also issued some self-produced work, before holt’s solo career skyrocketed, leaving the group on the back-burner. then, in the mid-1970s, the paragons reformed, cutting material for new york-based labels such as clocktower and clintones, which led to this intriguing album, which saw material recorded in jamaica at harry j for bunny lee mixed with work cut at bullwackie’s studio in the bronx, along with re-workings of classics such as ‘left with a broken heart’ and ‘memories by the score’ is a whole range of new material, dealing with contemporary themes.

during the mid-1970s, the aggrovators could do no wrong. this ace team of session musicians that was forged as an off-shoot of the soul syndicate were responsible for some of the biggest hits of the decade, recorded with bunny lees rising stars, such as johnnie clarke and his rival, cornell campbell. following on from the great shalom dub set of 1975, rasta dub 76 is another truly magnificent dub set culled from aggrovators hits (by johnny clarke, cornell campbell and others), this time, the entire album was given a scintillating mix-down at king tubbys studio by the great prince jammy, and the sonic excellence has stood the test of time. another must-have for all connoisseurs of dub.

cementing his reputation as the star toaster with the small but popular el paso sound system, based in the waltham park area, dennis alcapone was one of the first deejays to rise to prominence following u roy’s breakthrough in the late 1960s. born dennis smith in the rural district of culloden, he became immersed in sound system culture after settling in western kingston. once el paso became big on the sound system circuit, dental technician-turned-producer keith hudson brought him into the studio for his debut recordings, which led to a debut album for studio one and hit material for duke reid, some cut in concert with his deejay sparring partner, lizzy. alcapones longstanding links with bunny lee yielded the excellent guns don’t argue album, first issued in 1972, on which the toaster raps with style over some of lees all-time greatest rhythms, including delroy wilsons better must come, john holts left with a broken heart and slim smiths rendition of the temptations soul classic ain’t too proud to beg.

born roy samuel reid in saint thomas in 1944, i roy was one of jamaicas all-time greatest deejays. a natural-born toaster, his rhyming raps always sounded effortless, whether describing the harsh realities of the inner city, or making light of nonsense nursery rhymes. a former employee at customs and excise, he was first active on a sound system called soul bunnies in the rock steady era, moving to son’s junior in 1968, and later, to the legendary supreme ruler of sound, defecting to the rival stereo sound system after that. hits for harry mudie and other producers soon followed, and after the killer debut album presenting i roy impacted overseas, the toaster began spending frequent periods in london. his longstanding working relationship with hit-making producer bunny lee led to some of his most noteworthy albums during the mid 1970s, the 1977 set cant conquer rasta is a superb showcase-style album, on which the toaster blows hard lyrics over five of lees killer rockers rhythms (recorded with the likes of johnny clarke), each complete with a corresponding aggrovators dub on the flip, all mixed by prince jammy at king tubbys studio

one of jamaicas most highly-rated vocalists, alton ellis made an incredible contribution to the islands popular music. blessed with a particularly emotive voice that brings shivers to the spine whether singing original material or cover tunes, ellis was born and raised in trench town, the west kingston ghetto area that gave rise to bob marley and the wailers and countless other singers. ellis and singing partner eddie parkins hit big in 1961 with the ballad muriel for coxsone dodd, and after parkins moved to the usa, ellis teamed briefly with john holt, and then began fronting the flames harmony group. he excelled in the rock steady style, christening the genre with rock steady and i have got a date, bouncing between studio one and treasure isle for a number of years. from 1971, he spent increasing period in london, but continued to record hits in jamaica for various producers. the 1979 release love to share was arranged by the great studio one keyboardist, jackie mittoo, who co-produced the album with junior lincoln, founder of the london-based bamboo label, the disc straddles the line between lover’s rock and roots reggae, remaining a lesser-known classic

one of the sweetest and most idiosyncratic voices in reggae, tenor singer cornell campbell also has one of the longest-running careers of any jamaican recording artist. taken under studio one founder clement sir coxsone dodd’s wing at a very young age, cornell cut his first recordings in 1956, long before ska was even established. he remained based at studio one for many years (working as a label printer as well as a recording artist), and also voiced sides for king edwards in the ska years. he then briefly joined the sensations in rock steady and recorded at treasure isle, before moving back to studio one as leader of the eternals when reggae arrived, cutting huge hits there such as stars and queen of the mistrel, and giving early coaching to slim smith, jacob miller and bassist robbie shakespeare. joining forces with ace producer bunny striker lee in the mid-1970s brought a dramatic new surge in popularity that greatly boosted his profile overseas. the ropin lp was issued on third worlds justice subsidiary in 1980 a sub label set up to handle strikers product in the uk (though hits like mash you down and the title track had been handled in jamaica by joe gibbs). one of the albums outstanding moments is bandulu, an anti-rude boy epic voiced on the late night blues rhythm, while opening cover, just my imagination, has an uncredited toasting portion from errol scorcher.

distinctive tenor singer linval thompson honed his singing craft in his formative years, growing in the west kingston ghetto of three mile, where he was associated with dennis brown, johnnie clarke and al campbell. a subsequent move to new york brought him into expatriate act hugh hendricks and the buccaneers, with his debut recording, ‘no other woman,’ being made circa early 1974 at patrick alley’s art craft studio. a series of other singles followed from his new york sojourn, but the return to jamaica in 1974 led to more noteworthy singles for stamma hobson, phil pratt and lee ‘scratch’ perry, with ‘jah jah redder than red’ and ‘girl you’ve got to run,’ both cut at the black ark for pratt, being the most successful. yet, it was all but a prelude to the breakthrough success he would finally achieve upon teaming up with bunny lee for ‘don’t cut off your dreadlocks,’ one of the most popular releases of 1975, a debut album of the same name, issued by third world in 1976, contained some of his most outstanding material, including the devotional ‘jah jah the conqueror’ and ‘long long dreadlocks,’ the romance thriller ‘black princess lady’ and the anti-rude boy opus, ‘cool down your temper.’

tommy mccook to be leader of the skatalites in the early 1960s, he went on to become the chief exponent of rock steady as leader of the supersonics house band at treasure isle. mccook remained a key session player throughout the reggae era, and during the roots reggae heyday of the mid-1970s, his expressive melodies found particularly strong outlet, especially on the music he created for grassroots producer bunny ‘striker’ lee as a member of the aggrovators, the studio outfit lee hand-picked from the cream of jamaica’s musical crop. when enhanced by the adventurous mixing experiments of king tubby, the engineer that turned dub into an art form, instrumental aggrovators music became positively ethereal, yielding an exceptional listening experience. on king tubby meets the aggrovators at dub station, tommy mccook blows mean sax and flute over dubs of outstanding tracks by johnny clarke, cornell campbell, linval thompson, delroy wilson, and others greats. first issued on third world in 1976, this vinyl reissue comes complete with four thematic bonus tracks, and the whole disc makes for essential listening. reissued on lp and cd with bonus tracks!

the visionary musician and record producer augustus pablo made some of the most unique and individual recordings in the history of reggae. as with his friend and mentor, jackie mittoo, the man born horace swaby was of mixed indian and african heritage, and although his middleclass background might have pointed him in a very different direction, the lure of jamaica’s sound system culture captured him at a young age, particularly after debilitating health problems saw him drop out of school. he began recording as a session keyboardist as the 60s gave way to the 70s, but everything changed when a schoolfriend introduced him to the melodica, a small plastic keyboard operated by a mouthpiece, which he used on seminal recordings for producer herman chin-loy, credited to augustus pablo on release. during the early 1970s, pablo crafted melodica instrumentals for all of the leading reggae producers, scoring ‘best instrumental’ for ‘java’ in 1973, and launching the rockers label to showcase self-produced work at the same time. this multifaceted compilation, first issued on bunny lee’s attack label in 2005, compiles memorable melodica interpretations of some of lee’s greatest productions, recorded over dub cuts of immortal numbers such as cornell campbell’s ‘queen of the minstrel’ and john holt’s ‘my desire.’ reissued on lp and cd with bonus tracks!