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VARIOUS ARTISTS
By Special Request - 18 Top Rock-Steady & Reggae Classics (Heartbeat)
Reviewed by DJ Johnson
A quick history lesson to bring newbies up to speed: reggae wasn't always as it
is. It
began as a hybrid sound from many islands that was called Mento, which evolved
into ska.
Ska was big in the very early 1960s, and the accents were on the 2 and 4 beats.
A lot of
people who are aware of this don't realize that ska lost its popularity in the
mid 60s and
a slower, more stripped-down music, similar to ska in many ways but also similar
to folk,
calypso and other storytelling forms, became all the rage. It was called rock-
steady, and
it was rock-steady's flexibility that led to the birth of classic reggae. This
CD gathers
18 tracks from the rock-steady stable of master producer Duke Reid, who, like
all the best
producers, would take his sound system out to the streets and play the records
he created
for the people, often squaring off with his competitors in cutting contests.
These sound
system block parties were a fact of life in Jamaica. They were the method by
which a record
was deemed a hit or a miss, and they were the method by which bragging rights
were established.
Reid's chief competitor was Coxsone Dodd, whose work has also been well
documented by
Heartbeat (a label Jamaican music fans owe a great debt to), and like almost all
Heartbeat
compilations that document a particular era and sound, this CD flows perfectly.
The sound
is clean and just as hot as Reid intended, and let it be known the man made 'em
hot indeed.
If you care about vintage Jamaican music on any level, this is indispensable.
Track List:
The Techniques - There Comes a Time *
John Holt - I See Your Face *
The Sensations - Baby Love *
Dennis Alcapone - DJ's Choice *
The Jamaicans - Woman Go Home *
Winston Wright - Cool Down *
Ken Parker - True True *
The United Brothers - What More Can I Say *
The Melodians - What More Can I Say *
U Roy & The Jamaicans - Peace and Love *
Justin Hinds - Time Pass By *
The Ethiopians - Conditions Bad a Yard *
Tommy McCook & The Supersonics - Real Cool *
The Termites - Love Up Kiss Up *
Phyllis Dillon - Take My Heart *
The Relations - My Cousin *
The Victors - You Can't Stop Me *
The Dynamic Man - Boss Boss
© 2001 - DJ Johnson
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