VARIOUS ARTISTS
Knock Out Ska (Heartbeat/Treasure Isle)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Don't blink! Whoops, you missed it....

Yep, another "ska wave" has come and gone, leaving behind another pile of band names and CDs lying unnoticed in the musical tide pools. Those waves come from somewhere, though, and there's still a vast sea of great music to be sailed for ska fans. Names like Roland Alphonso, Justin Hinds, Tommy McCook, Alton Ellis and Don Drummond won't float away, because they provide the depths from which the successive waves are drawn.

All those and more can be found on this collection of classic sounds from the vaults of the great Jamaican producer Duke Reid. This is the solid stuff, the great sound system beats and blasts that have inspired forty years of followers. They can call the next wave whatever they want, but this stuff is really the core. A great set, including material making its first CD appearance, material making its first appearance anywhere and stuff you've loved for a long time.

Track List:

Don Drummond/Knockout Punch * Rico Rodriguez, Roland Alphonso & Dizzy Moore/Magic * Alton Ellis & The Flames/Don't Trouble People * Owen & Leon Silvera/Hold Me Tenderly * The Baba Brooks Band/ Twilight Zone * The Melodies/My Girl * Lester Sterling with The Baba Brooks Band/So Long * Eric "Monty" Morris w Justin Hands & The Dominos/Penny Reel * The Techniques feat. Slim Smith/You Don't Know * Justing Hinds & The Dominos/Over The River * Don Drummond/Cool Smoke * The Duke Reid Group/ What Makes Honey * Stranger Cole/My Pussy * Tommy McCook & The Supersonics/How Soon * Lion Of Judah/Justin Hinds & The Dominos * The Melodies/Vacation * Tommy McCook/The Yellow Basket * Hortense Ellis & Alton Ellis/Don't Gamble With Love * Don Drummond w The Baba Brooks Band/Spider * Stanger Cole & Patsy Todd w The Baba Brooks Band/Yea Yea Baby

© 2001 - Shaun Dale