A great early album by Jimmy – and one that was issued in the US by A&M, but was licensed from London in the UK. The production is great, and tracks mix raw rocksteady rhythms with some great arrangements that add some nice baroque touches at times, especially on the title cut, which features some very nice string parts. Titles include "Hello Sunshine", "Come Into My Life", "Hard Road To Travel", "Time Will Tell", "Many Rivers To Cross", and "My Ancestors". LP, Vinyl record album
The American debut of The English Beat – aka the UK group The Beat, who'd been making some big waves with import 45s on the 2Tone label, the burst forth on our US market with a slight shift in name, due to another group hogging their original moniker on our side of the Atlantic! That bit of backstory hardly need matter, though – as the group wear their English loud and proud here, setting off a huge ska revival as they blend Jamaican roots with London attitude in the post-punk years – stacking up a set of classics that continue to groove many turntables all these many years later. Titles include "Mirror In The Bathroom", "Hands Off She's Mine", "Twist & Crawl", "Big Shot", "Best Friend", and "Jackpot". (Rock, Reggae)CD