You gotta love Ken Boothe – a guy who can take familiar pop tunes like "Impossible Dream" and "Theme From The Godfather", and turn them into surprisingly soulful reggae classics! Yet that kind of magic is exactly what makes a great reggae album so great – the kind of special inflection and inversion of source material, especially when mixed with original inspiration – and served up in a classic Kingston setting that features the great Lloyd Charmers on piano and organ, as well as production of the entire set! But it's the soulful style of Boothe that really makes the whole thing great – as he presents the tunes with one of the most unique voices in 70s Jamaican music – almost a Caribbean trill at points, but mixed with raspier soul at other times. Titles include "Speak Softly Love", "Everything I Own", "Evil Girl", "Crying Over You", "Sad & Lonely", "Impossible Dream", "You Will Reach Your Goal", "Time Passage", and "My Kid". LP, Vinyl record album

A rocksteady classic from The Ethiopians – but a set that also has plenty more going on as well! The duo work here as a Jamaican counterpart to American soul groups – one of the first and best to hit the Kingston scene – but they also open themselves up to lots of other ideas in the process, and sometimes lay back vocally to just let the album open up and groove! Harmonies are The Ethiopians' strongest calling card – but they're often first directed by the rhythms, then slide in to warm things up and give a larger presence to the slow-stepping, midtempo grooves – all delivered with a classic Kingston head-nodding approach. The album's a key genre-building moment in Jamaican music – and titles include the classic "Train To Skaville", plus "Engine 54", "My Love", "You Got The Dough", "Woman's World", "Long Time Now", and "Unchanged Love". LP, Vinyl record album

A sly little set from the hands of British producer Dennis Bovell – a record that was done to appear as an obscure Jamaican import – from the stripped-down packaging to the stripped-down sound in the grooves! The feel here is a bit looser and more laidback than some of the other UK productions of the time – roots work that has some occasional dub-style production at points, or a more straightforward groove at others – on many instrumental cuts that are perfect for blasting over a larger soundsystem! Titles include "None Ah Jah Children", "Skatter Skatter", "Sure Shot", "Younger Generation", "Bounty Hunter", and "Tribute To Idi Amin". LP, Vinyl record album

A soulful classic from The Heptones – easily one of the greatest trios to emerge from the Jamaican scene in the late 60s – and one of the few who were really able to evolve their style as the years went on! The style here is to earlier Heptones material as the early 70s Impressions records on Curtom were to their 60s albums on ABC – more righteous in content, and hipper in overall expression – with this beautiful interplay between the vocals of Leroy Sibbles, Barry Llewellyn, and Earl Morgan – all captured with this warm glow in the Harry J Studio! Includes material originally released in Jamaica on the album Book Of Rules, then issued by Trojan as Cool Rasta with additional tracks. Titles include "Black On Black", "Over & Over", "Peace & Harmony", "Dreadlock", "Suffering So" and and "Wah Go Home". LP, Vinyl record album

Stunning early work from one of our favorite reggae groups ever – the mighty Toots & The Maytals, a key link between the soul styles of the Jamaican scene of the 60s, and the righteous years to come! There's a groove to the Maytals music that nobody else seems to get this right – or this tight – a fantastic criss-crossing of rhythms that's often nicely stripped-down, and which seems to set fire to the vocal interplay between Toots and the rest of the group – in a way that's as vocally explosive as the instrumentation at the core! Sure, these guys can harmonize as well as the rest of their contemporaries – but they've also got an even greater talent for trading back and forth, which seems to make every one of their tunes an instant groove. Titles include "Pee Pee Cluck Cluck", "Loving Spirit", "Dr Lester", "Gold Silver", "Koo Koo", "Revival Reggae", "Thy Kingdom Come", "One Eyed Enos", "A Time To Love", "9 O'Clock", "Know Me Good", "Got To Feel", "Feel So Good", and "Give Peace A Chance". LP, Vinyl record album

A record with a striking title – and a set that really marked the full promise of Linval Thompson in the 70s – a dubby classic that's every bit as strong on the vocal side of Thompson's skills, as it is the production side! The album was recorded at Tubby's with the Revolutionaries band and an uncredited Junjo Lawes (who would later go on to cut some of the best dub albums ever, with Scientist) – and the vocals have this great style of cresting between sweeter modes and more biting modes – particularly when wrapped around the social themes that always made Thompson stand out. Titles include "I Love Marijuana", "Don't Push Your Brother", "Dread Are the Controller", "The Children of the Ghetto", "Not Follow Fashion", and "Jamaican Colley Version". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary compilation – and one that marked the start of the huge On-U Sound legacy to follow throughout the 90s! The work here is maybe even more messed-up than some of the later productions by Adrian Sherwood – as there's maybe a bit more post-punk influence in the blend, alongside plenty of that Jamaican groove that was so important to both Sherwood and the UK scene at the time, already getting manipulated here in the way that made the producer and label such an important aesthetic force in years to come! Titles include "Bed Bound Saga" by Machine Gun Hogg & Co, "Woodpecker Sound" by Jah Woosh, "Quit The Body" by The Chicken Granny, "Dreams Are Better" by London Underground, "Demonic Forces" by Alan Pellay, "Afghani Dub" by The Mothmen, "The Dice" by Judy Nylon, "Yipee I Aah" by New Age Steppers, "Quante Jubila" by Prince Far I & Creation Rebel, and "Asian Rebel" by Suns Of Arqua. LP, Vinyl record album

There's a bunch of young British skinheads pictured on the cover – but the legendary Symarip are a group of West Indian descent, and created the kind of rocksteady grooves that really drove the London scene wild at the end of the 60s! The group were one of the first to fully rise up from British recording origins with a level to top some of the imports coming from Jamaica – and while they'll forever be known for the classic title cut of the album, they've also got a huge amount of extra greatness to offer – a raw, echoey vibe that not only sets the group apart from some of their Kingston contemporaries, but which also echoes the Two Tone generation to come! Titles include the classic "Skinhead Moonstomp" – plus "Phoenix Reggae", "These Boots Are Made For Walking", "Chicken Merry", "Skinhead Jamboree", "Try Me Best", "You're Mine", "Fung Shu", and "Stay With Him". LP, Vinyl record album

One of the first-ever albums issued by Clement Coxsone Dodd on the Kingston scene – and the start of a huge legacy of music to come on his Studio One record label! The work here is already marking new territory for Jamaican music – strongly influenced by American jazz and R&B of the postwar years, but already finding rhythms that would really burst out in the years of ska and rocksteady to come – as horns and vocals mix it up with rhythms that are definitely different than anything that was getting recorded up north in the US! The album mixes great vocal group and solo singers with instrumental acts to – in a set list that includes "Lonely Boy" and "My Heart" by The Charmers, "Campus Hop" and "Rub Up" by Dennis Sindrey, "Freedom" by Clancey Eccles, "I Was Wrong" by Winston Samuels, "I Need A Little Loving" by Owen Gray, "Beeston Street Riff" by Clue J & The Blues Blasters, "Little Willie" by Aubrey Adams & The Blues Blasters, "I Love You" by Zoot Simms & Arthur Robinson, and "I've Done You Wrong" and "Donna" by The Blues Busters. LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic work from the team of Dave Baker and Ansel Collins – one a soulful singer from the Jamaican rocksteady scene, the other a hip keyboardist whose organ lines really make the album shimmer! The pair scored a huge international hit with this album – and the whole thing was a key crossover record in the years before Island Records and some of the bigger reggae artists to come! There's a raw, earthy vibe to the whole thing – and a heck of a groove too – and titles include "Double Barrel", "Wild Bunch", "Monkey Spanner Version", "Secret Weapon", "Impossible Mission", and "Ten To One". LP, Vinyl record album

A calypso set, but not the sort that you'd know from big crossover records of the late 50s – as the Mighty Sparrow works here with that jazzy blend of horns and rootsy rhythms that kept a strong edge in his music, and made his sounds as important on the pre-reggae scene in London as they were at home in Trinidad! There's a nicely rattling vibe to the record that really matches the sharpness of the vocals – an important current of politics, social commentary, and personal brag – all of which had a huge impact on later sounds and styles of music. The saxophone lines really keep things soulful – and titles include "The Village Ram", "Martin Luther King", "I'll Be Around", "You Don't Love Me", "Castro Eating Banana", and "Tour Of Jamaica". (Global Grooves, Reggae) LP, Vinyl record album

Prince Jammy's Computerized Dub – a quintessential set of beeping, bouncing Casio driven jams from the originator of the Jamaican digital tone! Steely and Cleavie were still under Jammy's tutelage and they are part of the driving force behind these nice mid 80s rhythms. 10 tracks in all, including "Synchro Start", "Interface", "32 Bit Chip", "Auto Rhythm", "Peek & Poke", "Megabyte", "Wafer Scale Integration", "Crosstalk", "Modem" and "256K Ram". LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible document of the Kingston scene in the 70s – and one that really opens up our understanding of reggae culture at the time! The set features portions of two radio shows hosted by Winston Williams – one from 1977, one from 1978 – both complete with announcer intros and a really great blend of music – reggae cuts from the time, including a number of exclusive disco mixes, served up at just the right vibe for the audiences in Jamaica at the time. The 1977 show has a surprising current of soul – right down to the intro theme song, which is a reworking of Johnny Lytle's "Village Caller" – and both programs really open up the music in a wonderful way, especially as Williams puts the sounds in local context with some of his spoken bits – done in this very cool English-accented voice! CD

Bob Andy's come a long way here from his earlier work with Marcia Griffiths – taking on some new righteous rasta energy, as you might guess from the title – and singing in an even headier style than before – in a way that makes this record as important to the roots generation as his earlier sides were to early reggae! The set was recorded at Treasure Isle, with bad-stepping rhythms from Sly & Robbie, and a nice current of dub on the production – all of which really sets the stage for Bob's richly soulful vocals on tunes that include "Troubled Woman", "Lots Of Love & I", "Unchain Me", "Stepping Free", "Revelation", "The Ghetto Stays In My Mind", and "You Lied". LP, Vinyl record album

Before Carlos Malcolm would go on to cut the extra funky collector's item Bustin Out Of The Ghetto, he plied the Ska trade, and was one of the genre's leading lights in the early days of Jamaican music. Malcolm and crew bust out a fine batch of mostly instrumental horn driven tracks, with all 11 jaunty, skanking numbers from the original LP included here, plus one bonus track, including titles like "Skamania", "Run For Cover", "Hunchback No. 1", "Tiptoe", "Skaramouche", "Bonanza Ska", "Earthman", "Skokian", "Head Shrinker" and "Hopalong Cassidy". CD

A full length collabo from Nas & Damien "Jr Gong" Marley – who've worked together in the past on a track two – and overall it's a win that goes well beyond simple hip hop/dancehall fusion! The duo samples Mulatu, collaborate with K'Naan , Dennis Brown, Stephen Marley and others, and bring global dramatic sweep and and timeless funk to Distant Relatives that ends up working better as an eclectic whole than you may have suspected! Titles include "As We Enter", "Tribes At War" feat K'Naan, "Strong Will Continue", "Leaders" feat Stephen Marley, "Count Your Blessings", "Nah Mean", "Patience", "Africa Must Wake Up" feat K'Naan and more. (Hip Hop, Reggae) LP, Vinyl record album