One of the most important albums on the mighty 2 Tone label – and part of a huge ska revival on the British scene that would send ripples through modern music for years to come! And sure, the words "ska" and "revival" in the same sentence can often make most folks wince ... (Rock, Reggae)read moreCD
An early moment of genius from the legendary Lee Perry – and a set that uses Django imagery from Italian westerns to serve up a "bad boy" version of Jamaican music for the late 60s! Even at this early point, the sounds are mindblowing – rocksteady brought through a really ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
Fantastic stuff – and a record that's as much an early 70s reggae set as it is a strong bit of east coast soul – Kingston rhythms mixed with fantastic harmonies that maybe echo more of the East Coast group soul modes than some of the earlier Jamaican groups of the 60s! The choice of ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Individually numbered limited edition of 1000 – on heavyweight orange vinyl!)
Get ready to jam!! Soul Jazz drops another fat reggae bomb, ripe for your summer block party – eight hot, hot Jamaican versions of massive classics that burned up the discotheques and clubs in the late 70s and early 80s. The four on the floor pulse has been replaced with a syncopated island ... read moreCD
(Out of print earlier pressing.)
Various —
Studio One Soul ... CD Soul Jazz/Studio One (UK), Late 60s/Early 70s. Used ...
$9.99
Fantastic! This set features reggae and rocksteady versions of American soul and funk tracks from the late 60s and early 70s – quite fitting, considering how much of Jamaican reggae began as an attempt to copy American hits for the local market. The set may well be the best-ever in the ... read moreCD
Soul Jazz keeps the groove up – hitting this 5th volume in their now-legendary series of Dynamite reggae compilations! This volume takes the groove up even farther than previous volumes – exploring a wealth of great dub, Jamaican funk, and even a bit of dancehall in the process. The ... read moreCD
Soul power 1968, but Kingston-style too – served up here in a host of gems from the vaults of Jamaican producer Duke Reid! The material is from a perfect moment in Reid's career – a time when he was changing his well-crafted Treasure Isle groove from ska to rocksteady – bringing ... read moreCD
A massive package – the full rare Undertaker album from Derrick Harriott & The Crystalites, plus an insane amount of bonus tracks too! The core album is instrumental – a wicked set of rhythms from The Crystalites, a group who have a vibe that's right up there with the best of the ... read moreCD
A deep dive into the big wave of new ska music that exploded in the UK after the early years of punk – music that had clearly been an inspiration to many of the young artists who were coming out of London with a more political vibe, created anew by British groups who helped to give ska and ... (Rock, Reggae)read moreCD
Pivotal early dancehall work from the Kingston scene – all of it produced by the legendary Sonia Pottinger, almost all of it issued on her short-lived Dance Hall label! The music here shares some of the qualities of the emerging mode at other labels – but unlike, say, Studio one – ... read moreCD
A searing set of early reggae tracks from the Randy's label in Kingston – all produced by the mighty Vincent Chin, and featuring 15 cuts that appear here on CD for the first time ever! Chin worked out of his legendary store – Randy's Record Mart, located at 17 North Parade (an address ... read moreCD
A great pair of records – plus a huge amount of bonus tracks too! First up is the debut Reggae Strings album – one of the most unique albums on the Trojan label during the 70s – and a surprising hit for the company too! The approach here is very unusual – as the cuts here ... read moreCD
A pair of classic Clancy Eccles-produced compilations from the start of the 70s – issued here with plenty of bonus tracks too! Foolish Fool was initially billed to Cynthia Richards, the great singer who delivers the leadoff title tune – but the real start of the set is maybe Clancy ... read moreCD
The hits of 77 here aren't the big American chart hits of 1977 – but instead are some key cuts from the Jamaican scene in Kingston – served up here in versions produced by the legendary Sonia Pottinger! And in fact, it might be a stretch to call all these cuts hits – but that's ... read moreCD
A pair of gems from the early years of reggae – stacked back to back in a 2CD set, along with a huge amount of bonus tracks too! First up is the legendary Freedom album from Clancy Eccles – one of the first great talents to emerge in the Jamaican scene of the 60s – a singer whose ... read moreCD
Really great early work from UB40 – different than their later hits – with titles that include "Tyler", "Burden Of Shame", "Food For Thought", "25%", "Little By Little", "Signing Off", and a cover of the Randy Newman tune " ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(UK pressing, including the printed inner sleeve – a great copy!)
Various —
20 Tighten Ups ... LP Trojan (UK), Early 70s. Very Good+ ...
Just Sold Out!
20 killers from Trojan Records – work by King Sporty, Winston Jones, Al Cook, The Setters, Bobbie Houston, Annetta Jackson & Bobby Stephen, Brad Lundy, Matumbi, and Nora Dean! LP, Vinyl record album
(Nice original pressing. Cover has unglued top and bottom seams.)
Bob Marley & The Wailers —
Talkin' Blues ... CD Tuff Gong/Island, 1973/1975/1991. Used ...
$1.99
One of many, many posthumous compilations, but one with some nice rare bits. Comprised mostly of live recordings fromteh Wailers prime early 70s years, plus a few nice studio outtakes, and interspersed with snippets from a radio interview with Marley. Inlcudes "Talkin' Blues", "Burn ... read moreCD
(Out of print.)
Special AKA —
In The Studio ... LP 2 Tone/Chrysalis, 1984. Near Mint- ...
$14.99
A big big crossover album from the UK ska scene of the early 80s – built upon the ashes of the older Specials group, but still with plenty of the dark edges we'd come to expect in Jerry Dammers work! There's a bit more electric instrumentation at the bottom of the tracks, but the sound is ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(UK pressing. Includes inner sleeve. Cover has a sticker in the top right.)
One of the best-selling albums ever from Bob Marley – a classic collection of work from his all-too-short career – and one that's gone onto become as famous as Marley's individual records themselves! The collection really allows all the classics to resonate strongly, in a track order ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
While the original Island issue of the album Funky Kingston here in the states was actually a compilation of tracks from the original Jamaican and UK issues of the album by that title and the In The Dark LP cut the same year, this two-for-one CD reissue finally sets the record straight, packaging ... read moreCD
Sweet! We weren't certain at first whether to call this a hip hop or a reggae CD, since it's 44 mighty tracks of burning reggae classics, mixed continuously front to back like a hip hop mixtape, by West Coast beatmaker extraordinaire Madlib – it's as if there's nothing he can't handle! ... read moreCD
A heavy helping of work from this excellent Jamaican trio – one of the best soulful groups of the rocksteady years, stepping out here in a mode that's similar to early material from The Wailers! The Tennors really shine here in a great blend of harmony vocals and tight Kingston rhythms ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
One of the tightest, deepest albums ever from Jamaican singer John Holt – even if it has a slightly strange history, due to repackagings and retitling over the years! Holt had been making music for over a decade by the time of this set – and while he still works with some of the bad-ste ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album
(Individually numbered limited edition of 750 – on orange heavyweight vinyl!)
Music from Buju Banton, Colin Roach & Galaxy P, Terror Fabulous, Captain Barkey, Pan Head, Beres Hammond & Buju Banton, Ninjaman, Terry Ganzie, Bajja Jedd, Mad Cobra, and more. CD
Seminal sounds from the mighty Sugar Minott – a singer who's sweet-voiced style was perfect for the changes going on at Studio One in the late 70s! Sugar grew up on the soulful styles of the rocksteady years – and here, as Studio One begins to step into some dancehall modes, his vocals ... read moreLP, Vinyl record album