various artists - Jon Savage's 50 Pre-Punk Missing Links

I'm writing this blog about 35 minutes before it's scheduled to post. It's less than an hour to Labor Day, so I don't feel particularly obliged to do much more than post something up.

One of the homies over at Twilight Zone originally posted this up last year. Apparently, very early on in Mojo's history, Jon Savage made a list of 50 songs predating punk that led to its explosion. It's a list that runs from 1969 (Gong) to 1977 (Richard Hell & Devo). And it is an incredible playlist. For every "T.V. Eye" or "Final Solution", there are songs like Lucifer's "Fuck You" or George Brigman's "Jungle Rot"; total outsider rock that never made it to the cut-out bin.

My contribution was properly dating each song, attaching the original release it appears on, and adding a genre. Put this on today and tell the boss you ain't coming in.

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various artists - Reggae Chartbusters Volume Four

So this is where the series gets interesting.

Trojan didn't release a fourth volume of "Reggae Chartbusters" back in 1972 or 1973, opting instead for continuing the "Club Reggae" series and kicking off "Trojan's Greatest Hits". That didn't keep Trojan from surveying from 1971 to 1973 in this 2009 release.

You see where JA reggae and UK reggae are diverging during this period. There are a pair of Bob Marley & the Wailers tracks on this (leftovers from their pre-Island output) and a Dennis Brown cut, but that's it for roots reggae here. The rest of is that pop reggae ilk that was pretty safe for English folks in the early 70s, but was out of step with the soon-to-be dominant sound coming out of Jamaica.

None of that is to imply this is bad, to be clear. There's music from Dandy Livingston, Joe Higgs, Toots Hibbert, Desmond Dekker; all heavyweights. But the tell here is the presence of Judge Dread's "Big Seven". I love his schtick, but his appearance maintains the theme. This was a series made for white audiences, with a minimum of nasty Rastafari or politics. Groups like Greyhound and Blue Haze wouldn't otherwise stack up to the likes of Sound Dimension or the Supersonics.

It's still pretty good, tho. Better than a sharp poke in the eye, to be sure.

Discogs

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various artists - Reggae Chartbusters: Volume Three (Extended Edition)

This the last of the extended editions in Trojan's 2009 reissue series of "Reggae Chartbusters". Trojan moved on to different titles and themes for their sampler records after 1971. So after this one, it's all imaginary samplers.

The Pioneers' version of Jimmy Cliff's "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" leads off this, and it's alright. The rest of the original release is pretty mediocre; there's a post-heyday Desmond Dekker track, a pair of cuts from former Technique Bruce Ruffin, and fukkin' Greyhound. Not great stuff. Where some of the classic artists from the JA explosion from '67 - '71 embraced Rastafari and a more rooted approach to reggae, this is more representative of reggae-pop. Which I can't stand.

But this one is worth it for the classic two-fer from Dave & Ansel Collins of "Double Barrel" and "Monkey Spanner". These are two of my favorite tracks from this era, going back to the first Trojan CD samplers I bought in the mid-90s. "Small Axe" is also one of the few Wailers songs I like, due in great part to killer production from Lee Perry. The additions of Eric Donaldson, Delroy Wilson, and the Slickers in this expanded version lead me to ask, "Why weren't they on the original?"

Discogs

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various artists - Reggae Chartbusters Volume Two (Expanded Edition)

I busted my ass to find a copy of this.

See, getting Volumes 1, 3, and 4 were pretty easy. All three came from a seller in the UK with very reasonable shipping costs. I think I paid around $20, shipping included, for all three. But Volume Two was, for most of spring and into summer, a white whale. Sellers were asking $25.00 to ship a copy from overseas. The few US shops who had a copy were similarly asking WAY to much for a 15-year-old reissue of a budget comp from 1971. But, luckily, a Japanese store that I've bought records before had a cheap copy, the yen is weak against the dollar, Bob's your uncle, a copy way mine for $10.

And it was worth it, goddammit. Worth it for the seventeenth record I own with these Desmond Dekker songs on them. Worth it for a pair of my all-time favorite Maytals tracks. Worth it for Bob & Marcia's "Young, Gifted, And Black", which got me a native nod in traffic last week. And worth it for the eight bonus tracks appended to the original release. This is a perfect record for the hot season here in the PNW, chock full of slower jams from the first years of JA music transitioning from the rocksteady beat into reggae and creating one of the finest bodies of pop music ever created.

Discogs

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various artists - Solid Gold, Coxsone Style

I found myself a fine little find today, amidst a post office/Starbucks run. This here is a 1992 expanded CD release of a 1971 Studio One compilation, all featuring tracks produced by Coxsone Dodd. For $2, I got myself a healthy dose of John Holt and Jackie Mittoo, of Alton Ellis and the Freedom Singers. Hell, I even got extended mixes of songs by Dennis Brown and Delroy Wilson, and didn't even have to pay extra for the privledge.

This is, by far, my favorite era of reggae. Whether it's releases on Trojan that were recorded with the export market in mind, or the antecedent to lover's rock, or just monster sounds from the island, there's just SO many qualities tracks and singles, leading to banging comps like this one. It's unfortunate that there's a ton of Heartbeat releases that have gone out of print; as I've gotten older, I'm really drawn to their reissues, even with the shitty replacement artwork. It makes a body want to work out a licensing deal or three...really restore and reissue some of Sir Clement's deep cuts.

Discogs

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