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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