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 - Reggae Chartbusters Volume One (Expanded Edition)

 This, my friends, is a bona fide banger.

Set aside your knowledge of reggae for a second, if you can. Imagine being 15 again. It's summertime 1969, and the sounds of rocksteady are just starting to simmer down. It's been less than a year since the Maytals taught us how to do the reggay. You take a couple quid down to the nearest stockist, and you see this on the racks. Twelve tracks, for the same amount you'd pay for a couple of 45s? You're sold.

And what a lineup! On the A side, it's Jimmy Cliff, Symarip, Dandy Livingston. On the flip, Lee Perry's Upsetters, Tony Tribe, Boris Gardiner. Both sides showcase Desmond Dekker and the Pioneers. Can you imagine hearing this all together for the first time? This isn't a stack of singles playing on a jukebox; it's the best value compilation you're probably ever going to buy.

55 years on, I still encounter folks whose first experience with reggae was this comp. One of the first full-lengths released by Trojan, it's up there with "Flex Your Head" or "C86" or the "Easy Rider" soundtrack as the sort of collection that shapes lives. This version, expanded to twenty tracks in 2009 and featuring Max Romeo, the Ethiopians, and the Maytals, gives an even more robust view of the first year Trojan licensed a monster lineup of JA labels and producers for the UK.

No wonder reggae became the sound of working class youth in the early 70s. You take great art, you focus on getting it in as many hands (ears) as you can, as cheaply as possible, and nature takes its course.

Discogs

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various artists - Pump Up The Volume (Complete Soundtrack & Score)

I'll own up, on this Day of our Lord, Saturday, January 16, 2021, that I wanted to grow up to be Hard Harry.

What right minded pre-teen/post-adolescent wouldn't be drawn to Christian Slater in the 1990 cult film "Pump Up The Volume"? By day, a meek, withdrawn student; by night, a foul-mouthed, truth slinging, chronically masturbating pirate radio DJ. AND he ends up getting with Samantha Mathis. Hey, when you're 14 and you've switched schools three times in as many years, there's not much about Mark Hunter's life that you can't relate to. All that pent up frustration and hormonal imbalance gets filtered into music fandom and diving into Beat poetry and maybe, just maybe, you'll meet a girl who doesn't find you repellent and will drive around town listening to They Might Be Giants and the Clash and actually be into it.

But I digress.

I haven't the faintest remembrance where I initially downloaded this version, but I've owned, in some form, the official soundtrack to "Pump Up The Volume" since I saw it on VHS sometime in early 1991. I definitely remember it being part of the first purchase I made at Record & Tape Traders in Roanoke, along with a Pink Floyd CD and Soundgarden's "Ultramega OK". I was always bummed that there was no Leonard Cohen on that tape. Nor were the Beastie Boys or Descendents present, or that "Hi, dad, I'm in jail" jam. What the shit, MCA Records? BUT it was my first exposure to the Pixies (via a superior version of "Wave of Mutilation"), Henry Rollins, Bad Brains, and the MC5 (a still fun cover of "Kick Out The Jams"). I even got to sneak some Dr. Dre beats into the house; the likes of NWA wasn't exactly allowed at home at that point.

I found this expanded version, which has never been officially released, on the internet sometime around 2009. As I stated above, I can't recall the website I initially downloaded it from, but [sgm] did their own writeup a few years back. So I'm in fine company, I suppose. This includes every song that appeared in the film and on the soundtrack, as well as the entirety of Cliff Martinez's excellent score, which never got a release of its own. This, along with his score to "Sex, Lies, And Videotape", are an amazing first and second recordings for the former Weirdo/Dickie turned film composer.

It's worth downloading because you get "Everybody Knows", "Love Comes In Spurts", and "The Scenario" all in one place. Respect to Kathy Nelson, who served as music supervisor here, and whose credits include "Repo Man", "Pulp Fiction", "Grosse Point Blank", and approximately 200 more movies whose soundtracks you bought at the mall in the 90s and 00s.

Click here to download.