The big hit Ska classic everybody loves, sang by one of the top groups of the 60’s!! Along with the Maytals and the Wailers, the Blues Busters were one of the top groups at the time, however commercially they were going more of a mainstream than the others. Since their career goes way back in the late 50’s, they must have been idolized by so many of those who made their debut later in the Ska era. This is an essential mainstream Ska classic by the brilliantly skilled duo in their best form backed by no other than Byron Lee.

Another smash hit Ska masterpiece by the Blues Busters, the superstar duo who had been dominating the Jamaican pop music industry since the 50’s!! Covering the American hits as their specialty, the popular group had left a number of Jamaican souls, although only a few ska hits. Out of those few, this is undoubtedly another one of the most considerable tunes they had left. An excellent singing melody sparkles on top of the Byron Lee’s iconic softly touched bass line.

A selection of magical rocksteady music from one of the masters of the genre…One of the forerunners in Jamaican music from its very beginning, Derrick Harriott, along with a stellar cast, showcases the some superb rocksteady.

American rhythm & blues fervour, boosted by a multitude of sound systems playing 78rpm records on increasingly larger sets, gripped Jamaica from the late forties onwards but, towards the end of the decade, the American audience began to move towards a somewhat softer sound. The driving rhythm & blues discs became increasingly hard to find and the more progressive Jamaican sound system operators, realising that they now needed to make their own music, turned to Kingston’s jazz and big band musicians to record one off custom cut discs. These were not initially intended for commercial release but designed solely for sound system play on acetate or ‘dub plates’ as they would later be termed. These ‘specials’ soon began to eclipse the popularity of American rhythm & blues and the demand for their locally produced music proved so great that the sound system operators began to release their music commercially on vinyl and became record producers. Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd, Duke Reid ‘The Trojan’ and Prince Buster, who operated his Voice Of The People Sound System, were among the first to establish themselves in this new role and the nascent Jamaican recording industry now went into overdrive.

In 1954 Ken Khouri had numbered among the first far sighted entrepreneurs to produce mento records with local musicians (mento is Jamaica’s original indigenous music) before progressing to opening Jamaica’s first record manufacturing plant. Three years later he moved his operation to Foreshore Road (later renamed Marcus Garvey Drive) where, with the assistance of the inestimable Graeme Goodall, he updated and upgraded his recording studio. The importance of this enterprising move was critical to the development of Jamaican music and its influence both profound and far reaching.

The quintessential eighties soundboy burial album

A digital masterpiece, produced by King Tubby, containing ten certified

Redman International Dancehall 1985-1989 press sheet by David Katz

Hugh ‘Redman’ James is one of the greatest Jamaican music producers of the late 1980s. Raised in a musical household in the west Kingston slum of Hannah Town, with his mother a sound system selector, Redman gained his initial schooling in the music business from none other than King Tubby, the legendary sound system owner and dub mixer that was responsible for voicing and mixing some of the greatest reggae of all time. After being immersed in sound system culture during his youth in the 1960s and 70s, Redman began sitting in on sessions at King Tubby’s studio, but migrated to Hartford, Connecticut in 1978 in search of steady employment. Returning to Jamaica a few years later, he established a popular sound system in Kingston and began producing music with King Tubby’s assistance in 1985, working with the Roots Radics during a time of great uncertainty in Jamaican music, as the new dancehall style came to prominence; early work featured Gregory Isaacs, Sugar Minott and Frankie Paul, as well as rising stars such as Little John and Horace Martin. Then, following the computerisation of dancehall, Redman began producing some of the most popular music of the day, crafting durable and complex rhythms with a broad team of players that included Steely and Clevie, augmented by members of the Browne Bunch and other players. Redman helped establish a number of total unknowns in this era, including Carl Meeks, Dave Bailey and Wayne Palmer, and became a serious contender for King Jammy’s crown. But the producer was ultimately frustrated by the dramatic changes to sweep Jamaican music in the early 1990s, and subsequently retreated from the music industry Redman International Dancehall 1985-1989 compiles the best work from his glory days, with half of the twelve vocal tracks coming complete with corresponding dub versions.

A seriously sought after classic album of rocksteady and uptempo reggae hits

from 1969

Founder of Jamaica’s first recording studio, Ken Khouri produced early ska classics
14 first-rate ska pieces including previously unreleased materials from undoubtedly the industry leading Federal Records that consisted the virtuoso Ernest Ranglin and co.

Murder in the dancehall tonight! Jammy's leading artists boost up the sound system.

The heart and soul of dancehall - singing about the sound over crucial rhythms, challenging a sound boy to come test Jammy.

Reaching out to the real roots of the Jamaican sixties musical explosion…
Some of the originators of the genre, including Ernest Ranglin, Lennie Hibbert & Cecil Lloyd, playing in their element and demonstrating just where they're coming from

On Keith & Tex' classic tune 'Tonight,' Augustus Pablo's melodica echoes along the entire track mysteriously, while the fascinating female vocalist Fay quotes breathy lines from the popular German soft porn film Bedroom Mazurka. The flip side features Scotty's DJ version to 'Tonight.'

A magnificent Rocksteady piece in one-off style sang by one of the groups that represent the golden age of Ska. Since the number of their recordings decreased devastatingly after the Ska era, this truly is a rare Rocksteady made in its top form with the veteran’s dignity. In addition, this is the own Rocksteady cover version of one of their first ever recordings at the Coxsone’s in 1960.