Known as a synonym for “killer”, this is one of the best singles released on Studio 1 by Don Drummond, including another precious take that’s been previously unreleased. Compare to any other artists, the extreme tension that Don Drummond brings into his sessions were next level. His trombone skills were above genius and it is clear to hear his strong personality and humanity through his music. With his works being released on Studio One and other productions, he had established the “Far Eastern Sound” which still lives today in Jamaica. The fact all the music that was influenced by this sound has been evaluated since therefore it is a proof of how his music is universality. It is interesting that all the unreleased Skatalites tracks from this era have different solo phrases each time, showing how valuable these recordings are for the archive.

Studio One’s golden Rocksteady cover; even hipper and cooler than the original by the Impressions. The original has been known for its excellent lyric and melodies, thanks to the composer Curtis Mayfield, however the Minstrells brought this to a total perfection. Even though the Minstrells left us a small number of recordings, the great vocal group had such a high standard for every single one of them. If you’ve listened to the original press of this tune, you will find the intro has been cut, unfortunately that was the same deal for the master-tape itself. The nice rocksteady by the firm but short-lived Hamlins comes on the other side. Both have been recorded from the original master-tapes.

Another classic killer ska from the short-lived Soul Brothers. As of the original on the other side comes a sweet female lovers vocal from a night before the Rocksteady era. Succeeding the authentic ska from the legendary Skatalites then evolving it to the sound of Rocksteady, a fluid session band of Studio One, the Soul Brothers bring another classic instrumental ska tune. Like you can almost smell the perfume of Rocksteady era at its best, here comes a cool and cute lovers tune from Kingston on the other side. When the Soul Brothers were active after the Skatalites, they have certainly lost the thrill of solo performances, though this might have been the Skatalites were just too great.. Recorded from the master tape itself, this take contains slightly different solo compare to the original single.

Both sides are extremely rare unreleased takes of ska instrumentals by Roland Alphonso, Tommy McCook and the Soul Brothers. Sca-Balena is a famous cover in which you can enjoy the brilliance of Roland Alphonso, and a completely new latin take of “Two For One” originally played by Tommy McCook. It is really hard to expect what will come out of the warehouse of well-established label like Studio One, although Sir Coxsone knew exactly where everything was being placed. We’re sorry that the “Bridge View” is a misprint instead of “Two For One” Both have been recorded from the original master-tapes.

The both-sided killer Ska instrumental masterpiece - all Ska collectors have been searching for! The Skatalites playing the theme of James Bond’s “From Russia With Love” is a true Ska instrumental masterpiece, which needs no introduction. Like the original release, it’s gorgeously backed with “Cleopatra” on the B-side. Taken straight from the original master-tape, this is a dream come true single!

Another Invaders 45, "Story of Love" backed with its deejay version, "Holy Mountain." Another tune only released on a blank label originally, and thus the identity of the artists has long been speculated, but the mastertape revealed the mysterious Invaders again! "Story of Love" is an excellent early '70s tune, with great harmonies and organ, the flipside "Holy Mountain" being a deejay version on the same rhythm, with the vocalist chatting thanks and praises in Amharic, roots indeed.

A fundamental album released in 1966 that determined the way Rocksteady was going to journey. In 1966, Rude Boys were at the peak of the fame with their notorious behaviors, while Ska gradually started to slow down its tempo. This album paved the way for a newborn music, Rocksteady, with rather slower and tighter rhythm approach. This album should be considered as one of the ten most important albums in Reggae history. The descent from Ska, which had its derivation from Jazz or Rhythm and Blues, to Rocksteady, with its various potential elements which would be passed to the next decade of Reggae, has been allegedly created in this album with Trinidadian guitarist Lynn Taitt and his band The Jets as the backing band. Entitled “Take It Easy With The Rock Steady Beat!”, most of the tunes featured in this album were written for praising dancehall as if he’d have known this genre was going to rule the dance floors. Among the tunes in this album, “This Music Got Soul” was the coolest of all and called out the dawn of the Rocksteady era. This tune had a huge influence on the future developments of Reggae music.

Though little is recalled about this harmony group from Trenchtown & Greenwich Farm, their small output during the 1970's was deadly enough, cutting records for Studio One (mostly as harmonizers), Prince Jazzbo, GG's, Lloyd 'Printer' Campbell, and most notably, Sir Collins. "You Touch My Soul" is something of legend among collectors and Studio 1 fiends alike. Sir Collins had the distinction of being among a handful of outside producers to have rented Coxsone Dodd's Studio 1, and produced his own music there. "You Touch My Soul" is one such record, unmistakably by its sound, cut at Brentford Road. A deep, uptempo rhythm underpins the Invaders beautiful vocals, while a majestic trombone comes in and out of the mix. The flipside of the record features a straight instrumental version of the rhythm, as originally only released on the very rare NY issue of the tune on the Waricka label (the UK issue on Sir Collins' own Music Wheel label was on a 4-track EP including other vocal cuts by other artists, and no version).

Another enduring Rocksteady instrumental masterpiece by Bobby Ellis and Derrick Harriott’s timeless love song echoes sweet and bitter. Cool and dark ‘Step Softly’ is one of the most signature songs for Bobby Ellis and the greatest Rocksteady instrumental of all. The flip side is a best example of Harriott’s distinctive sound in Rocksteady era. The set of recordings are now reissued with original songs on both side.

Because of his superior talent and intense personality, one of the most ingenious pianists Leslie Butler had a lack of releases, however he was given an exceptional chance by the Federal Records to record this one of the most peculiar albums in the history of Jamaican music. This beautifully finished Jamaican Jazz Funk/Rare Groove album is mostly constructed with the traditional covers that all Jamaicans will know although with the wonderful arrangement, and very Jamaican, ensemble stripping aesthetics give the album a whole new character that can’t be heard elsewhere.This masterpiece should make it to the shelves of not only reggae fans but soul and jazz fans as well. Leslie always committed on making a serious piece of music - never liked to make either of Jamaican popular music or business-like commercial music. He had a strong belief of not letting others to control his talent. Therefore there were often conflicts between him and producers or he was not even given a chance to record anything at all. It’s a really sad story, but this unfortunate musician’s lifestyle can be heard on the recordings such as “Guitar In Ernest – Ernest Ranglin (DSR-LP / CD-501)” and “Reggae Rhapsody – Leslie Butler (DSR-FEDS12-001).” Perhaps with this album in addition, it might be all enough.

A star duo at the Harriott’s production, Keith & Tex’s‘Tonight’is also the everlasting masterpiece in the history of Reggae music. There were many essential songs in his production from 1967 to 68 but‘Tonight’is obviously the most indispensable one. Lynn Tait plays a beautiful instrumental version to Melodians’ hit ‘You’ve Caught Me’ on the flip side. Reissued with these original recordings on both sides.

"Power House" by Sir Harry, another rare beast from the vaults. This track is alternately know by several names, usually based on the cryptic words spoken by Sir Harry in the intro, and bears no real official title, the original release being only on a blank label. The title "Power House" comes from Charlie Morgan's excellent Studio 1 discography, and we've used it here as a nod to his invaluable work. But on to the music, Sir Harry's tune is not so much his own, as the old time chatter only interjects a few odd phrases here and there. Really the tune is a phenomenal instrumental workout on the same rhythm as "You Touch My Soul", with organ and bongo drum overdubs propelling the awesome rhythm forward, while the Invaders' vocals are heard ever so faintly in the background, bleeding thru from the other track on the 2-track master.

Without any explanation, ‘Stop That Train’ by Keith & Tex is a true Rocksteady classic of all times. The song stands tall in Reggae music history and a biggest hit among Derrick Harriott’s catalogue. Side B features Memphis Soul Rocksteady instrumental, just like a trendy song from Stax Records. Now reissued for the first time with these original recordings on both sides.

‘The Loser’is gloriously considered as one of the most significant songs as well as rhythm tracks in the history of Reggae music. Also entitled as‘The Winner’, the song is easily adapted to sound system dubplates. Talking about the genre of Rocksteady, this song cannot be ignored.‘Now We Know’on the flip side is to be released on 7 inch single for the first time ever.

First ever re-issue of 1965 Jamaican Latin-Calypso-Jazz album by the piano genius Cecil Lloyd, who led a 20-piece hotel band from the age of seventeen. In 1959, the maestro was asked to record an album for 20th Century Fox and he later released three albums on Studio One. Featuring a solid rhythm section with conga and percussion, A Night in Jamaica was produced by Ken Khouri for Federal's Kentone label. This enduring masterpiece still echoes across the beautiful Caribbean Sea.

Unlike all the other musicians in those days, Ranglin was not allowed to go between studios to record and release music as he wished because he was an exclusive employee of the Federal records. Thus it’s really hard to find a Rocksteady record with his name on it. Although whenever he finds a spare time, he would go to Duke Reid’s studio and play the guitar and bass as a sideman, often playing sessions with Lynn Taitt. According to Ranglin himself, “I felt really comfortable being at Duke Reid’s studio”, though sadly there have not been a single release of his solo guitar tune which was recorded there. So here comes the album, it’s the rare Rocksteady instrumentals by the man himself. Some of the main features would be “Summertime”, “Flamingo” and “Hold Me Tight”, the wickedest selection of the moist Rocksteady that will certainly catch your heart. Other than that, it’s got an exotic intro and uptempo “Sling Shot”, relatively arranged towards pop direction “Don’t Sleep In the Subway” and some ballads to represent the Federal’s widely ranged style that won’t go off after a long time, exactly how this one of the biggest leading labels in Jamaica had thought of. This may not make Rude Boys in downtown growl, although it will clearly last eternally as Ranglin’s 60s best album to the future generations.

One of the best cover versions of a Philadelphia Soul classic, "People Makes The World Go Round" is performed by Chosen Few, who were idolizing The Stylistics so much. The flip side “Brown Baby" is another Funky Reggae vocal sang by the producer Derrick Harriott himself

The Hustler' is one of Junior Murvin's, who gained international success later in his career, earliest works and is a rare tune that collectors have been after for many years. Made in 1969, this is also one of most popular up-tempo early Reggae tunes and undoubtedly the masterpiece. The flip side is the version to the A-side that featured keyboard and percussion.

Winston Edwards' STOP POINT label was just one imprint used by the producer in the early-mid '70s, as he moved between London and Kingston, releasing music on both fronts. In the UK his productions primarily came on the FAY MUSIC and DIP imprints.

When it comes to naming the best dancehall compilation album, many will mention an album called "Sound Clash Dubplate Style" produced by King Tubby. "Line Up" by Johnny Osbourne was taken from the album where he showcases his enchanting melodies and lyrics and Trevor Levy's voice echoes calmly with vigorous lyrics on the flip side. Also both songs feature an intro by legendary MC Fuzzy Jones.

Although Banana Man is not a famous figure in the business as he was not a prolific artist, his funs still remember his soundsystem anthems and his unique name. ‘Musical Murder’ considerably one of his best works on the King Jammy’s digitally versioned ‘Wicked Can’t Run Awa’ rhythm.

Undoubtedly one of the best Funky Reggae tunes from Derrick Harriott's production, "Am I Black Enough" was originally a Billy Paul hit and has been covered by Derrick Harriott and Chosen Few who were into the Black Power movement at the time. The B-side "Psychedelic Train" is one of the earliest Funky Reggae instrumental songs which made Derrick Harriott recognized for his Funk-influenced style to listeners.

Another cover version of an Isaac Hayes’ classic. I Roy is blasting an heavy-weight toasting over the Chosen Few's vocals on the A-side "Tougher Than Tough". A straight cover version by Chosen Few appears on the B-side.

Chuck Turner has recorded his impressive songs at Jammys such as 'I Need You' and 'Run Around Girl'. 'We Rule The Dancehall' is one of those and this tough steppers rhythm was build by notable Steelie & Clivie. His melancholy voice is something very contrary to his aggressive lyrics but that's something it makes this record attractive.

Robert Lee has proven that he has much ability to bring cool soundsystem tunes with his popular song ‘Come Now’. This time, he did it again with ‘Dreams’to the same rhythm track‘Run Down The World’ by Nitty Gritty.