Not another Trojan compilation I hear you cry! With over fifty so called compilations currently on their books, Trojan have raided and repackaged their back catalogue ruthlessly over the years. However this most recent effort from DJ Andy Smith, of Portishead fame, is well worth a spin; he attempts to give a rough impression of how reggae evolved by picking dance-floor fillers, which have guaranteed to have stood the test of time.

The album kicks off with the mighty ‘Hey Bartender’ from Laurel Aiktens, followed by several quality cuts from the Ska era, such as ‘Fire Corner’ by King Stitt, ‘Get Up Edina’ from Desmond Dekker and ‘Blazing Fire’ from Derek Morgan. This leads nicely into the rock-steady era with The Jamaica’s ‘Ba Ba Boom’ and the likes of Alton Ellis with ‘Rock Steady’. Next up Smith finds the 70’s roots groove with the likes of King Tubby ‘I Trim the Barber’ and ‘Blood Dunza’ from Johnny Clarke. Smith also squeezes in a few select dub plates and a few Deejay vocal mixes.

The album is recorded in a mix-tape style and nicely blended together. What makes this an interesting release is the chronological order of the tracks, giving the listener a bite size history lesson on the evolution of reggae music. Admittedly Smith changes the order of some cuts when he feels the mix requires it, but on the whole it’s a joyful attempt to track the course of such a diverse music.

Many of the tunes will be familiar to our readers, but that shouldn’t stop you picking up a copy. Mine’s been spinning in the car for the last week! Enjoy.

By the way folks, my Daisy just loves the tune 'Ali Baba' by John Holt! (she just wanted eveyone to know!)

Review by ‘JumpUp’

Track List

1. Laurel Aitken - Hey Bartender

2. Derrick Morgan - Blazing Fire

3. Duke Reids All Stars - Unknown Instrumental

4. Justin Hinds - Carry Go Bring Come

5. Don Drummand - Don D Lion

6. King Stitt - Fire Corner

7. Desmond Dekker - Get Up Edina

8. Untouchables - Tighten Up

9. Upsetters - A Live Injection

10. Jamaicians - Ba Ba Boom

11. Phyllis Dillon - Don't Stay Away

12. Hopeton Lewis - Take It Easy

13. Alton Ellis - Rock Steady

14. Delroy Wilson - Better Must Come

15. Gregory Isaacs - John Public

16. Gregory Isaacs - Public Eyes (dub)

17. John Holt - Ali Baba

18. King Tubby - I Trim The Barber

19. Stranger Cole - Bangarang

20. U-Roy - Tom Drunk

21. U-Roy - True True

22. Johnny Clarke - Blood Dunza

23 Johnny Clarke - Blood Dunza (dub)

24. King Tubby - Channel One Feel It

25. Techniques All Stars - Stalag 17

26. Linval Thompson - Nigrea African Dub

27. Lloyd Robinson - Cuss Cuss

28. Karl Bryan & Harry J All Stars - Soul Scorcher

29. Sugar Minnott - Inna Dance Hall Style

30. Johnny Osborne - Rewind

31. Ranking Joe - Dreadlocks Time

>> Back to CD's & Vinyl reviews

>> Back to Reviews Home