The Toasters – Pool Shark

The Toasters were one of the first American bands in the so called third wave of ska and did much to popularize the genre on the underground scene there in the mid- to late '80s. Their sound is very much inspired by that of the sounds of 2-Tone but without the punky, new wave overtones and so it veers more to a traditional ska and rocksteady feel, but as you’d expect from a band that hails from the eclectic city of New York there are other subtle influences that crop up throughout their music.  

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TROJAN PRESENTS ‘MOD SKA’

The early sixties bore witness to a mass British youth movement that promptly acquired the universally acknowledged name: Mod. Between 1962 and 1966, Mod culture dominated both the fashion and music landscape, with the look and sound of young Jamaica playing a significant role in its development.

Along with American R&B and Jazz, Ska music remained consistently high on the Mod agenda and it is this much loved genre that provides the focus of this collection.

Annotated and supported by the widely respected Mod Culture site, ‘Trojan Presents Mod Ska’ features 40 favourites of the original sixties scene, originally issued in the UK as such seminal record labels as Blue Beat, Island and Doctor Bird, 17 of which make their CD debut.

Trojan Presents ‘Mod Ska’

DISC #1:

1.                     Blazing Fire - Derrick Morgan

2.                     When I Call Your Name - Stranger & Patsy

3.                     Suzie - Top Grant

4.                     Doctor Kitch - Lord Kitchener

5.                     Wayward African - The Afro Enchanters

6.                     Luck Will Come My Way - Winston Samuels

7.                     Big Bamboo - Lord Creator

8.                     I Shall Wear A Crown - The Richards Brothers

9.                     Miss Dreamer - Stranger Cole

10.                  My Boy Lollipop - Millie

11.                  What A Life! - Sugar & Dandy

12.                  Two For One - The Vagabonds

13.                  Show Me How (To Milk That Cow) - Tony Washington

14.                  Garden Of Love - Don Drummond & The Skatalites

15.                  Number One (aka Drive It Home) - Eric Morris

16.                  Kitch You’re So Sweet - Lord Kitchener

17.                  Cork Foot - Baba Brooks & His Band

18.                  Want Me Cock - Owen & Leon Silveras

19.                  Stagger Lee - Jackie Edwards

20.                  Two Roads - Roy & Yvonne

 DISC #2:

1.                     Sea Cruise - Jackie Edwards

2.                     But I Do (Honky Tonk Ska) -  Tony Washington

3.                     Jo Ann - The Movers

4.                     Mount Zion - Desmond Dekker & The Aces

5.                     I’m In The Mood For Ska  - Lord Tanamo

6.                     King Size Ska - Baba Brooks

7.                     Something You’ve Got - Alton Ellis & The Flames

8.                     Time Will Tell - Winston Samuels

9.                     Contact - Roy Richards

10.                  Ska-ing West - Sir Lord Comic & His Cowboys

11.                  Doreen - Ben Levy

12.                  Storm Warning - Lynn Taitt & The Boys

13.                  The Higher The Monkey Climbs - Justin Hinds & The Dominoes

14.                  Faberge - Baba Brooks

15.                  Copasetic - The Rulers

16.                  Rudies All Around -  Joe White

17.                  Rudy Girl - Sonny Burke

18.                  Cool Down Your Temper -  Junior Smith

19.                  Do The Teasy - Joyce Bond

20.                  Let’s Do Rock Steady - Dandy

TROJAN PRESENTS ‘THE PRODUCERS’

More than that of any other nation, the development of Jamaica’s music has been shaped by its producers.  Over the past 50 years, these entrepreneurial individuals have not only found local talent and issued their music, but also established studios, retail establishments and even pressing plants, so significantly contributing to the advancement of the island’s recording industry.

Their number have included such luminaries as Duke Reid, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, Bunny Lee and Leslie Kong, all of whom developed their own distinctive sound, as evidenced on this collection.

‘Trojan Presents The Producers’ highlights the work of these and 36 other influential and popular Jamaican music makers and by so doing also illustrates the development of the island’s music over the past half-century, from Ska to Dancehall, with an incredible 26 of the recordings making their CD debut.

Trojan Presents  ‘The Producers’

DISC #1:

1.                Mash It, Part 1 – Owen Gray

2.                Million Dollar Baby – Chenley & Annette

3.                No More Wine From The Glass – Higgs & Wilson

4.                Up And Down – Winston Samuels

5.                The Chase – Yvonne Harrison

6.                Stepping Razor – Peter Tosh & The Wailers

7.                Put Down Your Fire – The Kingstonians

8.                Chain Gang – Winston Francis

9.                Easy Come, Easy Go (alt. version) – The Pioneers

10.             Reggae Girl (extended mix) – The Tennors with Karl Bryan

11.             Action Line – The Versatiles

12.             Musical Beat – Roy Samuels

13.             Fatty Fatty (x-tended version) – Clancy Eccles

14.             Cool Down – Winston Hinds

15.             Who Cause It (aka Why Everything Crash) – The Lyrics

16.             How Can I Love You - Ken Lazarus

17.             Cry A Little Cry – Dobby Dobson

18.             I Am In Love Again – Claude Sang

19.             Work It – The Mellotones

20.             Lollipop Girl – Derrick Harriott

 DISC #2:

1.                Teacher Teacher – Dennis Alcapone

2.                Dunce Cap – Herman The Teacher

3.                All That We Need Is Love (ext. version) - Alton Ellis & Big Youth

4.                I’d Love You To Want Me – Horace Andy

5.                Concrete Rock – Ansel Collins

6.                Swept For You Baby (extended mix) - The Heptones & U Roy

7.                Let Locks Grow – Barrington Spence

8.                I’m Your Puppet (extended mix) – Jimmy London & Skin. Flesh & Bones

9.                Jah Fire – Niney (as George Boswell)

10.             Too Good To Be Forgotten – John Holt

11.             Run Joe – Lloyd Charmers

12.             Feel Like Jumping – Marcia Griffiths

13.             Black Beauty – The Mindbenders

14.             Only Jah Love For I – Mystic Eyes

15.             I’m Not A Queen / Duck Boy - Marcia Aitken & Trinity

16.             The Same Song (ext version) – Israel Vibration

17.             You’ll Never Know (12” mix) – Gregory Isaacs

18.             It’s A Good Day – Pat Kelly

19.             Reggae On Broadway – Johnny Osbourne

20.             Principle – Charlie Chaplin

TROJAN PRESENTS ‘BOSS REGGAE’

The late sixties witnessed the development and rise to musical dominance of Reggae, with this new, dynamic style rapidly usurping the more languid sound of Rock Steady, which had reigned in Jamaica since 1966.

Early Reggae recordings were noted for their tempo and energy, but by the early seventies, the tempo had slowed significantly, with the mellow vibe commonly associated with the sound gradually established.

In more recent years, the inaugural, high-energy version of the genre that acquired a strong and dedicated following among Britain’s original Skinheads has become accepted as a sub-genre of its own, with the style acquiring the label, ‘Boss Reggae’.

‘This aptly-titled 2CD set highlights 40 of the most popular in the style, and with 18 of the tracks new to CD, this is most definitely the Boss of all Skinhead Reggae collections!

TRACKLISTING

 Trojan Presents ‘Boss Reggae’

DISC #1:

Reggae Hit The Town – The Ethiopians

A Live Injection – The Upsetters

John Jones – Rudy Mills

River To The Bank – Derrick Morgan

Drink Milk – Justin Hinds & The Dominoes

Rhythm Hips – Roland Russell

Sufferer – The Kingstonians

Reggae In The Wind – Lester Sterling

Strange – Dobby Dobson

Throw Me Corn – Winston Shand & The Sheiks

How Long (Will It Take) – Pat Kelly

Worries (A Yard) – The Versatiles

Rich In Love – Glen Adams

On Broadway – Slim Smith

Love Was All I Had – Phyllis Dillon

Hang ‘Em High – Richard Ace

Loving Reggae (aka My Love And I) – The Maytones

Come Into My Parlour – The Bleechers

Walking Proud – Martin ‘Jimmy’ Riley

Liquidator – Tommy McCook & The Supersonics

DISC #2:

Moon Hop – Derrick Morgan

Red, Red Wine (extended version) – Tony Tribe

Moon Walk – Sprong & The Nyah Shuffle

Reggae In Your Jeggae – Dandy

Music Box – The Big L

Too Experienced – Owen Gray

Black Panther – Sir Collins & The Black Diamonds

Jungle Fever – George Lee

Rocco – The Rudies

My Love And I – Millie

Dog Your Woman – Patsy & Peggy with The Cimarons

Ghost Rider - Musical Doctors

Pack Of Cards – Nat Cole

Revenge Of Eastwood, Vers. I & 2 – The Prophets

Lead Them – Desmond Riley

Memory Of Don Drummond - Don Drummond Jnr.

No More Heartaches – The Coloured Raisons

Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye – Gene Rondo

Queen Of The World – Lloyd & Claudette

Leave Pum Pum – Pama Dice

Eclipse - Corrupted Society

Over the past couple of years Bristol Archive Records has been successfully turning the spotlight on Bristol’s and the South West’s lost reggae heritage and having received a host of plaudits for this they recently launched a new sister label, Reggae Archive Records, with similar ambitions of bringing many lost great artists and records from other UK towns and cities back into the public domain. Already on this label they have released a 12” from London band Tribesman and the various artists’ compilation “Fashion In Fine Style - Significant Hits Volume One” and they are now embarking on the short trip up the M5 from Bristol to Birmingham to release the album “Corrupted Society” by Eclipse.

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