This piece goes out to Paul Meme (find his bitchy letter to me in the archives). Paul gets his wrist smacked for describing TWANBOC as the true global villain, practically calling us a slave trader, coming on all Naomi Klein with a degree in reggae, when he wouldn't know his Channel One from his Studio One. His mum makes him wear earphones at home, she says turn down that racket Paul, he says, aw mum it's The Stranglers they're brill. He didn't have the courtesy to reply to my generous email or even my blog entry. So here by way of a mammoth fuck you to Paul, is a mini-guide to Dancehall Reggae Compilations. That'll learn him.
I love compilations. Especially if they're well put together. There is a certain kind of compilation which serves Jamaican music extremely well, one which is designed as a mop-up of the biggest recent hits from the yard. Often this is curated for the foreign market as a means of giving New York and London diaspora (especially, though not exclusively) a snapshot of what's happening back home.
The original model is of course Trojan's Tighten Up series, which went through upwards of 15 volumes. Its only real competitor being Syd Bucknor's Pama label with it's brilliant Hot Numbers Comps. With the success of Roots in the late seventies these round-ups must have seemed a bit anachronistic, especially when album-length reggae was being so excellently serviced by Island. The aesthetic of the "one-hit-wonder" which, while still dominating Jamaica, was abandoned abroad for a focus on particular Artists.
As soon as things went underground again (Lloyd Bradley gives the twin dates of Bob Marley death and Lee Perry's torching of The Black Ark) then the comp became valid once more.
Maybe the first Reggae comp in the form in which it exists today is the first Greensleeves Sampler. It featured Eek-A-Mouse's Wa do dem, Yellowman's Zugungzuguzungguzeng (draws breath) and Scientists Dematerialise. All licensed from different Yard labels.
The really dominant Dancehall reissue label throughout the 80s and up untill the early nineties was Jet Star. Their Reggae Hits compilations, divided one side chat, the other side lovers, were massive. Jet Star also issued 12"s of the tracks they licensed. You bought the comp, then went out and hunted down the real killa tunes, and then shopped the comp down at the M&V. This tended to be alot of work, and with the same tracks being issued by Jet Star on the single, the collector's instinct of wanting all material in it's original format and label was sort of pointless, though granted the better frequency response of phat 12" vinyl was sometimes seductive. Nowadays I just buy the comps, fuck it eh! It sometimes feels like a more genuine response, rather than faking proximity to the source by doing too much groundwork. Groundwork for me involved among other things taking the trip to Halfway Tree, Kingston myself in 1991 and visiting Jet Star in 1994.
The Jet Star Reggae Hits series soon ran alongside New York's Profile label's Dancehall Reggae compilations which were fucking great, put together by Bobby Konders, with a strict all killer no filler aesthetic. These were the years of Shabba Rank's ascendancy, when Hip-Hop was rubbing shoulders with Ragga. Also springing up were Greensleeves Ragga Ragga Ragga compilations which outshine their slightly spotty Mid-Price Reggae Hits series.
The absolute unquestionable don of Dancehall Reggae Compiling is the VP label. This is run buy the very senior Clive Chin, veteran of the great Impact label (who are being given the retro rub-down by Soul Jazz as we speak). The Strictly the Best compilations kick arse. You do have to be slightly careful as at the moment they're alternating volumes between the lovers (on even numbers) and chat (on odd numbers). So for example volumes 25, 27 and 29 are packed full of wkd sonx (as Bobby Gillespie would say) and surreal chatty nonsense, and 26 28 and 30 are a wee bit glutinous. VP also put out the yearly Reggae Gold compilations these are good, but too slim to really capture the excitement up close and are (once again) often too strongly pitched towards the lovers stuff for my tastes (the odd track can be nice though). And if that wasn't enough, slightly off the subject here, VP have also recently put out two completely incredible retro dancehall comps under the moniker Dancehall 101. These are essential purchases and piss on the Greensleeves Best of Early Dancehall comps, (which admittedly cover an earlier period). Once again in two volumes with a bloke leaning on the front of a car on the sleeve. I thought these were very lacklustre.
Compilations rock, and for musics which revolve around the "scenius" dynamic, as a format they just can't be beat. Don't be a scaredy-cat, jump in!
Posted by Woebot at March 31, 2003 12:17 PM