Various Artists: Roots Rock Rebels – When Punk Met Reggae 1975-1982

Various Artists – Roots Rock Rebels – When Punk Met Reggae 1975-1982 (Cherry Red)

3CD Box Set

Out Now

Buy it from Sister Ray

A 3 disc box set from Cherry Red sets out to demonstrate the symbiosis between punk and reggae during the late 70s and early 80s. 

As Don Letts has told documentary makers on many an occasion, punks and rastas had a lot in common and his DJing at The Roxy opened up the ears of the punk rockers to conscious sounds from the reggae roots rebels. This collection presents a selection of reggae artists interspersed with punk rock / new wave bands who had been influenced enough to incorporate their own take on reggae into their sound. Then it demonstrates the cross-fertilisation of the two rebel music forms from the late 70s into the early 80s.

It’s only right that Don Letts provides some narrative for the sleeve notes on this Cherry Red box set. He sums up the totality of the cross over far better than I could “What made it so impactful wasn’t just the music; it was the spirit of unity and resistance that permeated the air. It was a gathering of misfits and rebels, a community that found solace in the shared experience of dissent.”. In addition to The Rebel Dread’s introduction the booklet contains a brief vignette giving context and a thumbnail of the record cover.

There are moments when Danny Keene and Mike O’Connor’s curation takes a similar approach to the sort of mix tape I would put together when I was exploring the links between reggae and punk myself. With 54 songs over 3 CDs, each of which has been jammed with over an hour and quarter of music, there is a lot to grab your attention. It’s too many tunes for a song by song account but you can view the full track listing on the Cherry Red website. There are, however, some notable mentions to be made.

Before any punk tunes hit you, Disk 1 sets the scene with the phenomenal roots message of Burning Spear’s Slavery Days, the mighty toaster Dillinger’s Buckingham Palace, Za-Ion from Dennis Bovell’s 4th Street Orchestra and the bouncy yet apocalyptic Two Sevens Clash from Culture. That’s one hell of a start.

The first punk cut (of 3 from this band) is The Clash’s cover of Junior Murvin and Lee Scratch Perry’s hit Police & Thieves. Murvin allegedly hated it: “They have destroyed Jah work”. Scratch on the other hand loved it but the dub influence on the Complete Control single he produced for them was difficult to spot.  This act of cultural appreciation might perhaps these days be re-framed as cultural appropriation, throwing the baby out with the bath water in the process. Musical Youth are the only other band to have more than one track on this set, which hints at how pivotal The Clash’s embrace of reggae has been viewed by the compilers

It’s noted that Dennis Bovell performed on numerous songs herein but with different bands. His relationship with dub poet Linton Kwezi Johnson is represented on disk 2 with the impactful Inglan Is A Bitch as is the massive Lovers Rock hit Bovell had with Janet Kay’s Silly Games. More greats of JA reggae like Dennis Brown and Althea & Donna rub shoulders with homegrown purveyors of reggae such as roots heavyweights Steel Pulse with their anthem Ku Klux Klan.

Of the punk tunes on Roots Rock Rebels, The Ruts’ Jah War is one of the finest examples of punks playing reggae. It speaks to the unity between punks and dreads as it tells of an attack on Clarence Baker of the People Unite collective by the cops. People Unite brought together kids from all subcultures in Southall and hosted The Ruts and Misty In Roots. It’s a shame Misty weren’t featured too as People Unite really fits the theme of punk and reggae sparking off each other.  Wild Dub by Generation X only really only demonstrates that the practice of dub had been applied to a punk record. However, Elvis Costello had reggae running through the bass, drums and guitar on Watching The Detectives with it’s amazing creeping keyboard a few years before producing the first Specials album.

Also included, (White Man in) Hammersmith Palais is probably my favourite Clash song and reputedly the one Joe Strummer regarded as their best. It is rivalled in “The Clash do reggae” stakes by Paul Simonon’s superlative heavy reggae message in Guns Of Brixton which also features on this set. However, I think this collection could have been a little more adventurous and picked one of the more obscure songs on Sandinista (more obscure because very few people listen to the triple album, but among its bloated self indulgence there are some killer reggae tunes such as the dubtastic Version Pardner.

By the same token, I can think of a few PiL songs that better demonstrate Jah Wobble’s mastery of dub bass better than the included Poptones. Meanwhile, SLF’s take on Bob Marley’s Johnny Was injected punk rock anger into reggae while drawing parallels between the post colonial experiences of warring Kingston Town and bomb-torn Belfast.

The Slits (managed by Mr Letts) arguably mined the punk-reggae crossover more than most and in doing so created their own individual hyperactive sound. In The Beginning There Was Rhythm is angular, explosive, discordant and rhythmic all at the same time. After The Ruts, The Clash and The Slits, The Members are the punk band I would normally cite as having a huge injection of reggae in their sound. The cut of Offshore Banking Business included here demonstrates their full understanding of how to get it right.

Rock Against Racism thrived on the shared militancy of reggae and punk when it came to fighting the National Front and their ilk. It is celebrated by China Street’s tribute song Rock Against Racism and the cover photo taken from Syd Shelton’s archive.

The ultimate result of mixing punk and reggae (and ska) was Two Tone so it makes absolute sense that Specials, Selecter, The Beat, Bad Manners, Madness and the, all too often criminally overlooked, Bodysnatchers are included across the 2nd and 3rd disks. This also keeps the energy levels up.

Some of the choices seemed to be stretching the “reggae inspiring punk” theme a little e.g. Doll By Doll’s contribution sounds like straight up soul. Work by the Electric Guitars is catchy but really it’s an 80s synth pop song, albeit with a taste of Devo. Despite these oddities, the balance is about right. As Mr Letts says “The fusion of punk and reggae became a blueprint for bands seeking to break free from the constraints of genre” so being picky over genres is probably missing the point.

The Pop Group’s She Is Beyond Good & Evil Dub is IMO a reminder that there is more to dub than just lots of echo. Having said that, Mark Stewart went on to produce some great dub inspired material for On U Sound, which illustrates the point of this set: reggae as cultural influence.

Aside some songs previously mentioned, Black Slate’s Amigo and the trademark bounce of Black Uhuru on Sponji Reggae stand out on disk 3 before a really neat set of 4 songs finish off the set. Talisman’s Dole Age, Generals by Musical Youth, Sir Horatio’s Sommadub and Creation Rebel’s Independent Man Pt1 show UK reggae continuing the rebel roots messaging that opened this box set. Aswad, UB40 and Musical Youth pop up in the collection reminding us that before the heights of their pop successes (some with a little too much saccharine) they were respected bona fide reggae artists.

For me the ultimate test is whether I would enjoy hearing this set of songs as a DJ set and, yes, I’d be happy and probably stay in the pub.

While I think Roots Rock Rebels could have been more demonstrative on the “punk does reggae” side of things to reinforce the point, it is still a good overview and the case is made. There are some really cracking reggae tunes on here. Having said that I’m left struggling to wonder who the target listener is. I’m guessing it would be a good introduction for punks who still haven’t got to grips with reggae yet. The punk and Two Tone tunes are all well known and provide familiarity and safety from which to explore the wide range of reggae sounds. They also underline the connection between reggae and punk. For those already imbued in reggae I’m not sure there is enough to have the mirror effect. A nice soundtrack for a summer road trip (traffic jam).

Available from Sister Ray

Also available from Cherry Red

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Words by Nathan Brown. You can read more from Nathan on his Louder Than War archive over here.