In Jamaica, the 1970s mark the transition from ska and rocksteady into a multitude of musical terrain – fuelled by collaborations between producers, singers, and studio musicians in ever new constellations.
Roots reggae identifies with the poor and addresses aspects of black liberation and revolution; dub strips down recordings to their rhythmic core, influences from disco music are taken on, and a new style like dancehall evolves.
In 2018, “reggae music of Jamaica” was added to the UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, due to contributing to the international discourse on issues of injustice, resistance, love and humanity by being at once cerebral, socio-political, sensual and spiritual.
46 minutes with music by Keith Hudson, Norma White & Brentford Disco Set, Sound Dimension, Susan Cadogan and others – produced between 1970 and 1983.
Featured cover art: Jackie Mittoo – Hot Blood
Listen also to
Love for Sound – Engineered Reggae (1979-87)
Playlist ‘Reggae? – Some Seventies Soul Fire’
Jackie Mittoo – Brain Mark
having learned to play the piano in 1951, aged three, Mittoo’s music belongs to the foundation of reggae (1977, Third World / Re: Blood & Fire)
Keith Hudson – Depth Charge
the first deliberately thematic dub album Pick A Dub puts emphasis on rhythm (1974, Mamba / Re: VP Records)
Ramon & The Crystalites – Golden Chickens
producer Derrick Harriott’s studio band, accompanied by Ramon, The Mexican (1970, Crystal Records / Re: Dub Store Records)
Al Barry & The Cimarons – Morning Sun
Jamaican natives, the Cimarons form in London in 1967 and discover pop (1970, Doctor Bird / Re: Trojan Records)
Sound Dimension – Park View
from the studio band of Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd, founder of the legendary Studio One record label (1971, Coxsone Records / Re: Soul Jazz Records)
Augustus Pablo – East Of The River Nile
the producer, label owner, and committed Rasta introduced the melodica in reggae music (1978, Message / Re: Trojan Records)
Dub Specialist – Nairobi
Dub Specialist releases get mixed down by a variety of engineers during the Seventies – under the auspices of Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd (1980, Studio One / Re: Soul Jazz Records)
The Dynamic Four feat. Effie Williams – Let’s Make Love
roots music as an expression of Rastafarianism, Black consciousness, and self-determinization is an important aspect of reggae during the Seventies (1972, Faze Four / Re: Soul Jazz Records)
Susan Cadogan – Feeling Is Right
a seductive number, produced by Lee “Scratch” Perry (1975, Upsetter / Re: Trojan Records)
Gregory Isaacs – Leaving
mixed by Prince Jammy at King Tubby’s Studio, this production is heralding a new chapter in dub (1978, Burning Sounds)
Windel Haye – Haunted House
dancehall emerges as a distinct style of reggae at the end of the Seventies (1979, Studio One / Re: Soul Jazz Records)
Norma White & Brentford Disco Set – I Want Your Love (Version)
White and the Studio One in-house band embrace disco (1978, Studio One / Re: Soul Jazz Records)
The Heptones – Peace & Love
hanging on to a Seventies vibe while recording in London in the next decade (1983, Vista Sounds /Re: Burning Sounds)