Let’s Do Rock Steady
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A little while back I started a love affair with ska and reggae music. Since then I’ve had an interesting journey, discovering new artists, sub-genres, and some tunes I’m surprised I hadn’t heard before.
Rather than explaining this all to you - however - I think it would be best if I took a small look at one of my favourite albums…
It should come as no surprise, to those of you with an ounce of knowledge about reggae, that I’ve chosen something produced by Trojan Records; they are, after all, the Granddaddy of all things good.
It’s probably useful to provide a quick overview of Rocksteady for the uninitiated before I continue.
Rocksteady is a distinct musical style, a successor to ska and a precursor to reggae, and has hints of both genres. Its name comes from a type of dance mentioned in Alton Ellis’s “Rock Steady”, which is - some what surprisingly - missing from this particular volume.
As a genre it’s generally a lot slower than ska, and makes a great soundtrack to a lazy afternoon.
This is a 3 disk box set, with 50 tracks all in all, and is one well worth searching out. There’s a few gems here,with Soul Tops’ “Rain and Thunder” and Keith Thompson’s “The Way I Feel” being particular favourites of mine.
If you’re going to start a reggae adventure, this might seem an odd place to start, but it gives you a feel for the genre’s origins and is - in that respect - invaluable. I recommend you give it a go.
