SKA Hispano

In what unfortunately seems to be an all too common occurrence recently I've been away from the blog for awhile now but with some time to spare today I thought I would post something.
Some time back I made a post on SKA from Mexico and how outside of the Caribbean, Latin America was one of the regions were the new genre most quickly gained popularity. Yet more often than not most people and record labels in the region typically only considered SKA to be a dance and not an actual genre. Therefore a lot of SKA songs were merely thrown into the generic label of rock or 60's music making it very hard for anyone outside of the region to hear any of this work. Here is a small compilation of SKA and SKA influenced songs from the Spanish speaking world. The majority come from Mexico but there are songs from other countries to be found here. I highly recommend this download if you are a fan of not just SKA and Jamaican music but also if you are a fan of Latin music and 60's western rock/pop music as the influence from both can also clearly be heard.

1. Los Socios del Ritmo - La Pelirroja
2. Los Yorsys - Managua Nicaragua
3. Los Condes - No Me Ilusionare Mas
4. Las Exorcistas - El Mundo Es Un Conflicto
5. Los Aragon - Muneco de Cuerda (Puppet On A String)
6. Manolo Munoz - Se Te Nota
7. Los Millonarios - Jardin de Rosas (Rose Garden)
8. Angelica Maria - Ni Un Poquito de Amor
9. Manolo Munoz - Que Familia (Shame and Scandal)
10. Los Socios del Ritmo - Skokian
11. Las Cuatro Monedas - Lo Consigues Si Lo Quieres Tu ( You Can Get It If You Really Want It)
12. Los 80 Centavos - Baby Besame (Hold Me Tight)
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V.A. Studio One - Scorcher Instrumentals

Today we have something for any lovers of reggae and jazz that may be out there. As any fan of reggae can tell you the Studio One record label is synonymous with some of the best artists and music to come out of Jamaica. One of the greatest assets of Studio One was its amazing selection of instrumental players who would put down tracks in the 1960's and 70's that to this day continue to influence the Jamaican music scene. This included  groups and musicians like The Skatalites, Jackie Mittoo, The Soul Vendors, and Tommy McCook all of  which can be heard on this album. This album does an amazing job of highlighting the amazing instrumental tracks that were produced during the golden age of Jamaican music as well as demonstrating the influence that outside music had on the Jamaican music scene.The influence of jazz will clearly be seen in these tracks. Not to mention tracks like Lester Sterling's - African Beat which is clearly based on the classic Afrikkaan Beat by Bert Kaempfert. Overall this is a great album which I highly recommend as there is no way any music lover could be disappointed with these classic Studio One tracks.


The Skatalites - Coconut Rock
Cedric Im Brooks & The Sound Dimension - Mun Dun Go
The Skatalites & Tommy McCook & Richard Ace - Shockers Rock
The Soul Vendors - Ringo Rock
Jackie Mittoo & Ernest Ranglin - Jericho Skank
New Establishment - The People Skanking
Karl Bryan & The Afrokats - Money Generator
Lester Sterling - Afrikaan Beat
The Sound Dimension - Heavy Rock
Sugar Belly - In Cold Blood
The Skatalites & Don D. Junior - Heavenless
The Soul Vendors - Bugaloo
Vin Gordon - Red Blood
Pablo Black - Push Pull
Jackie Mittoo & Brentford Rockers - Sidewalk Doctor
Liberation Group - Namibia
The Brentford Road All Stars - Last Call
The Soul Defenders - Still Calling
Karl Bryan & Count Ossie - Black 
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DJ Algoriddim

Now we take a look at not really any specific artist but instead one of my favorite music channels on Youtube "djalgoriddim". This channel is truly any old school reggae lovers dream as it compiles many of the most popular and influential "riddims"that have made their way through the Jamaican music scene. A riddim is basically the music featured in a song or in other words the instrumental portion. Another way to think of it would be like a cover however different versions of a riddim can sometimes contain different lyrics or no lyrics at all etc. This has its origins in the early days of ska and rocksteady when the Jamaican labels would do their own takes on jazz classics from the US and to avoid paying the western labels they would rename the songs and thus the "riddim"was born. So unlike in the west where copying even a small part of another artists work be it vocal or instrumental is often looked down upon in Jamaica it is fairly common even in the music scene today An example of a riddim that had origins in the US would be that of The Russians Are Coming by Val Bennet which is known as the "Take Five riddim"since it is based on the classic Take Five by Dave Brubeck.
Really recommend checking this channel out even if you are not a lover of reggae as many of the classic riddims had their roots in other genres like jazz, soul, funk, and rock so you might find something you didn't even know existed.

Clasicos del Ska Mexicano (Classic Mexican Ska)

When the genre of Ska comes up the two countries that most people instantaneously think of are Jamaica and England. Jamaica being the birthplace of this music and England were it reached a wider audience. However there is one country that unfortunately has been largely forgotten in the history of Ska and that is Mexico. As any Mexican can tell you Mexico is a very diverse country with influences from just about every corner of the globe and the music is a prime example of this. Now looking at the music industry of Mexico and Jamaica in the 1960's both shared one crucial similarity and that was that record labels were all competing trying to put out the best "sounds" be it things influenced from the rock n' roll scene in the US and in Britain or homegrown stuff. In 1965 though a musician by the name of Toño Quirazco traveled to Jamaica and brought back the beats and sounds of Ska making it a huge hit in the country and also making Mexico one of the first countries outside of the Caribbean to start playing the new music genre. Unfortunately many of the artists and Ska songs from this era are almost impossible to find as the majority of people and even some record labels had no idea of their Jamaican heritage and thus just labeled them under the generic rock or tropical music genre labels making any mention of Mexican Ska in the history books almost non-existent.
Here I have put together a small compilation of some of the best of early Mexican Ska with a main focus on
Toño Quirazco who is the one that brought the genre to Mexico. For anyone who is familiar with this style of music you will be able to see in these songs some major influences from classic Jamaican bands like The Skatalites and Toots & The Maytals.
If you are a fan of ska, reggae, Jamaican or Mexican music than I highly recommend you give this a listen as you will not be disappointed 

1. Pily Gao - Mi Novio Esquimal (My Boy Lolipop)
2. Toño Quirazco - Merida Ska
3. Toño Quirazco - La Familia (Shame And Scandal)
4. Jorge Querol con Los Go-Go - Rudi Enamorado (Rudy's In Love)
5. Toño Quirazco - Jala De La Cuerda (Monkey Man)
6. Mayte Gaos - Susi La Coqueta (Runaround Sue)
7. Toño Quirazco - La Mucura
8. Las Misioneras de La Montaña (Monjitas A Go-Go) - Sonreir
9. Toño Quirazco - Ska de Los Santos
10. Toño Quirazco - Xalapa Ska
11. Toño Quirazco - Estambul Ska (Freedom Sounds) 

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Prince Buster - Fabulous Greatest Hits

Prince Buster the king of ska and also one of the greatest musicians to come out of Jamaica. He was one of the first Jamaican artists that I listened to after being introduced to his music by the British 2-Tone bands of the 1980's like The Specials and Madness who covered some of his songs. Until fairly recently he was still doing live tours however Prince Buster's heyday was in the 1960's as he was a pioneer of both ska and rocksteady music. He is known for his often comedic lyrics just have a listen to "10 Commandments" (which has got to be a feminists worst nightmare) or "Big Five" (which at the time was considered extremely crude and thus censored by almost all radio stations in Britain and Jamaica). This album has some great tracks everything from fast paced ska that will make you want to move along to the beat. To the slower and sweeter sounds of rocksteady. I really recommend this one if you want an introduction to one of the greatest musicians to come out of Jamaica or simply just want some great music to add to your collection

 1. Madness
2. Al Capone
3. Wash Wash
4. God Son
5. It's Burke's Law
6. 10 Commandments
7. Blackhead Chineman
8. 30 Pieces of Silver
9. Hard Man Fe Dead
10. Earthquake
11. Judge Dread
12. Ghost Dance
13. Take it Easy
14. Too Hot
15. My Girl
16. This is a Hold Up
17. Shaking Up Orange Street
18. Big Five
19. Rough Rider
20. Wreck a Pum Pum
21. Julie On My Mind
22. Pharaoh House Crash
23. Tie the Donkey's Tail
24. Finger

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Trojan DJ (3) CD Box Set

Trojan Records is synonymous with some of the best music to come out of Jamaica. The Trojan Box set has been an effort by Trojan Records to compile and re-release many of the songs which came out on their label many years ago. The DJ box set is a personal favorite of mine as it compiles many tracks of some of the best DJ's to come out of the Jamaican music scene including Big Youth, Scotty, Dennis Alcapone, U-Roy, and I-Roy. As well as some killer material from some less known DJs.
DJ also known as toasting is essentially the roots of all rap, hip hop, and dancehall music. The genre has its origins when producers and sound systems would have someone toast over an older rocksteady or ska track. This is really a great album which I highly recommend to anyone with any interest in Jamaican music or anything like rap or hip hop as this is the roots of those genres.

Disc One-

1. Screaming Target - Big Youth
2. Festival Wise - U-Roy
3. Yamaha Skank - Big Youth
4. DJ's Choice - Winston Williams
5. Hot Bomb - I-Roy
6. King of Kings - Dennis Alcapone
7. I Got to Get Away - Dave Barker
8. Pride and Joy Rock - Big Youth
9. Love Is a Treasure - Lizzy
10. Tide Is High - U-Roy
11. Riddle This - Scotty
12. Blackman Time - I-Roy
13. Herbsman (Shuffle) - Andy Capp
14. Cambodia - Blake Boy
15. S90 Skank - Big Youth
16. Place Called Africa
17. Earthquake - U-Roy

Disc Two-

1. Clean race - Scotty
2. Spanish amigo - Dennis Alcapone
3. Buck and the preacher - I-Roy
4. Hot stick version - Samuels, Philip
5. Be careful - Big Youth
6. True true - U-Roy
7. Vigerton 2 - King Stitt
8. Cow town skank - I-Roy
9. Teach the children - Dennis Alcapone
10. Red gold and green - I-Roy
11. Draw your brakes - Scotty
12. Jack of my trade - Sir Lord Comic
13. Moving version - Big Youth
14. Give me power version - King Iwah
15. Flashing my whip - U-Roy
16. Fire corner - King Stitt
17. Ripe cherry - Dennis Alcapone

Disc Three-

1. Hammering - Campbell, Cat
2. Shock and shake - Charlie Ace
3. To the fields - Herman
4. I worry - Scotty
5. Tripe girl - I-Roy
6. Dreamland version - Big Youth
7. Great woggie - Dennis Alcapone
8. Love I tender - U-Roy
9. High explosion - Young, Lloyd
10. Wet version - Barker, Dave
11. Children children - Scotty
12. Right song - Lizzy
13. Killer - Big Youth
14. Ten commandments - Prince Heron
15. DJ's choice - Dennis Alcapone
16. Dr Phibbs - I-Roy

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Lynn Taitt and The Jets - Hold Me Tight 1965-1973 Anthology

 This is probably one of the best rocksteady albums you will ever find. Hold Me Tight does an amazing job of compiling some great tracks of "rocksteady" which was the popular music genre in 60's and early 70's Jamaica that would lead to what most people know as reggae. Hold Me Tight is made up of two CD's the first one containing purely instrumental songs and the second one containing various rocksteady classics.
I highly recommend this one to anyone as this album seems to have something for every music taste.

Disc 1

• 1.Storm Warning
• 2.Smoky Places
• 3.Stream Of Life
• 4.I Don't Want To See You Cry
• 5.Nice Time
• 6.You Have Caught Me
• 7.Napoleon Solo
• 8.Pressure And Slide
• 9.Long Story
• 10.Soloman
• 11.Soul Shot
• 12.The Last Waltz
• 13.Why Did You Leave Me (To Cry)
• 14.Mr Dooby
• 15.Unity
• 16.Only A Smile
• 17.The Brush
• 18.I Am The Upsetter Version
• 19.Dreamland
• 20.El Casino Royale
• 21.Soul Food
• 22.Why Am I Treated So Badly
• 23.Batman
• 24.Top Cat
• 25.Intensified '68
• 26.Rainbow Valley
• 27.Adam Twelve

 Disc 2

• 1.Rudies All Around
• 2.Cool Collie
• 3.Get On The Ball
• 4.Listen To The Music
• 5.Taking Love
• 6.Cool It
• 7.Leaving On That Train
• 8.I'm Going Home
• 9.Cool Night
• 10.Seeing Is Knowing
• 11.Right On Time
• 12.She Said She Loves Me
• 13.Crime Don't Pay
• 14.Family War
• 15.Girl You Ruff
• 16.Fat Girl In Red
• 17.I Want To Love You
• 18.Joy In The Morning
• 19.Send Requests
• 20.Stop The Wedding
• 21.Live Like A King
• 22.Swing And Dine
• 23.You Hurt My Soul
• 24.Bring It On Home
• 25.Hold Me Tight
• 26.I Like Your World
• 27.Can't You See

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Various Artists - A Place Called Jamaica

One of my very first reggae albums and to this day one of my favorites A Place Called Jamaica does a great job of compiling some great tunes of the many music genres to come out of Jamaica. Reggae, rocksteady, dj, dub, this album has a bit of everything. I really recommend this to anyone who is just starting to learn about all of the great music to come out of Jamaica. But also really recommend it to anyone that just wants to have a lot of great tunes compiled into one album.

Derrick Harriott - Message Form A Black Man
Junior Murvin - Rescue The Children
Horace Andy - Lonely Woman
Roman & Dave - Changing Times
Dave Robinson - Native Woman
Keith & Tex - Stop That Train
Scotty - I Worry
Rudy Mills - A Place Called Happyness
Big Youth - Cool Breeze
Dennis Brown - Lips Of Wine
Earl Sixteen - Malcom X
Winston McAnuff - Ugly Days
Earl Sixteen - Dreadlocks Unite
The Chosen Few - Shaft
Derrick Harriott - The Loser
Scotty & Derrick - Sesame Street
Augustus Pablo & Derrick Harriott - Bells Of Death
Keith & Tex - This Is My Song

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