Birth Of Dancehall (Black Solidarity 1976-1979)

[Funky Punk]

Any thoughts on this recent release?

http://www.discogs.com/Various-Birth-Of ... se/3640512

It's obviously mis-labeled - all the songs are from the early/mid 80s, as it even says in the liner notes(!), but this is actually one of those rare mis-labeled albums that I like...

Though the Papa Levi song must be more recent still - it has a reference to Britney Spears shaving her head in it. Heh, maybe that was a song that Jamaican Recordings had lying around the office without an album to put it on, so they decided to bung it on this one as a bonus track. Dunno, it's JR - it's hard to say what they were thinking.

[davek]

The time period is actually more like 1980 to whenever the Papa Levi track was recorded! It's a shame that JR continue to misrepresent their releases.

Sound quality is frustrating when you know how good these sound on original 45's, but there are some very good songs contained within. So while it could have been better, most would say that that it's better than nothing.

[Funky Punk]

The time period is actually more like 1980 to whenever the Papa Levi track was recorded! It's a shame that JR continue to misrepresent their releases.

Sound quality is frustrating when you know how good these sound on original 45's, but there are some very good songs contained within. So while it could have been better, most would say that that it's better than nothing.

Having never heard the originals on 45, I thought that the sound was fine (I have the CD version).

I'm wondering if they decided not to mention the 1980s on the front because of the horrified reactions that the concept of reggae from that era can elicit from some people (you know, thoughts of bleeping synths, nasty electronic keyboards and dodgy drum machines)?

[flashman]

I think it's a great group of tunes. The continual misrepresentation of their own releases by JR is indeed annoying, but I'm willing to overlook that if the track list in intriguing.

However, I bought this one on vinyl and just by chance, my two personal favorites on it: Ashanti Waugh - Police Police and Sammy Dread - Wat Wah, both sound pretty awful. Most of the rest of it is ok. Something about Police Police just struck me when I first heard it. I was hooked on it, but so frustrated because it was so muddy, with the treble level going in and out. I ended up paying way too much for his Crime Act lp as a result, just to get a clean version of it! Nice to have though.

A couple of the new Kingston Sounds also look good. But I'm wary. On the hand, you can usually get them on EB for around $7, which is super cheap, but it's frustrating to get poor quality good tunes.

It's weird too that JR uses nice thick 180 gram vinyl but the mastering is really low volume. I always have to crank the hell out of them.It's like they put all the focus on the packaging quality and very little on the sound quality or accuracy of information. Maybe the do a better job with their CD releases; I haven't heard them.

And yes, I agree, I think they were deliberately listing it as 70's because they think more people will want it. There are still a lot of (I would call them ignorant) people out there who think dancehall is a bad word.

[Rootsman]

The title is well misleading as I reckon the recording period for these tracks is more 83-87.

Anyone buying this on the strength of the 76-79 period is going to be well dissapointed.

Some good tracks but not a great release and the sound is not that great either when placed alongside the original 7"s which is surprising considered they are supposed to have been taken from the original masters.

I really cannot make up my mind on this label as their released always seem to frustrate me.

Although I did get "Shalom Dub" which imo is pretty good.

[Peace Pipe]

Although I did get "Shalom Dub" which imo is pretty good.

Funny, that was the first and only JR release I've bought. I think it sounds too muddy. After buying that I decided not buy JR releases anymore.

[Funky Punk]

The JR reissues of Tapper Zukie's 'Raggy Joey Boy' and the Mighty Diamonds' 'Leaders Of Black Countries' sound fine to me, for what it's worth...

[Rootsman]

The JR reissues of Tapper Zukie's 'Raggy Joey Boy' and the Mighty Diamonds' 'Leaders Of Black Countries' sound fine to me, for what it's worth...

Again, "Leaders of Black Countries" I found frustrating as why did they not follow the original album showcase format of having the dubs following the vocal.

The original Mobiliser album is a gem and the CD could have been better, but that is just my opinion.

"Raggy Joey Boy" I cannot comment on as I have not heard the CD of this one.