Roots Archives Forum

Jah Chicken, The Mighty Threes LP you are mentionning is late 70's material, and not early 80's, so it's not an exception to your usual taste

I have to admit that I tend to buy records from late 70's and early 80's on vinyl, and that's what I select in dances. But I like roots music as much, but I have hardly any on wax, as I'd rather buy various artists compilations on CDs, as those reissues are nicer than the ones about rub-a-dub or rockers music.

But for all the massive who have been raised listenning to new roots, for example, I bet early 70's stuff might sound a bit old-fashioned (not my case, I wish to say). Those people might not enjoy the sound of a 30/40 year old record and might prefer the "CD quality" sound ? Just my 2 cents, though...

ites deh

for me is the 70's music dat i love and i start listen and collecting 70's sound i listen also 60's and 80's.
what i see is dat in the u.k specialy came out a bunch of strong bands dat made a few or only 1 album dat are rares dats what i'm looking for at moment cause the 70's i tink i have a good collection still always a new ting from the 70's comes around and dats great and dam the catalog of the 70's is so large dat i tink i wil be all my life getting new sounds LOL...

respect everytime
dreadrecords

Many Thanks for your responses.. Haha.. I see I was wrong about the release date of the Mighty Threes. Thanks Beenie Bongo for pointing that out. I see that it is probably just a matter of taste, but for me the 80s was the beginning of the end for roots reggae. This is is the kind of reggae that I feel to be the equivalent of smooth jazz. The riddims are overly-friendly and the lyrics are lacking in substance. Because you could go see a show like I-Wayne or Soldiers of Jah Army.. But I could rock out to the music that plays in my office elevator all the same. It doesn't do much for me. I appreciate the concious lyrics that some of these new reggae artists are dabbling with, but without the hard riddims to back it up, it doesn't have the same effect.

I'm talking about the 80s roots music. I do realize that there were some killer early dancehall albums coming out during this time (probably the best dancehall albums imho), but dancehall kind of became its own animal (sounds a lot more like hip hop than roots reggae to me these days).

Probably just a matter of opinion, but thanks for responding.

Roots!
Jah Chicken

Been wondering this too Jah Chicken

Just a general guess here but curious if so called 'younger' buyers of reggae are part of this situation. A fair portion of people I speak to [ages 18-30] seem to talk up the 80's material vs. 70's reggae.

Wonder how much of this is simply because more albums were pressed in the '80s and so more survive to be bought now?

Certainly more '80s stuff in the used record bins than '70s whenever I go looking.

70 stuff = rubbish

80's stuff = irie

yeah i agree, i dont like that 70's stuff

the 80's brought the music to its hights

I personally like late 60's rock steady, 70's reggae, that's when reggae music was at it's best, crucial roots and culture. music with a purpose and strong message. I like the early 80's don't get me wrong, but 70's all the way. try some freddie mckay, the arrows, black notes, and some various artist compilations you can find from the 70's. try ernie b's reggae.

Nah, the 80's music is much better - i must say

Ites,
Thanks for sharing... Very curious on how the 70s stuff could be called rubbish? The trend exemplified by 80s reggae transformed the genre into weak-heart elevator music, IMHO. At any rate, could someone please provide some suggestions of some killer 80s roots albums/tunes? I would be very interested. It sounds like the Mr. Spaulding - 12 Tribes albums is killer. Any other suggestions? I've tracked down and bought some early 80s sought-after roots albums and been very disappointed.

Many Thanks,
Jah Chicken