First Cut: Treasure Isle

http://youtu.be/18AoqJn4M1A

So this one might actually win for best First Cut. We're of course biased in that we love both The Techniques and Pat Kelly. And this is one of his finest performances.

Another "I Am The Gorgon" Teaser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kmNYtFfHLQ&feature=youtube_gdata

What a nice little Sunday treat we have here, a new clip running just under 3 minutes from the Bunny Lee documentary. This one outlines a bit of the rivalry between Striker and Clement "Coxsone" Dodd. Early reviews thus far have been very positive, meaning we're hoping the film gets a more widespread release in the near future or a DVD release sooner rather than later. You can never get enough Bunny Lee.

First Cut: Caltone

http://youtu.be/Af2ZRfVmu0c

We all now know Ken Lack's Caltone label as one that is responsible for numerous rocksteady classics. It wasn't always so, as those who've been collecting for any number of years can attest.

First Cut: Coxsone

http://youtu.be/iegW2jGijVo

It's near impossible to measure how dramatic an impact someone like Clement "Coxsone" Dodd has had on the Jamaican music industry. Countless words have been both spoken and written about that impact but words can only do so much.

First Cut: Prince Buster

http://youtu.be/4Ctu-X0Ivgw

You know Prince Buster. If you don't, and you're at this website, you missed some steps along the way. He's undoubtedly one of the foundation artists for the Jamaican music industry, releasing his first single in 1961 although he had been involved in the budding industries sound system wars for years before. A former boxer, Buster and his friends provided a special kind of service for Coxsone Dodd during his dances.

So Long, Mr. Charmers.

So here you are again, another Friday crammed into a sweaty club while the reggae beat pumps through speakers as big as mum and dads wardrobe. Bass so loud it is sending waves of sound threw your suit jacket. The smell of Brut and cigarette smoke and stale Red Stripe creating an intoxicating aroma. The three wouldn't seem as though they would be the sort of mixture that you'd happily wake up smelling of tomorrow morning, but that's exactly what you know will happen.

First Cut: Blue Cat

[youtube=http://youtu.be/jci-E-W9Sz4]

"Are you ready to rocksteady?" is the line that kick off this double sided slab of gold. The Pioneers, whether working with Leslie Kong or Joe Gibbs, were almost surefire hit makers from 1968 to 1970. On this Blue Cat outing it was Gibbs behind the controls once again and that means it is real hard to decide which is the better tune. "Shake It Up" is a lovely piece of late rocksteady magic while "Goodies Are The Greatest" is yet another one of those killer tracks taking on the topic of the rude boy phenomenon. It's a fitting start to the label, with many of the biggest tunes in its early days being Joe Gibbs productions. Oddly enough, for a Trojan imprint, it would also go on to feature some absolute stormers from Coxsone Dodd. Other producers popping up include Bunny Lee, Charles Ross and Enos McLeod amongst others. Biggest tune on the label? May just be "Dip It Up" by The Sparkers, a Rannie Williams production. But that's getting ahead of ourselves.

First Cut: Clandisc

[youtube=http://youtu.be/m8KUZbLqckg]

The Dynamites were some bad cats. Clancy Eccles was a bad cat. So, needless to say, whenever they got together some real magic happened. This was certainly the case for the first 45 to be released on the Clandisc label: "Skokiaan". Clandisc was the Trojan subsidiary set up to showcase the productions of Mr. Eccles. In this track all the members of The Dynamites get their chance to shine, from Winston Wright down to Paul Douglas on drums. Really a skinhead reggae instrumental that deserves to get more love than it does. Then you flip it over and King Stitt is hanging out. His contribution is just as good, though not necessarily the typical DJ vocal he became famous for. Instead on this Stitt borders on singing throughout. Yet another impressive start for a label. Although later output on the label would vary from absolutely outstanding (see: most of King Stitt and the Dynamites further output) to absolutely underwhelming (see: Westmorelites "Zion") there's enough good on this label to make it highly collectable.

For The Suits Label Guide: Unity, Part 2

Last week when we begun this musical journey we were, in all honesty, overwhelmed by the amount of quality releases on the Unity label. What was initially going to be one article quickly turned into something that needed to be broken down into two parts. The quality of the label in 1969 alone was staggering, a prolific output which most labels would be blessed to have over the entire course of the labels lifetime. Things didn't slow down in 1970.

First Cut: Big Shot

[youtube=http://youtu.be/GS-ivWY1Mwk]

The roll continues! Big Shot was a Trojan subsidiary label, first releasing tunes in 1968. They started with an stone cold classic: "Reggae Girl" by The Tennors. Produced by Tennors founder George "Clive" Murphy it was the start of a run of big tunes for the Tennors in the early days of reggae. The B side is also a winner "Donkey Trot" by Clive's All Stars, a solid instrumental. Nothing mind blowing mind you but certainly far from boring. The sort of tune you'd listen to on a Sunday afternoon, not the sort of thing you'd want to hear on Saturday night. "Reggae Girl" you most certainly would. It was the start of a number of high quality releases on the label, as one might expect when production credits are split between the likes of Bunny Lee, Derrick Harriot, George Murphy and Winston Riley. The sort of label well worth your time to search out releases on.

For The Suits Label Guide: Unity, Part 1

Bunny Lee is a bad man. There isn't too much more too it. After getting into the recording business in 1967 "Striker" went on to record a string of hits throughout the ever changing world of Jamaican music for the next 3 decades, but important for us is his output during the rocksteady and early reggae era many of which saw release in the UK on the Unity label. Lee wasn't the only producer for the label but he produced some of its biggest hits. But we can't forget the work of cats like Harry Robinson and the legendary Derrick Morgan. So let's delve a little deeper into the label and see what gems we can find for ourselves.

First Cut: Camel

[youtube=http://youtu.be/_hhK-nikkW4]

We're on a bit of a roll as of late, now aren't we? One of our personal favorite tracks and guaranteed to get a play out, the Camel label started out in style with a Winston Riley produced track of the highest order. "Who You Gonna Run To", although credited to The Techniques, is actually performed by The Shades. Now we're not 100% sure of all the members of The Shades but Bruce Ruffin was certainly a member of both The Techniques and The Shades. It's likely the track ended up credited to The Techniques because of Riley's production credits. Nonetheless, this track is early reggae gold and set the standards high for a label that would go on to feature productions from Lee Perry, Alvin Ranglin, Lloyd Charmers and Glen Adams to name but a few. "History" by Harry and Radcliffe might be the best track put out on the label. It might be one of the best skinhead reggae tracks ever as well. And the label is beautiful as well. All around winner.

First Cut: Duke

[youtube=http://youtu.be/QCtySZyxerM]

It's a toss up to whether Pat Kelly's voice has ever sounded quite so sublime as it does in The Techniques cover of "I Wish It Would Rain", the first cut for the Duke label. Now, technically, the first cut for this label was The Bubbles "The Wasp" which was released in 1960. But only two other singles would be released between 1960 and 1961 on the label before it was left to lay dormant. Then in 1968, with the popularity of the Trojan label starting to pick up steam in the UK, the label was revived as a showcase for the productions of the legendary Duke Reid. Hence Duke, get it? For the rest of 1968 the label would release some absolutely beautiful rocksteady cuts before going on in 1969 to release some skinhead reggae classics. We've stated it before in our Techniques and Pat Kelly profiles, but there really hasn't been anyone that better filled a spot like the one Slim Smith left open in the Techniques in quite the manner Pat Kelly did. The man has one of the most beautiful voices in the history of Jamaican music. Combine that with the harmonies provided by Winston Riley, Franklyn White and Frederick Waite and throw in the kind of top shelf muscianship Reid featured on all his products and we're back on a roll for the First Cut Friday series.

Lloyd Daley on his Matador Label

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kw5ulXqndWM?wmode=transparent&autohide=1&egm=0&hd=1&iv_load_policy=3&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&showsearch=0&w=400&h=300]

Nice piece here with Lloyd Daley discussing some of the history of his Matador record label, conveniently also the label the Creations “Bad Name” tune we posted yesterday was released on. Jackie Bernard, the immensely talented lead vocalist for skinhead reggae favorites The Kingstonians also makes an appearance. Slice of history right here, straight from the man responsible.