It annoys me when I meet people who claim to love reggae but can only name me Bob Marley songs. (People who claim to love reggae but can only name me Shaggy and Apache Indian songs piss me off even more.)
No one’s going to deny that Marley was and will forever be the No. 1 reggae artist of all-time. Indeed if you compiled a list of the greatest reggae albums of recorded history, there is no way you’d be able to overlook Catch a Fire, Natty Dread, Exodus and Burnin’. Even Rastaman Vibration and Uprising. Yes, even Kaya, if for nothing else containing the title track, Easy Skanking, Time Will Tell and the gorgeous Is This Love.
But even though Marley was tougher than the rest and reggae’s first international superstar, there were others who, while not as incendiary when playing away, were hard to beat at home.
The problem with reggae before Marley (and during and after too) is that many reggae artists only cut full albums after their creative peak. As such, with the obvious exception of Burning Spear and Toots and the Maytals (Marcus Garvey and Funky Kingston are amazing records that deserve to be placed alongside Marley’s finest), it’s individual songs rather than LPs for which people like Junior Murvin, Lord Creator, The Ethiopians and even Jimmy Cliff are known.
So here then is my list of 20 songs that everyone who claims to love reggae should hear. Note I haven’t included anything by Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer (no Legalize It, sorry) or anything by the Marley kids (man up, Ziggy and Damian) ’cause, well, that would have been too damn easy. I’ve also not mentioned the same artist twice, so if you find a track missing from this list, well, you’d be right. It would also mean that you know your reggae and do not go by the name Sasi The Don.
TFB’s 20 Essential Reggae Classics
1. Burning Spear -- Marcus Garvey
2. Toots and the Maytals -- 54-46 (That's My Number)
3. Jimmy Cliff -- Many Rivers To Cross
4. The Melodians -- Rivers of Babylon
5. Desmond Dekker & The Aces -- Israelites
6. The Ethiopians -- Train to Skaville
7. Lord Creator -- Kingston Town
8. The Abyssinians -- Declaration of Rights
9. The Skatalites -- Guns of Navarone
10. The Paragons -- The Tide is High
11. The Congos -- Fisherman
12. Junior Murvin -- Police and Thieves
13. Max Romeo -- Chase the Devil
14. The Folkes Brothers -- Oh Carolina
15. Delroy Wilson -- Better Must Come
16. Lee “Scratch” Perry -- (I Am) The Upsetter
17. Dennis Brown -- Money in My Pocket
18. Dave & Ansell Collins -- Double Barrel
19. The Harry J. All Stars -- Liquidator
20. Dandy Livingston -- Rudy, A Message to You
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