01NOW EXPLORINGDEEP ROOTS
Journey

05 · ROCKSTEADY, REGGAE & DUB

The tempo drops—and the world leans in.

1966–Late 1970s

Rocksteady foregrounds harmony and bass. Reggae broadens the message. Dub turns the studio into an instrument.

Pull the faders. Remove the vocal. Enter the echo chamber.

FROM THE ARCHIVE

Published records from this era

Follow any record into its connections, evidence and interviews.

recording · Well supported"007 (Shanty Town)" — Desmond Dekker & The Aces

"007 (Shanty Town)," Desmond Dekker & the Aces' 1967 rocksteady hit, drew directly on "rude boy" street culture and gang imagery, helping establish the rude-boy narrative as a recurring theme in Jamaican pop reaching international audiences.

recording · Well supported"Ali Baba" - John Holt

John Holt's rocksteady side for Arthur "Duke" Reid at Treasure Isle, released around 1968-69 with (uncredited) Joya Landis, later circulated as its own versioned rhythm.

recording · Well supported"Armagideon Time" - Willi Williams

Willi Williams's Studio One roots record for Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, cut on the "Real Rock" rhythm (recorded 1977, issued 1979) and famously covered by The Clash - a vivid case of a Studio One riddim reaching global rock audiences.

recording · Well supported"Beat Down Babylon" — Junior Byles

"Beat Down Babylon" (1972), Junior Byles's fierce Rastafari protest record produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry, capturing the militant, change-is-coming mood of early-1970s Jamaica.

recording · Well supported"Better Must Come" — Delroy Wilson

"Better Must Come" (1971), Delroy Wilson's hopeful reggae hit on Dynamic Sounds, adopted as an anthem of Michael Manley's PNP in the 1972 election and remembered both as a people's cry for change and as a case study in political appropriation.

recording · Well supported"Big Ship" — Freddie McGregor

Freddie McGregor's record, and the name he took for his own label and studio — the Big Ship operation that has since produced a substantial catalogue and given the singer a second career as a producer and label owner.

recording · Well supported"Blood & Fire" — Niney the Observer

"Blood & Fire" (1970), Niney the Observer's brooding, apocalyptic roots hit, one of the best-selling Jamaican records of its moment and a landmark in the Rastafari-fire lyric that broadcasters once kept at arm's length.

recording · Well supported"Boom Shaka Laka" — Hopeton Lewis (Festival Song 1970)

Hopeton Lewis's 1970 Festival Song winner — the rocksteady pioneer of "Take It Easy" taking the national title with "Boom Shaka Lacka", proof the contest and the studio mainstream were one talent pool.

recording · Well supported"Breakfast in Bed" -- Lorna Bennett

'Breakfast in Bed', Lorna Bennett's 1972 cover of the Baby Washington soul song, was commissioned by producer Harry J and arranged by Geoffrey Chung; the single's success made Bennett the first woman to top the Jamaican singles chart, and its Scotty-voiced deejay B-side is a landmark of the toasting era.

recording · Well supported"Cherry Oh Baby" — Eric Donaldson

"Cherry Oh Baby," Eric Donaldson's win at Jamaica's 1971 Festival Song Competition, became an enduring reggae standard covered by artists including UB40 and the Rolling Stones - an unusually long afterlife for a song that began as a national song-contest entry rather than a commercial single.

Showing 10 of 200 records