A scene assembled from parts

Most diaspora chapters begin with one migration. This one begins with several, none of them decisive on its own. Francophone West African and West Indian listeners took up roots reggae in the 1970s. Paris bands of West Indian, African and mixed lineups formed in the early 1980s. A ska and rocksteady revival came out of the punk and skinhead scenes. Record buyers crossed the Channel to London for the vinyl French shops did not stock. None of those is the origin of the French scene. All of them are.