Blood And Fire Label

The principle of the V/A album was to be cheap and cheerful. The 'Tighten Up' 'Club Reggae' volumes released on Trojan was a huge success in the early seventies and people remember them fondly. Greensleeves, VP and Jetstar now dominate this area for new releases. When it comes to oldies no one does a better job of bringing old reggae classics back to life better than Blood and Fire. There sound quality and packing is second to none. And another vital part is that the artists and the producers get paid. Not just the man who compiled the set, or who wrote the sleevenotes, or who provided a photo, or who did the design work. The acutal people who sang the songs get paid. Until this becomes the norm reggae music will forever stay in the hole that it dug for itself. I think this set sells for around £5.00 so what do you get. 17 tracks. That include classics from Junior Byles 'Chant Down Babylon', Gregory Isaacs 'Slavemaster', The Tamlins 'Baltimore', Leroy Smart & I.Roy 'Jah Is My Light', Max Romeo 'Valley Of Jehosaphat'. Incredible.

Its amazing to think that no record company as come up with idea before, which is a various engineers dub album. Looking at the credits on this 16 track set, which includes dub mixes from King Tubby, Prince Jammy, Phillip Smart, Scientist, Errol T, Jo Jo Hookim & Lee Perry is like checking a role call of dub. Sylvan Morris and Errol Brown are missing from the list, but you can't include everyone. And part two of this excellent set could be just around the corner. Then you could also include Chemist, and Solgie and…