The Kingstonians – Put Down Your Fire (JJ production)
The Kingstonians are easily recognisable due to the lead vocals of Jackie Bernard. Hugely successful in the late 60′s/early 70′s with producer Derrick Harriot the trio formed at the beginning of the Rocksteady era and managed to record a number of fine tunes with Carl “Sir JJ” Johnson before the style changed. All of these are worth checking out but Put Down Your Fire is easily the best.
Put Down Your Fire was originally issued on Doctor Bird in the UK and supposedly on a Jamaican pre-release though this never turns up. It was reissued on a seven inch single on the JJ label in 2011 and should still be fairly easy to pick up.
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Derrick Harriott – Walk The Streets (Derrick Harriott production)
Derrick Harriott wasn’t the greatest singer of the rocksteady era but he was certainly premier league. He had a remarkable knack for picking a tune and making it his own too, if he’d been in America in the same period he would have been a household name to equal the likes of Marvin Gaye.
Walk The Streets was originally recorded by The Tams as You Might As Well Forget Him, it’s a classic tale of heartbreak that works perfectly as rocksteady:
“Whoa, darling, you might as well forget him
For he’s gone, he’s said his last goodbye”.
Great stuff and hugely underrated.
Walk The Streets was originally issued on a Crystal 7″ in Jamaica and on Island in the UK. It is currently available on a Crystal 7″ from Dub Store.
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The Progressions – Fair Deal (Pat Hardy production)
The Progressions were Rudy Mills, Pat Hardy, Derrick Bucknor and Milton Henry. They only released six tunes, every one was masterpiece in it’s own right but Fair Deal is easily the greatest of them all. For a group with limited recording experience the harmonies on this are quite astounding and make this well deserving of it’s inclusion within the top ten of this list.
Originally released in Jamaica on the very small Kismet label this tune, along with the rest of the Progressions work, became better known when released on the compilation of Kismet material Reggae To The UK With Love by Pama in 1970 (by which time some of the material must have sounded very dated).
Fair Deal is available on the Trojan compilation Rebel Music Volume 2 from 2007 and was also released on a Kismet label 7″ in 2012.
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Unknown – Got To Be At That Party (G. Hargraves production?)
Got To Be At That Party is usually credited to the Tennors but it doesn’t sound much like them and this is probably a case of speculation being repeated until it is widely believed. The matrix number STAR 1002/STAR 1003 and the blank label give few clues as to the artists however STAR 1000/STAR 1001 was by the Hitones so it could be by them.
What is for certain is this is a wonderful piece of rocksteady that proves, if proof were needed, that the rare and the obscure can be every bit as good as the major hits.
Got To Be At The Party was re-issued on the Trojan CD Gaz’s Rockin Blues
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Phil Pratt – Safe Travel (Phil Pratt production)
Hauntingly atmospheric and supremely powerful at the same time. Ace producer Phil Pratt was just as good behind the microphone as the mixing desk and he never had a finer moment than with Safe Travel (though some may argue that Sweet Song For My Baby ran it pretty close).
This tune was stupidly obscure, pretty much only known by rocksteady obsessives, until Pressure Sounds picked it up in 2005. They chose it as the title track for their compilation of Phil Pratt’s 60′s productions: Safe Travel – The Rare Side Of Rocksteady and it finally got the recognition it so richly deserved.
Safe Travel was originally issued on 7″ single on the UK Caltone label and on a Jamaican Wiggle Spoon blank.
Delroy Wilson – Dancing Mood (Coxsone Dodd Production)
That piano introduction is legendary! Dancing Mood was a huge hit for Delroy Wilson from 1966 and a great example of the early Rocksteady sound. Despite being around 18 when he recorded this Delroy was already a bit of a veteran having been releasing records for around 4 years. He had recorded exclusively for Coxsone Dodd up to this point and continued to do so for another couple of years.
The original Jamaican issue of Dancing Mood was on a revived All Stars label, this imprint had originally been used from around 1960 to 1963 by Coxsone, the revival was short lived. Dancing Mood was also issued on Island in the UK.
Dancing Mood is currently available on the Studio One CD: Delroy Wilson – Dancing Mood.
Slim Smith – Rougher Yet (Coxsone Dodd Production)
It would have been all too easy to fill this list with Slim Smith tracks (either solo or as a member of the Uniques) so it took quite a while to decide which ones made the grade and which ones had to be overlooked. Rougher Yet made the cut as it’s the ultimate Slim Smith Rocksteady tune, it ticks all the boxes; a brilliant soulful vocal, superb backing harmonies and a killer bass line that launched a thousand versions (well, several hundred anyway).
Smith tragically lost his life in 1972 while still in his mid twenties. With his passing Jamaican music lost one of the most talented vocalists it ever produced, the music would never be the same again.
Rougher Yet is currently available on the Soul Jazz CD, Studio One Classics.
Bobby Ellis – Step Softly (Derrick Harriott Production)
Alfred Hitchcock, another Bobby Ellis lead instrumental for Derrick Harriott has already featured in this list at number 28 but Step Softly trumps that, it’s quite simply the ultimate rocksteady instrumental. A great piano led introduction and then the horn drops and it’s game over… wonderful stuff.
Ellis’s carried on recording extensively throughout the 70′s. As well as dozens of recordings as a session musician he continued to take the lead and have records, including major hits such as Shan Kai Shek and Stormy Weather, credited directly to him.
Step Softly is currently available of a 7″ single reissue through Dub Store Records.
The Sensations – Long Time Me No See You Girl (Bunny Lee Production)
I first heard Long Time Me No See You Girl around 1989 when it was included on the Trojan album Jumping With Mr Lee, one of the producers series LP’s compiled by Steve Barrow. The first tune on that collection it was breathtaking then and it still sounds every bit as good now.
The Sensations started recording for Duke Reid in 1966 and by the time they had linked up with Bunny Lee in 1967 they were already at the top of their game. Though the line up changed several times they remained one of the best Jamaican vocal groups throughout the remainder of the 60′s.
Long Time… is a simple enough song with only a few lines that are repeated but it’s the performance that matters, the beautiful harmonies tell a story all of their own aided by a superb rhythm that features one of the greatest horn lines of the rocksteady era.
Long Time Me No See You Girl has appeared on many compilations over the years but seems to be unavailable at the present time.
Number one will be added soon.
Walk The Streets was originally recorded by Tommy Roe as You Might As Well Forget Him on US ABC (UK HMV) in 1964. He also composed the song. Enjoyed the top 100 by the way.
I think Jimmy Hughes recorded the original version of “You Might As Well Forget Him”: Fame 1002/1963.
Cool Tim, when “Fair Deal” is #8, “Are You Ready” has to be in the top 3 then
Respect,
Marc
That would depend on if i like Are You Ready more or not Marc – have to wait and see
Great job tim — looking over the last 40 entries I would have chosen most of them myself, can’t argue with that!
What a great selection !
I can’t wait for the top 5 !!
(don’t rock my boat rocksteady’s version ? the girl i left behind ?)
When do you think you’ll add more tunes ?
Thanks
Safe Travel with Lynn Taitt better be a Lyn Taitt special at No. 1
Phil Pratt – Safe Travel – sounds like Heptones – Crying over you (Ken Lack production). I’am wrong ?
I can confirm that Put Down Your Fire comes as a JA pre. Same combination as the Doctor Bird. Looking forward to the top five Tim! Top clash all the way.
Top class that is!
Very very interesting selection of rocksteady songs. I learned a lot – many I had never heard before.
HOWEVER, someone’s gotta keep it real, and I guess that someone’s gonna have to be me.
While I love rocksteady — my favorite genre of music, from any country in any era — and I’m always a champion of the obscure and the overlooked…well, to be completely frank, this really isn’t a list of the “The 100 greatest rocksteady tunes” (or 95 greatest so far, at the time of this comment).
If you had titled it “The 100 greatest OBSCURE rocksteady tunes,” you wouldn’t get any argument from me. Or maybe “100 nice rocksteady tunes you’re probably unfamiliar with.” But the title over-reaches, because by your own admission in several entries you are intentionally excluding many well-known songs to make room for lesser-known (or in some cases completely unknown) tracks. And while I confess I liked some of your selections, do they really stand up against some of the all-time “classics”? I think most people would answer “No” — even if some of those classics are overplayed.
Sure, musical taste is completely subjective, so there’s no “right answer” for what song is better or worse than another, but seriously, how could any of the following tracks NOT have made it to your list (or any top 100 list), especially since many of the ultra-obscure releases taking their place here really do pale by comparison:
Melodians – You Have Caught Me Babe
Justin Hines and the Dominoes – Save a Bread
Prince Buster – Whine and Grine
Glen Adams and the Upsetters – X-Ray Vision
Bob Marley and the Wailers – Them Have Fi Get a Beatin
Dynamites – Dulcimena
Velma & Clancy – Let Us Be Lovers
Desmond Dekker — 007 (Shanty Town)
Dandy Livingstone – Rudy, A Message to You
Tony Tribe – Red Red Wine
Melodians – I Will Get Along Without You
Sensations – Long Time Me No See You Girl
Termites – Have Mercy Mr. Percy
Johnny Nash – Hold Me Tight
Prince Buster – Rough Rider
Melodians – Hey Girl
Delroy Wilson – Feel the Spirit
Maytones – Loving Reggae
Swingers – Simpleton
Justin Hinds and The Dominoes – Here I Stand
Seriously, listen to these masterpieces with a fresh ear, and try to compare them purely objectively to many of the obscurities you listed in their stead — and wow, there really is no comparison. I mean, I appreciate hearing many of the lesser-known tracks you included, but the songs listed above (and those are just 20 off the top of my head — I could name plenty more) are just flawless.
(And I didn’t bother to research the release dates of all of these, so apologies if some of them fall outside the rocksteady era [1966-ish to 1969-ish, presumably], or if some particular track technically might count as “late ska” or “early reggae” despite being released during the rocksteady epoch. Overall, you get my point.)
We’re all on the same side here, and love the same kind of music, and each person is entitled to his or her own personal preferences, but I just didn’t want a “newbie” to the rocksteady scene to read this “top 100″ post and come away somewhat disappointed that rocksteady itself maybe isn’t all it’s rumored to be, since many of the tracks listed here are interesting perhaps but not classics that will echo in your head forever (as many of the more well-known rocksteady tracks like the ones I listed do).
I’m all for celebrating and rescuing long-forgotten obscurities — and in a few cases those obscurities really are super-great shoulda-been classics — but those cases are rare, and we shouldn’t let our enthusiasm for rarity blot out the worthy hits, many of which earned their legendary status simply by being “the best.”
Make your own Top 100 Rocksteady list, and then maybe you’d have a valid argument. This Dancecrasher list is the work of a Rocksteady scholar, and while the selections are subjective to taste, the list is culled from knowledge of nearly every known rocksteady tune, and that’s pretty impressive. Some of this top 100 would not make my own list, but I have thoroughly enjoyed reading all the info for each record as it gives insight as to why the author included it on this list. A lot of these tunes I would not consider to be obscure (by rocksteady standards), and the ones that are obscure blow most of the “classics” out of the water (again, subjectively). I would MUCH rather have “Bus Dem Shut” echo in my head forever than “Hold Me Tight”!
The Hitones – Got To Be At The Party ???
I’m right there with you Prizefighter. Of course a list is going to be subjective. This happens to be one man’s list and he can call it what he wants. Mine would be different as would anyone else’s. What you can’t deny is the author’s love, dedication and frankly encyclopedic knowledge of the subject. It’s been a joy and I’m looking forward to the final five.
great list, no doubt, but here are a few tunes i would have put on the list….
yours until tomorrow…the minstrels
love me forever…carlton and the shoes
i’m yours forever…the soul lads
put on your best dress..monty morris
bye bye baby…zoot simms
tell it to me…stranger and patsy
i’m sure i could come up with more, but hands down, you know your shit!!!
Immense! Thank you for listing all these great, great tunes.
For what it’s worth, I’ve just thrown together this Spotify Playlist featuring as many of the tracks in your top 100 as I could find—currently at 60 out of the full list.
Maybe I missed a few… if anyone finds any tracks I’ve skipped, let me know in the comments and I’ll add them to the list.
re “Got To Be At that Party,” I think that’s been acknowledged to be Maurice Johnson, who was in the Tennors up until his untimely death. I actually think the flipside of that single is even more brilliant, but that’s how good that collaboration with Taitt was.
The Heptones “Crying over you” Caltone N°1
When oh when are the final two tunes going to be named. I click on a few times week. Very interested to see what they are and wondering if they’ll be well know tunes or legendary rarities.
Better be a Lyn Taitt special at number one. Enough obscure tracks produced and some good well known.