Reggae & Dancehall Vinyl 325 Items

Emotional Rescue is delighted to reissue for the first time, the legendary Ernest Ranglin teaming up with Noel Williams aka King Sporty, on this 1983 meeting of reggae guitar legend and Miami disco boogie don that resulted in this highly sought after 6 track mini-LP.
A defining guitarist and composer in the development of Jamaican music, Ranglin leads little introduction. In a career spanning over 50 years, he was involved in the move from mento and calypso to ska and on to reggae, playing on the groundbreaking recording of My Boy Lollipop itself, before going on to work with the likes of the Skatalies, Prince Buster, Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley. Born in 1932 in Manchester, West Jamaica before moving to Kingston, Ranglin's self-taught chordal and rhythmic approach blended jazz, mento and reggae with percussive guitar solos. On moving to Florida in 1982, he teamed up with scene king, Williams to present 'a new style', mixing the bass heavy boogie disco the producer was famous for with Ranglin's unique playing. Featuring a who's who of the Miami scene including Bobby Caldwell, Timmy Thomas, Betty Wright and Williams himself, the rearranged order starts here with Soft Touch. A retake of Thomas' TK Disco and Cosmic) classic Africano, before a skanking remake of the William's standard, Keep On Dancing and title bomber Be What You Want Be, crown the match of reggae and vocal disco. Also, included is a beautiful take on Anthony Hester's R&B classic, In The Rain, while the record closes with the choice Papa "Doo" and jammer Why Not.

Limited edition LP vinyl re-issue of the 1983 album classic! Recorded with the Roots Radics and mixed by Soldgie at Channel One Studio, produced by Henry "Junjo" Lawes.

Reissued for the very first time on a limited vinyl edition, here’s the fifth work of the godfather of ska Laurel Aitken. Originally released in 1973 on Count Shelly Records, “Moria Sofia” was completely written, arranged, produced and sung by Aitken himself. The album is a skillful blend of soul & calypso tunes with a splash of rocksteady. A mandatory gem to be rediscovered by all Jamaican music fans!

Another stone cold classic from the vaults of Taxi Records. The Cool Ruler, aka singer songwriter Gregory Isaacs. Perfectly crafted songs and precise rhythm construction by the Taxi Gang at Channel One Studio. Each song drifts seamlessly into percussive dubs with subtle sonic landscapes sculpted by the engineers Maxie & Ernest Hookim at the mixing board

The debut album from the I & I Band, originally released in 1981. Excellent British roots, includes the tracks Marijuana, Jah Made Them All and Marcus Children.

Al Brown was inspired to write the single ‘Proverb’ after spending hours hunched over his bible in Spanish Town as a youth. He had become known for his more commercial covers of singer Al Green material, but ‘Proverb’ was one of the few tunes that he recorded that were roots inspired and has become highly sought after.

Recorded at Channel One with Ernest Hookim engineering, who did an excellent job of squeezing out a thumping horns led tune. The inspired version on the flip has Lloyd Parks on bass and the singer Derek Lara on drums. The Seventh Extension Band was the house band of the Zodiac label. Not a tight knit band as such, but built built around singers Bunny Lara and Derek Lara. ‘Words spoke in haste will all go to waste so be cool’. True thing Al. Comes in hand stamped bag.

Re-issue of the 1979 album comes with superb sleeve-notes by reggae expert Roger Steffens who was a friend of Joe Higgs and spent much time reasoning with him. LP vinyl is 180 gram heavyweight - an excellent package!

After running a sound system and studying electronics overseas, Spanish Town-based Harry Mudie began releasing rhythm and blues recordings by local performers, enjoying more concerted success during the reggae era of the late 1960s and mid-1970s, crafting lasting hits with artists like Dennis Walks and the Spanish Town-based toaster I Roy. The first volume of the Dub Conference series, made with King Tubby, has stripped-down cuts of some of Mudie’s greatest productions, including ‘Lorna’s Dance,’ a percussion and horns take of ‘Caught You In A Lie’, and a strings cut of the Heptones’ ‘Love Without Feeling.’ Excellent!

Pt. 6 of the 'Dub me crazy' series by Mad Professor. Reggae meets twisted electronics for wild dub trips!

Originally released in 1986 on the same Ariwa imprint. True D.I.Y. business from this UK dub pioneer.

Scientist was only 20 years old when, working with fellow producer “Junjo” Lawes, came up with this stunner, a sinuous groove party with cartoonlike special effects (a lots of bongs and boings like pans hitting one another, blips and squeals that sound like a Pac-Man game). All the “song” titles are references to boxing (a motif that Scientist was obviously mining for all it was worth), and all are great individual bits of dub sound that cohere into a meaningful whole.

One of the most popular and high profile of Jamaican reggae vocalists, Gregory Isaacs was a rough diamond who clawed his way out of the harsh western Kingston ghetto with an instantly recognisable voice that was wonderfully emotive, expressing both his toughness and determination for betterment, as well as the bleeding heart of a vulnerable lover. New Dance is one of the excellent mid-1990s dancehall albums expertly produced by Anthony Dehaney, alias Bunny Gemini, working as usual with the Firehouse Crew, this time with Fatman Thompson of King Tubby’s studio at the mixing desk and guitarist Lascelles Beckford of the Gifted Roots band as special guest. As usual, Gregory rides the rhythms with considerable aplomb, feeling completely natural atop the hard-edged rhythms and tackling a range of topics along the way. Much of the album deals with love lost, love gained, and love deferred; ‘Say A Special Prayer’ revamps the evergreen ‘Send Me The Pillow That You Dream On’ and ‘New Dance’ salutes the allure of dancehall music in the open air. This is one of Mr Isaacs’ better offerings from the mid-1990s, worth getting to know if you’re not already familiar with it, and a must-have if you’ve worn out your original copy.

“Best Dressed Chicken in Town” is the debut album by Jamaican deejay Dr. Alimantado. It was first released in 1978, and collects many of his self-produced singles from 1972 to 1977, employing the engineering talents of Lee Perry, King Tubby, and Scientist.

It was the first album released by Greensleeves Records, and found favour with followers of both reggae and punk rock in the United Kingdom. The album employed several major hits as the basis for the tracks, including Horace Andy's versions of "Ain't No Sunshine" (on the title track) and "A Quiet Place" ("Poison Flour" and "I Shall Fear No Evil"), John Holt's "Ali Baba" ("I Killed the Barber"), and Gregory Isaacs' "Thief a Man" (on "Gimmie Mi Gun") and "My Religion" ("Unitone Skank"). The album was described by The Independent as "one of the finest albums from reggae's golden age".

The front cover photography is credited to D.K. James and the back cover artwork and photography to David Hendley.

Fully remastered and licensed, ltd to 500 copies. Welcome to the realm of creator and mentor Michael Wadada, the man behind the exotic manoeuvres of Suns of Arqa, one of the most sought after world beat fusion project of the early eighties. His main goal was to increase the vibrations of classical Indian raga with the rhythms of Niyabinghi drumming, epitomized in England by contemporary dub producers. Released in 1980 on Manchester’s own Rock Steady Records, Revenge Of The Mozabites is an essential masterpiece paving the way for future over the border contamination. Deeply informed by cosmic mysticism the album still reverberates with the hidden sounds of earth & soul.

Originally released in 1978 "Leggo Dub" produced by Ossie Hibbert is one of the iconic dub albums of the seventies. Seen as the dub companion to Gregory's classic "Mr. Isaacs" album it boasts six mind-expanding Cool Ruler dub treatments plus four further speaker-shakers to showcase the Revolutionaries in full effect. Now re-released in finest remastered sound quality on VP Records’ sub-label 17 North Parade!

Rids the World of the Curse of the Vampires (1981) not only ably displays the mix masters varied approach of, but clocks in as one of his best outings! Scientist keeps things lively with plenty of reverb and echo-treated percussion, ghostly piano parts, video game sound effects, and other various wobbly interjections from the mixing board. And adding to the record’s expert evocation of the Halloween spirit are some fiendishly voiced intros, the cover art’s cartoon potpourri of horror film characters, and the dubious claim made in the liner notes that Scientist mixed it all at midnight on Friday the 13th (reach for the flashlights kids). Along with Keith Hundson’s Pick a Dub and Lee Perry’s Blackboard Jungle Dub, this excellent Scientist release is one of the essential dub albums available.

/ jammin / i shot the sherrif

The ‘3000 Volts of Holt’ album was the third in a series of records that launched John Holt into the UK charts in the 1970’s. To say that every home had a copy of a 1000 Volts and many 2000 Volts of Holt might be an overstatement but it certainly felt that way, as all good radio stations and parties seemed to have these tracks on permanent rotation.’3000 Volts of Holt’ was the more roots sounding of the three albums but still carried that sweetened string sound that set these recordings together.

Your opportunity to get this at HHV now. If you want it, order it. We will only stock this if you pre-order it. After your order it will be in stock within 2 weeks.

Anyone with a passing interest in music will have heard Bob Marley but anyone with a little more than a passing interest will be familiar with Lee Perry also known as ‘Scratch’ or ‘The Upsetter’. Now better known as a ’performance artist’ his antics and acrobatics on the international festival circuit have gained him a committed following eager to see what Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, now in his eighties, will dare to get up to next. However, throughout the sixties and seventies Scratch was the production genius behind some of the greatest, most complex, and seriously experimental music to ever come out of Jamaica… or anywhere else for that matter. He has made an indelible, incredible contribution to the development of reggae music as a producer, arranger, writer and (occasionally) singer and has been the inspiration behind innumerable developments in the genre In 1968 Scratch’s production of ‘Tighten Up’ with The Untouchables gave the name to Trojan Records’ hugely popular series of albums which were instrumental in crossing over the sound of real reggae to the mainstream audience. The following year the scintillating Upsetters instrumental Return Of Django reached Number Five in the UK National Charts.
His work with Bob Marley & The Wailers in the early seventies, rated by many cognoscenti as the trio’s strongest recordings, emphasised the deeper roots elements in their music and, paradoxically, paved the way for Bob Marley’s commercial crossover success later in the decade. His collaborations with King Tubby in 1973 culminated in ‘Upsetters 14 Dub Black Board Jungle’, one of the very first and perhaps the best ever dub album. Scratch’s production of Susan Cadogan’s interpretation of Millie Jackson’s version of Katie Love’s It Hurts So Good reached Number Four in the UK National Charts in 1975… the list goes on. ‘Genius’ is a much abused term too often used to describe the most mediocre of talents but Lee Perry is, beyond question, a genuine genius.
A renewed deal with Island Records in 1976 to release his productions internationally gave worldwide, high profile exposure to a number of albums emanating from Scratch’s legendary Black Ark studio. These included one of the most important and influential recordings in the complicated and convoluted history of Jamaican music, ranked by many as the greatest set Perry cut with a solo vocalist, George Faith’s ‘To Be A Lover’.

Get On Down presents an often overlooked crucial reggae release from the 1970s with Johnny Clarke’s “Rockers Time Now.” The record is a mix of covers and originals, including ethereal versions of the The Abyssinians “Satta Massagana” and “Declaration of Rights,” smash hits on the island just the year before. “Rockers Time Now” was first issued in 1976, Clarke had just been named artist of the year in Jamaica for the second year in a row. This is just one of three full lengths he released that year as this was a very prolific period for Clarke, in particular from 1974 onward when his output was directed by legendary producer Bunny Lee. The pairing resulted in a creative energy that resonates to this day. The release was recorded at Channel 1 with Bunny Lee producing, which of course means the band backing the popular Jamaican vocalist was The Aggrovators, which at the time included Robbie Shakespeare, Earl ""Chinna"" Smith, Augustus Pablo, and Aston “Family Man” Barrett. The release was mixed at King Tubby’s by Osbourne Ruddock…aka King Tubby. Crucial all the way around. Now is the time to rediscover a classic of the genre, “Rockers Time Now”.

Jahlin, whose real name is Colin Pitter, was born in Clarendon, Jamaica and moved to Canada in 1975 for his education. He graduated from high school majoring in welding in 1979 and began working as a welder in Toronto while pursuing his musical career. In 1980, Jahlin joined the reggae band Joshua on the recommendation of a fellow musician, Gregory Frank. Later, he recorded his first single "Roots Reality" under his own label, Black Echo. Jahlin's "Roots Reality" is a roots reggae song that was originally released on the Roots Reality label in 1983. Overall, "Roots Reality" is a powerful roots reggae song that showcases Jahlin's talent as a singer and songwriter, as well as his commitment to spreading messages through his music. Its particularity is the addition of violin which is rarely heard in roots reggae music.

10 tracks

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2023!

Toots and the Maytals' Funky Kingston is a brilliant reggae album and suitable for both beginners as for experienced listeners. The album was released twice and with so much success that it charted in the Billboard 200 and eventually made it to the Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

“Skinhead Revolt” by Joe The boss aka Joe Mansano was first released in 1970 on the Trojan sublabel Joe as a B side to the track “Tony B’s Theme” by Joey’s All Stars. “The Thief” was released in 1969 on the Joe Label with the track “Gun The Man Down” by Dice The Boss on the flip. “Gun The Man Down” is also being repressed by us on a separate single. Both titles are British Boss Reggae classics that are very much demand.