When Rock Met Reggae - by Steven Blush (Paperback)

About the Book

A follow up to When Rock Met Disco - exploring the intersection of the two genres, covering Bob Marley, The Police, The Clash, the ska revival, Don Letts introduction of reggae to punk bands, and the "dub" techniques on rock records originated by reggae artists.

Book Synopsis

In When Rock Met Reggae, Steven Blush takes a spirited, cross-genre perspective in this "illuminating chronicle" (Booklist) of the crossover of Jamaican, British, and American sounds that changed the face of popular music. Library Journal notes that "Blush's nimble outline of the interplay between reggae and British punk will appeal to music fans."

Bringing the same incisive, cross-genre perspective he offered in When Rock Met Disco, Steven Blush gives a spirited survey of the crossover of Jamaican, British, and American sounds that changed the face of popular music in When Rock Met Reggae. The inspiration of ska, rock-steady, dub, and reggae--heard on independent recordings played on "soundsystems" from Kingston and Brixton--created a new rock tonality and attitude, spanning from Eric Clapton to The Clash. Meanwhile, the "Two Tone" sounds--traversing The Specials, Madness, and UB40--fueled the '90s ska revival of Sublime, No Doubt, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and beyond. Attentive to the racial, political, and artistic aspects of this intricate story, Blush gives a memorable account of one of the most fertile cross-pollinations in pop music history.

Review Quotes

Reggae may have started in Kingston, Jamaica, but according to Blush, it didn't truly spread around the world until waves of Jamaicans began emigrating to England in the late 1950s. Reggae, he maintains, "spoke in a language that upstart youth could identify with: fierce lyrics, anti-fashion, DIY attitude, and a radical fight for freedom." Blush discusses the roots of reggae before turning to the many sounds of Bob Marley, Millie Small, Prince Buster, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, and Desmond Dekker. He then tackles the various forms of reggae, including dub, rock-reggae, and punk-reggae, the latter perhaps best exemplified by the Clash (Joe Strummer and Mick Jones went to Jamaica to write the songs on their second album, Give Em Enough Rope). As musicians on both sides of the Atlantic experimented with reggae, including the Police, Blondie, and Elvis Costello, such 2 Tone label artists as the Specials, the Selecter, the English Beat, and UB40 blended punk, rock, reggae, and ska into a unique sound. Blush's illuminating chronicle ends with an annotated playlist featuring the backstories of classic recordings.

Veteran rock writer Blush demonstrates the connection between '70s British punk and Jamaican reggae. The author explains modern Jamaican music and its significant proponents: the upbeat, calypso-/mento-influenced ska promoted by the sound systems of Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid; the more restrained, smoother rock steady of Jimmy Cliff; the pounding-bass, scratchy-guitar, Rastafarian-based reggae of Bob Marley and Toots and the Maytals; and the remixed, distorted, echo-laden dub pioneered by King Tubby. Blush highlights the importance of record labels such as Chris Blackwell's Island Records in disseminating Jamaican music to British rock acts, including Eric Clapton, Led Zeppelin, and especially punkers such as the Sex Pistols' Johnny Rotten and the Clash's Joe Strummer, who embraced reggae as another form of rebel music. He also describes the emergence of ska in Great Britain with the Specials, the Selector, and the English Beat. He concludes with the backstories of pivotal reggae/rock songs and a list of reggae films, such as The Harder They Come (1972), which popularized the genre...Blush's nimble outline of the interplay between reggae and British punk will appeal to music fans.

About the Author

STEVEN BLUSH has written seven books about rock and pop culture, including, most recently, When Rock Met Disco: The Story of How The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, KISS, Queen, Blondie and More Got Their Groove On in the Me Decade.