1977: A HISTORY OF REGGAE AND PUNK – PART 2

Johnny Rotten

Johnny Rotten X U Roy

The Police X Steel Pulse

1977 saw two symbolic milestones in the punk / reggae collaboration, as Bob Marley released the song “Punky Reggae Party,” and The Clash released their eponymous debut album, featuring the Junior Murvin song “Police and Thieves.”

By 1978, Johnny Rotten was in Jamaica scouting artists for a fledgling Virgin Records, and the reggae tune “Uptown Top Ranking” had risen to number one on U.K. charts. The reggae / punk collaboration had become the mainstream.

Linton Kwesi Johnson X John Cooper Carke

Tappa Zukie X Patti Smith X Don Letts

Don Letts X Ari Up

The Clash X Mikey Dread

Basement 5

The essential common ground between punks and rastas gave birth to a rich culture of rebellion and innovation. Indeed, the DIY principles which empowered the punks to break free from economic and ideological ties to conformity bear a striking resemblance to the self reliant doctrine of Marcus Garvey.

Misty In Roots

Basement 5

New Age Steppers

Creation Rebel X New Age Steppers

Anti Social Workers

Big Audio Dynamite

Jello Biafra X H.R. X Olga De Volga

Henry Rollins X H.R.

Although the explicit artistic collaboration between punk and reggae fizzled out in the ‘80’s, the marriage of the two lifestyles was to remain permanent. Bands like Culture Club and The Police took the sound commercial without the focus on politics and lifestyle, but other bands like PIL, New Age Steppers, Big Audio Dynamite, The Bad Brains, Operation Ivy, The Mescaleros and the Two Tone movement carried the torch for the nascent political and cultural movement spawned from the exchange between reggae and punk.

Big Up McLean Gordon!

Brand New Heavies ft Grand Puba, Masta Ace & Main Source

Grand Puba

360 (What Goes Around)

Masta Ace

Me And The Biz

Large Professor

Just Hangin’ Out

1977: A HISTORY OF REGGAE AND PUNK – PART 1

Big Youth X Johnny Rotten

1977 marks the year when the two sevens clashed. On July 7th that year, daily routine in the city of Kingston ground to a halt. Babylon took note.

While the Rastafarian message was making itself heard in Jamaica, punks in England stirred their own disruption to give the authorities pause.

The punks and the rastas united in their disillusionment and set out to build a new world from the ruins of colonialism. Lacking means to influence politics directly, it was their way of life, their style and their music which gave form to the shared instinctive sense that somehow the powers that be were not serving their interests.

Originating from traditional calls for social justice and the teachings of Marcus Garvey, Rastafarianism found musical expression in reggae. To voice their own creative renunciation, punks at first used stripped-down rock music as the soundtrack for rebellion, but it didn’t take long for the punks to incorporate reggae with their sound.

Don Letts X Bob Marley

The Roxy Club

Punks at the Roxy Club in London listened to reggae played by house DJ Don Letts. The location of the Roxy Club had previously been home to a late-night bar called the Chaguaramas Club, owned by reggae producer Tony Ashfield. The roots of punk were inextricably tied to London’s reggae community.

Reggae in ‘70’s London was largely associated with the community of Caribbean immigrants which had settled there after World War 2. These immigrants shared housing developments and factories with their conservative-minded, working-class British peers.

As far back as the teddy boy subculture of the ‘50’s, urbanized teenaged Anglos had been using style and music to define themselves. The first teenaged English rebels prioritized drinking, partying and looking sharp. The mods and the skinheads would have all listened to ska and rocksteady love songs played by Jamaican immigrants in their working-class neighborhoods.

By the mid ‘70’s, increasingly difficult economic conditions had driven a generation of anarchist and art school kids to reject the establishment entirely. For the earliest punks, anarchism was a sort of posturing tailored to shock. For some, this posturing evolved into an ethos and lifestyle. Increasingly aware of their radical politics, punks could relate to reggae and rasta culture’s opposition to racism, war, organized religion, and the global capitalist-industrial system.

The Clash

The Ruts

Stay tuned for part 2!

DOPE DANCEHALL ZINE

Special New York edition

>> Exclusive interviews with: Shaggy, Dre Skull, Clive Chin, Rayvon…
>> Large Up choosing their top spots to eat Caribbean in NY
>> Design by Smutlee
>> NY shop Deadly Dragon profiling artists’ very first records
>> Feature on brand Rockers NYC
>> Discussing Life & Debt 10 years on with film-maker Stephanie Black
….and a whole load more!

www.shimmyshimmy.co.uk

BIG UP THE LARGE!!
Good looking out!

Swiss producer Wildlife! recently dropped his bass-heavy debut album highlighting the cross pollination of punk rock and reggae. Roxy Reboot—the title a reference to the legendary London club that was ground zero of the late 70‘s punk/reggae exchange— is released digitally and on limited edition gatefold vinyl. Wildlife! created electronic versions of reggae classics featuring the original veterans of London’s late 70’s punk scene, and punk covers by current Jamaican dancehall acts.

LISTEN TO THE FULL ALBUM ON SOUNDCLOUD
Tracklist:

Buy: Bandcamp / iTunes / Beatport / Amazon

Ryan McGinley

Major Lazer

Savage Skulls & Douster

El Perro Del Mar