The reissue of Steve Barrow’s brilliant, powerhouse selection for Blood And Fire.

Tough Niney rhythms — for the likes of Dennis Brown and The Heptones — laid down by Soul Syndicate, Philip Smart and Errol T, mixed by King Tubby.
(Castro Brown added a couple of Cimarrons dubs, courtesy of Syd Bucknor in Chalk Farm, when he let off a couple of hundred whites in 1977: the last two tracks here.)
Santa Davis on drums — those flying hi-hats copped off Earl Young in Philadelphia — and Tubbys at the controls…
Pure fire.

Brilliant, heavyweight, daft-as-a-brush Niney. Genius.

Tough dub counterpart to The Heptones’ Better Days set.

A staggering haul. One Train Load of murder.
Fire bunn!

The Ethiopians’ Slave Call LP and two Freddie McGregors — Mr McGregor and Showcase aka Lover’s Rock Jamaica Style — plus a dazzling haul of singles from 1978, revealing Niney at the peak of his genius, and easily worth the dough by themselves.

Niney and Tubby’s dubs from 45s, 1976-1978. Total murder. Heavyweight genius.

The Buster selection we’d been waiting for.
A terrific haul of rare and unreleased sides; rocksteady gold, from start to finish.
Macka Osaka connoisseurship.

A storming selection, warmly endorsed by Honest Jons old boy Steve Barrow: ‘Many unreleased and alternate versions of prime-quality ska, produced by a founding father of the genre, featuring great Jamaican musicians like Baba Brooks, Roland Alphonso and Raymond Harper, and various permutations of the premiere group of musicians collectively known as the Skatalites. It includes in-demand collector’s items like the Spanish Town Skabeats’ Stop That Train. All tracks are taken directly from tape. This release is truly a feast for lovers of ska, and Jamaican R&B in general.’

It was Prince Buster who convinced a reluctant Melodisc lawyer to give the go ahead to our London Is The Place For Me series, nearly twenty years ago.

Characteristically bootin’, irresistible version of Huey Smith’s millions-selling New Orleans R&B smash. (What a monster 45 that was, double-headed with Don’t You Just Know It. Huey and his Clowns, fronted by drag queen Bobby Marchan.)
With a spirited Derrick & Patsy duet on the flip, enlivened by handclap percussion.

Pure fire.