Rub a dub dub
Take a seat in your favorite couch, grab your papers and 'erbs, and get rolling.
Make sure to have a nice smoke before you start listening to these songs. Trust me, you'll thank me later.
Some call dub, other people say roots, other roots-reggae, and some call it ska.
I'll call it old-school reggae to make it even more confusing.
9: The Jah Boys - African People
I've spent months trying to find more information about this band. And what their story is. Sadly enough I managed to fail miserably on that quest. Please, if anyone has ANY information at all about the Jah Boys, please let me know in the comments.
The song has been done my many different artists, but I love this version the most.
8: The Upsetters - Underground
The Upsetters is the original house band from the legendary producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry. Scratch's nickname was 'the upsetter', hence the name of the band.
This song was featured on the album 'Super Ape'. Which is, in my humble opinion, one of the greatest dub albums in existence.
7: Delroy Wilson - Adisababa
This tune uses the riff of 'The house of the rising sun', with Delroy's own lyrics on it.
It's a bit surreal to hear a typical sixties rock hit in a reggae version. Defininitely worth a listen!
6: Augustus Pablo - 1-2-3 Version
The melodica king strikes again with an amazing instrumental. This is the perfect song to light a big fat blunt and smoke it 'till you drop.
The bassline is like getting hit in the face with a brick. Just brilliant.
Give me a shoutout in the comments if you're old enough to know what a melodica is!
5: The Heptones - Babylon falling
Contemporaries of the great reggae band The Wailers, and at that time definitely the equals of them.
The wailers obviously got famous with good ol' Bob. But the Heptones also had a good career that lasted until the end of the seventies.
4: Linton Kwesi Johnson - The eagle and the bear
This older song from 1984 was created during the height of the cold war. Linton criticizes the nuclear threat and accuses both the USA and USSR of creating a feeling of fear in the people.
Apart from the political statement, it's without a doubt one of the greatest dub/reggae songs ever made.
3: Jacob Miller - Dreada Dread
This song will get stuck in your head right away, especially if you're just blazing it up.
Cmon... All together now, dread dread dreada dread ....dread dread dreada dread ....
2: Max Romeo - Chase the devil
This song became really famous after The Prodigy used it in one of their earlier tracksong 'out of space'. But even before that, it was a proper reggae hit.
The song is from arguably his best album called 'War ina Babylon' which was created with legendary producer Lee 'Scratch' Perry.
1: Linton Kwesi Johnson - Fite dem back
This song from the seventies was a Linton making a stand against fascism. Even until today, the song is a political statement against racism and fascism.
With the current trend towards extreme right wing feelings, this song is just as relevant as it was in the seventies.
This is my absolute favorite old-school reggae/roots/dub (whatever you want to call it) track.
The power and rhythm just flow great and the lyrics make it into a massive protest song!
And the legend himself did this amazing live version. More of a fast ska, jungle rhythm in this one. Absolutely stunning! Wish I was at that concert.