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"Out of many, one..." - Punk Rock


Unlike the previous two posts, reggae isn't the sole influence on today's genre. Reggae and punk rock shared many characteristic in rebel music, sound of the revolution and great support by the common man fighting for rights. Not only did they share a mentality, there were many crossovers musically.

'70s Britain was a tumultuous time; a credit boom-and-bust, public sector strikes and long-haired hippies in the swinging 60's were replaced by brash, punk rockers with dyed mohawks, bleached jeans and other shocking outfits. Similarly, Jamaica had moved on from their own smiley, happy-go-lucky ska to a slowed down, more political-driven with a afro-centric Rastafarian consciousness genre which became known as reggae.

The rebellious attitude of punk rockers mirrored those of Jamaicans going through problems with crime, politics and political crime, famously evidenced by the shooting of Bob Marley before the Smile Jamaica concert (allegedly). The Clash - dubbed "The only band that matters - were admirers of Jamaican music as noted when they covered Junior Murvin's timeless "Police and Thieves". Lee "Scratch" Perry ("Complete Control") and Mikey Dread were amongst Jamaican collaborators over the course of their career. 1980 recording "Bankrobber" is pure reggae.



Delving deeper into both ska and reggae on their critically-acclaimed third album, London Calling (named best album of the 1980s by Rolling Stone magazine). Taking on themes of rising unemployment, revolution and police brutality. Jamaican music influences can be found on "London Calling", "Guns of Brixton" and "Revolution Rock". The album surpassed 5 million sales and voted 8th out of 500 greatest albums of all-time



"Guns of Brixton" distinct reggae bassline has been sampled by Norman Cook a.k.a. Fatboy Slim on Beats International electronic number one single "Dub Be Good To Me" (1990) and on UK rapper Professor Green's top five hit "Just Be Good To Green" featuring Lily Allen on chorus duties. We'll be back to Lily Allen a bit later.



Rizzle Kicks recently sampled "Revolution Rock" on top ten hit "When I Was A Youngster" I mentioned earlier.
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