Ska & Reggae Classics

[xmontrealer]

Being a Manitoba raised white kid my exposure to ska and reggae music was extremely limited.

The first mildly Jamaican influenced song that got radio play in my city was "hold Me Tight" by Johnny Nash, in 1968.

It quickly became one of my favorite songs, especially since to this day I connect it with the girl I probably should have married, who I was dating at the time...

 

[xmontrealer]

Next, in 1969, was "The Israelites", by Desmond Dekker & The Aces, in 1969.

Interestingly some said the lyrics included the phrase "my wife and my kids they fuck off and leave me", but that was a misinterpretation, and it did get a lot of airplay...

However, as can be seen in the video, the phrase actually is "my wife and my kids they pack up and leave me"

 

[xmontrealer]

But it wasn't until I had moved to Montreal, and the movie "The Harder They Come" with Jimmie Cliff and many other Jamaican stars was released in 1972, that I was really exposed to ska and reggae. I was one of the very few white guys in the audience at the Van Horne Cinema that evening during its first run, and it was the only English language movie I had seen up to that time that had English subtitles...

 

[xmontrealer]

So here we go with some of my ska & reggae favourites, in no particular order, not even chronologically.

Most of them are classics, and I don't have many more recent than the ones I am posting here.

I may alternate ska & reggae tunes, but not always...

Ska from Bob Marley:

 

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"I Am Going Home"

 

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[Fun For All]

 

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[Fun For All]

 

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[Fun For All]

 

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[Fun For All]

 

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