| Rockers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Soundtrack album by Various Artists | |
| Released | 1979 |
| Recorded | Various |
| Genre | Reggae |
| Label | Island Mango Records |
Rockers is the soundtrack to the 1978 film of the same name. It was released in 1979 by Mango Records and includes some of the songs heard in the film by Jamaican reggae musicians such as Junior Murvin, Bunny Wailer, Burning Spear, Peter Tosh and Jacob Miller. [1] [2] In 2024, Rolling Stone magazine named Rockers the 52nd greatest soundtrack of all time. [3]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |  [1] |
| Robert Christgau | B+ [4] |
| The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |  [5] |
| MusicHound Soundtracks | [2] |
| The New Rolling Stone Record Guide | [6] |
| Martin C. Strong | 9/10 [7] |
Martin C. Strong called the album "one of the best samplers of 70s reggae on the market, with an iconoclastic, end-of-an era feel". [7] MusicHound Soundtracks opined that it is "a fine collection of artists and tunes," with "many of the giants of contemporary reggae," as well as "some lesser-known talents". [2] Robert Christgau wrote: "First side's a smart reggae compilation, [...] side two's just honorable soundtrack". [4] AllMusic claimed that "the soundtrack remains one of the most diverse yet coherent albums of the roots age". [1]
Note: Some versions replace "Man in the Street" with "Dread Lion" by Lee Perry & the Upsetters.
The following songs are heard in the film, but were not included in the released soundtrack album:
Natty Dread is the seventh album by Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in 1974. Previously Marley had recorded with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer as the Wailers, and this was his first record without them.
Legalize It is the debut studio album by Jamaican singer-songwriter and former Wailer Peter Tosh, released in June 1976. It was recorded at Treasure Isle and Randy's, Kingston.
Burnin' is the sixth album by Jamaican reggae group the Wailers, released in October 1973. It was written by all three members and recorded and produced by the Wailers in Jamaica, contemporaneously with tracks from the Catch a Fire album with further recording, mixing and completion while on the Catch a Fire tour in London. It contains the song "I Shot the Sheriff". It was the last album before Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer decided to pursue solo careers, while continuing their local releases through their company Tuff Gong Records. A commercial and critical success in the United States, Burnin' was certified Gold and later added to the National Recording Registry, with the Library of Congress deeming it historically and culturally significant.
Catch a Fire is the fifth studio album by the reggae band The Wailers, released in April 1973. It was their first album released by Island Records. After finishing a UK tour with Johnny Nash, they had started laying down tracks for JAD Records when a disputed CBS contract with Danny Sims created tensions. The band did not have enough money to return to Jamaica, so their road manager Brent Clarke approached producer Chris Blackwell, who agreed to advance The Wailers money for an album. They instead used this money to pay their fares back home, where they completed the recordings that constitute Catch a Fire. The album has nine songs, two of which were written and composed by Peter Tosh; the remaining seven were by Bob Marley. While Bunny Wailer is not credited as a writer, the group's writing style was a collective process. For the immediate follow-up album, Burnin', also released in 1973, he contributed four songs. After Marley returned with the tapes to London, Blackwell reworked the tracks at Island Studios, with contributions by Muscle Shoals session musician Wayne Perkins, who played guitar on three overdubbed tracks. The album had a limited original release under the name The Wailers in a sleeve depicting a Zippo lighter, designed by graphic artists Rod Dyer and Bob Weiner; subsequent releases had an alternative cover designed by John Bonis, featuring an Esther Anderson portrait of Marley smoking a "spliff", and crediting the band as Bob Marley and the Wailers.
Rastaman Vibration is the eighth studio album by Jamaican reggae band Bob Marley and the Wailers, released in April 1976.
Bob Marley and the Wailers were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer.
Jacob Miller was a Jamaican reggae artist and Rastafari from Mandeville, Jamaica. His first recording session was with the producer Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd in the late 1960s. While pursuing a solo career, he became the lead singer for Inner Circle, a Jamaican roots reggae band. Miller recorded and toured with Inner Circle before he died in a car crash in early 1980 at age 27.
Equal Rights is the second studio album by Peter Tosh. It was released in 1977 on Columbia Records.
Mystic Man is the fourth studio album by Peter Tosh. All songs were composed by Peter Tosh. It was released in 1979 by Rolling Stones Records, EMI, and Intel Diplo.
King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown is a dub studio album by Augustus Pablo and King Tubby, released in 1976. It features Carlton Barrett on drums, Robbie Shakespeare and Aston Barrett on bass guitar, and Earl "Chinna" Smith on guitar. Pablo produced the album and played melodica, piano, organ and clavinet. All sessions with the musicians were recorded at Randy's studio in Kingston, Jamaica, and then Pablo took the tapes to King Tubby for mixing. The album has been released on several different labels, often with slightly different artworks and track lists.
Heartbeat Records is an independent record label based in Burlington, Massachusetts. The label specializes in Jamaican music.
Rockers is a 1978 Jamaican film by Theodoros Bafaloukos. Several popular reggae artists star in the movie, including Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Burning Spear, Gregory Isaacs, Big Youth, Dillinger, Robbie Shakespeare, and Jacob Miller.
Carlton "Santa" Davis is a musician from Jamaica, primarily known for his drumming with bands such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Aggrovators, Soul Syndicate and Roots Radics. He has worked with reggae artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, Big Youth, The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Andrew Tosh, Wailing Souls, Ini Kamoze, Big Mountain, Michael Rose, and Ziggy Marley.
Wayne Jobson, also known as Native Wayne, is a Jamaican record producer of European ancestry. He has worked with such artists as No Doubt, Gregory Isaacs and Toots & the Maytals. He hosts the weekly radio show "Alter Native" every Sunday afternoon on Indie 103.1. He previously hosted a similar radio show, "Reggae Revolution", at Indie's main competitor KROQ-FM. Jobson is also known as a musician. He recorded an album in 1977 produced by Lee 'Scratch' Perry at the Black Ark.
Leroy Smart is a reggae singer-songwriter and record producer from Kingston, Jamaica.
Andrew Tosh is a Jamaican reggae singer and the son of Peter Tosh. He is the nephew of reggae singer Bunny Wailer, also an original member of the Wailers. Andrew has a strong vocal resemblance to his late father and like his father, rides the unicycle.
Neville O'Riley Livingston, known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he is considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music. He was also known as Jah B, Bunny O'Riley, and Bunny Livingston.
Winston Hubert McIntosh, professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963–1976), after which he established himself as a successful solo artist and a promoter of Rastafari. He was murdered in 1987 during a home invasion.
