Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use the word "reggae", effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, and evolved out of the earlier genres ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political commentary. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.
Winston Rodney OD, better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots artists to emerge from the 1970s.
Studio One is one of Jamaica's most renowned record labels and recording studios; it has been described as the Motown of Jamaica. The record label was involved with most of the major music movements in Jamaica during the 1960s and 1970s, including ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall.
Edward O'Sullivan Lee OD, better known as Bunny "Striker" Lee, was a Jamaican record producer.
Donat Roy Mittoo, better known as Jackie Mittoo, was a Jamaican-Canadian keyboardist, songwriter and musical director. He was a member of The Skatalites and musical director of the Studio One record label.
Rocking Time is a reggae album by Jamaican musician Burning Spear, released in 1974 on the Studio One label.
Leroy Sibbles is a Jamaican reggae musician and producer. He was the lead singer for The Heptones in the 1960s and 1970s.
Winston Sparkes, better known as King Stitt, was a Jamaican pioneer DJ.
Creation Rebel is a 2004 compilation album by reggae artist Burning Spear.
Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace is a Jamaican drummer who worked for several years at Studio One, and has worked with numerous reggae artists including The Gladiators, Inner Circle, Prince Far I, Sound Dimension, Gregory Isaacs, Burning Spear, Ijahman Levi, Bruno Blum and Pierpoljak. He starred as himself in the lead role of the film Rockers. Wallace attended the Alpha Boys School in the 1960s and early 1970s, where he studied under Lennie Hibbert. Wallace also joined The Skatalites when they reformed in the mid-1970s. Wallace has been credited with inventing the 'Rockers' rhythm.
The Heptones are a Jamaican rocksteady and reggae vocal trio most active in the 1960s and early 1970s. They were one of the more significant trios of that era, and played a major role in the gradual transition between ska and rocksteady into reggae with their three-part harmonies. The Heptones were contemporaries of the Wailers and the Maytals, and every bit their equal in the mid-60's.
Johnny Osbourne is one of the most popular Jamaican reggae and dancehall singers of all time, who rose to success in the late 1970s and mid-1980s. His album Truths and Rights was a roots reggae success, and featured "Jah Promise" and the album's title track, "Truths and Rights".
Joseph "Jo Jo" Hoo Kim was a Jamaican reggae record producer best known for his productions in the 1970s at his Channel One Studios.
Alpha Cottage School was the name of the vocational residential school on South Camp Road in Kingston, Jamaica, still run by Roman Catholic nuns. Established in 1880 as a "school for wayward boys", it became renowned for both the discipline it instilled in its pupils and the outstanding musical tuition they received. In 2014 Alpha's residence closed and the school continued as Alpha Institute to focus on educational and vocational training for inner city unattached youth.
"Real Rock" is an instrumental reggae song by Jamaican band Sound Dimension. It was recorded in 1967 at Jamaica Recording Studio in Kingston, Jamaica, and released as a single in 1968 through Studio One. The song was produced by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd and performed by Eric Frater (guitar), Boris Gardiner (bass), Phil Callender (drums), Denzel Laing (percussion), Vin Gordon (trombone) and Jackie Mittoo (keyboards), who played the riddim's signature three-note Hammond organ figure.
The In Crowd are a popular Jamaican reggae showband who had their commercial peak in the late 1970s, best known for the singles "We Play Reggae" and "Back a Yard". They split up in the 1980s but reformed in 2014 to record a new album.
What Kind of World is the debut album from Jamaican vocal trio The Cables. It was released in 1970 by Studio One, and collects tracks from singles the group recorded for the label. Backing was provided by Studio One house band the Soul Vendors, which included musicians such as Jackie Mittoo, Eric Frater, and Leroy Sibbles. The album has been described as "a masterpiece of early reggae", and "the most perfect of Studio One vocal albums".
Right Time is the 1976 studio album debut of influential reggae band the Mighty Diamonds. The album, released by Virgin Records after they signed the Mighty Diamonds following a search for talent in Jamaica, is critically regarded as a reggae classic, a landmark in the roots reggae subgenre. Several of the album's socially conscious songs were hits in the band's native Jamaica, with a few becoming successful in the UK underground. Influential and sometimes unconventional, the album helped secure the success of recording studio Channel One Studios, and rhythm team Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.
Soul Syndicate, originally called the Rhythm Raiders, were one of the top reggae session bands in Jamaica from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s.
Skylarking is the debut studio album by Horace Andy. It was released on Studio One in 1972. Not to be confused with his later album, also titled Skylarking, released in 1996. The backing band was Sound Dimension - Coxsone Dodd's studio band, led by Leroy Sibbles.
