Reggae


 * "At least half of every programme I do should be filled by reggae records.." (Peel, 27 October 1980)
 * "Life would be even more of a bleak business than it is already without the Regs." (1980)

Peel and Reggae
John Peel had a profound love of reggae and was one of the foremost promoters of black music throughout the majoirty of his Radio 1 career, despite erroneous claims to the contrary by Julie Burchill among others. Many discovered Culture, Misty, Steel Pulse, Dr Alimantado, Lee Scratch Perry, the Mad Scientist, the Professor through John, not forgetting Linton Kwesi Johnson, the late Michael Smith and so many more.

It seems beyond reasonable dispute that his fascination with the genre started at the end of the 1960s and John Peel's Record Box has 5 or 6 Lee Scratch Perry productions. We know he owned some early reggae as it came to light when searching for a Little Richard cover - he played an unidentified track by Carl Bryan on Treasure Island from 1969.

thumb|right|250px|[[Andy Capp: Popatop (7 inch) Treasure Isle UK Peel's first reggae play was later a Peelenium choice for 1969. It also turned up in John Peel's Record Box.]]

In the course of the 04 October 2001 show, he is somewhat miffed by the inaccuracies in a new book on reggae he has just received, which, apart from calling him an "ageing ex-hippy" with an "abrasively left of centre programme", minimises his playing of reggae in the punk era. Peel reminds the author, amongst other things, that he began to promote reggae on his show Top Gear in 1969, and proudly spins the first one he played:


 * "There haven't been many better records than that, in fact."

Peel's championing of reggae was criticised by some hippies and then some punks, but the more hostile the reaction, the more Peel would play it, and the juxtaposition of different genres of music on his show inspired groups such as the Clash to experiment with different styles. In fact, JP's somewhat bullish attitude to the genre is comparable with his adoration for the Fall, in that he could not understand why some people did not like it.

Peelenium
He appears to have remembered this for the Peelenium and Popatop is there in 1969. Then from 1973 to 1979 there is a reggae track featured almost every year: The Wailers with Duppy Conqueror in 1973, Burning Spear with Slavery Days in 1975, Croaking Lizard by The Upsetters in 1976, Shoplifting by The Slits in 1977[reggae or not? discuss!], See Them A-Come - Culture in 1978, and Mankind by Misty in 1979. Then its Culture with Lion Rock in 1982, Capture Rasta in 1986. Dreadzone feature with Zion Youth in 1995.

Festive Fifty
In 1976, Bob Marley & The Wailers featured in the first Festive Fifty at No.32 with No Woman No Cry.

The 1977 Festive Fifty featured many reggae tracks from the previous year: Althea and Donna with crossover hit Uptown Top Ranking at number 2, Culture, Marley, Peter Tosh, and Jah Woosh also present. King Short Shirt represented the calypso sound also popular in Jamaica at the time.

Moreover, at Number 13 was the mysterious J.Ayes and Rankin Trevor with Truly.Edit There seems to be some confusion surround the actual name of the artists behind the classic Reggae track. Original scans of an early 1977 releases of the vinyl show the artist as being "J. Ayes and Ranking Trevor", but a more official 1978 release of the song lists the artist as "JAYES". Despite this evidence to the contrary, it seems as though the popular Jamaican trio The Jays were actually behind the song. Documented as working on the song with Ranking Trevor, the song appears on many compilation albums along with another popular collaboration Ya Ho. It seems highly likely that the early pressings of Truly contained a simple misprint that even survived attempts to correct it, providing more confusion for collectors. Subsequent entries in the charts were sporadic, notable exceptions being the Nautral Ites' Picture On The Wall (1983 Festive Fifty and Culture's Lion Rock, taken from one of their Peel sessions (2000 Festive Fifty, All-Time).

Misty and British Reggae
Jon Dennis, The Peel Detective, in an article in The Guardian, October 12, 2005: reprints a list of twenty albums formerly chosen by Peel as being his favourite. The majestic Misty in Roots are number 5 with Live At Counter Eurovision:

''Misty were not even popular among some reggae purists, as they were based in Britain and not Jamaica. A quote from Live at the Counter Eurovision was included on the order of service at Peel's funeral: "When we trod this land, we walk for one reason ... to try to help another man think for himself. The music of our hearts is roots music, music which recalls history, because without the knowledge of your history, you cannot turn in your destiny: the music about the present, because if you are not conscious about the present, you're like a cabbage in this society."''

The track also appears on John's Desert Island Discs. In fact John was a great fan of British reggae - Misty, Aswad, Steel Pulse, Matumbi, Benjamin Zephaniah, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Talisman, Black Roots were all played regularly and many did sessions. There were more like Carnastoan, Reggae Regular and Icarus. For a while punk and reggae were locked in unity on the Frontline. The Clash owed a great debt to their roots in Notting Hill squatting movement and Don Letts influence was strong as a DJ at early punk gigs. The story goes as no punk was available of vinyl they had to play reggae. The Slits and The Ruts were as reggae as punk got. Punky Reggae Party was as punky as reggae got. It is arguable that his consistent playing of the genre alongside punk that paved the way for the blue beat / ska revival of the late 70s. Many 2-Tone groups such as the Specials, Selecter and Beat recorded sessions.The Anti Nazi League and Rock Against Racism united punks and rastas in anti-fascism and drove the Nazis off the streets of England. Then Punk and Reggae was the soundtrack to the riots of angry youth in Brixton, Toxteth and St Pauls. LKJ added the commentary.

Later he championed the fusion of Dub with other traditions - Black Star Liner, Zion Train, Asian Dub Foundation and Dreadzone. He was also keen on crossover - when Reggae hit the mainstream and seemed to like helping hits on their way - he played Eddy Grant, Laurel and Hardy, Musical Youth, UB40, Smiley Culture, and Apache Indian. He was over the moon when Sugar Minott had an unexpected hit in the early 80s.

'John Peel was quoted as saying: "If anyone tells you that there is no such thing as good British reggae, first tell them that they are a herbert and then listen to Black Roots." John Peel's Radio 1 session, aired on 27 May, really helped the cause, with Confusion, What Them A Do, Chanting For Freedom and The Father performed live.'

Home Truths and Reggae
Linton Kwesi Johnson stood in for John on Home Truths and one of his recurring themes on that programme were stories about sightings of Haile Selassie, Ras Ta Fari, whilst he lived in exile in England.

Lost gems?
Keith was a friend who is credited with providing imports with off centre holes and dodgy pressings that improved the wobble. He must have been someone trusted to pass on the tracks that caught his hear and then Peel gave them an outing. Many remain obscure Jamaican imports and appear to be lost to the internet but have been saved for posterity by this wiki. A listing here of people's favourites and location on wiki may point people in the right direction for some hidden gems.

Peel's Reggae Sessions
Here is a list of Reggae Related Sessions: (including reggae influenced or even pre-Reggae ska and steel drums). I have identified 84 different sessions by one search through Ken Garner's session listing and even if you take out the Ruts and the Slits that some might dispute as being Reggae you are left with a major canon of work. I suspect there are more. They are concentrated around the late 70s and 80s and leave a record of British Reggae at a vibrant time. The arrival of dub through the likes of Dreadzone (prefigured by New Age Steppers) produced a late flowering in 90s. Although Peel did play DanceHall he wasn't an enthusiastic fan over lyrics that were based on toasters boasting of their sexual prowess and there are no examples of their work here.

(dates are recording, not broadcast dates)


 * Laurel Aitken 12/5/80
 * Amazulu 7/7/82 and 17/1/83
 * Aswad 2/9/76 and 18/12/78
 * Basement 5 28/4/80
 * Beat 5/11/79, 22/9/80 and 29/3/82
 * Black Roots 27/5/81 and 14/11/83
 * Black Star Liner 7/4/95, 7/10/97 and 9/2/99
 * Carnastoan 4/1/82 and 19/10/82
 * Centry 16/8/94
 * Cimarons 16/12/75 and 14/12/78
 * Conscious Sound Collective 7/9/96
 * Culture 11/1/83, 2/1/89 and 9/7/02
 * Dreadzone 7/1/94, 24/9/94 and 16/1/02
 * Eek-A-Mouse 17/10/83 and 26/6/84
 * Icarus 11/12/80
 * Gregory Isaacs and Roots Radics 5/11/81 and 6/12/82
 * Linton Kwesi Johnson 8/5/79 and 27/10/81
 * Laurel and Hardy 4/11/82
 * Mad Professor 4/10/82
 * Madness 27/8/79
 * Mangrove Steel Band 1/4/87
 * Bob Marley & The Wailers 1/5/73 and 26/11/73
 * Matumbi 3/5/78, and 13/11/78
 * Mikey Dread 23/8/82
 * Misty 13/6/79, 6/12/79, 29/9/80, 1/6/81, 3/1/83, 29/2/84, 20/5/85, 20/5/86 and 23/7/02
 * Musical Youth 29/4/81 and 28/9/82
 * Naturalites 13/6/83 and 11/6/85
 * New Age Steppers 18/8/83
 * Papa Levi 18/6/84
 * Maxi Priest 6/3/85
 * Prince Far I and Creation Rebel 16/6/78
 * Ragga Twins 16/6/91 and 23/2/92
 * Reggae Regular 3/7/78 and 10/10/78
 * Ruts 29/1/79, 21/5/79 and 18/2/80
 * Selecter 22/10/79 and 1/12/80
 * Slits 27/9/77, 22/5/78 and 26/10 81
 * Specials 29/5/79, 22/10/79, and 1/12/80
 * Steel Pulse 29/9/77, 27/4/78, 13/8/79, 7/5/80 and 6/1/82
 * Talisman 9/9/81
 * Twinkle Brothers 1/10/81
 * UB40 2/1/80 and 25/1/82
 * Wailing Souls 7/11/84