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How Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown Captures the Reggae-Punk Connection

If you want to understand how reggae influenced punk rock in the late 1970s, you need to listen to Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown. This compilation album, curated by Don Letts, features 16 tracks of classic roots reggae and dub that were played at London's Roxy Club, where Letts was the resident DJ. Letts introduced the likes of the Clash, Siouxsie Sioux, and the Sex Pistols to the sounds of Jamaica, and helped create a musical and cultural bridge between the two scenes.

In this article, we will explore the history and significance of Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown, and why it is still relevant today.

The Roxy Club and Don Letts

The Roxy Club was one of the first venues to host punk rock bands in London. It opened in December 1976, and for a few months, it was the epicenter of the emerging punk movement. Bands like the Clash, the Damned, Generation X, and Wire performed there regularly, and attracted a loyal and diverse crowd of fans.

Don Letts was a young filmmaker and music lover who had grown up listening to reggae in his West Indian family. He was friends with many punk musicians, and was hired as the DJ at the Roxy Club. He had a problem, though: he didn't have enough punk records to play. So he decided to fill the gaps with his own collection of reggae records.

To his surprise, the punk rockers loved it. They appreciated the rebellious spirit and social commentary of reggae, as well as its hypnotic rhythms and bass lines. They also related to the struggles and oppression faced by the Jamaican people, as they felt alienated and marginalized by British society. Reggae became an integral part of the punk soundtrack, and influenced many bands to incorporate elements of dub, ska, and rocksteady into their music.

Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown: The Tracklist

Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown was released in 2001 by Heavenly Records as part of their Social Classics series. It is a tribute to Don Letts' DJ sets at the Roxy Club, and features some of his favorite reggae tunes from that era. The tracklist includes legendary artists such as King Tubby, Big Youth, Junior Byles, Tapper Zukie, Jah Stitch, The Congos, U-Roy, Horace Andy, The Mighty Diamonds, Augustus Pablo, Culture, Sylford Walker, Junior Murvin, and Lee Perry.

The album covers a wide range of styles and themes within reggae music. There are heavy dub mixes by King Tubby and Tapper Zukie that showcase their studio wizardry and sonic experimentation. There are militant anthems by Big Youth and Culture that celebrate black pride and resistance. There are soulful ballads by Junior Byles and Horace Andy that express love and longing. There are spiritual hymns by The Congos and Sylford Walker that invoke Rastafari faith and prophecy. There are catchy hits by U-Roy and The Mighty Diamonds that appeal to a mass audience. And there are timeless classics by Augustus Pablo and Junior Murvin that transcend genres and boundaries.

The album also reflects the political and social context of the time. Many of the songs address issues such as colonialism, racism, poverty, violence, corruption, oppression, and injustice. These topics resonated with the punk rockers who were also facing discrimination, unemployment, boredom, frustration, and anger. They found inspiration and solidarity in reggae music, which offered a voice for the voiceless and a hope for change.

Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown: The Legacy

Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown is more than just a collection of great songs. It is a document of a historical moment when two musical cultures collided and created something new. It is a testament to the power of music to bridge gaps and break barriers. And it is a reminder of how reggae influenced punk rock in ways that are still felt today.

Many punk bands have acknowledged their debt to reggae music over the years. The Clash famously covered Junior Murvin's \\\"Police And Thieves\\\" on 248dff8e21