“The Greatest Songs Ever collection transports music lovers to exotic destinations via superbly selected sounds and cultural indulgences. Take an exhilarating musical trip to Jamaica…Invite some friends over, press play and enjoy the company of those you love until the early hours. Inspiration for this cool compilation comes from : ska, rock steady and reggae, Bob Marley and The Wailers, white sandy beaches, swaying palm strees, smiling faces…”

So reads the liner notes for the first in a spotlight series featuring Petrol Records’ Greatest Songs Ever Collection, this time around featuring artists from Jamaica. Fully understanding that the music within the CD isn’t the the greatest ever, maybe not even the greatest ever by EMI artists (Petrol’s worldwide licenser), the purpose of covering this series is to identify and introduce a few historical and relevant artists to a new body of previously unaware ears.

Jamaica means two things to me when I think of music – one being what I consider a traditional reggae sound along the lines of Marley & The Wailers and the other being dub. This compilation is heavy in the traditional aspect, featuring artists such as Burning Spear, Culture and Peter Tosh but gives little voice to core dub in the process (the same goes for rock steady and ska, both of which the compilation addresses lightly).

There were a few excellent finds on the disc, despite its dublessness, including the following artists which I had previous not heard of, Althea & Donna, Cocoa Tea and Horace Andy.

Althea & Donna “Uptown Top Ranking”: The duo comprised of Althea Forrest and Donna Reid played the part of one hit wonders with their 1978 hit “Uptown Top Ranking” which topped the UK singles chart in February of that year. At the ages of seventeen and eighteen (respectively) the duo became the youngest (at the time) to top the UK chart but failed to ever duplicate their success with their follow-up albums. After reading a little about the duo I found it interesting to learn that my “this sounds oddly familiar” moment might be grounded in reality, as various sources claim Portishead to have covered the song in the late ‘90s. That being said I cannot find much information, nor audio, to back up that claim.

Cocoa Tea “I Lost My Sonia”: Born as Calvin Scott in 1959 Cocoa Tea recorded his first song at the age of fourteen, but didn’t find any considerable success until the ’80s where he was a key ingredient in Jamaica’s dancehall scene. “I Lost My Sonia” comes from Tea’s 1986 debut LP entitled Rocking Dolly.

Horace Andy “Natty Dead A Weh She Want”: Now releasing music on Massive Attack’s Melankolic label Horace Andy has experienced a great deal of success throughout his career, with a resurgence in popularity coming, in part, due to his ongoing contributor status with Massive Attack. Andy’s smooth voice is a perfect for the context of his laid back rock steady brand of reggae. Though his most recent released haven’t found much mainstream success, his back catalogue is looked at by new and old generations as key for the genre.

Althea & Donna “Uptown Top Ranking”
Cocoa Tea “I Lost My Sonia”
Horace Andy “Natty Dread a Weh She Want”

Search For Additional Audio Here