Bristol Reggae Explosion - Best of the 70s and 80s

Eight years ago, Bristol Archive Records released The Bristol Reggae Explosion 1978 - 1983, probably the first attempt to document the development of a localised British reggae scene and capture that unique period of the late seventies and early eighties. Despite many hurdles, it was a time that allowed the music to thrive as a voice for a mostly disenfranchised black Bristolian community centred around the inner-city areas of St. Pauls and Easton. The rich vein of recordings made against the odds and ranging from roots through dub to Lovers' Rock, struck a chord with a worldwide audience and allowed us to continue our musical exploration with a further two volumes painting a vivid picture of a scene that was in danger of being forgotten and lost to history. With the first two volumes deleted and before we continue the story of Bristol reggae with further volumes, we decided we should keep many of the best tracks readily available with a single album compiled from the first three Bristol Reggae Explosions, The Bristol Reggae Explosion - Best of the 70's and 80's. This new compilation contains 17 tracks kicking off with Africa (Is Our Land), the Dennis Bovell produced classic from Joshua Moses. It also includes the distinctive voice of Bunny Marrett, and founding members of Talisman Dennison Joseph and Dehvan Othieno who started their musical careers more than forty years ago as Revelation Rockers. Winston Minott lent his distinctive voice to Cool Runnings on the soulful Playhouse and You Can't Pay Me. Unfortunately, female voices are somewhat scarce in the reggae world, but we were able to include Sharon Bengamin's top drawer slice of Lovers' Rock Mr. Guy. The Bristol Reggae Explosion - Best of the 70's and 80's is the perfect introduction to the amazing underground reggae scene that flourished without any support from major labels
and bears testimony to the talents of the original Bristol bass sound.