Reggae music lost another champion of the island sound: Joe Gibbs, legendary producer, recording engineer, label founder and manager died of a heart attack at the age of 65. Gibbs created one of my favorite reggae tunes of all time - “Two Sevens Clash” - recorded by Culture in 1977. Gibbs also created many of the big roots and rock-steady riddims of the late 60’s and early 70’s and continued to produce hit after hit throughout the 80’s dancehall era. ([More →])

DJ Don Letts compiled a wicked collection of tunes for Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown from his vast collection of reggae and dub 7-inches. The album is a veritable soundtrack to London’s legendary Roxy Club circa December ‘76 - April ‘77, where the Pistols, Clash and Banshees were known to kick it while Letts spun irie tunes. Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown features 16 tracks by King Tubby, Culture, Jah Stitch, Horace Andy, Lee “Scratch” Perry, U-Roy, Junior Murvin and many more.

The album even includes the apocalyptic Culture song “Two Sevens Clash”:

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Joseph “Culture” Hill is still one of the most prominent and relevant figures in roots reggae culture. As a member of the trio Culture, Joseph Hill wrote, sang and recorded the legendary and historically significant song “Two Sevens Clash.” The song was released in the seventh month of 1977, a time when a religious and superstitious Kingston, Jamaica came to a standstill due to a prophecy by Marcus Garvey. Garvey predicted that there would be chaos when the Two Sevens came together. Hill had a vision about the prophecy, and came up with the lyrics for the apocalyptic song that so captured the imagination of reggae fans in Jamaica that schools and businesses closed for the day and many people stayed indoors on 07/07/77. ([More →])