A second celebration of reggae’s golden 1970-1975 period from Doctor Bird Records.  50 Reggae Hits picks up where 2021 compilation, The Best Of Reggae left off.

Release Date:  12^th September 2025

Label: Doctor Bird Records (a division of Cherry Red Records)

Formats: 2xCD

REGGAE’S GOLDEN PERIOD

The title of this collection from our friends at Cherry Red Records might be something of a misnomer, but don’t let’s get hung up on detail.  50 Reggae Hits, the new compilation from Cherry Red subsidiary Doctor Bird Records is a thoroughly enjoyable celebration of reggae’s golden 1970-1975 period – the years when reggae made its international breakthrough and became established as a durable music form.

This new collection is the companion to the 2021 Doctor Bird compilation, The Best of Reggae and therein lies the reason for the slightly misleading title of the new set.  Because, if it’s songs like Young, Gifted and Black, Liquidator, Israelites or Monkeyman that you’re after, you’ll find them on the 2021 set, not here.  Indeed, if your definition of ‘hit’ is anything like mine, you’ll find only half a dozen or so tracks on 50 Reggae Hits that meet your criteria.

HITS AND BIG NAMES

That said, 50 Reggae Hits is anything but a disappointment.  The ‘hits’ that do feature are all great songs and I was blown away by how fresh and invigourating they still sound.  Ken Boothe’s Everything I Own is a great song by any measure and it still sounds wonderful.  John Holt’s reggae treatment of Kris Kristofferson’s Help Me Make It Through the Night is bright and vibrant, Susan Cadogan’s Hurt So Good could bring tears to the eyes of a stone statue and Paul Davidson’s interpretation of Gregg Allman’s Midnight Rider thoroughly deserved its 1976 top ten chart placing.

50 Reggae Hits is crammed with familiar names but, in many cases, the contributions from those names performed will be less familiar to most listeners.  For example, Bob & Marcia are represented by Help Me Up, a song that first appeared on the couple’s 2018 “Best Of” collection, Bruce Ruffin’s contributions are 1971 single, Candida and I’m In the Thick of It, a 1973 offering that failed to generate any significant waves and, whilst Desmond Dekker did break into the lower reaches of the UK singles chart with the joyful Sing a Little Song, the song’s success pales in comparison to DD’s mega hits, Israelites, It Mek and 007.

REGGAE COVERS

But – do these selections dilute the pleasure to be gained from 50 Reggae Hits?  No, I don’t think they do.  They show another side to artists that we’ve known and admired and, successful or not, the songs are all instantly and enduringly likeable.

But, I reckon that the enduring feature of 50 Reggae Hits is the number of reggae interpretations of well-known songs that are included in the collection.  Back in the early-mid-seventies, it wasn’t unusual to hear a reggae-fied version of a recent hit record blasting out of the radio and the reggae treatment often gave another dimension to a familiar song.  I’ve already mentioned the reggae reworkings of Candida and Midnight Rider.  Originally a hit for Tony Orlando and Dawn, Candida is almost sickly sweet and, to be honest, Bruce Ruffin’s treatment of the song doesn’t do it any favours, but that certainly isn’t the case in relation to some of the other interpretations included here.

GUARANTEED TO BRIGHTEN UP THE GLOOMIEST OF DAYS

Paul Davidson’s reworking of Midnight Rider is fresh and breezy, Boris Gardner demonstrates how effectively reggae can brighten a dull day with his version of The Stylistics’ You Make Me Feel Brand New and The Pioneers revitalize A Little Bit of Soap, I’m Gonna Knock on Your Door and Blame It on the Pony Express with their special blend of Caribbean spice.  But, perhaps the most enjoyable rebranding of a classic song is Honey Boy’s reconstitution of David Gates’ Guitar Man.  It’s an excellent song in anybody’s book, but Honey Boy makes the song his own and makes the listener wonder whether this was the interpretation that Gates was after when he wrote the song.

I’ll lift my closing words from the album’s press release, because they’re words that say it all: “Good time sounds from start to finish.  This 2CD set is a surefire dancefloor filler and guaranteed to brighten up the gloomiest of days – be it autumn, winter, spring or summer!”

Listen to Laurel Aitken’s version of Hey Fattie Bum Bum – a track from the album – below:

Keep up with At The Barrier: Facebook / X  / Instagram / Spotify / YouTube