VA - Tougher Than Tough - The Story Of Jamaican Music (4 CD Boxset) (

Over
the course of four CDs, this is the essential musical history of the
loudest island in the world, with the emphasis on essential. It starts
in the time before ska, and brings it all up to the dominance of
dancehall in the '90s. Along the way there's ska, rocksteady, reggae,
and dub; 95 great tracks, every single one a classic. About the only
major artist not represented is Lee Perry, and his productions sneak in
there. Steve Barrow's notes will carry you through the story. This is
about as perfect as they come, in both form and content.

This
week, Jamaica celebrates the 40th anniversary of its independence from
Great Britain. To honor the enduring magic of the island�s music, we
look at the best survey of the island�s musical history, the four-disc
The Story of Jamaican Music: Tougher than Tough, issued in 1993. Despite
uneducated claims to the contrary, Jamaican music is far from
monosyllabic�it�s a rich, diverse, and rewarding stew of sonic
innovation, personality, humor, and social and political consciousness.

Over
the past five decades, the small island of Jamaica has been one of the
world�s richest musical regions. The depth and breadth of Jamaica�s
influence�from the remix to the art of rapping to ska to the
articulation of the worldwide struggle of those of African heritage�is
almost immeasurable. And all from a nation of only two million people.

This
box set is a chronological look at many of the major signposts of ska,
rocksteady, reggae, roots reggae, toasting, dancehall, and ragga
dancehall. The only things missing are dub plates�the economical rhythm
re-mixes favored by many overly discerning Jamaican music fans�and,
because of the set�s ending in 1993, the contemporary influence of U.S.
hip-hop and UK garage on the Greensleeves label�s wildly inventive (yet
often coarse) ragga dancehall. (For a more contemporary yet less
complete introduction to the power and diversity of Jamaican musical
history, try Soul Jazz�s excellent single-disc Dynamite series.) Tracing
the music�s history from its nyahbingi and calypso roots through the
influences of boogie, soul, afrobeat, disco, electro, and hip-hop, this
set only scratches the surface of the more than 100,000 records created
in Jamaican music in the past 40-plus years. For the interested
newcomer, however, it serves as a solid introduction to the dynamism of
one of the world�s most under-appreciated musical forces. Let�s look at
these songs.

Disc One: Forward March (1958-67)
Disc Two: Reggae Hit the Town, 1968-74
Disc Three: Natty Sings Hit Songs, 1975-81
Disc Four: Dance Hall Good to Me, 1982-93

Tracklist:

Disc: 1
01. Oh Carolina - Folkes, John
02. Boogie in My Bones - Aitken, Laurel
03. Midnight Track - Gray, Owen
04. Easy Snappin' - Beckford, Theophili
05. Housewives Choice - Morgan, Derrick
06. Forward March - Morgan, Derrick
07. Miss Jamaica - Cliff, Jimmy
08. My Boy Lollipop - Levy, Morris
09. Six and Seven Books of Moses - Hibbert, Toots
10. Simmer Down - Marley, Bob
11. Man in the Street - Drummond, Don
12. Carry Go Bring Come - Hines, Justin
13. Guns of Navarone - Tiomkin, Dimitri
14. Al Capone - Campbell, Cecil
15. Hard Man Fe Dead - Campbell, C
16. Tougher Than Tough - Morgan, Derrick
17. Girl I've Got a Date - Ellis, Alton
18. Happy Go Lucky Girl - Holt, John [Vocals]
19. Dancing Mood - Lowery, B
20. The Train Is Coming - Boothe, Ken
21. Take It Easy - Lewis, Hopeton
22. Ba Ba Boom - Cowan, T.
23. 007 (Shanty Town) - Dekker, Desmond
24. I've Got to Go Back Home - Anderson, Keith
25. Queen Majesty - Mayfield, Curtis
26. Loving Pauper - Dobson, Dobby
27. Don't Stay Away - Dillon, Phyllis

Disc: 2
01. Israelites - Dekker, Desmond
02. 54-46 That's My Number - Hibbert, Toots
03. Reggae Hit the Town - Dillon, Leonard
04. Wet Dream - Romeo, Max
05. My Conversation - Lee, Bunny
06. Bangarang - Lee, E.
07. Return of Django - Perry, Lee "Scr
08. The Liquidator - Johnson, Harry
09. Rivers of Babylon - Dowe, Brenton
10. The Harder They Come - Cliff, Jimmy
11. Young Gifted and Black - Irvine, Weldon
12. Wake the Town - Beckford, Ewart
13. How Long - Kelly, Pat
14. Double Barrel - Riley, Winston
15. Blood & Fire - Holness, Winston Ni
16. Cherry Oh Baby - Donaldson, Eric
17. Better Must Come - Wilson, Delroy
18. Money in My Pocket - Brown, Dennis
19. Stick by Me - Holt, John [Vocals]
20. Teach the Children - Smith, D.
21. $.90 Skank - Hudson, Keith
22. Everything I Own - Gates, David
23. Westbound Train - Brown, Dennis
24. Move Out of Babylon - Clarke, Johnnie
25. Curly Locks - Perry, Lee "Scr

Disc: 3
01. Country Boy - Sibbles, Leroy
02. Welding - Reid, Roy
03. Marcus Garvey - Fullwood, Philip
04. Right Time - Mighty Diamonds
05. Natty Sing Hit Songs - Stewart, Roman
06. Ballistic Affair - Jones, F.
07. Tenement Yard - Lewis, Roger
08. War Ina Babylon - Perry, Lee "Scr
09. Police & Thieves - Murvin, Junior [Reg
10. Two Sevens Clash - Dayes, Roy S.
11. I'm Still Waiting - Marley, Bob Listen
12. No Woman, No Cry - Ford, Vincent
13. Uptown Top Ranking - Forrest, Althea
14. Number One - Isaacs, Gregory
15. Bredda Gravalicious - Matthews, W
16. River Jordan - Minott, L.
17. Armagideon Time - Dodd, Clement "Coxs
18. Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - Rose, Michael
19. Fort Augustus - Delgado, Junior
20. Joggin' - McGregor, Freddie
21. Sitting and Watching - Brown, Dennis

Disc: 4
01. Night Nurse - Isaacs, Gregory
02. Mad Over Me - Foster, Winston
03. Diseases - Fairclough, Anthony
04. Water Pumping - James, Lloyd
05. Pass the Tu-Sheng-Peng - Paul, Frankie
06. Here I Come (Broader Than Broadway) - Levy, Barrington
07. Ring the Alarm - Bright, Carl
08. Under Me Sleng Teng - Smith, Wayne [Regga]
09. Tempo - Cameron, Anthony
10. Boops - Maragh, W
11. Greetings - Trinity
12. Punanny - Thompson, Delroy
13. Hol' a Fresh - Red Dragon
14. Rumours - Hines, Carlton
15. Cover Me - Ballantine, D.
16. Legal Rights - Lady G.
17. Wicked Inna Bed - Browne, Cleveland "
18. Bandolero - Thompson, Delroy
19. Yuh Dead Now - Jackson, Norman
20. Bogle - Kelly, Dave
21. Murder She Wrote - Bonner, Everton
22. Oh Carolina - Folkes, John