When Rock Met Reggae : How the Cultural Crossover of Bob Marley, the Clash, the Specials and Mo - Steven Blush

When Rock Met Reggae

How the Cultural Crossover of Bob Marley, the Clash, the Specials and Mo

By: Steven Blush

Paperback | 1 December 2024

At a Glance

Paperback


RRP $57.99

$44.75

23%OFF

or 4 interest-free payments of $11.19 with

 or 

Available: 1st December 2024

Preorder. Will ship when available.

In When Rock Met Reggae, Steven Blush takes a spirited, cross-genre perspective in this "illuminating chronicle" (Booklist) of the crossover of Jamaican, British, and American sounds that changed the face of popular music.



Bringing the same incisive, cross-genre perspective he offered in When Rock Met Disco, Steven Blush gives a spirited survey of the crossover of Jamaican, British, and American sounds that changed the face of popular music in When Rock Met Reggae. The inspiration of ska, rock-steady, dub, and reggae—heard on independent recordings played on "soundsystems" from Kingston and Brixton—created a new rock tonality and attitude, spanning from Eric Clapton to The Clash. Meanwhile, the "Two Tone" sounds—traversing The Specials, Madness, and UB40—fueled the '90s ska revival of Sublime, No Doubt, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and beyond. Attentive to the racial, political, and artistic aspects of this intricate story, Blush gives a memorable account of one of the most fertile cross-pollinations in pop music history.

Industry Reviews

Reggae may have started in Kingston, Jamaica, but according to Blush, it didn't truly spread around the world until waves of Jamaicans began emigrating to England in the late 1950s. Reggae, he maintains, "spoke in a language that upstart youth could identify with: fierce lyrics, anti-fashion, DIY attitude, and a radical fight for freedom." Blush discusses the roots of reggae before turning to the many sounds of Bob Marley, Millie Small, Prince Buster, Lee 'Scratch' Perry, Jimmy Cliff, Toots and the Maytals, and Desmond Dekker. He then tackles the various forms of reggae, including dub, rock-reggae, and punk-reggae, the latter perhaps best exemplified by the Clash (Joe Strummer and Mick Jones went to Jamaica to write the songs on their second album, Give Em Enough Rope). As musicians on both sides of the Atlantic experimented with reggae, including the Police, Blondie, and Elvis Costello, such 2 Tone label artists as the Specials, the Selecter, the English Beat, and UB40 blended punk, rock, reggae, and ska into a unique sound. Blushs illuminating chronicle ends with an annotated playlist featuring the backstories of classic recordings.
— Booklist

More in Arts & Entertainment Biographies

Cher : The Memoir, Part One - Cher

RRP $49.99

$38.75

22%
OFF
How to Disappear - Colin Greenwood

RRP $55.00

$39.90

27%
OFF
The Voice Inside - John Farnham

RRP $49.99

$34.95

30%
OFF
Uses for Obsession : A Chef's Memoir - Ben Shewry

RRP $34.99

$33.25

What You Into? - Joshua Fox

RRP $34.99

$33.25

Taylor Swift Style : Fashion Through the Eras - Sarah Chapelle

RRP $49.99

$38.75

22%
OFF
Sonny Boy : A Memoir - Al Pacino

RRP $55.00

$41.80

24%
OFF
My Animals, and Other Animals : A memoir of sorts - Bill Bailey
Don't Look Back, You'll Trip Over : My Guide to Life - Michael Caine
Love Stories - Trent Dalton

Hardcover

RRP $34.99

$31.75

Down the Drain - Julia Fox

RRP $24.99

$23.75

Bright Shining : how grace changes everything - Julia Baird
Billie Eilish - Billie Eilish

Hardcover

RRP $44.99

$30.80

32%
OFF
Faith, Hope and Carnage - Nick Cave

RRP $34.99

$31.75

Killing Time - Jimmy Barnes

Paperback

RRP $27.99

$26.50

I'm Glad My Mom Died - Jennette McCurdy

RRP $34.99

$28.50

19%
OFF