Various Artists - Studio One Rude Boy

Various Artists - Studio One Rude Boy - Soul Jazz Records SJR CD 148 (2006)

When I was just a young record collector and reggae music enthusiast, buying Jamaican reggae recordings was always an adventure and fun. I was lucky to live in a city that actually contained a reggae music store called, appropriately, "Strictly Reggae Records". After that closed down, my main reggae music mentor, Dave Allard, ended up working at various other record stores around town and he took with him the best reggae section in town. I remember getting excited about going to see Dave on Saturday because that is when he would have the new records and 45s out in the bins from that week's shipment. It was during this time that I learned about reggae music. It was during this time that I became aware of Studio One.

Dave was a Studio One fanatic and he basically turned me into one as well. Frankly, it was easy to become a Studio One fanatic because the music was so good. Dave would try to order as much as he could to stock the store and anything he had he always set aside a copy for me. As time went on, I started to hit other reggae music stores in other cities (e.g., Los Angeles) and I started to build up a decent collection. It was always exciting to stumble on a rare 45 or LP that I had not seen before. Needless to say, I picked up everything I got my hands on.

Over the years, the amount of Studio One recordings that I "missed" is beyond belief. As I later came to realize, many records never actually made it to San Diego or Southern California. In fact, the realization that there were thousands of Studio One recordings out there that I had no access to made me very sad. Luckily for me, labels like Heartbeat Records and Soul Jazz Records have been reissuing some of the standard Studio One releases along with rare gems that I had no idea existed or knew I would never get my hands on.

Studio One Rude Boy is another one of Soul Jazz's great compilations of Coxson Dodd's Studio One recordings. As the Rude Boy theme suggests, this record is made up of songs that either warned, admonished, encouraged, or attacked the bad boys of Jamaica. Like other Soul Jazz recordings from this series, included are some relatively well known songs that have been released on LPs or 45s, along with some rare gems. For instance, among the well known songs are The Wailers' "Good Good Rudie", John Holt's "Hooligan", and Johnny Osbourne's "Murderer". However, this is my first time seeing Owen Gray's "Ballistic Affair" or Keith McCarthy's "Everybody Rude Now". The collection also seems to cross all different segments of Jamaican popular music as ska, rocksteady, reggae and dancehall are included in this set. A great package over all and a huge recommendation.