where to start with studio one?

gumdrops

Well-known member
are there any obvious comps to get? i saw some old 80s (i think) one in a 2nd hand shop but was unsure if i should pick it up as i cant imagine it would be that comprehensive at one cd long.

are there any definitive comps? are the soul jazz ones any good? or just a case of including whatever they could get or over obscure like a lot of their comps can somtimes be?

thanks in advance.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
soul jazz comps i don't think are ever "obscure"? they all include well selected hits. the % series is an obvious and good place to start, they are more of a grab bag including all styles from all periods. the genre specific ones are more... specific. there are a couple of really general ones like "The Story of Studio One" but they are not very exciting. the heart beat ones are cool too and less pricey.

i just finished downloading the supposedly COMPLETE studio one singles catalog... about 5 gigs... that's aproximately... 1000 tunes / 90 hours of reggae... :eek:

________

today's trivia: The human genome contains 0.791175 GB of data
 

crackerjack

Well-known member
are there any obvious comps to get? i saw some old 80s (i think) one in a 2nd hand shop but was unsure if i should pick it up as i cant imagine it would be that comprehensive at one cd long.

are there any definitive comps? are the soul jazz ones any good? or just a case of including whatever they could get or over obscure like a lot of their comps can somtimes be?

thanks in advance.

I don't think there are any completely comprehensive ones, but the Heartbeat CDs that began in the late 80s and were updated quite recently (with xtra tracks) should really be the ABC for anyone dipping their toes (esp Vol3 - the instrumentals, the DNA of 90% if reggae rhythms ever since)


The Soul Jazz comps were mostly great too, but I'd start with Heartbeat and work out from there.
 

john eden

male pale and stale
Heartbeat are great - their general intros are probably the best place to start

Full Up
The Best of Studio One


[edit - yes that vol 3 with the instrumentals looks wicked as well!]

Also see:

The Cables - What Kind of World (possibly one of my favourite reggae albums ever - so good I haven't been able to write about it properly!)
Sugar Minott - Showcase

The Soul Jazz ones are also great - but there are a lot of them. Off the top of my head I would recommend

Studio One Story (not least for the DVD)
Deejays 1
Women
Discomix
Roots 2


In general I find the artist albums a bit patchy. Everyone raves about Johnny Osbourne's Truth and Rights LP and the Freddie McGregor Bobby Babylon one, but I prefer a well compiled comp.

The temptation is to buy some gnarly looking Studio One JA press album, of course, but try before you buy - pressings are seriously variable. Ditto sevens.

It's a bottomless pit.

Which is good.
 
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crackerjack

Well-known member
And if we're mentioning individaul Studio One albums, then Scorcher Vol 1 is incredible. There's a Tommy McCook track called Shockers - ska going off on some mad Asian holiday - which was totally new to me from this comp.
 

STN

sou'wester
The Burning Spear at Studio One on Soul Jazz is magic.

As sevens go, off the top of my head, Linval Thompson's Studio 1 cut of 'She Gone' is one of my favourite records. There's a version on an LP called Look How Me Sexy as well, which is absolutely horrible.

Horace Andy's Skylarking LP (the one with him prancing about with a guitar, not the later-compiled green one) is pretty good, and might be on Studio 1.
 

stelfox

Beast of Burden
i just finished downloading the supposedly COMPLETE studio one singles catalog... about 5 gigs... that's aproximately... 1000 tunes / 90 hours of reggae... :eek:


Sorry but you probably haven't. Some pretty fearsome collectors I know are still unearthing new stuff on Studio One. No one really knows exactly how much music the label ever released.

ANd yes, the Soul Jazz comps are good, especially if you're just starting out with this stuff.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Horace Andy's Skylarking LP (the one with him prancing about with a guitar, not the later-compiled green one) is pretty good, and might be on Studio 1.

Yep, it is. I always think about that line in 'Blue Lines': "When I was a child I played subbuteo on/My table then I graduate to Studio One..." Which I suppose was partly in tribute to Horace Andy.

Wailing Souls' s/t album appears to be on Studio One too.

As an aside, there was a brilliant, brilliant Channel One comp a few years ago with rarities from Delroy Wilson, Badoo etc.
 
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