Punk And Reggae

Essentially a London thang, punk and reggae were thrown together by being mutual outcasts, two fingers against authority and a sense of an established order breaking down. Both were rebel music. In the DJ booth at the Roxy Club, Don Letts played reggae and dub platters before punk records were available. John Peel on mainstream Radio 1 was as likely to follow records by The Cortinas and Clash with records by Misty In Roots and Augustus Pablo. The NME and Sounds had their own reggae pages.

1977 (When the two sevens clash – Babylon i.e. England was to disintegrate) was to be an apocalyptic year in reggae terms…and so it was in music fashion and society generally as white and black street culture found itself with the same aspirations for possibly the first and last time. All against a backdrop of unrest as the National Front was on the rise and the Notting Hill carnival was a scene again of heavy handed police, versus disaffected black youth and culture.

Summing it all up though was the distinctly infectious tunes of the suprise Number One single at the end of 1977, Althea & Donna’s Uptown Ranking, which financed Lightning records punk excursions but that’s another story.

Punk and Reggae poles apart one would think. Heavy slow bass driven toons versus tinny white boy thrash. Quasi mystical ganja based black man beat versus white swastika toting amphetamine driven nihilism. Punk and reggae became further intertwined because of two of punks most influential figures, Mr Rotten and the boys in the Clash. Reggae was very much a part of their musical scene and growing up and each vied to say they loved it more than the other as an influence. 

Don Letts: Don Letts wasn’t the bringer of Reggae. Paul (Simenon) was into reggae, Joe (Strummer) was into reggae and John (Rotten) was into Reggae. They were turning me onto tunes. It wasn’t always the other way around. It was one of the reasons we got on. Don’t forget that early skinheads were into reggae, Trojan and ska. Black music was and will always be rebel music. The stones were into Bo Diddly and Howling Wolf. While the UK had reggae the US were getting into and being influenced by hip hop. Both reggae and punk was rebel music.” Don Letts Interview Punk77 Oct 2005

For The Clash they covered Junior Murvin’s Police & Thieves and Armigideon Times, wanted a Notting Hill riot of their own, had Lee Perry produce one of their finest singles Complete Control and worked alongside Mikey Dread on their sprawling Sandinista album while wearing initially clothes with Prince Farianisms like’ Heavy Manners’ sprayed on them. And let’s not forget the epic White Man In Hammersmith Palais.

Jah Wobble in PIL would utilise the pounding reggae bass on many a toon and as Haile Unlikely Vs the Steel Leg with Keith Levene and Don Letts recorded his own groovy 12″.

Contrasting this is the two very different experiences of the boys visiting Jamaica. For the Clash it was a heavy trip resulting in the song ‘Safe European Home’. Rotten and Letts spliffed it out to sound systems and generally had a good time at Virgin’s expense as can be seen below.

The relationship of punk and reggae was further cemented as bands like  Misty in Roots and The Cimarons shared stages at Rock Against Racism gigs with bands like Sham 69 and Generation X . Indeed The Ruts first single was released on Misty’s ‘People United’ record label and Steel Pulse toured with The Stranglers.

The crossover of punk and reggae was mixed. The Slits as they developed, incorporated reggae’s sense of space and simplicity into their ‘Cut’ album and a thundering cover version of Heard It Though The Grapevine.

Nice & Sleazy by The Stranglers and the incendiary cover of Marley’s Johnny Was by SLF were suitably punked up. But there were some stinkers too. The Members Offshore Banking Business, some half arsed Patti Smith sub reggae (though heart in the right place), The Unwanted’s hammy ‘Secret Police’ and ATV’s cringe inducing Love Lies Limp (sorry Mark!). The irony was the much maligned The Police were actually very good at reggae.

Coming at it the other way, no real surprise that no reggae bands did a punk song though Bob Marley recorded Punky Reggae Party name-checking various bands of the time (though allegedly missing out The Slits when he found out they were women) and Bad Brains were a US hardcore black punk band who incorporated reggae into their songs.

Prizes for serious white boy reggae prior to the Two Tone revival must go to The Ruts who really did capture the space and power of reggae and weld it to a punk anger (whatever that means).

So for your delectation here’s a brief guide to reggae and some of its essential sounds courtesy of my old pal Peter Redmond (where the hell are you – get in touch!). If you’re looking for more I would suggest two books to further your knowledge as it’s a wide and deep subject- A Rough Guide To Reggae – Steve Barrow & Peter Dalton and Bass Culture, When Reggae Was King – Lloyd Bradley

There’s also a gazillion videos on YouTube and music over Spotify or whatever is your preferred platform – you have no excuse!

Roots Rock Reggae – Inside the Jamaican Music Scene (1977)