Occasional Albums Thing 027 - Various Artists “The Front Line”

There’s some confusion over the release date for this fine, fine compilation of Jamaican Roots Reggae. John Lydon (nee Johnny Rotten) has said on many occasions that he was sent to Jamaica by Richard Branson AFTER the Sex Pistols split (their last gig was on January 14, 1978) to help find music for Virgin’s new Reggae label, Front Line, a task for which Lydon still complains he was never paid nor credited. Other online resources claim it was 1977 (which doesn’t fit with Lydon’s story) and others tell us that the Front Line label was launched in 1978 which fits better with the timeline I remember, although “The Front Line” sampler was released on Virgin so may have come prior to the Front Line label itself.

And why do I refer to the timeline I remember ? Well, during those heady days of 1977 and 1978 would have been when myself, Miles and our great friend Dawse (one of the Donkey Jackets if you get the reference) developed our appreciation of Reggae. Punk and Reggae almost walked hand in hand in those days, Don Letts had played Reggae at the Roxy Club during its 100 day lifespan, he was the DJ and he didn’t have enough Punk records so he played what he had and what he knew, Reggae (see the fantastic compilation “Dread Meets Punk Rockers Uptown”). I remember “The Front Line” entering our world at Xmas (it may have been 1977 but I fancy it was 1978) when Aunt Sandra (our Dad’s sister) bought it for Dad for Xmas, complete with it’s cover mounted Hype Sticker proclaiming “An album for the price of a single 69p”. Sandra was always quite the radical and Dad, although he did own a copy of Bob Marley & The Wailers “Exodus”, wasn’t quite ready for U-Roy, I-Roy and The Mighty Diamonds !

Miles and myself however pounced on it ! We knew a bit of Reggae but practically all of the artists on this record were new to us and who could resist titles like “Natty Rebel”, “Declaration Of Rights” and “Don't Touch I Man Locks” ? This album introduced us to those previously mentioned Mighty Diamonds whose “Right Time” kicks things off, the slow tempo and spidery guitar line allied to the falsetto “Natty Dread will never run away” backing vocal sell it straight away. U-Roy’s “Natty Rebel” finds him toasting over Bob Marley/The Wailers backing track from “Soul Rebel”, Marley’s voice unmistakable in the background. U-Roy (or Ewart Beckford as his Mom knew him) was a pioneer of toasting, a forerunner of rapping, where DJ’s would sing-talk over a recorded backing track or version. He returns later with “The Great Psalms”.

Johnny Clarke delivers a superb version of The Abyssinians song “Declaration Of Rights” from their 1975 album “Satta Massagana” (which Johnny also covered the title track from, a Rastafarian hymn that translates as “give thanks” from Amharic). Clarke was one of Jamaica’s most popular singers in the late 70’s and was one of the first artists to hook up with Front Line. Keith Hudson’s “Civilisation” is a lively reggae/soul crossover tune recorded in New York.

There are tracks from I-Roy, The Gladiators, Delroy Washington (not to be confused with your Cool Operator) and everything is neatly bookended by the Mighty Diamonds. These were exciting and exotic records for us skinny white punks to be hearing, we played it over and over again. “The Front Line” was almost singlehandedly responsible for introducing us to records and artists we might not otherwise have come across. There’s not much I like about Richard Branson, but if he really did send Johnny to JA to find this stuff, I guess I owe him a grudging thank you, but an even bigger one to Auntie Sandra.

The Mighty Diamonds “Right Time” - https://youtu.be/Nz5bV6Yd5lg?si=HIOd--FrSM0h7lo6