Rating: NNNN
Not strictly a rocksteady set, the two-disc Let’s Do Rocksteady comp is more of an overview of the ska, lover’s rock, Jamaican soul and rocksteady that poured out of Trojan on the cusp of the reggae era. So while you get a good dose of delightfully bouyant rocksteady classics like the Paragons’ The Tide Is High, the Techniques’ Queen Majesty and the Uniques’ unforgettable My Conversation (the basis of the Dream Warriors’ Ludi), there are also a number of bubbling ska holdovers like the Ethiopians’ Train To Skaville, the Upsetters’ Return Of Django and Lynn Taitt’s Napoleon Solo that don’t really fit stylistically but make for a livelier mix. And tracks like the Jamaicans’ sweet shuffling Ba Ba Boom and the Maytals’ stomping 54-46 That’s My Number make Let’s Do Rocksteady a primo party soundtrack for the weekend.
