The Revolutionaries – The Revolutionaries (1976)

reggae

Well since I missed an opportunity to post something appropriate for International Workers Day at the beginning of the month, I thought I might make up for it by setting myself a challenge of posting one politically-oriented post a day for the last week of May. They will run the gamut from overbearingly obvious to more nuanced material, and I reserve the right to stop the experiment at any time should my real life get in the way. The write ups will be briefer than they have been lately, but since the music tends to speak for itself I figure that’s okay. Like this record — you should really pay attention to the lyrics!

What better way to start this off than with a reggae album featuring tracks (HIT songs, no less) with names like M.P.L.A. and Angola and a rendering of Che Guevara on the cover before he began to appear on baseball hats made in sweatshops? Additional acroynmic titles pay homage to the A.N.C. and the P.L.A. These early days of The Revolutionaries were when Sly & Robbie were infiltrating the reggae universe with their subversive, machine-tight (perhaps overly so..) rhythmic propaganda. All they lacked was their own airplane from which to drop these tracks over the impoverished masses hungry for Rasta socialisim across the globe. The record is also notable for the polemical sax playing of Tommy McCook and the class consciousness of guitarist Chinna Smith.
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Original release 1976 on Well Charge
CD pressing, Channel One (#JJCD 034)
Also known as “Revolutionary Sounds”

M.P.L.A.
Earthquake
Why War
Leftist
Sudden Attack
Angola
P.L.A.
I Need A Roof
A.N.C.
Right In Ah It
Death In The Arena
Death Trap
Headache
Toothache

Producer : Joseph Hoo Kim

Engineer : Ernest Hoo Kim & Ossie Hibbert

Backing Band : The Revolutionaries
Drums : Sly Dunbar
Bass : Ranchie & Robbie Shakespeare
Lead Guitar : Rad Bryan & Tony Chin
Keyboards : Ansel Collins & Tarzan
Trombone : Don D. Junior
Tenor Saxophone : Tommy McCook
Alto Saxophone : Herman Marquis
Percussions : Sticky

Studios :
Recording : Channel One (Kingston, JA)
Remixing : Channel One (Kingston, JA)

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reggae
in 320kbs em pee treeeeee
) in FLAC LOSSLESS Audioooooo