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THE EXTENSIVE & ELUSIVE WORLD OF REGGAE 12s

kalakala 3,361 Posts
edited September 2008 in Strut Central
I must have went thru 15-20,000 reggae 12s today.b,121My hands are raw from digging.b,121While I pulled some cool shit,I know I was leaveing some valueble stuff behind.b,121I was grabbing "rockers label" and wackies and anything [obvious] i knew from an artist /label standpoint.b,121b,121But man there is so much I don't know even after all these years hanging round jammyland ,going to JA etc.b,121b,121Especially 80s digital stuff and whats worth good money - that which includesb,121one offs and no name /lesser known artists.b,121b,121For an obvious example -which sly and robbie/techniques/jammy 12s from the 80s are worth bank?b,121A very broad question, but I am sure there are some 40-50 dollar joints I am not up on.b,121b,121Time for the blackberry in the field.b,121b,121b,121Coffin Joe and othe reggae masters chime in.

  Comments

  • cpeetzcpeetz 2,112 Posts
    Dude so much stuff out there. Obscure reggae doesn't pop up much around theseb,121parts and when it does it's mostly lp's. With a very small West-Indian population around here it's not surprising.b,121So with that said even though I'm really into reggae I don't get my hands on too many 12"'s locally.b,121Just like 7"'s you can't really go on labels or artists alone for quality or collectability. b,121In a collection like that I'd be pulling like mad and then hopefully doing hours of needle dropping tob,121see what I was feeling. Please wait 'til WMFU weekend to go back to said spot and I'll give you advice whileb,121we dig together img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" 21. You could try getting some wantlists from dudes on the Roots Archives forum, I'm sure those would be a big help.
  • triptoyourmindtriptoyourmind 294 Posts
    I spent some time looking through a large collection of reggae 7's (amongst other stuff) at a market on saturday, unfortunately I knew absolutely nothing about them and didn't even know where to begin. The homemade labels are so appealing though, the mold all over half of them wasn't.
  • Jonny_PaycheckJonny_Paycheck 17,825 Posts
    Gotta know the tunes man. Like CPeetz said artist/label is not a real good gauge of rarity/goodness.b,121b,121But, on the other hand, it sure is fun.b,121b,121Best thing to do is just take LOTS of chances. Most likely the records will be cheap. Buy thousands. Seriously. The mistakes will be balanced out by the successes, and you will LEARN (aka, the most important thing).b,121b,121There is no way to learn reggae without breaking some eggs/buying some junk.
  • cpeetzcpeetz 2,112 Posts
    /font1
    Quote:/font1h,121b,121There is no way to learn reggae without breaking some eggs/buying some junk. b,121b,121h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121So true, and don't fool yourself there is plenty of junk.
  • behemothbehemoth 2,189 Posts
    every time i find reggae 7"s i give them to Good Records haha...b,121b,121speaking of that Jonny i still have that little new bunch but they are in horrific condition. i cant even enjoy listening to them so...
  • tomasltomasl 315 Posts
    Um, hope you9 didn't pass up copies of Super Cat on Brooklyn's Eclipse label or the Mighty Three's Rasta Business on April.
  • roneazyroneazy 111 Posts
    /font1
    font class="small"1Quote:
    /font1
    h,121
    b,121Gotta know the tunes man. Like CPeetz said artist/label is not a real good gauge of rarity/goodness.
    b,121
    b,121But, on the other hand, it sure is fun.
    b,121
    b,121Best thing to do is just take LOTS of chances. Most likely the records will be cheap. Buy thousands. Seriously. The mistakes will be balanced out by the successes, and you will LEARN (aka, the most important thing).
    b,121
    b,121There is no way to learn reggae without breaking some eggs/buying some junk.
    b,121
    b,121
    h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121All true, and these guys clearly know what they're talking about, but definitely some ways to better your chances when you gotta buy blindly...b,121 Records with tunes like "I Wanna Be Your Lover So Badly" CAN be good, but it really depends on artist / label / producer / year / country / etc.b,121 Records with tunes like "Dreadlock Consciousness in a Rockers at War Style" have a tendency to be better than the former, and therefore merit more of a chance to be taken.b,121b,121Ultimately, you just gotta buy THOUSANDS, like JP said, and eventually, it's like you develop a sixth sense w/ the reggae so that when you DO buy blindly, you are more certain to score on most of the ones you buy. And when you DO find a bunch of monster tunes all together in the same stash / collection, man is it worth it!b,121b,121Good luck!b,121b,121RON
  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    /font1
    font class="small"1Quote:
    /font1
    h,121
    b,121Mighty Three's Africa Shall Stretch Forth Her Hand
    b,121
    b,121
    h,121
    font class="post"1b,121b,121beautiful lp
  • buttonbutton 1,475 Posts
    B A R R Y B R O W N b,121b,121W A R M O N G E Rb,121b,121 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/beerbang.gif" alt="" /1
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