Studio One Holiday Party

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Dennis Alcapone “Power Version” / Johnny Osbourne “Sing Jah Stylee” / Michigan & Smiley “Rub A Dub Style” / Willie Williams “Master Plan” / The Soulettes “King Street” / Maria Griffiths “Tell Me Now” / Willie Williams and the Brentford Disco Set “Armagideon Time” / Sugar Minott “Love and Understanding” / Alton Ellis “You Make Me Happy” / Prince Francis “Street Doctor” / Green Tea & Chassy “Ghetto Girl” / Prince Francis “Rockfort Shock” / Sound Dimension “Granny Scratch Scratch” / Senior Soul “Is It Because I’m Black?” / Larry Marshall “Nanny Goat Du” / The Mad Lads “Ten to One” / Jennifer Lara “Tell Me Where” / Wailing Souls “Row Fisherman Row” / Cornell Campbell “My Conversation” / Aubrey Adams & Rico Rodriguez “Stew Peas and Cornflakes” / Simms & Robinson “White Christmas”

Over the past seven years or so I’ve developed a personal tradition of listening to a lot of classic Studio One reggae, ska, rocksteady, dub, and dancehall in early winter. I’ve come to closely associate the music with crisp air, early nights, Christmas lights, and the general look and feeling of New York City in this time of year. The music has sorta replaced traditional Christmas music in my life, and though I listen to a lot of this stuff year-round, the comfortable feeling of listening to it under these conditions has become part of why December is unquestionably my favorite month of the year. I’d really like to throw a party someday where it’s just a lot of people in a room lit by Christmas lights, and only Studio One music is played. That’s not in the cards this year, but this collection features a lot of the music I’d want to play at a Studio One holiday party.

My personal Studio One playlist features well over a hundred songs, but this set covers a lot of the very best tunes, and my favorite versions of several popular riddims. (Believe me, it was really hard to narrow down to just one in some cases – I could listen to variations on “Real Rock,” “Rockfort Rock,” “Sidewalk Doctor,” and “Far East” for hours on end.)

If you are new to Studio One – or Jamaican music from the ’60s and ’70s in general – I recommend jumping into this music without burdening yourself with too much context, and just feeling it. This is some of the most joyous, texturally unique, beautiful, adventurous, funky music you will ever encounter. But this is indeed music with a very interesting and rich history, and if you want to learn more about it, this documentary about Coxsone Dodd and Studio One produced by Soul Jazz is a great place to start.

This collection features tracks from various Studio One compilations and singles reissued by the Soul Jazz label. Do yourself a huge favor and buy as many as you can from them. A lot of this stuff cannot be found on streaming services.