Various Artists
Island Records Presents: Ska - 40 Original Ska Classics
Island
2013
Rating: 8 artfully prepared dishes out of 10
I'm a sucker for any compilation of first wave ska, it is one of my very favorite genres in the whole wide world. Sadly, once you get past this first wave there isn't a whole lot to love about ska, but that is a discussion for another day. This comp has hitmakers up and down the track list - Desmond Dekker, Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Don Drummond, the Maytals, the Skatellites, and tons more. Forty tracks in all, and none more important than one of my all-time favorites "Lucky Seven" by Baba Brooks and His Band. I've seriously spent such a huge chunk of my life with this song stuck in my head I'm afraid my brain might collapse if I ever forgot it.