yardie's reggae collection
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CULTURAL
ROOTS
HELL A GO POP... * * * * * 
1984 - Greensleeves - studio
- discs:1Cultural Roots is an almost fogotten harmony group. In 1978 they released their debut album called "Revolutionary Sounds" and four years later they released "Drift Away From Evil" (both produced by Donovan Germain). These set are not yet available on CD, but I had the opportunity to listen to the vinyls. Well, they are not as strong as the set we are here for but they should be both checked since there are a couple of quite strong Roots sets. Things really change with their third effort "Hell A Go Pop" (1984), a powerful set produced and arranged by Henry "Junjo" Lawes. What they deliver is a deep Roots spiced set, with the heavy bass underlining every track. The general mood drifts through deep Dancehall and for sure "Junjo" Lawes makes the difference. Cultural Roots were Hubert Brooks, Norman Gallimore and Wade Dice. The group lineup changed during the years, but it was always led by the great warm voice of Brooks. This musically accurate set was recorded at Channel One Studios with Soljie (Anthony Hamilton) engineering. The Roots Radics back Cultural Roots, and the horns are provided by the great Dean Fraser and Nambo Robinson (also known as Ronald Robinson). The strongest songs are: "Hell A Go Pop", "Every Man Has A Right", "Execute", "Thief, Liars And Criminals", "Where Have You Been", "Reggae Music" and finally "Love Feelings" (versioning John Holt's evergreen and powerful "Police In Helicopter"). The remaining three tracks are: the Lover's heavily Roots spiced "Tell It To Her", "Won't Co-operate" (frankly the less impressive) and too edgy "Lump Sum". This re-release contains two bonus tracks as 12" mixes ("Hell A Go Pop" and "Love Feelings"). In ten tracks Cultural Roots expressed a heavy Roots statement inside the Dancehall early 80's era. The result is a powerful musical force. In this case we have a great set constructed around 70's style harmonies, and this recipe of the 70's and the early 80's is marvellous. 1. Hell A Go Pop
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