Dillinger and Leroy Smart / Delroy Wilson, your cool operator
Ken Boothe for UK pop reggae / With backing bands sound systems
And if they've got anything to say / There's many black ears here to listen
But it was Four Tops all night with encores from stage right /
Charging from the bass knives to the treble
But onstage they ain't got no roots rock rebel..."
- The Clash, "White Man In Hammersmith Palais" (1978 single)
When Joe Strummer wrote the lyrics for the above single, he was talking about how he felt let down by the reggae show he attended; expecting to hear the socially conscious side of those artists repertoires, they apparently delivered the light-weight stuff.
Back to redeem themselves, I've compiled 5 tracks from each of the four artists name-dropped in the beginning of this legendary tune, featuring some of the more rootsy, socially conscious and afro-centric material from each.
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