Customer Reviews

Rudie's All Round

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This is actually an anthology of rock steady classics whose subject is the "rude boy" movement which grew up during the scorching summer of 1966. Rude boys or rudies first sported a kind of hip hooliganism, then a more cultural and politically minded activism. Remember when hip hop started the "Stop the Violence" campiagn? Well, here that's the title of a soulful cut by The Valentines. Alton Ellis, Desmond Dekker, Derrick Morgan, Stranger Cole, and Lee Perry are among the more famous names to contribute. Check out The Clarendonians' "Blam Blam Fever" (as in gunfire, see?) and The Rulers' "Copasetic" ("It was no-ho-ho-ho-hot...copasetic" they croon.)

From 1993, this lp brings together Dekker, the king of rocksteady, with 4 original members of the British ska band the Specials.

It was a tough period for Dekker, who, 10 years earlier, was declared bankrupt in the UK, where he resided, and waged a bitter public dispute over lack of royalties received.

Therefore, at first glance, this looked like a smart move for Dekker- to perhaps regain his fan base and spread out to a new one, as the Specials are many years his junior, and were prominant in the late 70's early 80's British ska craze (as was Madness).

In retrospect, while Dekker's voice is in decent form, I found this lp to be lacking in overall spirit somehow. I have never been able to fully put my finger on it, but perhaps it was the fact that he NEEDED to make such an album, that he NEEDED this lp to make ends meet, that gives it a negative form of urgency.

My feeling is that under better conditions, the spirit of Dekker's voice would have better been heard.

Die hard fans of Dekker will likely enjoy this effort, as might Specials fans, but newcomers or casual fans would be better off finding Dekker's 60s works, or one of his many "best of" compilations, to better experience his greatness.