Number 89 - Toots and The Maytals 'Funky Kingston'

I grew up listening to a heap of reggae. Around my pot smoking sisters, Bob Marley was a staple diet. At school all the parties we used to go to at the Titahi Bay Boardriders were Bob Marley parties (i.e. The only tape that we had was 'Legend - The Best of Bob Marley'). For a long time reggae music to me meant stoners, no hopers and lack of urgency. So I stopped listening to it.

About 5 years ago, I started listening to Radio Active who play a ton of reggae music. On Sundays, I would sometimes catch the 'Roots and Culture' show and catch some of the reggae music that was out there that was not done by Robert Nesta Marley. And it was good.

Toots has a very distinct voice and while there are probably a 1000 other reggae albums that should feature higher - I just love Funky Kingston. The edition I have is the double CD with 'In the Dark' as well.

Awesome versions of 'Pressure Drop', 'Louie Louie' and 'Got To Be There' feature on this album.

For information about 'Toots and The Maytals' check out wikipedia here