14 - They called it dancehall

Okay, so maybe you've figured out where this is going as we head towards the digital breakthrough in the mid-1980s which totally divided reggae fans, many of whom regarded the new sounds as too mechanical. Lots of this has to do with the rise of Channel One in the 1980s, as they recut heaps of Studio One tunes, taking advantage of the lack of copyright laws in Jamaica. The Roots Radics band laid down lots of these tunes, with a sparse, pared-back sound, dry and heavy, and producers like Henry Junjo Lawes overseeing affairs. Check this great illustration by Michael Thompson.

Here's a track from one of those legendary sessions, which has been recut in deadly fashion by Berlin's Seeed, and later refashioned by Tanya Stephens.

Props to Finnish reggae fans Tero Kaski (R.I.P.) & Pekka Vuorinen who put together this great book on Junjo Lawes. http://www.dubvendor.co.uk/volcano-revisited---kingston-dancehall-scene-1983---book-18752-p.asp