…and I have it!

So when I was 16 years old it was 1989 and I was being forced to listen to str8 garbage on the radio.  Guns ‘n Roses, Poison, you get my drift.  My only solace as a white kid who loved black music was the Reggae Sunset show which aired from 6:00 pm-6:30 pm every Sunday night during the summer.  I never missed a show.

So I call in one night for whatever contest they were running at the time (probably call in when you hear “Telephone Love” by Shabba).  Well, for once in my life I won something.  Pure gold! I was all too delighted a few days later when I received this in the mail:

That’s right.  The “Groove Yard” Mango Records reggae mix album.  For those of you who haven’t had the pleasure of owning this rare gem, you really missed out.  A perfect track listing of the finest classic roots reggae tracks.  If you are like me, you probably own each of these tracks already on any number of other albums, but there is just something about this mix that takes me back.

Here is a review from AllMusic:

Since its release in 1989, Groove Yard has remained one of the best introductions to reggae music available. Because it draws on the very deep Island/Mango catalog, its contents cover just about every important reggae artist: Toots & the Maytals, Jacob Miller, Augustus Pablo — it’s like roll call at the Reggae Hall of Fame (the only curiosity being the exclusion of Bob Marley, who was probably judged by the album’s programmers to be a universally familiar figure already). Best of all, the artists are all presented at their very best: Junior Murvin delivers the classic Black Ark production “Police and Thieves, Augustus Pablo dubs things up with “King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown” (arguably the finest example of dub ever recorded), and so on. Every reggae fan will have a couple of quibbles, but overall this is one reggae album that could be confidently recommended to anyone who wants just one for their collection.

1     Jimmy Cliff – The Harder They Come 3:02
2     Melodians, The – Rivers Of Babylon 4:17
3     Heptones, The – Book Of Rules 3:30
4                                          – Marcus Garvey 3:44
5     Augustus Pablo – King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown 2:32
6     Dillinger – Cokane In My Brain 2:44
7     Max Romeo – War Ina Babylon 4:50
8     Junior Murvin – Police And Thieves 3:48
9     Lee Perry – Roast Fish And Cornbread 4:23
10     Toots & The Maytals – Reggae Got Soul 3:05
11     Third World – 96° In The Shade 4:38
12     Jacob MIller – Tenement Yard 3:34
13     Steel Pulse – Ku Klu Klan 3:30
14     Linton Kwesi Johnson – Sonny’s Lettah 3:50
15     King Sunny Ade – Ja Funmi 3:34
16     Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse 3:35
17     Black Uhuru – Solidarity 3:30
18     Aswad – Don’t Turn Around 3:25
19     Ray Lema – Moni Mambo 5:00

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