Punk Rock - Reggae 1977: When The Two Sevens Clash

Reggae 1977: WhenThe Two 7's Clash

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Essentially a London thang reggae and punk were thrown together by being mutual outcasts, two fingers against authority and a sense of an established order breaking down. Both were rebel music. In the DJ booth at the Roxy, Don Letts played reggae and dub platters before punk records were available. John Peel on mainstream Radio 1 was as likely to follow records by The Cortinas and Clash with records by Misty In Roots and Augustus Pablo. The NME and Sounds had their own reggae pages.

1977 (When the two sevens clash - Babylon i.e. England was to disintegrate) was to be an apocalyptic year in reggae terms...and so it was in music fashion and society generally as white and black street culture found itself with the same aspirations for possibly the first and last time. Summing it all up though was the distinctly infectious tunes of the suprise number One single at the end of 77, Althea & Donnas 'Uptown Ranking', which financed Lightning records punk excursions but that's another story.

Don 'rebel dread' Letts at The Roxy

Punk and Reggae poles apart one would think. Heavy slow bass driven toons versus tinny white boy thrash. Quasi mystical ganga based black man beat versus white swastika toting amphetamine driven nihilism. Punk and reggae became further intertwined because of two of punks most influential figures, Mr Rotten and the boys in the Clash. reggae was very much a part of their musical scene and growing up and each vied to say they loved it more than the other as an influence.

"Don letts wasn't the bringer of Reggae. Paul (Simenon) was into reggae, Joe (Strummer) was into reggae and John (Rotten) was into Reggae. They were turning me onto tunes. It wasn’t always the other way around. It was one of the reasons we got on. Don’t forget that early skinheads were into reggae, Trojan and ska. Black music was and will always be rebel music. The stones were into Bo Diddly and Howling Wolf. While the UK had reggae the US were getting into and being influenced by hip hop. Both reggae and punk was rebel music." Don Letts Interview Punk77 Oct 2005.

<< Right. Dreads and spiky hair are commonplace now but in the seventies they marked you out as a militant and outlaw who had rejected society.

For the Clash they covered Junior Murvin's Police & Thieves, wanted a Notting Hill riot of their own, had Lee Perry produce one of their finest singles Complete Control and worked alongside Mikey Dread on their sprawling Sandinista album while wearing initially clothes with Prince Farianisms like' Heavy Manners' sprayed on them.

Jah Wobble in PIL would utililise the pounding reggae bass on a many a toon and as Haile Unlikely Vs the Steel Leg recorded his own groovy 12". Contrasting this is the two very different experiences of the boys visiting Jamaica. For the Clash it was a heavy trip resulting in the song 'Safe European Home'. For Rotten, him and Letts spliffed out to sound systems and generally had a good time at Virgin's expense as can be seen right.

Big Youth with Jah Rotten


	The relationship was further cemented as bands like Misty in Roots and Steel Pulse appeared on shared stages at Rook Against Racism gigs with Bands like Generation X . Indeed The Rust first single was released on Misty's 'People United' record label and Steel Pulse toured with The Stranglers.

There were some unusual contenders for greatness... The Slits stomping 'Grapevine', the growling reggae bass driven 'Nice & Sleazy' by the Stranglers and the incendiary cover of Marley's 'Johnny Was' by SLF. But there were some stinkers too. The Members 'Offshore Banking Business', some dire Patti Smith cod reggae, the Unwanted's hammy 'Secret Police' and I don't care what anyone says ATV's cringe inducing 'Love Lies Limp'. Prizes for serious white boy reggae prior to the Two Tone revival must go to the Ruts who really did capture the space and power of reggae and weld it to a white mans punk anger ( whatever that means).

The Slits sublime skanking version of 'Grapevine'.

So for your delectation here's a brief guide to reggae and some of its essential sounds courtesy of my old pal Peter Redmond so read and learn.