Give Me The Right (various  Labels)

By 1978, the Hit Bound catalogue was already in deep, and Give Me The Right sits right in that fertile stretch where Channel One-era reggae was turning tougher, sharper, and more version-heavy. The various-artists set leans on a propulsive roots groove with that late-'70s studio cut: lean bass, clipped guitar chops, and plenty of room for the singers and deejays to stretch out. Barrington Levy’s “You Say You Love Me, ” Dennis Brown’s “Children Of Israel, ” and Leroy Smart’s “I Don’t Like It” are the ones that jump out first, but the record really earns its keep by moving from vocal cuts into dub pressure. The closing run keeps that momentum alive, with The Revolutionaries’ “Bionic Man” and The Aggrovators’ “Into The Bradforth Dub” pushing the riddim into raw instrumental territory before Trinity’s “African King” signs it off with a deejay edge.