Reggae in a Babylon

For any fan of reggae music, this documentary provides a great window into the reggae scene in England during the 1970's. Musicians and fans of music in general may find the documentary interesting even if they are not particularly fans of reggae

The movie contains a lot of footage of English reggae pioneers performing on the underground club circuit and has extensive interviews with prominent people involved with reggae music

I highly recommend this movie to any fan of reggae, music or historical documentaries. You will not be disappointed by the mix of live music, recording footage and interviews present.

I don't know much about Reggae history, but watching this German film (although in English), I thought it was made much earlier than 1978. Memory fails, I guess, even though I was a young adult then. Bob Marley was mega-famous by this time, and inspired many of these musicians, so duh. It was shot in 1978, so don't expect 1080p video. It's very watchable, though, and the soundtrack is remarkable, as this was not a lavish production.

Most of this film consists of live performances (and a couple of "fake" studio lip synchs of cover songs) interspersed with interviews. The interviews are the smallest part of it, although they say a lot. I love the concept of the Jamaican "sound system", a Reggae rave or street party, where the DJ brought everything required to turn anyplace into a party.

I most enjoyed the amazing performances by the band Steel Pulse, esp their 1978 single, Ku Kux Klan. Really great music of any genre and a wonderful anti-racism song. I didn't know the KKK were across the Atlantic, but then again, why not? It was brave of them (and Island, as it was their first single with the label) to release this single, even though they had to know it would get little to no airplay, then (or now, likely). Steel Pulse was in the first Rock Against Racism concert and were a great supporter of that movement.

Even if you aren't a Reggae fan, it's mostly good music with great insights of the time, and I presume priceless for the Steel Pulse, and other, footage. I loved seeing all the vintage equipment, fashion and style from that time, in that time.

I watched this film and enjoyed listening to early British reggae and especially the interviews discussing the history of reggae and the influences and challenges of the early pioneers. It was fascinating to learn that reggae was originally a dance rather than a music genre, for example. Another nugget of trivia that I was unaware of was that the KKK actually visited Britain in the year after Steel Pulse released the song KKK. At only 49mins of playtime, there's never a dull moment and if ever you have an hour spare in the day but no longer then put this on if you haven't seen it already. Currently available on NetFlix, at least in the U. K.