Dance On the Corner

A blistering collection of unadulterated early dancehall, Jah Thomas’ 1979 LP Dance on the Corner is among the influential DJ’s very best releases. Thomas would eventually make a name for himself as a producer and label owner, cutting records with the likes of Tristan Palmer, Anthony Johnson, Toyan, and Early B on his Midnight Rock imprint. But in 1979, he was just starting to find his identity as a producer and was still focusing on his own releases. With Dance on the Corner, Thomas began his long and fruitful relationship with The Roots Radics, the crack studio band whose penchant for airtight rhythms, thunderous bass, and bracingly minimal arrangements helped define the sound of early dancehall. The most commercially successful track included here is “Cricket, Lovely Cricket," a genial, lighthearted ode to the pleasures of the pitch that bubbles along on a rhythm borrowed from Slim Smith’s “My Conversation.” Yet everything included here is equally engaging, from the mournful gunman tale of “Bad Man Entry” to the joyous boasts of “007 General.”