‘It’s a Jam in the Streets’ - John Holt
‘John Holt was one of Jamaica’s finest crooners, who’d go on to score several UK hits with his trademark string-driven arrangements.’
From The Clash to the great jungle and dubstep DJs, so many musicians have been inspired by Trojan Records, the record label that introduced ska, rocksteady and reggae to the UK. During its heyday in the late ’60s and early ’70s, Trojan launched artists like Desmond Dekker, Toots And The Maytals and Bob Marley to the British charts and became an obsession for the nation’s youth cultures: skinheads, suedeheads and mods.
Among those early Trojan listeners was a young Don Letts, a passionate music fan whose DJ stints at London club The Roxy in the late ’70s helped introduce reggae to the punk crowd. We asked Letts to select the best tracks and songs from Trojan Records, and he obliged – though he warns: ‘It would have been a lot easier to pick the Top 100 from this iconic label’s catalogue.’
The new compilation ‘This Is Trojan’ is out now through [PIAS]/BMG. Don Letts hosts Culture Clash Radio on BBC Radio 6 Music.
![‘Soul Special’ [aka ‘Soul Scorcher’] – Carl ‘King Cannon’ Bryan](https://media.timeout.com/images/102828964/1920/1440/image.webp "‘Soul Special’ [aka ‘Soul Scorcher’] – Carl ‘King Cannon’ Bryan")
