When Rock Met Reggae by Steven Blush

Author:Steven Blush
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Published: 2024-07-21T00:00:00+00:00

The Ruts

The skins in the corner are staring at the bar

The rude boys are dancing to some heavy heavy ska

—The Ruts, “Staring at the Rude Boys”

The Ruts combined punk’s love of reggae with hard-edged boot-stomping indignation, assimilating reggae like the Clash. Their success was fleeting, but while it lasted, they nearly achieved greatness.

The quartet formed in 1977 and allied with the nascent Rock Against Racism movement, connections that led to their 1978 debut single “In a Rut,” released on the RAR-associated reggae band Misty In Roots’ People’s United label. The record was championed by famed BBC DJ John Peel. Through 1979 and early 1980, they toured with the Damned and sold twenty thousand copies, leading to a deal with Virgin Records. With Peel, they made three politically charged, punk-reggae singles and an album: their UK Top Ten hit “Babylon’s Burning,” “Something That I Said,” the cult sensation “Staring at the Rude Boys,” and October 1979’s debut LP The Crack— with the original seven-minute version of “Jah War” (only on twelve-inch from Virgin France), better than the truncated British import seven-inch version and maybe better at reggae than the Clash. Its magically upbeat rock-reggae grooves and bass lines, horn flourishes, and keyboard fills matched singer Malcolm Owen’s preaching urgent revolution in perfect patois.

STARING AT THE RUDE BOYS: The Ruts “Staring at the Rude Boys” single, Virgin Records, 1980 VINYLS / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

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