Kool And The Gang - The Best Of (1969-76) (Mercury); Desmond Dekker - The Best Of (Music Club); Shabba Ranks - King Jammy's Presents Shabba Ranks; (King Jammy's/Melodie); The Style Council - Here's Some That Got Away (Polydor) SUMMER is definitely the silly season when it comes to album releases. It seems that the sugar brigade appears in force. Oleta Adams, Mica Paris and James Ingram all have albums out this month but they are poor by their standards and sickly by anyone else's. Time then to dig through the re-releases which for many a record label fill the summer haze with the scent of pure profit.
The Jazziacs may not ring many bells but in the late 60s this band of scrawny teenagers took their brand of street jazz to a totally new dimension.
They hired a full-time vocalist and became one of the first jazz funk fusion bands, Kool and The Gang.
By 1976 they were just about played out, producing tinny disco numbers. Today they are sampled and emulated by everyone and his brother, hence the interest in the back catalogue.
In Kool and The Gang: The Best Of (1969-76), you'll find some rarities like Pneumonia and Let the Music Take Your Mind.
If you want a taste of some Jamaican dance hall music from two different generations try The Best of Desmond Dekker and King Jammy's Presents Shabba Ranks.
The former bears the summer of 67 hit 007 which pioneered the launch of the so-called rocksteadybeat outside Jamaica.