Rodigan's Dub Classics Volume 1 (Rewind Selecta, 1996)

Great Britain's David Rodigan is one of the world's most popular reggae DJs (DJ in the traditional radio disc jockey sense, not in the chatting dancehall sense), and in 1996, he lent his respected name to this collection of vintage dub cuts from the '70s and early '80s.  At the time, most of this album was extremely hard to find elsewhere (and much of it still is), with rare dubs mixed by giants King Tubby, Prince Jammy, and Scientist -- making this a much desired set by dub heads.  However, rare doesn't necessarily mean good, so while Rodigan's Dub Classics is solid throughout, there's not a whole lot that's earth-shattering.  Even non-dub fans should recognize some of the music here: "No No No" is a dub of Dawn Penn's enduring classic (actually, this is Big Youth's reworking of the rhythm on "Screaming Target"), while "Kouchie" is, of course, the Mighty Diamonds' "Pass the Kouchie," and "Jammy's a Shine" is the Wailers' seminal "Sun Is Shining" (the Bunny Lee production, not Lee Perry's original).  "A Ruffer Version" (Johnny Clarke's "Don't Trouble Trouble") and "Roots of Dub" (Cornell Campbell's "The Sun") might also sound familiar, as might dubs of works by Larry Marshall -- "Watergate Rock" ("I Admire You") and "Clash of Steel" ("Brand New Baby") -- and Johnny Osbourne -- "Dub Fall" ("Nightfall") and "Kiss Dub" ("Kiss Somebody").  Other artists represented include Augustus Pablo, the Morwells, and Carlton Patterson.  Still, given the star power, the impact is relatively minor, partly due to the fact that there isn't much variety in dub artists represented, and partly because you can now easily get some of these tracks elsewhere (e.g., Johnny Osbourne's Nightfall album and Scientist's Scientist Meets the Space Invaders).