Bass Culture: When Reggae was King - Tapa blanda

This is the first major account of the history of reggae, a form of music which has had a huge revival in the '90s. Black music journalist Lloyd Bradley describes its origins and development in Jamaica, from ska to rock-steady to dub and then to reggae itself, a local music which conquered the world. There are many extraordinary stories about characters like Prince Buster, King Tubby and Bob Marley. But this is more than a book of music history: it relates the story of reggae to the whole history of Jamaica, from colonial island to troubled independence, and Jamaicans, from Kingston to London.

Lloyd Bradley was classically trained as a chef but for the last 20 years has worked as a music journalist, most recently for Mojo - which he has just left with editor Mat Snow to launch a new men's magazine in spring 2000. He is the author of Reggae on CD. He lives with his wife and two children in Kentish Town, London.