After some hard work going through my favourites, I’ve decided on my Crucial Selection. It’s the LP by Tradition, in fact ‘Tradition in Dub’, the dub cuts to their album ‘Moving On’. Both albums were released in the mid-70s.
Tradition were and still are my favourite home grown band. They were out around the same time as Aswad (another favourite home grown band), the Investigators and several others at the time. ‘Moving On’ is in the category of ‘lovers rock’ but not 100 percent, as there are also some nice roots tunes on the album.
I’ve chosen the dub album because it’s one of the very first dub albums I bought way back then. It brings back some happy memories of growing up in Shepherds Bush, living opposite a couple of Jamaican families, one of which had a sound system called ‘King Tropical’ now called ‘Diamonds’. They played locally and also at town hall dances we used to have back then.
I actually helped them ‘string and wire up’ the sound at Acton Town Hall. That was an honour for me because in those days you never saw a woman in the midst of men and sound systems – it was bad enough when a woman went to a record shop on a Saturday! That was also not the done thing back then!
When playing out the dub album is always in my box together with Moving On, as the title track is still very popular and a classic. The dub album is quite sought after and I’ve seen it go for ridiculous amounts of money. I bought mine in a white sleeve with the handwritten title. I understand because it’s in a white sleeve, it’s worth quite some sums. I won’t be parting with it at all!
Although I’ve been buying vinyl since the ’70s, I only started playing in 2010 just by chance. If it wasn’t for a couple of friends who played on a pirate station, I wouldn’t be where I am now. But that’s another story. I now play with my partner Mister Swing Easy, under the umbrella ‘Camberwell Connection’. For details see our Camberwell Connection Facebook page!
Our next sessions are in Stoke Newington, Brixton and a first for me, Glasgow!
