Laurel Aitken – Skinhead Ska - the Collection CD

Laurel Aitken – Skinhead Ska - the Collection

• 20 track collection of seminal ska and rock steady skinhead anthems from prolific performer and producer Laurel Aitken.

• A direct influence on the Two Tone scene and the mighty Madness.

• Includes a host of anthems, from ‘Rudi Got Married’, ‘Rude Boy Dream’ through to the essential ‘Skinhead Train’ with a nod to ska’s more racy side on ‘Fire (In Your Wire)’ and ‘Pussy Price (Gone Up)’.

Widely hailed as the Godfather of Ska, Laurel Aitken dominated Jamaica’s recording industry throughout its infancy, enjoying a series of hugely popular mento and Jamaican R&B hits during the latter half of the 1950s. Early the following decade he relocated to London, where, over the years that immediately followed, he recorded for every Afro-Caribbean record company of note.

While his ska and rock steady recordings ensured Laurel remained a firm favourite among Jamaican ex-patriots, the reggae explosion of 1969 exposed his work to a wider audience, with productions for Doctor Bird, Pama and Trojan Records establishing him as a musical hero for many of Britain’s young, white working-classes, notably those that had adopted a fashion style dubbed by the national press as ‘skinhead’.

TRACKLIST:
1  SKINHEAD INVASION
2  RUDI GOT MARRIED
3  FREEDOM
4  SALLY BROWN
5  BOOGIE IN MY BONES
6  SKINHEAD
7  JESSE JAMES
8  HONEY COME BACK TO ME
9  DANCING WITH MY BABY
10  IT’S TOO LATE
11  LANDLORDS AND TENANTS
12  RUDE BOY DREAM
13  BARTENDER
14  MAD ABOUT YOU
15  FIRE (IN YOUR WIRE)
16  SAHARA
17  PUSSY PRICE (GONE UP)
18  SCANDAL IN A BRIXTON MARKET
19  HEY LITTLE GIRL
20  SKINHEAD TRAIN

Label: Cherry Red
Released: 2025