Track Listing

1. Deliver Me From My Enemies - Yabby U
2. Turn Me Loose - Michael Prophet
3. Free Africa - Yabby U
4. Whap�n� Bap�n� - I-Roy
5. Thank You For The Many Things You�ve Done - Cassandra
6. Hey Jah Children - Aswad
7. Warrior Charge - Aswad
8. Beefy�s Tune - Dennis Bovell
9. Manhunter - Dennis Bovell
10. Jazterpiece - Dennis Bovell
11. School Skanking - Dennis Bovell�s Dub Band (Bonus Track)
12. Living In Babylon - Dennis Bovell (Bonus Track)
13. Runnin� Away - Dennis Bovell (Bonus Track)
14. Chief Inspector - Dennis Bovell�s Dub Band (Bonus Track)
15. B Flat Reggae Concerto - Dennis Bovell�s Dub Band (Bonus Track)
16. Jazterpiece (Reggae Version) - Dennis Bovell
17. Beefy's Tune (Long Version) - Dennis Bovell

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42902 in Music
• Released on: 2005-02-07
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Soundtrack
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Customer Reviews

Classic reggae soundtrack to cult 1980-film....
Franco Rosso's 1980 film 'Babylon' is not a film I'm familiar with - it appears to be a 'Black'-equivalent of films like 'Meantime' & 'Made in Britain' - & is something that I'd like to see. Perhaps a DVD might turn up?

Over the years, 'Babylon- The Original Soundtrack' has gathered something a cult reputation and is often cited as a classic reggae-collection. This mid-price reissue is as great as recent compilations and reissues of this genre, from Lee Perry's 'Dub-Triptych' to the Don Letts' compilations on Trojan (or the wider set of Trojan-compilations that are fantastic). Clearly reggae has a vast audience, who I'm sure would love this 10-track soundtrack, which now comes with 7-bonus-tracks. 'Babylon' is a budget-price classic, tremendous value, & one of the great soundtracks (perhaps to the 1980s what 'The Harder They Come' was to the 1970s? Or perhaps a reggae-'Superfly'?).

The soundtrack includes tracks from I-Roy, Yabby U, Michael Prophet, Cassandra and Aswad - the latter in their brilliant earlier incarnation, closer to peers like Steel Pulse than the poppy-UB40esque sound that made them very popular in the late 1980s.

The majority of the tracks here come from Dennis Bovell and his Dub Band - Bovell famously the producer of such key records of the time as 'Cut' by The Slits, 'Y' by The Pop Group (also creating the excellent '3.38'-track for them- which messed with 'She is Beyond Good & Evil'), several albums by Linton Kwesi Johnson, several records by Orange Juice & his own 'Strictly Dubwise' recorded under the name Blackbeard. Bovell is now viewed - in a book such as 'Rip It Up and Start Again' - as a forward-thinking dub-reggaue producer and the tracks here confirm that. Highlights include 'Jazterpiece' (here in two-versions), 'School Skanking', 'Living in Babylon' & 'Beefy's Tune' (again in two-versions). 'Babylon' is an essential purchase and evidence that British-musicians could easily match their brilliant Jamacian-influences...

Soundtrack cool, film ace.
I saw this film as a student in the early 80's on a borrowed video which was very unusual in those days. It is a fantastic story of black youths in London struggling to get on. The one white character is played by Karl Howden(?)who is now reduced to selling Flash on the TV. It has great scenes like trying to seal a record deal with a bag of ganja, the 'this town's never been lovely lady' and when Karl is getting down with the dudes he's told 'Don't talk black.' A fantastic soundtrack. The best reggae soundtrack I've ever heard (including 'The harder they come'). I have yet to see a DVD or even a video of the film but I would love to see this classic movie again. I guess the soundtrack will do for now...

Babylon (the film)
This film has not got a strong storyline running through but really capures the mood of the times, particularly for young men and highlights the racism faced during this era affecting both black and white youths, particularly coming from older generations. I am a 43 yr old Londoner so remember this time well but would also be valuable for todays young people to watch as it makes you realise how far this country has come in many ways. The music is also fantastic and young people should educate themselves by listening to the music of that time and see the lengths we had to go to as accessing music was so much harder then (but made us appreciate it all the more.) I would recommend this film as a nostalgia trip for anyone my age but also a valuable educational tool for todays youth, particularly young black men. I hope this film could be shown in schools or youth groups etc for discussion.