Various Artists - Total Reggae Summer Vibes + Various Artists - Total Reggae One Drop (VP Records)

For less than 10 euros you get 40 (!) songs with the excellent liner notes written by Harry Wise - explaining how 'Uptown Top Ranking', the world hit by onehitwonder duo Althea & Donna, would never have existed without Alton Ellis' 'I'm Still In Love' and a lot of songs that followed it, and teaching us the one drop subgenre was once referred to as the cow shit splash - thrown in for free. For 'Summer Vibes' some of the biggest hits from reggae history (Clint Eastwood & General Saint's 'Stop That Train', Shabba's 'Mr. Lover Man' and 'Twice My Age', Marcia Griffith's 'Electric Boogie', Eric Donaldson's 'Cherry Oh Baby'...), songs that every true reggae amateur will have in his or her collection, but which undoubtedly will also be recognized by people who know nothing of the genre, were selected, and for 'One Drop' VP Records collected the best one drop hits from the past two decades (Richie Spice's 'Earth A Run Red', Natty King's 'No Guns To Town', Fantan Mojah's 'Hail The Kinng', Morgan Heritage's 'Don't Haffi Dread '...).