300% Dynamite poll

This has got to be Althea & Donna's poll to lose

So many great ones to choose from here but the funkiness of the dub on Jungle Lion still never fails to work for me even 25 years after first hearing it, so it has to be that

It’s way in my brain

Very tough to choose between Sleng Teng and Uptown Top Ranking.

Worst I'd probably say "Make It Reggae", which is still a total delight but the James Brown original's pretty untouchable.

Every single line in Uptown Top Ranking is a masterclass in catchy patois. Except maybe "love is all I bring"

so much coolness dripping from such minimal components, all soaring to heaven on Wayne’s massive vocal

(Re sleng teng)

Maybe the only one I'd lose is Rebel Soldiering. Johnny Clarke's opening fake laugh sets an irritating precedent for a not-especially inspired bit of DJ patter and a standard-issue riddim. It's not bad at all, just a bit of a mid point in an otherwise exceptional journey

Sleng Teng 4 Life

"All my friends call me... Jo-Jo - LOOK OUT NOW!"

bam bam is the one of these i hear the most often, and for good reason

Do you think if you polled the volumes, 300% would win? I'd be curious, they're all awesome.

I like the others, and I'm nit sure if this is the first one I got (and one if my first introductions to Caribbean music) but it's the clear standout for me

*not

It's tough, because they're all good! I'm trying to recall which volume I heard first, but I can't. I know 200% has some killer tracks for sure, but yeah, they all do.

impossible poll. sleng teng. cincinnati kid, uptown top rankin, rocksteady and take it easy all up there for me.

i always get mission impossible confused with my mission is impossible by the viceroys (or rather the cover of that by The Interns - Nothing is Impossible, which is one of my favourite tracks) - the one on 300% is the film theme cover, right?

i played Bam-Bam in a pub on Sunday, i don't know if anyone else there enjoyed hearing it again but it still sounds amazing to my ears

Broadway Jungle is so good, and I only last week learned that it was a Maytals song because the comp I have it on credits them as The Flames.

That's right Fizzles

You can barely walk through Bristol on a sunny weekend without hearing Bam Bam in some shape or form. It's such a great song, but I've definitely heard it too many times now

lol i am part of the problem i guess :)

They did get the polling treatment, 16 years ago:

Soul Jazz Dynamite! series poll

Interesting results. I'll need to go back and give them all a good relisten. I actually think 500% is excellent but it's really all over the shop stylewise

Dunno why it was so short though. Only 12 tracks

I won a copy of 200% Dynamite in a competition in - I think - Time Out. Absolute game-changer.

"Take It Easy" won't get a vote so I'm throwing my hat in for it.

this album was basically my entry point into classic ska/rocksteady/dancehall, really impossible to choose one here but "broadway jungle" pops up in my head all the time so gonna go with that

my friend and neighbor worked for soul jazz in the '90s and i was pretty delighted to learn he was one of the compilers behind these comps!

i played Bam-Bam in a pub on Sunday, i don't know if anyone else there enjoyed hearing it again but it still sounds amazing to my ears

― Reggaeton Sax (NickB), Tuesday, 22 April 2025 19:30 bookmarkflaglink

I did and so did (at least) one of my friends :)

In 2016 Sister Nancy retired from being a bank accountant in New Jersey so she could pursue music and performing.

She might have relocated to the Bay Area based on the amount of gigs she plays locally?

went to the launch party of 300% Dynamite at a pub near Angel tube in 99.

at the end they walked around with a big box of CDs just handing them out.

I'd just moved to London and then rinsed this compilation for months afterwards.

Voting Cincinatti Kid as I used the intro vocal for a mix I did around that time and it reminds me of that time and just soaking up London in my early twenties...

it also ruined me for most of the other Dynamite comps, as the baseline was set at 300% so everyone one was 'patchy' compared to this one IMO.

yay colonel poo! :)) xps

Byron Lee's Rocksteady is sounding better than ever, as is Pablo's version if Viva Tirado which I only just learned is a cover

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

voted bam bam. tough choice though

Bam Bam is the honest true answer really, even if it's the obvious choice :-)

yeah also voted bam bam

Heard Sleng Teng a few years earlier on the Tougher Than Tough box set, which was seminal for my appreciation of rage.

Reggae lol

We should poll th Tighten Ups too

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Well I was holding out for a slightly wider spread here but when you've got those three tunes all on the same comp, there's no surprise