Yikes! It's the middle of summer and I still haven't posted "Uptown Top Ranking"! If you've been around here long enough you know. As happens every year, I have a contented moment made possible by nice weather, a warm ocean and chance meetings with locals on my way to and from the beach. Per usual, I gush about it. This jam nails the mood, not lyrically, just in the vibe, It's by Althea and Donna and if you've been listening to reggae a long time you might remember when it appeared in 1978. It went to #1 in the UK, didn't do shit in the states. Me and my friends ate it up.
The riddim comes from Alton Ellis's "I;m Still In Love With You". Althea and Donna's "Uptown Top Ranking" was by no means the only record to use it. Here's a couple others. And if you're already familiar with all of these, dig this exercise. Try syncing Ellis's with Althea and Donna's, opening them in separate windows and pausing one if needed. Then fuck with the volume in each window. When they do sync well you can strut around like some two bit King Tubby,
Listen:
Althea and Donna - Uptown Top Ranking mp3 at Tumblr
Alton Ellis - I'm Still In Love With You mp3 at Stop Okay Go
Mighty Two - Calico Suit (streaming) at YouTube
Trinity - Three Piece Suit (streaming) at YouTube
Althea and Donna - Uptown Top Ranking b/w Calico Suit mp3 at Internet Archive Original 1977 Joe Gibbs Record Globe 7" Version
