Down Beat (2)

A label of great importance in Jamaican music history, despite being entirely overlooked by most reggae heads and historians. The label, founded by Dada Tuari in the mid-1950s, licensed tracks one-by-one from various US labels for pressing and distribution in Jamaica. These were primarily songs that had been made popular in Jamaica by soundmen who went to the United States and dug them up - the Down Beat releases most likely came out after the tunes were already known by dance-goers. For that reason, nearly every 78rpm release on Down Beat is a Jamaican hit, the kind of tunes that defined early sound system culture, and the type of music that inspired the greats of ska, rocksteady, and reggae. One can assemble a representative set of early soundclash weapons by collecting the releases of this label.

Paul Anka's "Diana" is probably the bestselling release on the label, judging by its relatively common status in comparison to the other releases. Most titles on Down Beat are extremely rare, probably having been pressed in quantities of a few hundred and primarily sold to sound systems and radio DJs. However, they generally aren't as rare as locally recorded Jamaican 78s (of mento or R&B music), and if you deal with Jamaican shellac, you will come across them on occasion.