Big Ones indeed! This compilation kicks off with nine hits in the first ten tracks; counterintuitively "Big Nine" was not a hit. "Jamaica Jerk Off" was, a track from
Judge Dread's Top 40 "5th Anniversary" EP,
Jamaica Jerk. The nostalgic "Bring Back the Skins" is also taken from that EP, although here it's retitled "Last of the Skinheads." The only big one missing from this set was the
Judge's final hit single, the double A-sided "Hokey Cokey"/"Jingle Bells."
Dread had quite an astounding chart run between 1972 and 1978, notching up more hits than even
Bob Marley would manage, making him the world's greatest white reggae artist to date. Even at the time, though, the
Judge was an acquired taste, with his schoolboy smut-laden lyrics quickly offending the strait-laced. However, it wasn't
Dread's playful rudeness alone that bowled over reggae fans, but his unfailing ability to pick the right song and create the perfect musical version. Hughes may have been white, but his grasp of reggae crossed the color line, fooling even Jamaicans. The second half of this compilation emphasizes this point, bundling up a batch of steaming numbers in a variety of reggae styles. On many of them the
Judge returns to his roots, no longer the innuendo-loaded toaster but the exuberant DJ winding up the crowds, much as he did at his sound system before he hit the big time. Rudeness brought him fame, but it was his love of reggae that turned Alex Hughes into the formidable
Judge Dread, and Jamaica's own hits underpinned his success. A tribute to the man and the music that made him a star.