Mikey Dread

This is absolutely Mikey Dreads best album, and possibly the wackiest, most twisted dub ever recorded. Mikey is a strange little man with a strange little voice and this is dark and strange reggae. The dominant feature is Mikey's incessant chanting of the same or similar sounding phrases over and over again in his nasel, munchkin voice. This is never boring and verges on being trance-inducing. His voice becomes strange instrument. Underneath all the chanting the music is twisting, writhing and distorting in ways that only a slightly unhinged dub master can make it do. The result is brilliant and endlessly fascinating. Unfortunately, this is not the original version of this recording. The original was out for only a short time and only on vinyl. This copy, (originally called Return of WW3 or something like that) quickly followed as an attempt to tone down the wierdness and make it more pallatable to the American hippies and Brittish rude boys who were the only people listening to reggae at that time. This album, in fact, was heavily influenced by Mikey's work with The Clash. (he appears on their Sandanista album) I would reccomend WW3 even to people who aren't into reggae. I myself have come to see reggae as just something silly and light hearted to play on sunny days. But WW3 will always have a special place in my collection.

you smell like a dead cat..

mikey a de jah best, you know

mikey dread haffe murdah de soun bwai

rasta far i

I first got into Mikey Dread because of his work with the Clash, but soon I was collecting his records in their own right -- which was no easy task in the pre-internet days, since most were only available as British imports. But this collection saved the day, living up to its billing and more. You can hear his production genius in every track, and connect the dots between Dread's versions of classic riddims and their original incarnations on records like Gregory Issac's classic Mr. Issacs.
This album is a crucial addition to any reggae fan's collection.

this guy is to reggae as Willie Dixon is to blues - snubbed - left out of nearly all compilations - yet anyone I know who has played Best Sellers rates it among the best reggae albumns they have heard - if he has shortcomings they are more than matched in other strengths - this is "heavy reggae" - perhaps the best tracks here are Barber Saloon (celebratory carnival mood) and Roots and Culture (eerie but positive)

transcends other reggae - massively underrated - echoes of psychadelia and some similarity to trance

best seller was just the right name for this album. ileasing to reggae music for over 10 years by far this album is in my top ten next bob marley,gregory issacs.mikey dread and many other great arts. if you can get this album buy it and take care of it treasure like this don't come along every day

The considerable output of Jamaican dj, producer and radio presenter Mikey Dread embraces many different styles. After leaving Jamaica for the UK at the end of the 70's he became an associate of the Clash, and toured with them (an experience documented on the b-side of the single "Bankrobber") as well as appearing on some of the more bearable tracks on the "Sandanista" album.

This neglected dub set from 1979 is as good as any you can buy, featuring some radical remixes of his own work by Campbell, King Tubby and Prince Jammy. It also includes many of his flamboyant radio jingles, samples of which have been appearing on other people's records for years. Great stuff.