Paragons - Golden Hits (Treasure Isle)

 

The Paragons, who, along with contemporaries like the Heptones and Ken Boothe, helped to define the transitional rocksteady sound that led from ska to reggae, had an impact on the development of reggae music that was out of all proportion to their recorded output.

Apart from such local hit singles as "Wear You to the Ball" and "On the Beach," they recorded the original version of "The Tide Is High," which would later be a huge stateside hit for Blondie.

"Golden Hits" includes all of those tracks, as well as a number of other gems, all of them featuring the Paragons' patented smooth vocal harmonies and the rock-solid rhythms of Tommy McCook's Soulsonics band, excellently produced by the legendary Duke Reid at his Treasure Isle studio.

As with so many albums on the Lagoon imprint, this one is of questionable legitimacy - it duplicates exactly the classic Treasure Isle album "On the Beach", though the program here ends with "Riding High on a Windy Day" (whereas the Treasure Isle release includes four additional tracks).

Paragons - Golden Hits (Treasure Isle)
192 kbps