Palace Press International
-Dana Shayegan
Roger Steffens and Peter Simon know reggae, and you can surely tell they love it like it was their child when you check out their freshly published Reggae Scrapbook. A great reggae historian and a world-renowned photojournalist pair up to give you a true reggae history lesson. From the greats in rocksteady and ska, all the way up to the emergence of today’s sound systems and street dances, they’ve got it all covered in a one-of-a-kind piece that has all the attributes of a true scrapbook—copies of ticket stubs, flyers, show bills, and postcards spanning from 2007 into history. These graphics alone are worth the price of the book. And with story after story, fact after fact, and captivating flick after flick, they delve into the Jamaican lifestyle in its purest form, unraveling the history of reggae music and its cultural basis like none before. They give insight into all the classics, as well as an inside look into many pivotal foundation artists that never seem to get the respect due to them. Vintage photos of pop icons like Mick Jagger and Sting rockin’ reggae style alongside Peter Tosh and Steel Pulse make it clear that reggae has been a force to reckon with for decades, and that this book, and its accompanying DVD (disguised as a 45), are long overdue.
