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Rocksteady took over Orange Street, Kingston, Jamaica around 1966, the same time that an extreme heat wave hit the Jamaican Island. While Jamaican independence in 1962 provided the spark for the energised party rhythms of ska, four year later the soundsystem crowds were yearning for something with a bit more soul, and a bit slower. The raised temperatures of 1966 proved to be the tipping point, and rocksteady was born. A short-lived sound from the island, supplanted by the early stirrings of reggae by 1968, rocksteady would see some of the power escape from the big three producers - Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, Prince Buster, and Duke Reid - who up to that period ruled the airwaves. It was time to make room for a new wave of up-and-coming producers who also had something to offer the people. So sit back and enjoy some rocksteady straight from the dances of Jamaica. Includes tracks by Roy Shirley, Glen Adams, Lester Sterling, Uniques, Errol Dunkley, George Dekker, Don T. Lee, Webber Sisters, Alva Lewis.