Babylon (Rarovideo) DVD

At long last, Franco Rosso’s classic 1980 film is available on officially released DVD through Italy’s Rarovideo. Set in London at the start of the Thatcherite eighties, Babylon tells the story of an impending sound clash between the upcoming Ital Lion sound and the mighty Jah Shaka sound, at that time the leading sound system in the UK. The film follows the travails of young dreadlock Blue, played brilliantly by Brinsley Forde, who at the time was singer and guitarist with the country’s leading reggae band Aswad, the groups classic Warrior Charge is featured as the hot dubplate with which they plan to succeed Shaka as the top sound. In fact, right then, Shaka was running cut after cut of the tune for real. It’s a superb film, which vividly depicts the dread and paranoia of those days. This package also includes Rosso’s Linton Kwesi Johnson documentary Dread Beat & Blood plus a 24-page booklet.