"Punky Reggae Party" is a song by

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

, recorded and released in 1977. Not appearing on any studio album, it was released in 1977 as a 12-inch single in Jamaica only on the Tuff Gong and Black Art labels, as a B-side to the " Jamming" single on the Island label in some countries and was later released as a live single on ''

Babylon by Bus ''Babylon by Bus'' is a live album released by Bob Marley and the Wailers in 1978. The tracks on this album are considered, with two exceptions, to be from the Pavillon de Paris concerts over 3 nights, 25–27 June 1978, during the Kaya Tour, ...

''. Subsequently, it appeared on a number of compilations and "Best of" albums as well as the Deluxe Edition of ''

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

'' and the 2002 CD reissue of ''

Legend A legend is a Folklore genre, genre of folklore that consists of a narrative featuring human actions, believed or perceived, both by teller and listeners, to have taken place in human history. Narratives in this genre may demonstrate human valu ...

''. The two versions of the song on the Jamaican 12-inch single were both featured on disc 2 of the Deluxe Edition of ''Exodus''. The version featured on the 2002 CD reissue of ''Legend'' is the B-side version from the "Jamming" 12-inch single. There is also a version of the song released as a B-side on the "Jamming" 7-inch single which is much shorter. The song was written by Bob Marley as a positive response to the release of a cover version of

Junior Murvin Junior Murvin (born Murvin Junior Smith, circa 1946 – 2 December 2013) was a Jamaican reggae musician. He is best known for the single " Police and Thieves", produced by Lee "Scratch" Perry in 1976. Early life He was born in Saint J ...

's "

Police and Thieves "Police and Thieves" ( "Police and Thief") is a reggae song first recorded by the falsetto singer Junior Murvin in 1976. It was covered by the punk band The Clash and included on their self-titled debut album released in 1977. Junior Murvin ve ...

" by English punk band

the Clash The Clash were an English rock band formed in London in 1976 who were key players in the original wave of British punk rock. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they also contributed to the and new wave movements that emerged in the wa ...

, on

their first LP ''Their First LP'' is the debut studio album by the Spencer Davis Group, released in the UK and Europe in June 1965. It peaked at number 6 on the UK Albums Chart. Although never released in its original incarnation in the US, a majority of the ...

. Referring to the party of the title of the song, the lyrics mention several punk and reggae groups: "The Wailers will be there, the Damned,

the Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...

– Maytals will be there, Dr. Feelgood too". Marley also often repeated the words " new wave" during the song. At one time, the list also included

the Slits The Slits were a punk and post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma R ...

, but mention of them was removed allegedly because they were women. According to a January 2014 interview with ''

Midnight Raver ''Midnight Raver'' was a website dedicated solely to the promotion and preservation of roots reggae, culture and dub. Contributors include authors and journalists, historians, record producers, broadcasters, lecturers, archivists, collectors and ...

'',

Sly Dunbar Lowell Fillmore "Sly" Dunbar (born 10 May 1952, Kingston, Jamaica) is a drummer, best known as one half of the prolific Jamaican rhythm section and reggae production duo Sly and Robbie. Biography Dunbar began playing at 15 in a band called ...

revealed that he played drums on this track. According to Dunbar, the drum track was recorded at Joe Gibbs studio. The song was referred to in the Sublime song "Garden Grove" and the

Robyn Hitchcock Robyn Rowan Hitchcock (born 3 March 1953) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano, and bass guitar. After leading the Soft Boys in the late 1970s and releasing the ...

song "Antwoman".

Cover versions

In 2001, French punk band

Burning Heads Burning Heads is a punk rock and reggae band from Orléans, France. The group formed in 1987, and started out releasing records independently before signing with Play It Again Sam in 1994. They became more popular in America with the release of ...

covered the song. It appeared on ''It's a Frenchy Ska Reggae Party Vol. 3'' compilation. In 2012, an American reggae band, Island Head, covered the song and named their debut album "''Punky Reggae Party''". Island Head musicians include Jamaican guitarist Mikey "Mao" Chung who is known for being part of the

Peter Tosh Winston Hubert McIntosh, OM (19 October 1944 – 11 September 1987), professionally known as Peter Tosh, was a Jamaican reggae musician. Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, he was one of the core members of the band the Wailers (1963� ...

band, and Andy Bassford, known for playing with

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...

and Toots and the Maytals. Island Head's bandleader/producer Billy Messinetti played drums and percussion, David Frank of the band the System played all of the keyboards, trumpet player Don Harris is co-producer,

Timmy Cappello Timmy, or sometimes Timmie, is a masculine name, a short form of Timothy or Tim. This variation is popular as a nickname and is commonly used when someone is young, but is often used in adulthood. It is a version of the Greek name ( Timόtheos ...

played saxophone and

Neil Jason Neil is a masculine name of Gaelic and Irish origin. The name is an anglicisation of the Irish ''Niall'' which is of disputed derivation. The Irish name may be derived from words meaning "cloud", "passionate", "victory", "honour" or "champion".. ...

(Brecker Brothers Band) played bass.

Track listing

1977 12" single # "Punky Reggae Party" – 9:19 # "Punky Reggae Version" – 8:49

References

{{Bob Marley 1977 songs 1977 singles Songs about parties Songs about punk Songs about reggae Bob Marley songs Songs written by Bob Marley