Baker's Dozen

Artists discuss the 13 records that shaped their lives

1. The CongosHeart Of The Congos

Jonathan More: I bought it from Rough Trade in 1977. I think it was then – the version I have is a different mix to the one that was released later on. There’s one for sale on Discogs at the moment for £1,100. Mine’s in lovely nick as well. The vocal harmonies are just so beautiful on this record, and there’s fantastic Black Ark/Lee Perry production. Some of my favourite people on it too – Boris Gardener for example. It’s such a killer record. ‘Fisherman”s my favourite track. I like ‘Congo Man’ as well and they’re all good – but ‘Fisherman”s my favourite. It reminds me of my days of traveling up to London when I was at art college and spending my grant on records rather than on things that I was supposed to, like books on three dimensional design. When I used to go to Rough Trade (the old shop), I used to just ask the guy who worked there ‘Right – good records, what have you got?’ and he would pull stuff out and play them to me. If I liked them, I would end up buying them. The Congos was one of them.

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