3. Bob Marley & The WailersLive at the Lyceum
I bought this on the way to my interview at Manchester University, and played it when I got home, so it’s the sound of that time for me: late teens, about to leave home. Me leaving home in Bolton for Manchester. Ah, what an epic journey that was. Reggae was the sound of another world just as Television were. This was my first reggae record. What a one to get. In 1976, you’d hear a lot of reggae, especially at punk gigs, because there weren’t actually very many punk records around. But they were a natural fit together: both were examples of outsider music, rebel music. I’d loved the early Wailers – Burnin’ is a masterpiece – but Live at the Lyceum gets you in the gut from the first track. The energy in it is just intoxicating.
