Soundclash: Niluccio v Jerry Dammers

As everyone knows, Jamaican music has a long history of rivalry - soundsystem "clashes", answer records taking opponents to task, secrecy over which records selectors were actually playing, comically-OTT bragging on the mic, glorious dismissals of the competition. It's another version of street corner jive, barber shop tall tales, general braggadocio - or, as Henry Louis Gates Jr puts it, "signifying" (a concept I thought impressive when I was quite likely misusing it in one of my undergraduate essays on Huckleberry Finn back in 1990). Anyway, friends and neighbours, I'm announcing my very own clash. Yep, it's Niluccio v Jerry Dammers. That's right - I'm taking on the great man of ska (and muzak, library and general Sun Ra-ian weirdness), playing him at his own game, on his own turf.  Because, mildly rankled recently at hearing - via Coventry friends - some rather awe-inspired talk about this ska comp (The History Of Ska 1960-1965 Vol.1 from 1970) he's holding in this ancient Specials-era screengrab here:

Dammers showing off his prized possession 

... I thought: "Huh, that's nothing. I've got loads of better ska tunes than those". (Yeah, it's foolish arrogance like this that's earned me the solid respect of all my peers and acquaintances). Sure, I've absolutely no doubt that Mr Dammers has forgotten more about ska than I'll ever know even if I spend the rest of my life furiously listening to it. But hey - whoever said a soundclash was er, real. It's theatrical, right? A stylised combat. I'm going head-to-head with the gapped-tooth maestro because - here in the safety of my living room - I can. So here are my tunes in "answer" to Dammers and The History Of Ska 1960-1965 Vol.1. Tsk, tsk, tsk ... ba dadda ... tsk, tsk, tsk ...

1: The Granville Williams Orchestra, Hi-life
2: Claudette & The Corporation, Skinhead a bosh them
3: Winston & George, Keep the pressure on
4: The Ethiopians, Train to Skaville
5: Evering Road
6: Gaylads, I love the reggay
7: Mr Foundation, See them a come
8: The Valentines, Guns fever (blam blam fever)
9: Herman, To the fields
10: Higgs & Wilson, If you want pardon
11: Ken Parker, I can't hide
12: Patsy & The Count Ossie Band, Pata pata rock steady
13: Honey Boy Martin & The Voices, Dreader than dread
14: Separation and reconciliation
15: The Maytals, Six & seven books of Moses
16: The Baba Brooks Band, Teenage ska
17: The Techniques, You don’t care
18: The Soul Directions, Su, Su, Su
19: Rudies, Train to Vietnam
20: Contamination
21: Lloyd Clarke, Young love
22: The Riots, Yeah yeah
23: Roland Alphonso, Nuclear weapon
24: Merlene Webber, Hard life
25: Justin Hinds & The Dominoes, Botheration
26: The Melodians, Kill me dead
27: Monty Morris, Play it cool
28: The Rulers, Don’t be a rude boy