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Today's artist is an English reggae-influenced punk rock band, notable for the 1979 UK Top 10 hit "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was highly regarded and regularly played by BBC Radio 1 disc jockey John Peel.  .. ......N'Joy

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With their unique blend of raucous punk rock laced with reggae and dub, the Ruts were one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Britain's late-'70s scene. Their career was cut cruelly short by the death of their singer in 1980, but still the group released six crucial singles and a seminal album in their short lifetime, while the surviving members soldiered on as Ruts D.C. They were also a powerful force within Britain's Rock Against Racism movement, ensuring a political legacy at least as vital as their music. On classic tunes like "Babylon's Burning" and "In a Rut," the band delivered rough-and-ready punk rock as strong as any of their peers in the first wave of U.K. punk, but "Jah War" showed they were similarly expert with reggae rhythms and dubwise production, and "Staring at the Rude Boys" showed they could blend punk sounds and West Indian themes, honoring each side equally.

Formed by four West London schoolmates in early 1978, the quartet of vocalist Malcolm Owen, guitarist Paul Fox, bassist John Jennings, and drummer Dave Ruffy initially gigged around their neighborhood with a fairly unremarkable post-punk/early Oi!-ish set. However, the rise of the neo-Nazi National Front and its deliberate recruitment of young people saw the bandmembers take on an increasingly political stance of their own, adding their own voice to the growing grassroots opposition to the fascist threat.

It was from this grassroots response that Rock Against Racism sprang, informing and raising political awareness via musical events. The Ruts plunged into the organization very early on in their career, playing benefit shows and festivals, and it was at one such event that the group was introduced to the South London reggae band Misty in Roots. It was through Misty's own People Unite label that the Ruts' debut single, the driving "In a Rut"/"H-Eyes," was released in late 1978.

The single barely hinted at what was to come, and when the group performed a radio session for Radio 1 DJ John Peel a few months later, the song didn't even appear in their set. Even so, Virgin Records was one of several labels that recognized the Ruts' potential and signed the band in the spring of 1979.

They were immediately rewarded when the group's next single, "Babylon's Burning"/"Society," seared its way into the U.K. Top Ten. Inspired by the political and societal upheavals taking place across the country, the song perfectly caught the mood of rage simmering just below Britain's surface. Following a national tour supporting the Damned and the release of their Top 30 follow-up single, the rabble-rousing "Something That I Said," the Ruts' debut album, The Crack, arrived in October 1979. With its seminal blend of punk, roots reggae, dub, and hard-rock-meets-hardcore sound, the album slammed its way to number 16 and into the national musical lexicon.

Pulled from the album as their next single was the seminal "Jah War." Written in response to the riots that had ripped across London's Southall neighborhood the previous April, resulting in one death and numerous injuries, the song was a masterpiece of deep dub, a righteous riff, and an anthemic chorus. Filled with fury and despair, it encapsulated a bitter moment in Britain's history, much as the Specials' "Ghost Town" would do with equal brilliance the next summer.

Amazingly, the single didn't chart; the song touched too raw a nerve and was thus informally banned from Britain's airwaves, but this disappointment didn't slow down the band. A headlining tour was followed by the quartet joining Jamaican ska legend Laurel Aitken for his first new U.K. single in years, "Rudi Got Married." The Ruts themselves reentered the Top 25 in April 1980 with "Staring at the Rude Boys," their own expedition into 2 Tone territory, albeit on a lyrical, not musical, journey.

The Ruts were preparing to begin work on their second album, an American tour was also in the works, while their latest British outing was sold out long in advance. Life should have been good, but Owen's own was in tatters. His marriage had fallen apart and his longtime heroin habit now raged out of control. The Ruts were forced to cancel a number of U.K. tour dates, and in desperation opted for a tough-love approach. They fired the singer, shortly after completing work on their proposed next single, "West One."

This wake-up call seemed to work -- Owen cleaned up and met with his bandmates to discuss a reconciliation. The meeting was a success, but Owen's own resolve was weaker. On the weekend of July 11, 1980, Owen returned home, got high, and suffered a fatal overdose. The remaining trio would continue on without him as Ruts D.C. (from the Italian "Da Capo," meaning "from the beginning"), but in a decidedly different musical vein. However, the Ruts' legacy lived on. A month after Owen's death, "West One" broke into the U.K. chart. Virgin began collecting up outtakes and non-album cuts for the Grin and Bear It album, which also appeared later in the year. Ruts D.C. released a pair of albums, 1981's Animal Now and 1982's Rhythm Collision, the latter produced by noted dub artist Mad Professor. Ruts D.C. folded in 1983.

In 1987, Strange Fruit gathered up the group's three Radio 1 sessions for The Peel Sessions Album, as another reminder of the band's impact; it was reissued on CD in 1990. The following year brought BBC Radio 1 Live in Concert (Windsong), a much preferable live set to The Ruts Live and Live and Loud!, which both appeared in 1987. In 1995, Caroline released the compilation album Something That I Said. An essentials collection, tribute album, and more live recordings followed into the 2000s, as well as a collection of unreleased early demos, 2000's In a Can.

On July 16, 2007, the band re-formed for a benefit concert in honor of Paul Fox, who had been diagnosed with lung cancer. Henry Rollins filled in on lead vocals, and the Damned, Tom Robinson, and Misty in Roots were among the opening acts. This inspired the band to return to the studio, with John Jennings and David Ruffy joined by guitarist Leigh Heggarty. In June 2008, another compilation, Original Punks, was released by Music Club Deluxe in the UK. The two-disc set included demos, alternate versions and live tracks plus songs recorded by Ruts D.C. They would record material over the next five years at Mad Professor's studio; Rhythm Collision, Vol. 2 arrived in 2013. A concert album, Live on Stage, appeared in 2014, while a new studio album, Music Must Destroy, arrived in 2016, with Henry Rollins performing guest vocals on the title track and Jake Burns of Stiff Little Fingers and Kirk Brandon of Theatre of Hate and Spear of Destiny appearing on "Kill the Pain." The same year saw another Ruts compilation, Babylon's Burning, which repackaged the Live and Loud! and In a Can albums as a two-LP set.

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Early punk's greatest glory, and greatest flaw, was that most of the bands were signed before they'd reached true musical proficiency. No wonder they sounded so unique -- they weren't capable of imitating their influences yet. Not so with the Ruts, who were able to deliver a powerful musical punch with their debut album, something virtually unique among old-school British punk bands. Easily able to recreate not just first-wave punk stylings, but classic rock as well, the Ruts' influences ran the gamut of genres from Motörhead to Marley, the New York Dolls to the Banshees. Thus, The Crack was one blindingly original album, far removed from its contemporaries. At the core, the quartet's sound was based primarily on '70s rock, played fast and hard, bringing them into the sphere of the street punks, an evolving genre later tagged Oi!, and eventually mutating into both speed metal and hardcore. The album features a clutch of headbanging pogo-til-you-puke blasts of fury, anthemic shout-alongs one and all. But the Ruts were capable of much more than simplistic punk-rockers in a metal mode. Some songs feature a wondrous gothic drone; "It Was Cold" was indebted to both Magazine and the Police, while other tracks give nods to pub rock and R&B. Out of this mass of sounds and styles, the Ruts hammered out intriguing hybrids, darkly shadowed, but occasionally emerging into the pop light. "Dope for Guns," for example, weds a hard rock verse to an anthemic poppy chorus, then ties the knot with a reggae riff, while "Is It Something That I Said" pushes toward Buzzcocks territory. The seminal "Jah War," inspired by the Southall riots, is simmering roots reggae/dub, but seared by classic rock guitar leads, totally redefining the rockers genre. The group was, if anything, even stronger lyrically. "Babylon's Burning" turns a powerful punk-rocker into an epic, with singer Malcolm Owen capturing the anger, frustration, and horror of anyone caught up in a riot. On "Jah War," he deliberately cools his passions, giving the words more nuanced power than if he allowed his anger to break free. On the sinister "S.U.S.," a response to England's infamous stop and search law, the group combines to create an ominous atmosphere of paranoia, a sound more chilling than that of any modern black metal band. The CD reissue also includes the B-sides from the group's three singles, the dub-heavy "Give Youth a Chance," the slamming, if somewhat silly "I Ain't Sophisticated," and the jokey "The Crack," where more excellent dub is interspersed with the group's rather amusing take on early rock & roll.

 The Ruts - The Crack (flac  461mb)

01 Babylon's Burning 2:35
02 Dope For Guns 2:11
03 S.U.S. 3:49
04 Something That I Said 3:53
05 You're Just A...  2:55
06 It Was Cold 6:48
07 Savage Circle 3:05
08 Jah War 6:55
09 Criminal Mind 1:34
10 Backbiter 3:02
11 Out Of Order 1:50
12 Human Punk 4:34
Bonus
13 Bagylon´s Burning (7´´ Version).2:33
14 Society (Bonus) 1:56
15 Something That I Daid (7´´ Version) 3:06
16 Give Youth A Chance (Bonus) 3:12
17 Jah War (7´´ Version) 3:37
18 I Ain´t Sofisticated 2:19
19 The Crack 5:49

 The Ruts - The Crack  (ogg   160mb)

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Grin and Bear It, the second album by the Ruts, was hastily cobbled together in the wake of frontman Malcolm Owen's death, a ragbag of material that reached from their "In a Rut" debut single through to an alternate mix of their "West One" swan song (via their final John Peel session) and three live tracks. It was a shambolic offering -- the Ruts deserved far more. However, Grin and Bear It lines up alongside their debut album, the rest of the Peel sessions, and assorted live recordings to remind listeners that, though the Ruts never came close to fulfilling their promise, the promise itself was spellbinding.

 The Ruts - Grin & Bear It (flac  347mbmb)

01 West One (Shine On Me) 5:39
02 Staring At The Rude Boys 3:10
03 Demolition Dancing 2:34
04 Secret Soldier 2:16
05 H-Eyes 2:47
06 In A Rut 3:39
07 Love In Vain 4:08
08 S.U.S. 3:20
09 Babylon's Burning 2:18
10 Society 1:42
11 West One (7" Version) 2:57
12 The Crack 5:49
13 Denial 3:05
14 Stepping Bondage 2:37
15 Lobotomy 2:10
16 Rich Bitch 2:02

  The Ruts - Grin & Bear It    (ogg   123mb)

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As the title suggests, The Peel Sessions: The Ruts bundles up all the Radio One sessions the band recorded for DJ John Peel. The group performed three times for the show between 1979 and 1980, and, in a way, this album gives a more rounded picture of the Ruts than their studio album does. For their first session, in January 1979, the band focused on a diverse group of songs, three of which would later appear on their debut album. Among these was a steaming version of "Babylon's Burning," the song that slammed them into the U.K. Top Ten later that summer. The Ruts were fast evolving beyond the hard-hitting punk-rockers of just a few months before, and were now introducing roots reggae and dub into their sound. The changeover in styles is evident on "Dope for Drugs," emerging into full-blown reggae purity on "Black Man's Pinch." The group's second session, in May, zigzagged like a Ping-Pong ball. They kicked off with the paranoiac "Sus" (retitled "S.U.S." on The Crack), then launched into a pair of rapid-fire bursts of warp-speed punk, with "Society," in particular, acting as a blueprint for all future melodic hardcore bands, then tumbled into the glacial drifts of "It Was Cold," and finished with a twist of pop-punk. Only "Society" was not included on their debut album, and the versions here are remarkably similar to the finished ones. The Ruts returned for their final session in February 1980, and this time opened with a steaming version of their latest single, "Staring at the Rude Boys." Keeping the pop mood intact, the group then kicked into "Demolition Dancing," the Sweet go punk, then stunned listeners with a seething, totally transformed "In a Rut," before ending with the oppressive "Secret Soldier." Judging by this display, the group seemed set to become one of the most inspired bands of the '80s, with the growing inclusion of poppier elements into their harder-rock stylings opening up vast new musical vistas. But it wasn't to be. Five months after their last session, singer Malcolm Owen was dead, and the Ruts were no more. This album remains a poignant reminder of the band's power and of a great potential cut short.

 The Ruts - John Peel Sessions   (flac  376mb)

01 Savage Circle 2:55
02 Babylons Burning 2:30
03 Dope For Guns 2:30
04 Black Man's Pinch 3:10
05 Criminal Mind 1:35
06 Sus 3:15
07 Society 1:50
08 You're Just A...2:40
09 It Was Cold 5:10
10 Something That I Said 3:10
11 Staring At The Rude Boys 3:20
12 Demolition Dancing 2:35
13 In A Rut 3:10
14 Secret Soldiers 2:16
bonus BBC In Concert July 1979
15 Your Just a... 3:02
16 It Was Cold 4:29
17 I Ain't Sofisticated 2:18
18 Dope for Guns 2:23
19 Sus 3:32
20 Babylon's Burning 2:35
21 Jah Wars 3:11
22 Criminal Minds 1:56
23 In a Rut 4:16

 The Ruts - John Peel Sessions    (ogg  162mb)

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They didn't reach stadium-level superstardom like the Clash and the Police, but few contemporaries could hold a candle to the punky reggae of the Ruts. Nearly equal parts righteous dread and six-string fury, the London quartet was one of the most important bands to emerge during punk's second wave, and this collection expertly compiles the finest moments of the Ruts' too-short career. This  comprehensive 2008 two cd retrospective features superb original demos and alternate versions of some of their biggest hits, classic album tracks and B-sides, plus a stunning live performance that captures all their raw Punk power. Formed in early `78 Punk/New Wave group the Ruts quickly proved an incendiary live outfit with a political agenda tied to the fledgling Rock Against Racism organization. As a consequence their debut 45, In A Rut much championed by John Peel appeared on fellow RAR activists Misty In Roots own People Unite label. They subsequently signed to Virgin in the spring of 1979 and by the autumn had turned in an excellent long player, namely The Crack and were in the midst of a run of six excellent singles. Sadly by July 1980 it was all over as lead singer Malcom Owen tragically died of a heroin overdose. This collection brings together demo's, alternate versions and some great live performances that really capture this short-lived group's appeal, which lasts to this day. 35 tracks.

 The Ruts - Original Punks    (flac  358mb)

01 In A Rut
02 H-Eyes
03 Babylon's Burning
04 Give Youth A Chance (Blackmans Pinch)
05 Dead Man's Dream
06 Whatever We Do
07 Something That I Said
08 West One (Shine On Me)
09 Love Blind Fools
10 Jah War
11 Rich Bitch
12 Savage Circle
13 You're Just A...
14 Criminal Mind
15 Stepping Bondage
16 Babylon's Burning

 The Ruts - Original Punks    (ogg  133mb)

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 The Ruts - Original Punks    (flac  439mb)

01 Something That I Said
02 H-Eyes
03 Stepping Bondage
04 I Ain't Sophisticated
05 Sus
06 Dope For Guns
07 Criminal Minds
08 Babylon's Burning
09 Back Biter
10 Jah Wars
11 You're Just A...
12 It Was Cold
13 In A Rut
14 Society
15 Whatever We Do (Dub)
16 Different View
17 Last Exit
18 Out Of Order
19 Lobotomy

 The Ruts - Original Punks    (ogg  163mb)

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