It Took Seconds

Three minutes and twenty-nine seconds: 3’29” seems to be a prime length for amazing Jamaican music - Althea And Donna’s deathless “Uptown Top Ranking”, Cutty Ranks’ defiant “Wake De Man”, Yellowman’s deceptively easy-going dancehall “Dem Sight The Boss”, Prince Buster’s “Ten Commandments Of Man”… well, OK, this close to the storied ‘ideal length’ of a pop song you’re going to find a wealth of amazing music from any country, but the JA stuff really stood out. So here’s Culture doing “Two Sevens Clash”, one of the colossal reputation-building songs of roots reggae, beloved of punks, DJs, Richard Branson… it’s glorious, but for me the real shivery moments are the cut-through shouts of “WHAT?” just before the chorus.

What would your 3’29” track be?