Rodigan back at BBC

Disc jockey David Rodigan returns to his roots at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) as host of its 10-part summer, soul and reggae series.

Each Thursday, Rodigan hosts a reggae special on BBC s Radio 2 looking back at 50 years of Jamaican popular music. In his first show last week, he played 15 songs, several of which are standards.

Roots Rock Reggae (Bob Marley), Rocksteady (Alton Ellis), Kingston Town (Lord Creator) and Delroy Wilson's Dancing Mood are some of the classics Rodigan played. There was space for more contemporary sounds like Won't Surrender from Sanchez and Young Hearts by Tarrus Riley.

Rodigan started his career at the BBC in 1978 before moving on to Capitol Radio and Kiss 100. At each station, he offered a diverse play-list of Jamaican music that earned him a huge fan base throughout Europe, Japan and North America.

During the 1980s, Rodigan was a regular visitor to Jamaica featuring in several sound-system clashes with popular disc jockey Barry G Gordon who was then with the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation.

BBC Radio 2's special also includes a weekly soul slot. Emphasis there is on the soul music explosion that took place during the United States in the 1960s.