Originally Posted by ZachS

reggae's had some presence in the western scene ever since it came about, '67-'68 - mick jagger and keith richards were big fans of jamaican music, and they were putting it out there. there was always up-to-date jamaican music available in the UK due to the large number of jamaican clubs (even though the US had nearly as many jamaican immigrants, they could assimilate much more easily and therefore didn't maintain their own cultural institutions nearly as much. dj kool herc was a jamaican, for example...). i'll be back with a little more detailed information about exactly what happened in the UK during the 70's tomorrow (books are at home, i'm at work)... can't spout it off the top of my head.

internationally, it was the soundtrack to The Harder They Come that broke reggae - and jamaican music in general.