# Roots

Five records from before the map starts. Everything else we publish is downstream of one of these, and most of it is downstream of several.

- **Picks:** 5
- **Drawn from:** 5 rankings
- **Years:** 1967–1978
- **Curator:** The Waxonia Desk
- **Updated:** 2026-08-29
- **Curator's page:** https://waxonia.com/artist/the-desk/
- **Canonical page:** https://waxonia.com/theme/the-desk-roots/

## What gets in, and what does not

A record only qualifies if something we publish is demonstrably downstream of it — a lineage arrow, a borrowed rhythm, a sampled bar. Being early is not enough, and neither is being great.

Every record here is already in one of our rankings — a theme re-cuts what the site has vouched for, and vouches for nothing new. Drawn from: [Disco](https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/), [Dub](https://waxonia.com/genre/dub/), [Funk](https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/), [Krautrock](https://waxonia.com/genre/krautrock/), [Post-Punk](https://waxonia.com/genre/post-punk/).

## The records

Selected, not ranked — the order carries no claim about which is best.

### [James Brown](https://waxonia.com/artist/james-brown/) — [Cold Sweat](https://waxonia.com/track/james-brown--cold-sweat/)

*1967 · King*

Start here. Brown tells the band to put the accent on the first beat and stop changing chord, and the next sixty years of dance music become possible in about eight bars.

Also on: [Funk](https://waxonia.com/genre/funk/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/), [The Waxonia Desk — Where the Accent Moved](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-accent-moved/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/James%20Brown%20Cold%20Sweat) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=qkgIoMuaoQ0)

### [Augustus Pablo](https://waxonia.com/artist/augustus-pablo/) — [King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown](https://waxonia.com/track/augustus-pablo--king-tubby-meets-rockers-uptown/)

*1976 · Yard Music*

The mixing desk becomes an instrument. Every record on this site built from the bass upward, with the vocal free to vanish for a bar, is working from the grammar King Tubby set here.

Also on: [Dub](https://waxonia.com/genre/dub/), [1976](https://waxonia.com/theme/nineteen-seventy-six/), [The Waxonia Desk — Ghosts](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-ghosts/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Augustus%20Pablo%20King%20Tubby%20Meets%20Rockers%20Uptown) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=oxAl3Jijs20)

### [Neu!](https://waxonia.com/artist/neu/) — [Hallogallo](https://waxonia.com/track/neu--hallogallo/)

*1972 · Brain*

Ten minutes of a beat that never accents anything. The idea that a rhythm can drive without swinging is the one European contribution the Americans genuinely had to import.

Also on: [Krautrock](https://waxonia.com/genre/krautrock/), [The Waxonia Desk — Krautrock](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-krautrock/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Neu!%20Hallogallo) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=zndpi8tNZyQ)

### [Donna Summer](https://waxonia.com/artist/donna-summer/) — [I Feel Love](https://waxonia.com/track/donna-summer--i-feel-love/)

*1977 · Casablanca*

Eno reportedly burst into Bowie's Berlin session announcing that the sound of the future had arrived. Early by about six years, and wrong by about nothing.

Also on: [Disco](https://waxonia.com/genre/disco/), [Laurent Garnier — A Life in Twenty-One Records](https://waxonia.com/selection/laurent-garnier-a-life-in-records/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Donna%20Summer%20I%20Feel%20Love) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=yEbaeLv-aOo)

### [Public Image Ltd](https://waxonia.com/artist/public-image-ltd/) — [Public Image](https://waxonia.com/track/public-image-ltd--public-image/)

*1978 · Virgin*

The guitar stops chugging and starts ringing, the bass takes the tune, and British guitar music spends the next fifteen years working out what to do with the space that left.

Also on: [Post-Punk](https://waxonia.com/genre/post-punk/), [The Waxonia Desk — The Hundred](https://waxonia.com/selection/the-desk-the-hundred/).

[Search Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/search/Public%20Image%20Ltd%20Public%20Image) · [YouTube Music](https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=rIAZ8unRm2c)

## Who made this

The people who write the rankings on this site. We keep the lists honest, we argue about the order, and we get asked the same question more than any other: where should someone actually start. These are our answers.

Elsewhere: https://waxonia.com/

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Hand-curated by Waxonia. We host no audio; all links point to streaming platforms.