All roads lead to the Hop Poles, 58 Upper Tulse Hill, off Brixton Hill for this old school sound clash between London and Birmingham over four fortnightly heats, with one DJ from each city going head to head on the night. The four winners go into the semi finals and then the the remaining two will slug it out in the finals for the cup and a £600 cash prize. The first heat between Hawkeye International of London and Inspector Lee of Birmingham ended with a victory for Birmingham.

In the second heat on April 14th, Asher G of London took on Jonah of Birmingham at Brixton Hill's Hop Poles pub. Between 10.30 and 3 am that Saturday night it really was as good as it ever gets with an enthusiastic knowledgeable 150 strong crowd, with a strong contingent down from Birmingham, being treated to the best ska and rocksteady to be heard anywhere. The rules were no repress, no twelve inch and the ultra rare music coming out of the contestants' sound boxes made the £5 admission fee the biggest bargain in town. £500 would have been a reasonable price for the music of the Skatalites, the Wailers, Justin Hinds, Monty Morris, Justin Hinds, the Paragons etc played the way it was when the music was made and not available on any compilation. Jonah and Asher G took a deck each side by side on the same set and played back to back, one tune at a time, the cup prominently displayed in front of them, so the cutting edge drama of the sound clash was never lost. The tunes came in quick fire succession, each tune abruptly brought to an end before its close by the DJ simply stopping the turntable and thrusting the mike over to his rival, intensifying further the feel of the clash, the crowd banging on the walls and ceilings and pushing up the lighters when the musical temperature got especially hot.

At 3am, Richard, the promoter, announced London's Asher G the winner, the two DJs shook hands, and London and Birmingham went forward to the third heat at one victory apiece.

The next two heats are on April 28th and May 12th, when the draw for the semi finals will be made. Anyone with any interest in ska and rocksteady at all should relocate to London and get down to the Hop Poles over the coming weeks, because it doesn't get any better than this.