rsd 2018 title - 22 hits from bunny striker lee, made between 1967 - 1976, when reggae went international....to celebrate the 50th anniversary of top flight reggae producer and icon bunny striker lee’s involvement in the reggae business and producing one of its biggest catalogues, we are releasing his greatest hits package ‘reggae going international’ as a limited record store only release of 175 copies each on heavy weight red,green and gold vinyl in a deluxe gatefold sleeve.

the sound of studio one can be identified by the great singers that it cultivated along the many great songs that these singers released. but as studio 1 s dominance was slowly pulled away by the up and coming new breed of producers many of the artists would inevitably end up working for these new camps and so the songs and singers found a new audience. the reggae sound of the studio 1 would make a great combination and the man to pull this was together bunny lee.

trained in the art of deejay toasting by the legendary dennis alcapone, lester bulllock initially called himself alcapone junior, until maverick record producer lee scratch perry renamed him dillinger in the early 1970s, following his success on a west kingston sound system called smith the weapon, based in the ghetto of payne avenue. perry cut dillingers first dozen tracks, and there was early work for other producers such as prince tony, augustus pablo, enos mcleod and phil pratt, then, dillingers debut album, ready natty dreadie, was a local hit for studio one, but the cb200 set for island catapulted him to international prominence. yet, the dillinger material with the roughest edge was always produced by bunny striker lee, as this lp, answer my question, so amply demonstrates. first issued in the netherlands on the scramble label in 1977, it shows dillinger on fearsome form, his relaxed rhyming toasts tackling sound system matters, the rastafari lifestyle, action movie subplots, the highs and lows of romantic relationships, the need to help the less fortunate, and other burning issues of the day with biting wit and verbal dexterity, all delivered over tough aggrovators rhythms—including an unusual cut of the three piece suit rhythm. go deh! reissued on lp and cd, on cd for the first time ever!

the sound of studio one can be identified by the great singers that it cultivated along the many great songs that these singers released. but as studio 1 s dominance was slowly pulled away by the up and coming new breed of producers many of the artists would inevitably end up working for these new camps and so the songs and singers found a new audience. the reggae sound of the studio 1 would make a great combination and the man to pull this was together bunny lee.

one of the sweetest and most idiosyncratic voices in reggae, tenor singer cornell campbell also has one of the longest-running careers of any jamaican recording artist. taken under studio one founder clement sir coxsone dodd’s wing at a very young age, cornell cut his first recordings in 1956, long before ska was even established. he remained based at studio one for many years (working as a label printer as well as a recording artist), and also voiced sides for king edwards in the ska years. he then briefly joined the sensations in rock steady and recorded at treasure isle, before moving back to studio one as leader of the eternals when reggae arrived, cutting huge hits there such as stars and queen of the mistrel, and giving early coaching to slim smith, jacob miller and bassist robbie shakespeare. joining forces with ace producer bunny striker lee in the mid-1970s brought a dramatic new surge in popularity that greatly boosted his profile overseas. the ropin lp was issued on third worlds justice subsidiary in 1980 a sub label set up to handle strikers product in the uk (though hits like mash you down and the title track had been handled in jamaica by joe gibbs). one of the albums outstanding moments is bandulu, an anti-rude boy epic voiced on the late night blues rhythm, while opening cover, just my imagination, has an uncredited toasting portion from errol scorcher.

after retiring from the jamaican police force arthur duke reid established his treasure isle liquor store and sound system in pink lane kingston and was crowned the undisputed king of sound and blues in 1956, 57 and in 58. the duke then moved into record production and after relocating the store to 33 bond street, he then built a recording studio on top of his new premises in 1966. according to the musicians and singers the wooden construction of the treasure isle recording studio gave the music a distinctive warmth and richness and with resident engineer byron baron/smithy smith at the controls, the sound of a bond street recording was immediately recognisable.
but the studio one sound is different to the treasure isle sound! the people have to know. - bunny striker lee
a glittering selection of strikers treasure isle recordings are featured on this compilation. so please sit back and enjoy the set!

the 1970s saw winston wright working closely with dynamic sounds studios nucleus of musicians cutting material for all the top producers of the time including numerous sides for bunny striker lee, which we have focused on for this set of tunes. from 1975 onwards winston wright was a member of toots and the maytals touring band, but we celebrate here his mighty fine studio work. adding his touches to many a fine rhythm as only winston could we hope you enjoy the set.

the house band of bunny ‘striker’ lee was formed in the mid-1970s by some of jamaica’s most prominent and musically expressive session players. the shifting core line-up spun off from the soul syndicate and thus typically featured earl ‘chinna’ smith and tony chin on guitar and bernard ‘touter’ harvey on organ. carlton ‘santa’ was the main drummer, but carlton barrett of the wailers band and ‘benbow’ creary were sometimes featured. most crucially, on bass, aston ‘family man’ barrett shifted to fully fullwood (and occasionally, earl ‘bagga’ walker), until robbie shakespeare took over, becoming the bandleader. the band was responsible for the popular ‘flying cymbal’ style that took jamaica by storm, and you can hear it in abundance on this killer dub set from 1975, its excellent cuts of cornell campbell and johnnie clarke material mixed at king tubby’s studio - a must for all serious fans of dub.

roots vocalist barry brown has an inimitable style that has long made him a favourite of reggae enthusiasts. drawing from the popular phrasing of horace andy, but morphing it into his own delivery through the kind of wordless slurring that occasionally resembles the sound of a quacking duck, brown found his way into the jamaican music scene through the many amateur west kingston talent contests of the early 1970s, along with fellow aspiring talents such as johnnie clarke, sugar minott and the african brothers, and the mighty diamonds. he also honed his vocal skills on local west kingston sound systems such as tape tone, together with other young dancehall-oriented youth such as barrington levy, sammy dread, roy taylor and tristan palmer. there are still conflicting claims as to who was the first to record brown, with production veteran bunny ‘striker’ lee and sugar minott among the contenders, but in any case, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, he produced a range of captivating work for various producers, much of which is rightly coveted today. ‘ital rock’ appeared on barry’s 1983 lp i’m still waiting, issued by rocktone international, a spin-off of sugar minott’s black roots outfit, based in queens, new york (with a further branch in toronto), the b-side has dean fraser’s previously unreleased electrifying saxophone cut, rescued from dub plate obscurity by jah fingers.

delroy wilson the original ‘cool operator’ was also known to many as ‘teacher’. a title given to him as he unselfishly taught the up and coming singers including one youth dennis brown, the art and delivery of singing technique. delroy’s rich tone to his voice added a depth to any song that he chose to sing. delroy wilson (b.1948 kingston,jamaica) began his musical career at the school that was coxonne dodd’s studio one label. after a brief stop in 1969,which saw delroy working for producer sonia pottinger’s tip top label. again producing such hits including ‘it hurts’ and ‘put yourself in my place’. the 1970’s saw delroy wilson’s arrival at bunny ’striker ’lee’s door and what would result in a winning formula,scoring hit after hit. it is from this great period in delroy’s career that we have compiled this selection of killer tunes,cut with the drum and bass rhythm kings themselves sly dunbar and robbie shakespeare.such classis as ‘who care’ ,’can i change your mind’,’get ready’,’you must believe me’ and the timeless title track to this collection ‘here comes the heartaches’. an album of great tracks cut with ‘the hitmaker from jamaica’ bunny lee and his team. a match made in heaven….enjoy the set….

tommy mccook to be leader of the skatalites in the early 1960s, he went on to become the chief exponent of rock steady as leader of the supersonics house band at treasure isle. mccook remained a key session player throughout the reggae era, and during the roots reggae heyday of the mid-1970s, his expressive melodies found particularly strong outlet, especially on the music he created for grassroots producer bunny ‘striker’ lee as a member of the aggrovators, the studio outfit lee hand-picked from the cream of jamaica’s musical crop. when enhanced by the adventurous mixing experiments of king tubby, the engineer that turned dub into an art form, instrumental aggrovators music became positively ethereal, yielding an exceptional listening experience. on king tubby meets the aggrovators at dub station, tommy mccook blows mean sax and flute over dubs of outstanding tracks by johnny clarke, cornell campbell, linval thompson, delroy wilson, and others greats. first issued on third world in 1976, this vinyl reissue comes complete with four thematic bonus tracks, and the whole disc makes for essential listening. reissued on lp and cd with bonus tracks!

after retiring from the jamaican police force arthur duke reid established his treasure isle liquor store and sound system in pink lane kingston and was crowned the undisputed king of sound and blues in 1956, 57 and in 58. the duke then moved into record production and after relocating the store to 33 bond street, he then built a recording studio on top of his new premises in 1966. according to the musicians and singers the wooden construction of the treasure isle recording studio gave the music a distinctive warmth and richness and with resident engineer byron baron/smithy smith at the controls, the sound of a bond street recording was immediately recognisable.
but the studio one sound is different to the treasure isle sound! the people have to know. - bunny striker lee
a glittering selection of strikers treasure isle recordings are featured on this compilation. so please sit back and enjoy the set!

when the gaming laws changed in jamaica in 1970, the hookim brothers joseph joe joe and ernest, who ran jukebox and one armed bandit distribution, decided it was time to expand their empire. they would build their own recording studio in the heart of kingstons ghetto land on maxfield avenue. the name would become legendary in the reggae world - >channel 1 studios< was born. this set of classic unreleased dubs comes from the in-house session band the revolutionaries , produced by the great bunny striker lee.