Upsetters magic from the Black Ark, circa 1976. The story goes that only thirty copies were pressed, back in the day.

Limber bubblers, with some nice, moody vibes-playing, and chewy reasoning from Carlton Lafters, in a Tenor Saw style and fashion.

Dark, menacing and pained; wonderful Upsetters, always timely.

Milton Henry’s handful of classics — like his version of Gypsy Woman, or This World and Follow Fashion over the Upsetter’s Fever rhythm (under the handle King Medious) — made him a natural Wackies’ recruit.
Soon after moving from JA to NYC in the late seventies, Milton was fully involved in the day to day business of the operation, supervising sales and promotion, making deliveries, even holding spare keys to the studio for whenever Bullwackies himself was away.
He appears in this activist role on the front-sleeve photograph, just up White Plains Road from the Bronx HQ: by its title, though, and first and last songs, this album also hints heavily at the past musical accomplishments of its mystery hero.
The record was released first in London, in 1984, during the first months of Wackies Dean Street office, in north Soho.
The band is basically Itopia. Sly Dunbar gets a credit — though neither he nor Robbie Shakespeare ever set foot in the studio — as acknowledgement for his rhythm recycled here as No Dreams. Jackie Mittoo and Bagga are pon the corner, from Studio One; Jerry Johnson and Neville Anderson on brass; also Sugar and Max Romeo; and Sonia from the Love Joys performs a duet.
No Dreams is the true story of Milton sleeping in the attic above the studio when the rough drum and bass track came on to the desk, waking him, pulling him to the mic; Them A Devil is aimed at certain producers passing off the singer’s property as their own; Good Old Days was written for a poorly Junior Byles, remembering times shared.

Sweet, uptempo rock steady from Henry Buckley, in 1968, with backing from The Gaylettes. A more rootsy, Biblical edge to the B-side, which was originally coupled with Roland Alphonso’s How Soon.

Their two excellent LPs with Niney Observer, plus the Observation Of Life dubs of Better Days, and a bunch of killer 12” mixes, including the killer Through The Fire I Come.

Tough UK digi. Shaka-business from the Waan You veteran, who came through with Light Of Saba in the seventies, and sparred in Ijahman Levi’s breakthrough. Aka Kick The Hobbit because of a typo on the original label.

Lovely singing by the Hombres over a limber, spaced-out Upsetters rhythm you could listen to for hours. The dub attenuates the political reasoning with cruel brilliance.

Stalag excursion.

His first run-out on the rhythm he later cut for Chopper — another Digikiller reissue.

Characteristically melancholic, wise, masterful singing.
With a bumptious, flirtatious Valentines.

Bringing together two Cry Tuff sevens from 1976. (Gimme Gimmie is the same heavyweight rhythm as Prince Far I’s Zion Call, aka Concrete Column.)

Sombre Shaka weapon, with Junjo and the Roots Radics, from the same early-eighties sessions as Police In Helicopter.

Superb, sombre, tautly grooving sufferers, produced by George Woodhouse.
Same singer as Reward, on Channel One. Twin, dread killers.

Utterly genius mid-seventies Upsetters. The great Horse Mouth aka Mad Roy playing melodica (like on his classic Far Beyond for Studio One, where he started out printing labels) and drums (like on War Ina Babylon), and spliffically hymning his local dealer.
With Delroy Butler/Denton from The Silvertones, on the flip.

Outstanding roots by Noel Gray, at High Times in 1982.

It was intended that one of Hudson’s teenage sons would voice the dubs. In the event the Love Joys, Wayne Jarrett, and most inimitably Hudson himself featured at the microphone. Like Wackies, Hudson was a Studio One devotee — ‘I used to hold Don Drummond’s trombone for him so I can be in the studio’ — and the album follows Coxsone’s recent strategy of overdubbing signature rhythms.
The Studio One sides were aimed at the dancefloor; Hudson’s reworks of tracks like Melody Maker are more psychological. Heavy Barrett Brothers rhythms are pitched down and remixed deeper still with reverb, filters and other distortion, and overlaid with new recordings of guitar, percussion, keyboard, voice, often crazily treated.
Originally released in 1981 on the Joint International label, in NYC.
Legendary, strange, compelling music.