Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Day 102 of 365 Day Jamaican Music Challenge - Linval Thompson - Curfew

Linval Thompson is a regular Jack Of All Trades when it comes to reggae music... He started his singing career in the mid-70s when he was 20 years old and after he had recorded some excellent stuff for Lee "Scratch" Perry, Phill Pratt and Bunny Lee, he decided to try his hand at producing.  His 1978 self-produced album I Love Marijuana and its dub counterpart Negrea Love Dub for Trojan Records, are absolute killers.  And while he continued to sing, his productions for artists such as Cornell Campbell, Barrington Levy, Eek A Mouse, etc. during the early days of the rub-a-dub/early dancehall era, many on his own Strong Like Sampson and Thompson Koos labels, stand the test of time as absolute classics!  Today's track, "Curfew," originally pressed on the aforementioned Strong Like Sampson and the Jah Guidance labels simultaneously in 1980, is in my opinion one of the baddest reggae songs ever recorded!  Just the deep rolling bassline with that odd sense of danger and foreboding, it's the kind of song you listen to at high volume and watch the ensuing goosebumps; the dub version following the vocal is one that I wish would never end.  

"Stick it up, stick it up and put your hands in the air Sir!  Stick it up, stick it up, put your back against the wall!"  So badass!

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