Part of an onslaught of activity from Edward O’Sullivan ‘Bunny Striker’ Lee, veteran reggae producer, legendary dancer, songwriter and, above all else, man who Gets Things Done in Jamaica. What Lee doesn’t know about the reggae business isn’t worth knowing and, just to prove it, out comes this double-LP of his classic hits (actually a tiny fraction thereof) in advance of the publication of an autobiography of the same name in 2012.
The gang’s all here, including early hits such as The Uniques’ elegant rocksteady beauty My Conversation and Roy Shirley’s halting Music Field; his skinhead reggae rulers from Derrick Morgan and Pat Kelly, whose How Long has played non-stop at dances since 1969; early 70s gems the likes of Eric Donaldson’s Cherry O Baby, as covered by the Stones, no less. There’s also Alton Ellis’ masterful Play It Cool; his flying-cymbal smashes from Cornell Campbell, Dance In A Greenwich Farm; Johnny Clarke’s None Shall Escape The Judgement; and a selection of dubs from King Tubby, whom Lee encouraged to the point where he virtually invented the entire mixing phenomenon.
While other producers claimed the publicity, Lee minted the hits, making this a virtual history of its era. Essential.
